Hormonal
In humans, changes in plasma leptin concentrations resulting from weight loss or gain do not correlate with changes in energy expenditure, suggesting leptin is not the primary signal mediating metabolic adaptation to altered body weight.
Your body's metabolic slowdown during weight loss is not primarily driven by leptin levels. While leptin does drop when you lose fat, this drop doesn't predict how much your metabolism will slow down. Focusing on leptin as the 'cause' of metabolic adaptation is likely a distraction from other physiological mechanisms.
the lack of correlation between changes in plasma leptin and changes in energy expenditure between weight plateaus suggests that leptin is not the primary signal that mediates the changes of energy expenditure that accompany the maintenance of an altered body weight in humans.
Why this rating
Randomized controlled weight manipulation study with rigorous metabolic measurements (indirect calorimetry) and biochemical assays.
Source
Effects of Weight Change on Plasma Leptin Concentrations and Energy Expenditure<sup>1</sup>
Michael Rosenbaum et al. · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · 1997
DOI 10.1210/jcem.82.11.4390
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