Food As A Hormone?

Interesting notion, one that we reviewed at the recent Metabolic and Applied Research conference.  Dr. Randy Seeley reviewed this advanced idea, partially back by research, partially by what he has observed in the laboratory.

He wrote about it (same name as the title of this blog) in the most recent edition of the Journal of Science.

The idea is very thought-provoking, and makes you rethink of food not as macronutrients alone (fats, protein, sugars), but rather on a deeper level.  To understand the full effect of diet upon the human organism, we need to look at how the micronutrients derived from certain foods act on cellular level. That's totally different, and an even farther cry from counting food as a sum aggregate of 'calories', implying that's what matters the most.

Unfortunately, that also comes from our not-so-outdated view that weight loss results most fundamentally from a reduction in calories, independent of where those calories (don't) come from.

The article cites the Amino Acid Leucine, which is not made in the human body, and needs to be ingested from food.  Leucine has been found to trigger pathways in the brain that controls appetite, and reduces body weight.  Leucine can be found in soy, brown rice, chicken egg yolk, and some cuts of beef as well as cow's milk.

To further the notion proposed of food as a physiologically active cocktail, Seeley suspects there is a complex interaction of how the micronutrients derived from certain foods act at the cellular level. It leads Dr. Seeley to question the broad focus on the negative effects of high fat, and highly processed carbohydrate-rich diets.  More specifically, where does the blame lie in the current diet of most Americans, and somewhat more importantly, how do you maximize the beneficial effects of positive 'signaling' from micronutrients, and increase our intake of those.  Positive benefits may be in the form of improved weight loss or control, or even disease amelioration or prevention.

I was intrigued enough by the notion of this proposition, that I stayed after the lecture to ask Dr. Seeley the $1,000,000 question.

"So, what foods are the best ones to eat, to get the most benefit from the signaling that you discussed?"

"I am not exactly sure, honestly," he replied.  "A lot more research needs to be done, but you can count on the basics that we do now know: Whole foods, focusing on fruits and vegetables, and limitation of highly processed foods," items that are stripped of many beneficial aspects including fiber, bran, and phytonutrients that we don't even fully understand yet.  Some processed foods also have additives that include chemicals, antibiotics, pharmacologic agents, etc.

Dr. Lee Kaplan, a researcher - Internist from Harvard, who also presented at the conference added this take away quip.

"My test, if the patient asks about what a 'Whole Food' is?  If it rots on its own, don't let it.  If it doesn't rot on its own, don't eat too much of it."


Up next- what the researchers proposed as the real mechanism of success of Bariatric surgery, specifically Bypass and Sleeve, that is surprisingly farther from dietary and lifestyle behavior than most of us would have suspected... and the studied consequences of manipulating this aspect too far from a non-surgical standpoint.