What is leptin?

Leptin is a special message that helps your body know when it’s full.

Imagine you're eating a big bowl of ice cream. Your body needs to know when to stop, otherwise, you might eat the whole tub! That's where leptin comes in. It's like a little helper from your fat cells that says, “Hey, I’ve got enough energy stored, time to stop eating!”

Think of leptin as a mail carrier between your belly and your brain.

When you eat, your body sends out more leptin messages. These messages go all the way to your brain, telling it, “We’re full!” If there are lots of leptin messages, your brain knows not to keep eating, kind of like how you know when to stop playing with your toys and go to bed.

But if you don’t get enough leptin messages (like after a long time without food), your brain thinks you need more energy. That’s why sometimes you feel hungry even though you’ve just eaten, it's like your brain is saying, “I didn't get the message!”