Welcome back to the Barbell Medicine Podcast.

I'm Dr. Jordan Vagenbaum today on episode 253.

We're going to talk about some weird science.

Now, after yesterday's Thanksgiving holiday, you might be feeling like you're carrying

around a food baby.

That's mostly a joke, but there's some weird science that suggests carrying around increased

weight might help folks lose weight due to the effect of gravity.

However, as the researchers call it, the Gravitostat theory.

Researchers from Sweden suggest the body uses gravity as a regulator of body weight and

body fat.

They call it the Gravitostat, which is derived from the Latin Gravis, meaning heavy and

status, meaning stable.

The idea is that specific cells in the bones and elsewhere sense the amount of weight being

carried around.

As the theory goes, specialized cells in the bone that are called osteocytes, sense when

a heavier load is placed upon the weight-bearing bones for long periods of time during the

day.

Cells then release one or more signaling hormones, like osteocalcin or lipocallan2, that affect

areas of the brain involved in hunger and satiety, or feelings of fullness, thereby reducing

hunger.

Overall, the Gravitostat theory suggests that the bones are sort of an endocrine organ,

because it releases hormones that create an effect at a distant organ, in this case,

...