Weight management can be hard enough, but to add to that dilemma we have suboptimal food choices. If that weren’t hard enough, add hormonal imbalances into the mix and now we’ve got an excruciating uphill battle to lose weight or maintain. No pill, injection, or treatment will provide a healthy, sustainable weight loss.
The hormone issues discussed below often fade away with proper diet, exercise, sleep and stress management. Supplements and specialized diets typically address the symptoms of hormone imbalances, but not the causes.
1. Insulin
Insulin is the hormone that manages our blood sugar levels. One of its key roles is to signal the uptake of glucose from the bloodstream into cells. Unneeded calories get converted into body fat. As people grow more overweight or obese, the body’s insulin response starts to malfunction, progressing from insulin sensitivity to insulin resistance, the stage when cells stop responding effectively to insulin. Insulin resistance is a key symptom of Type 2 diabetes. In short, insulin resistance goes hand in hand with caloric excess. It’s important to have a diet that provides sufficient caloric deficit for weight loss and one that you can adhere to over the long term to maintain that weight loss.
2. Cortisol
Cortisol is one of the body’s primary stress hormones. This is released in what we all know as “fight-or-flight’ mode. Cortisol affects every cell in the body. It breaks down proteins into their amino acid building blocks to fuel he body during stress, infection, illness, trauma and so on. Does too much stress lead to weight gain? Not necessarily. However, when appetite declines during acute bouts of stress, chronic low-grade stress appears to encourage the brain to seek out more energy-dense foods such as processed foods. That’s where the recipe for weight-gain starts.
3. Thyroid
The thyroid sets the body’s metabolic rate and produces hormones that influence how we think, feel, recover, and perform. Declining thyroid function, hypothyroidism, leads to insufficient hormone production and symptoms may include fatigue, weight gain, brain fog, etc. The good news is, even with inadequate thyroid levels, this doesn’t necessarily mean the thyroid gland is broken. This can improve with prioritizing sleep, watching nutrition, and reducing stress levels. From an exercise perspective, training load should be top priority.
4. Testosterone
This one is pretty simple. Both men and women contain testosterone in their bodies, and more testosterone typically means more muscle and leaner physique. It doesn’t directly mean you are going to lose weight easier, but it helps to maintain and build more muscle which in turn burns more fat.
5. Estrogen
Estrogen is another hormone that is in both males and females, but in this case women are widely more effected by the symptoms it may cause. Estrogen levels that are too high or too low can cause weight gain. High levels of estrogen in the body can irritate the cells that produce insulin in your body, making you insulin resistant and blood sugars rise as discussed before.
With all that being said and to bring it full circle, all the hormones in our body are linked together in one way or another. So, it is so important to ensure that you are optimizing your hormone levels and keeping them balanced. WE CAN HELP!!! HORMONE ANALYSIS IS WHAT WE DO!
For more information please contact Premier Health and Wellness by visiting the site or by contacting the staff at (512) 459-4405
