weight control and brain chemicals

This week I am going to Boston to do a book signing for a company that will be distributing our Serotonin-Plus product thru GNCs and other retail vitamin stores. The book I wrote several years ago was about serotonin and how imbalance of serotonin can affect a number of body systems.


It is amazing how the slightest imbalance of a chemical that is present in such small amounts in the body can have such life-altering affects. The total body content of serotonin as about 10 mg (the size of a small claritin tablet) and the majority of this is found in the GI tract. In the brain, concentrations of serotonin are minutes, yet the most subtle imbalances may lead to severe depression, anxiety, OCD and a number of other significant mood disorders.

We inherit brain chemical imbalances, so the chances are high that if depression and other mood disorders run in your family, your chances greatly increase. Similarly, with weight control, metabolism issues, cravings and other factors that result in weight issues are often inherited.

Recognizing that we often have to play the hand that is dealt to us, when obesity seems to run rampant in our families, the question comes about as to whether this is "environmental" vs. true genetics. Some families, more than others, base their family gatherings and shows of nurture by providing more high-caloric foods than others. This is the environmental component. The slow metabolism, tendency toward addictive behaviors, etc is more the chemical contribution.

I feel that both play a large role in the tendency to familial obesity. The solutions involve changing the customary routines in "feeding" family members way beyond reason and consciously counting calories/portions or in some other way limiting caloric intake. Certainly, a program such as ours can help focus people on these issues. That is why I constantly tell people that "pilss" are a complete adjunct to any long term strategy for weight loss. Changing behaviors and finding adaptive ways to mitigate negative brain chemical contributions to eating patterns are the necessary components for long term weight loss.

Off to a tennis match! Have a great Sunday.