Hopefully, the following post I am copying in here will be of some help. I posted this yesterday to another forum I frequent. The issue that I point out is that you have to do something to make your brain know you're getting nutrients. If anything, supplementing your diet with some vitamins will help both energy levels and proper chemical levels in your brain/body.
- John

OK, gotta gloat a little bit.

Came back from the doctors today after having a follow-up pertaining to this year's weight loss program I put myself on. Mainly, he wanted to re-check my Lipid Panel (cholesterol stuff).
After years of having high triglycerides, in the 280-390 range, and being somewhat overweight, my number today was -- 80! 80 is pretty low and the doctor was pretty happy. A number below 150 is where you want to be.

- 80 Triglycerides (down from 283 and 396 last few years)
- had a 10-point rise in HDL (good) but it's still low (from 24 to 36, should be 40+)
- had a slight rise in LDL (bad) 141 but should be below 130.

Looked into Triglycerides a bit. As this points out, the issue people gain weight is that they eat a lot of starches, carbs and block the body's natural ability to think it's getting fed - and your cravings and calories go up. Well, duh. This is the centerpiece of all diets out there these days. To raise the good cholesterol, I'm working on taking alot of those Omega-3 supplements (fish and flax oils) and trying to eat a bit more fish. Weight numbers for this year are pretty good - down from 235+ lbs (sustained over the last few years) to 200 and that's been my goal for some time now. Doc says go for 190 now and that would be good to stay at.

http://www.reducetriglycerides.com/A.htm

The thing that stands out in there is:

>> Researchers from Saint Louis University School of Medicine, Missouri have found that high triglycerides block leptin - a hormone secreted by our fat cells - from getting into the brain by impairing its transportation system (Diabetes, 2004: May).

As a result, leptin cannot do its work in turning off feeding and burning calories.

In other words, high triglycerides make the brain "think" the body is starving so we keep eating and... gaining weight. This is probably one of the reasons why so many people are becoming obese.

By lowering triglycerides then, we could help the body's own leptin to work better so we could get skinnier avoiding heart problems, cancer and diabetes - common chronic diseases linked to obesity.
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