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I'm looking up the Leptin Diet at the moment.
It makes sense- but it means re-setting your eating habits of a lifetime and won't produce instant results for Gout.
It's  a way of finding a non medicated route for high triglycerides, BP, weight control + immune  support- and a lot more besides.

Post edited 3:36 pm – July 28, 2009 by trev

I've not finished the book yet and it gets quite complicated to explain the absolute details- even if I could remember them.

The first thing that comes to mind, strangely, is Smoking tobacco products.

I 've never quite bought the idea given out that it is as addictive as H  ,I think it's a Habit which can be triggered by association and a myriad other connected feelings. Well, leptin seems a bit like that- a hidden top down hormone that controls everything but is hidden from out conscious control. The reason?- It's designed to keep us alive and doesn't want to be 'turned off' easily.

Ignoring false demands for food is the secret- my other posts about water might help.Thirst is mistaken for hunger as we age, starting in our early twenties,I've read.

'Turning down' even, is like stopping smoking after the next ciggy- so it's a habit that needs training [Well, you're the trainee in fact].

So we need to become our own trainer in the matter of appetite and diet patterns. it doesn't seem to matter too much what you eat so long as it's a normal balanced diet to start with- it's WHEN , not too big -and not too much carbs.

In my battle with BP [and Gout also] I realised that glycerides,UA, lbs weight etc are long term effects that build on short term triggers that seem almost harmless at the time and in controlling these as much as I could I was losing weight- so when I read this book after connecting with the concept online- I realised it was already doing the business for me without too much effort.

One of the main basics is that the body can burn fat overnight if you shut down the digestve system properly so a 12hr break is the norm between dinner/supper and breakfast.

No snacks, ever and 3 meals a day only. The routine is really simple ,but the thinking behind the approach is complex.

It's a fairly recent discovery that fat is the top hormone and it affects everything in the body ,top down essentially.

Modern life seems designed to turn off our appestats and sell us what we don't really need, only want.  

In some ways, Gout seems to get the flak for this -as it illustrates an out of control status in the sufferer and maybe it serves as a hair shirt scourge the rest of society can wave at us?

[The supposedly over indulgent]

In some way, the Leptin approach appeals to me – as it is a subtle, under the counter riposte to the element of victimed hair shirt wearer not getting enough healing from society- and why I see a drug solution to it as' consumerist' in the same light.

This covers only the long term aspects of my life- there are obviously times and situations when drug interventions are really needed, in my case BP, certainly -and maybe for gout in the end.

So, it is early days,but the mental attitude we have to life and illness is fundamental as to living with it -if not always curing it!

The body will follow, hopefully.

It does seem mind over matter, at first sight, but reading the book, I think there are physiological arguments that hold the theory solid.

The main lynchpin is that we don't  give our bodies time to hear the 'full' sign and get used , in a rich enough world, to taking in easy calories in excess.

Hey, I'm glad my baccy 'line' didn't get an off topic note! Pleased it rang a bell !

The only, rather obvious, difference I didn't stress about the similarities was that at least food is necessary for life,  even though it can be dangerous in its own subtle way. In fact ,this subtlety illustrates how hard it is to 'nail'.

I thought seeing your response that you would have no problem losing weight ,via Leptin balance, with your realistic attitude to life -and experience over smoking cessation.

I can reliably report that I can go 15 hours without hunger overnight, but resisting the toast and honey at 4am is the only minor challenge…that's when the mental training comes in and ignoring it. Decaff tea suffices.

[If still in a  conventional working regime , these timings could be harder to manage.]

I do have a novel get back to sleep technique involving counting – can't remember where I learned it. [not Playboy btw :) ] which helps the lying awake tendency, which food can often assuage.

Interesting what you say about the heart and lipids. The broader point is that leptin is involved in all these lower level reactions- we just don't associate them together, after all -it's a new finding.

This makes it not just novel, but extremely attractive ground for self help enquirers.

[Before Nanny State or Big Pharma get hungry for control/profit..Sorry, my rant]

All I can say, from reading the book so far, is that it's part of a wider picture that the night fast is normal, not something to be suffered.

When it runs right, I would hope it would settle down - as for me.

One concept mentioned is that 'Leptin Resistance' occurs (very like Insulin can do in Diabetes) and needs to be managed correctly.This seems to be the target function for weight loss in many cases.

On your final, you're 'dead bang on right'.

Recent reports have stressed that heavy exercise is the best and most effective cardiac  improvemement and weight loss regime -and one that I don't follow [too heavily] admittedly.

I did manage 20mph on my bike yesterday , downhill -and pedalled back up mostly seated on return :) and I'm older (but not heavier) than your goodself , Zip!

I'll be happy to reach 99, or even 79 hehe- but we are the same age. BMI apart

I'm going to have to get back swimming soon- to follow your good gym example.