Dr. Johnson: How Leptin Resistance Causes Obesity

Clinical Scientist Sets the Record Straight on Hazards of Sugar

January 05, 2014 | 109,241 views

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By Dr. Mercola

Dr. Richard Johnson is the head of nephrology at the University of Colorado and is actively engaged in clinical research. Over the past 25 years, much of his research (which is funded by the National Institutes of Health) has focused on fructose and obesity-related diseases.

Not only has he published some 500 papers in the peer-reviewed literature, he’s also authored books along the way. His latest book, The Fat Switch, is a really intriguing book that shatters many of our age-old myths about diet and weight loss.

His hypothesis is that, rather than being driven by eating too many calories and lack of exercise, obesity is primarily driven by eating too much refined sugar, particularly fructose. According to Dr. Johnson:

“The conventional wisdom is that people are eating too much and exercising too little. Of course, there’s a lot of evidence that supports that... It’s too much energy in, too little out, and the rest is turned into fat.

This is the law of thermodynamics, and there’s some truth to it. The issue is that when people talk about this, they seem to think that it’s the culture that’s driving obesity...

But what we know is that animals in general will regulate their weight very tightly... In order to gain weight significantly, you actually have to block your sensation of fullness, so that you’re hungry more, and you have to block your energy output. You actually block the ability to oxidize fat to burn fat.”

How Leptin Resistance Causes Obesity

In order for you to significantly gain weight, you must first become leptin resistant. Leptin is a hormone that helps you regulate your appetite. When your leptin levels rise, it signals your body that you’re full, so you’ll stop eating.

However, as you become increasingly resistant to the effects of leptin, you end up eating more. Many people who are overweight also have an impairment in their   body’s ability to oxidize fat, which leads to a low-energy state.

The question then is: what drives this basic process? Why do you become leptin resistant in the first place?

Dr. Johnson’s research clearly shows that refined sugar (in particular fructose) is exceptionally effective at causing leptin resistance in animals, and it’s very effective at blocking the burning of fat.

“When you give fructose to animals, they lose their ability to control their appetite, they eat more, and they exercise less. Fructose  looks like it’s playing a direct role in weight gain,” he says.

continue to Dr. Johnson: How Leptin Resistance Causes Obesity