Weight & Appetite Hormones

About the Weight and Appetite Hormones Panel

Leptin and adiponectin are both produced by fat cells, but they do very different things. Leptin signals your brain that you have eaten enough and can stop. Adiponectin improves insulin sensitivity and supports the body's use of fat for energy (fatty-acid oxidation).

When this system works correctly, your body regulates weight naturally. When it does not, the consequences are real: persistent hunger, difficulty losing weight, and metabolic inefficiency that does not respond to simple caloric restriction. These hormonal patterns are associated with difficulty losing weight and may help explain why caloric restriction alone does not always work. The problem is not willpower. It is biology.

This panel measures both markers from a single blood draw, giving you a clearer picture of your metabolic hormone environment than a standard blood panel provides.

Why high leptin can still be a problem

The intuitive assumption is that people who struggle with weight have low leptin. The biology often works the opposite way.

Most people with excess body fat have elevated leptin. The problem is that prolonged high leptin levels can cause the brain to reduce its sensitivity to the signal, a state called leptin resistance. When this happens, the brain stops hearing the "full" signal, so hunger persists even when the body has plenty of stored energy. The result is continued hunger and reduced metabolic drive, despite what the blood level appears to show.

A leptin measurement in context helps clarify which pattern applies: low leptin, high leptin, or high leptin with patterns consistent with reduced responsiveness.

A blood leptin level alone cannot diagnose leptin resistance. Interpretation requires a provider to consider your result alongside your BMI, symptom history, and other metabolic markers.

What adiponectin adds

Adiponectin is also produced by fat cells, but it works differently from leptin. It improves insulin sensitivity, reduces vascular inflammation, and supports the body's use of fat for energy (fatty-acid oxidation). Higher adiponectin levels are generally associated with better metabolic and cardiovascular profiles. Unlike leptin, adiponectin levels are typically inversely correlated with body fat: people with more body fat tend to have lower circulating adiponectin, even though fat cells are the primary source.

Low adiponectin is associated with insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and elevated cardiovascular risk, sometimes in people who still appear within range on standard markers. Low adiponectin means cells become less responsive to insulin and less efficient at using fat for energy.

The relationship between leptin and adiponectin levels gives a more complete picture of metabolic function than either hormone alone.

Appetite hormones and GLP-1 medications

GLP-1 receptor agonists, including semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound), work in part by amplifying satiety signals. For people on or considering GLP-1 medications, understanding your baseline leptin and adiponectin levels provides useful context about your metabolic hormone environment before and during treatment.

This panel does not tell you how you will respond to a GLP-1 medication. It gives you and your provider a clearer picture of your starting point: a baseline for your appetite hormone biology that can be tracked over time.

Who benefits from testing

• People who have difficulty losing weight despite consistent dietary changes and exercise.
• Anyone who has hit a weight loss plateau that does not respond to further caloric restriction or activity increases.
• Anyone experiencing persistent hunger or difficulty feeling full after meals.
• People with a history of significant weight regain after initial weight loss.
• Those on or considering GLP-1 medications who want a baseline of their appetite hormone status.
• Anyone with a diagnosis or suspected pattern of metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, or pre-diabetes.
• People who want to understand the hormonal factors contributing to their weight regulation, independent of any treatment plan.

Symptoms that may indicate appetite hormone dysregulation

• Persistent hunger, including shortly after eating
• Difficulty feeling satisfied after meals, regardless of portion size
• Cravings for high-calorie or high-carbohydrate foods, particularly in the evening
• Weight regain following periods of successful weight loss
• Unexplained fatigue, particularly in the mid-afternoon
• Difficulty sustaining caloric reduction without intense hunger

What your results reveal

Leptin and adiponectin are interpreted in relation to each other, not in isolation.

Elevated leptin alongside low adiponectin is a pattern associated with metabolic dysfunction: the combination of impaired satiety signaling and reduced insulin sensitivity. Elevated leptin alongside persistent hunger points to a pattern consistent with leptin resistance, which may require a different approach than calorie restriction alone. If adiponectin is low, the metabolic focus shifts to insulin sensitivity. Low leptin in someone with significant body fat is less common and may indicate a different underlying driver.

Reference ranges for leptin differ by sex: women typically have significantly higher circulating leptin than men at equivalent body fat percentages. Your results will be interpreted against sex-appropriate reference ranges.

Your Superpower care team and your provider will interpret these results in the context of your complete metabolic picture.

How it works

1. Add the panel to your Superpower order.
2. Schedule a blood draw at a local clinic or book an optional at-home visit from a trained phlebotomist (+$119). Your sample is processed in a CLIA-certified lab.
3. Review results with your Superpower care team or share your leptin and adiponectin levels with your provider for interpretation in context. Results are typically available within 10 days.