What Makes the Human Brain so Special? | Suzana Herculano-Houzel

The Weightloss Battle

Evolution:

Metabolic compensation is a genetic survival mechanism where a slender physic tends to burn fewer calories during activities than before. The ability to store extra calories as fat, increased the chances of survival during periods of famine, as well as increasing women's ability to reproduce. The human genome is filled with genes that favor storage of extra calories as fat and are less with genes that favor preservation of leanness. Humans have evolved to maintain our survival as a species. Metabolism tends to slow down in response to weight loss while hormone levels that regulate hunger also change. (A)

 

 

 

 

The Human Body and How it Works:

Every human being has a unique body which is determined by genetics and the way in which their muscle mass forms. Subsequently, a larger body needs more calories to operate than smaller ones. If a larger built person becomes smaller, he or she will need less calories than they used to with their previous larger body. There is a very intimate relationship between what we consume for energy and how much we burn off. If a person is to start exercising more, burning more calories, he or she will most likely begin to eat more to make up for the loss of calories. Eating less will cause fewer calories to burn off to compensate for the fewer calorie intake. The internal body system is great for maintaining your weight, but makes it that much more difficult to shed weight off your body. Although, it is possible to lose weight, the body will be fighting back to maintain it's 'normal weight' which is known as 'metabolic compensation'. (A) 

 

Our Inner Animal Instincts:The human body has two hormones that regulate hunger. Leptin and ghrelin work in different ways. Leptin (aka: satiety hormone) is secreted by fat cells and tells the brain when full. As fat cells shrink they produce less and less leptin inhibiting the brain from messages that the body is full. Ghrelin on the other hand is a hunger hormone, it comes from the stomach telling the brain its time to eat or refuel the body with energy. Research has shown that ghrelin increases after weight loss and does not return to baseline in at least after a one year follow up period. (A)

Those hormones have a huge impact on weight regain and weight maintenance, because it’s not just what your metabolism is doing, it’s also your drive to eat. Changes in the brain also have a powerful impact because food has a reward value after you have lost weight. The neural circuitry that’s involved in food restraint becomes less active, you will have to eat more to reach satiation, and you will be less aware of how much you’ve actually eaten. Although, a greater weight loss leads to greater metabolic changes, existing studies haven’t compared changes between groups of people losing weight at different speeds. Research has indicated that individuals who have lost 5 percent of their body weight have no metabolic penalty but that people who lose 10 percent have their metabolism slow by 20 to 200 calories per day. (A)

  Naturally Thin:

Set weight point is the weight that the body wants to stay at (which varies per individual) and as we lose or gain weight, the hormones and metabolism begins to shift back to that number. Every person has their own set point that changes over time depending on genetics, previous weight loss attempts, aging, and hormonal shifts like pregnancy and menopause. The brain calculates the amount of fat mass that the body needs to function properly. Subsequently, some individuals have higher thermostat set at a weight that is much higher than the body needs to survive. How and why does this occur? (A)

 

 

Well, some people's bodies, more specifically overweight individuals have a degree of leptin resistance. The brain is blocked from receiving important messages such as their satiety levels which unfortunately causes the individual to continue eating therefore storing more fat than needed. Animal studies have shown that a person can bring their set point up but not down. Taking anti-obesity medications can lower people's set points which is as successful as weight loss surgery. (A)

 

 

 

The body fat standards for women are higher than men's because women have more fat mass because of the way women's bodies are designed. Because of breasts and hips, fat tends to store itself in order to increase after pregnancy and menopause. The body sees weight loss as an illness and makes it more difficult for individuals who have already lost weight before. The body seems to remember the weight loss attempts (cutting calories, increase in exercise) as well as the hormonal response which end up preventing greater weight loss results. The more fat cells you have, the slower your metabolism is. Men tend to lose weight faster and more consistently than women.(A)

Fighting your Physiology:

There are things you can do to offset some of the adaptations that your body makes to get you back to your set point. It is important to eat protein at every meal and snack, whenever possible. Protein fills you up and is a building block for muscles. When slimming down, the goal is to lose as little muscle as possible because muscle burns more calories than fat. Cardio will lose half of your goal weight, strength training is great way to build muscle which can backfire if used from the very beginning of training. Increasing the resistance in your training causes muscle mass to build but, no fat has been burned because there hasn't been any cardio to melt away the fat. This will reflect on your body as your weight will increase.(A)

Whenever a person undergoes extreme weight loss it is very important to being focusing on resistance training because it is very likely that they have lost a lot of muscle mass along with some of that fat. It is even more important to avoid 'diet' foods that are low in fat to save calories by all costs! similar to the way protein works, the body needs fat to feel full. Many times low fat food are higher in sugar or fake sugar intake than their counterparts to compensate for taste. These foods trick your brain to make you even more hungry.  Processed, packaged foods are also easier for the body to digest which doesn’t help with fullness (or calorie burn). Meal prepping and cooking are definitely the way to go if you want to lose weight. (A)

Concluding Remarks:

When losing weight it is important to be realistic about the results one should expect. Everyone has a unique body and the methods in which one loses a significant amount of weight varies in a case by case bases due mainly to genetics and how our bodies react and what a person can do in response.

Links:
(A)http://nymag.com/thecut/2016/05/weight-loss-metabolism-slows-down-hunger-increases.html

*Please note! These images are not mine. They were found on various tumblr sites! If any are yours please let me know so that I can give you credit for them! Also the people in the images have no relation to the diseases, illnesses, or cancers I write about. Thanks so much & enjoy~

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