Hormones and Weight Loss!!

Many people say, "am eating right and exercising, but I still can’t seem to lose weight". The same diet and fitness plans that have been working since years is suddenly not working now. You might not realise that fluctuating hormones could be a culprit and balancing your hormones can help you in weight loss at any age.

The hormones has its impact on many things like our mood, our appearance and of course our weight too all the time. They fluctuate regularly and also this continues for the rest of our lives. The more we understand them, the better we can manage them. So let’s understand how hormonal imbalances hold you back from weight loss and how we can balance hormones naturally to maintain a healthier weight.

ESTROGEN:

Estrogen is a female sex hormone. Estrogen imbalance, also called Estrogen Dominance, in your body can slower your metabolism and the ability to store fat increases.

How to naturally balance estrogen for weight loss:

To lower estrogen levels naturally, eat 200-300 grams of vegetables per day. The fibre which is present in the vegetables helps you to remove the estrogen from your body. Women, who seek to lose weight, include 35-40 grams of fibre per day but increase the amount gradually to avoid stomach upset. Another important point is avoid red meat and all processed foods from your diet.

INSULIN:

Insulin is a hormone that has many functions but to put it in a simple way, it works as a key to allow cells to take in nutrients. After food intake, when the blood sugar levels rise, insulin is released and act as a key in lock, opening the cells to absorb the excess glucose.

When your body can’t shuttle sugar to the muscle cells to utilize (because of physical inactivity), the liver converts the excess glucose into fat, for safe storage in your fat cells.

How to naturally balance Insulin for weight loss:

Drink at least 500 ml of water every morning before you eat anything. This acts as body’s natural flush.

Managing carbohydrate consumption work remarkably well to keep insulin levels low. Get enough protein and try to eat small and frequent meals.

Include those exercises which particularly use the stored glucose in body like high intensity interval training or heavy weight lifting.

CORTISOL:

Cortisol is known as a stress hormone. It is released in response to stress in our body. Because of the multiple stress factors in day to day lives, the cortisol levels are constantly elevated. The increase in cortisol levels increases the glucose levels in blood which trigger the fat accumulation especially in the abdominal region.

This stress hormone can also mess with another hormone called leptin, a hormone responsible for making us feel full and satisfied. This means that when we are too much stressed, we end up eating more than we actually need.

How to naturally balance Cortisol:

Reducing stress, limiting coffee and tea, not over exercising and getting decent amounts of sleep are all ways to reduce your cortisol levels.

LEPTIN:

Leptin is a hormone that is released by fat cells. Its primary function is to tell our brain that we are full or satiated. This acts as a signal to stop eating. When leptin signalling is working properly, your appetite is suppressed and your desire to eat stops.

When you are overweight, with a lot of fat, lots of leptin is produced. One side with the elevated leptin levels and the other side the insulin resistance (due to physical inactivity) the receptors stop receiving the signal and you overeat. This leads to weight gain.

The high levels of insulin in the bloodstream actually block the signals from leptin from reaching your brain. So keeping insulin levels low helps in leptin signalling. Reducing body fat levels over a period of time, results in less leptin being produced and released.

How to naturally balance leptin for weight loss:

Balance your leptin levels by getting enough sleep. Deprivation of sleep lowers your leptin levels and actually increases your body’s desire for fatty and carbohydrate rich foods. If you suspect leptin imbalance, make sleep your priority.

Others ways to balance leptin include taking omega 3 rich foods such as fish and sea foods, nuts and seeds. Limit the intake of simple sugars and exercise regularly.

The bottom line is, if you have been struggling to lose weight but can’t figure out what’s possibly wrong, then your hormones has to be blamed. You can consult a doctor to test your hormones levels and consult a dietitian to make long term positive changes to the diet to have a harmony in your hormones.