Leptin falls when the body reads a starvation condition, thus the refeed. What happens to leptin levels during a prolonged submaintenance diet? Does it eventually rebound to reflect a new caloric norm?

There is a book called mastering leptin - I bought it from amazon. Have not read it yet so I can't answer you - sorry!

JKMOM--when you read it, remember my question!

My understanding is on a prolonged sub-maintenance (I assume by this you mean a fixed cal level which wa initially sub) your metabolic rate will drop to match your calorie intake. Thats it.

Have a look at the Avantlabs site in their magazine, they have a 4 or maybe five part article on leptin, but basically if your body believes it is in a fed state leptin will rebound, hence refeeds trick your body for a short period.

Something like that anyway