The “Battle of the Bulge” is a familiar one for many in this day and age of ready-to-eat foods laden with fat, salt and sugar—from doughnuts in the morning, to a candy bar as an afternoon pick-me-up, to the bowl of ice cream for dessert at night. And if statistics are any indication, humans have been slowly losing—especially in the US, where it’s estimated about one-third of the population is obese.
The weapons in this fight against the flab vary from weight-loss pills to eating fads like the Atkins or Cabbage Soup diets. Adding to the mix are seemingly weekly scientific studies touting the supposed benefits of a new “superfood” (yesterday, it was red wine; today, coconut water—tomorrow…?).
But one piece of advice has endured through all the fad diets and exercises: Doctors and nutritionists have continuously and consistently emphasized the importance of a balanced diet combined with regular exercise, not just to fight against weight gain, but for overall heath.
And recent studies have now provided more evidence to support the role eating right plays in weight loss—in the form of orexin. A Wired magazine article on the importance of orexin in helping weight loss or maintenance explains it’s “a neuropeptide that regulates an astonishing array of mental properties, from sleepiness to hunger.” In short, low levels of orexin result in mental and physical lethargy, whereas high levels of it increase metabolism and alertness. So how does diet affect orexin levels?
It turns out health professionals have it right when they advise to snack on, say, a handful of almonds rather than a bag of potato chips—orexin levels are positively influenced by protein intake, but negatively influenced by sugar intake. Simply, more protein equals more orexin activity, while more refined sugars equal low levels of the neuropeptide, resulting in sleepiness and overall lethargy.
Clearly, such studies underscore the importance of scientific research in learning more about how lifestyle choices affect human health. For more information about challenges surrounding funding and research in the health care industry, see Fisher Investments on Health Care.