[Newsletter] The Smartest Coach in the Room

Yup, snacks leave you hungry. Every Saturday, The Smartest Coach in the Room delivers helpful takeaways on the hottest nutrition and health topics and the world’s most effective coaching techniques. (Did some amazing friend forward this to you? [Subscribe here]( Why “Empty Calories” Leave You Feeling So… Empty White bread, your kid’s leftover Halloween candy, and those crunchy morsels sprayed with fake BBQ flavor all share something in common. Not long after gulping them down, you’re hungry again. There are many reasons for this “I just ate and want more” phenomenon. Here’s one of them: Too much junk food can disrupt leptin. A hormone released by fat tissue, leptin tells your brain: ✅ How much energy you’ve consumed ✅ How much excess energy is stored in your fat cells Your brain uses that information to turn hunger and metabolism up or down. Assuming you’re well nourished, leptin will tell you when you’ve had enough. Problem is: Eating too many highly-processed foods and too few minimally-processed whole foods can disrupt leptin. Diets rich in hyper-palatable, ultra-processed foods seem to… 👉 Injure and inflame the cells in the hypothalamus, the part of your brain that regulates food intake and energy output. 👉 Mess with your microbiome, which also causes hypothalamic inflammation. Hypothalamic inflammation can then lead to leptin resistance. When this happens… Your brain tunes out the leptin. Now, your brain thinks it doesn’t have enough leptin. That means… ✅ Your brain needs fat cells to get bigger and produce more leptin. ✅ So you feel hungry. Regular portion sizes are no longer satisfying. ✅ And as a result... you gain fat. Here’s a bit of welcome news: You don’t have to 100 percent cancel junk food. As long as most of your diet comes from minimally-processed whole foods, you should be able to keep leptin signaling working correctly. (To learn more about how ultra-processed foods affect appetite—as well as what you can do about it—read: [How Brain Signaling Drives What You Eat]( 10-Second Takeaways - Deep brain physiology helps to drive what, when, and how much you eat. - In addition to brain signaling, two physiological factors work together to tell you to put down your fork and call it quits: gastric distension and hormonal satiation. - Certain foods can help you fill up on fewer calories. These include low-energy and high-fiber foods, such as vegetables, beans, and legumes. - Don’t worry about occasional junk food indulgences. What really matters to your weight and overall health is what you eat consistently every day. - Completely avoiding so called junk foods usually does the opposite of what you want: You often end up overeating or bingeing on those “banned” foods. Want to learn more about nutrition science and how to use it to help people make healthy eating and lifestyle changes? Check out our [Level 1 Nutrition Coaching Certification](. It combines the science of nutrition with the art of coaching so you can help anyone make evidenced-informed decisions and achieve their most important health and fitness goals. [Become a Certified Nutrition Coach - Join the presale list for the #1 rated PN Level 1 Nutrition Certification]( Take care, Alex --------------------------------------------------------------- Alex Picot-Annand, PN2, Holistic Nutritionist Editorial Director Precision Nutrition Home of the world’s top nutrition coaches --------------------------------------------------------------- What did you think of this email? Precision Nutrition Business Insider's #1 Choice for Nutrition Certifications in 2022 Forbes 2024 Best Health Coach Certification Program --- To view this email as a web page, click [here.]( Precision Nutrition Inc. 18 King Street East, Suite 1400 Toronto, ON, M5C 1C4, Canada Finally, nutrition makes sense. Visit us at [www.precisionnutrition.com]( today. Follow us on [Unsubscribe or Manage Preferences](