The claimEvidence A · guideline-tier
Leptin injections will make you thin
The evidence
In common obesity, leptin is already high — the body has become resistant to it — so injected leptin is ineffective (Heymsfield 1999, JAMA). Only people with a rare inherited leptin deficiency respond.
The mechanism, in brief
The more fat you carry, the less you ought to want to eat. The signal that says enough on the body's behalf is leptin, which fat cells release into the blood: the bigger the stores, the more they release. The hypothalamus, the appetite region at the base of the brain, picks it up, switches on the neurons that make you…
Sources (1)
- Heymsfield, S. B., Greenberg, A. S., Fujioka, K., Dixon, R. M., Kushner, R., Hunt, T., Lubina, J. A., Patane, J., Self, B., Hunt, P., & McCamish, M. (1999). Recombinant leptin for weight loss in obese and lean adults: A randomized, controlled, dose-escalation trial. JAMA, 282(16), 1568–1575.