Research
Hormonal
Hypothalamic inflammation and neuronal injury, triggered by high-fat diets and elevated lipid metabolites, contribute to leptin resistance and the defense of elevated body fat mass.
High-fat diets can cause inflammation and injury in the hypothalamus, leading to leptin resistance. This biological resistance makes it harder to lose weight and maintain weight loss.
GoodSupportsMEDIUM confidence
Inflammatory signaling, accumulation of lipid metabolites, or other mechanisms that impair hypothalamic neurons may also contribute to the development of obesity and offer a plausible mechanism to explain the biological defense of elevated body fat mass.
Why this rating
Based on animal models and some human imaging studies, but translational studies in humans are still needed.
Source
Regulation of Food Intake, Energy Balance, and Body Fat Mass: Implications for the Pathogenesis and Treatment of Obesity
Stephan J. Guyenet et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 2012
DOI 10.1210/jc.2011-2525
narrative_reviewCited 278×
Read the paper DOI resolved against Crossref · corpus check 2026-06-10
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