Sugar May Cause Leptin Resistance

The hormone leptin is produced by the fat cells in your body. It controls the number of calories you take in and burn. Leptin levels change in response to both starvation and obesity, so it’s often called the fullness or starvation hormone.

The ability to resist the effects of this hormone, or leptin resistance, is now thought to be one of the main causes of human fat gain. In fact, animal studies link fructose intake to leptin resistance. In one experiment, rats were fed a lot of fructose, which caused them to develop leptin resistance. Surprisingly, leptin resistance disappeared when they switched to a sugar-free diet. But human studies are still required.