Hormones That Affect Weight Gain
Some of the main hormones that control weight gain and weight loss are:
- Cortisol
- Estrogen
- Thyroid hormones
Were going to look at each of these hormones more closely in just a moment.
But before we dive in, its important to remember that these hormones are not BAD.
They are our allies and they play very important roles in the body.
However, when theyre out of balance, theres a ripple effect that can cause rapid weight issues.
So, with that out of the way, lets look at how each of these hormones impact our weight.
Your High Estrogen Levels Are Expanding Your Fat Cells
Although estrogen is responsible for making women uniquely women, its also the hormone that can be the most troublesome in the fat department. At normal levels, estrogen actually helps keep you lean by goosing the production of insulin, a hormone that manages blood sugar. When estrogen gets thrown off, though, it turns you into a weight-gain machine.
Heres how: When you eat, your blood sugar rises. Like a bodyguard, insulin lowers it by escorting glucose into three different places in your body. When insulin is in good working formnot too high and not too lowit sends a small amount of glucose to your liver, a large amount to your muscles to use as fuel, and little to none for fat storage.
If youre healthy and in good shape, your pancreas produces exactly the right amount of insulin to have your blood sugar softly rise and fall within a narrow range . But when your estrogen levels climb, the cells that produce insulin become strained, and you can become insulin resistant.
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Thats when insulin starts to usher less glucose to the liver and muscles, raising the levels of sugar in your bloodstream and ultimately storing the glucose as fat. Your fat tissue can expand by as much as four times to accommodate the storage of glucose.
The Thyroids Role In Bodily Regulation
The thyroids primary function is regulating your bodys metabolism. Metabolism is simply the process your body uses to convert what you consume into the energy your body can use.
An overactive thyroid, called hyperthyroidism, causes your metabolism to function at too high of a rate. While an overactive metabolism may sound good if youre trying to lose weight, it also puts strain on other areas, like your heart.
An underactive thyroid is usually the concern when you have difficulty losing weight. Called hypothyroidism, this slows your metabolism so that your body doesnt burn as many calories as it normally would.
Hormone therapy adds a missing or improperly balanced hormone to your system to help your body function at the right level. In the case of an underactive thyroid, it adds thyroid hormone so that your body metabolizes your food properly, giving you these five benefits as you attempt to lose weight.
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Once You Start Eating It’s Hard To Stop
If ghrelin makes you hungry, then leptin is all about feeling full. Leptin is produced in your fat cells, and its mission is also energy preservation. When you have sufficient fat, you generate lots of leptin. So, you’re easily satisfied, and everyone’s happy. But when fat starts to dwindle, leptin follows, making it hard to know when to put down the fork.
Consume More Cruciferous Veggies To Improve Estrogen
Since estrogen dominance can be a major contributor to weight gain, eating more cruciferous veggies can really help control excess estrogen.
Cruciferous veggies contain a compound called I3C.
When you eat those veggies, your body converts the I3C into DIM , which is an antioxidant that helps the body get rid of excess estrogen .
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Address The Cause Not The Symptoms
When your clients ask you about hormones and weight loss, help them understand the difference between symptoms and causes.
Many hormone imbalances are symptoms of weight gain, which triggers proinflammatory responses that affect the bodys output of insulin, cortisol, thyroid hormones, estrogen, testosterone and many other hormones. To lose weight, your clients dont need to balance their hormones with fancy supplements, detox diets or medication.
They can achieve success by adopting an integrated wellness plan and addressing lifestyle factors such as lack of sleep and chronic stress. At the end of the day, compliance is king. Ultimately, as clients move along in their weight loss journey, finding a fitness strategy they can maintain over the long term is the key.
What Should I Eat To Lose Hormonal Belly Fat
You can overcome hormonal changes that are impacting your body weight by choosing low-calorie-dense foods. These foods help stave off hunger and cravings. This facilitates your ability to alter your body composition and helps you get back to feeling the way you did before the hormone changes.
5 Best Foods to Eat to Lose Belly Fat
- Vegetables
- Unrefined Complex Carbohydrates
- Beans
- Lean fish
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Understand Hormonal Weight Gain And What You Can Do To Lose It
Did you know there is a direct link between your hormones and your weight? This often slips our minds when were traveling the long and difficult road of weight loss. Our bodies need a delicate balance of hormones to maintain a healthy weight for our body makeup.
Its important to have a clear understanding of how your hormones work so you can lose weight and keep it off. Once you recognize the relationship between weight gain and hormones, you can balance your hormones and lose weight healthily and efficiently.
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Hormones Affecting Weight Loss And How To Balance Them
Here are the 11 most important hormones that can help you lose weight. Ive derived simple, science-backed tips helping you get these hormones back in check.
1. Insulin
The most important hormone when it comes to weight loss is insulin. Most people have heard of insulin and immediately associate it with diabetes.
Thats because regulating blood glucose levels is a crucial job of this hormone. After an excess of sugar molecules in the blood is harmful, the body strives to control the amount of sugar .
The fastest way to rid the blood of glucose is to transport it into the cells, where they are used as energy or stored as fat.
And it is precisely this regulation of glucose amount in the blood that insulin is responsible for at any given time.
Accordingly, insulin plays an essential role in supplying energy to cells. On the other hand, it is also our primary storage hormone.
Finally, insulin also signals fat cells to take up excess energy.
In addition, the fat-storage hormone has a so-called antilipolytic effect .
Hence, it prevents fat breakdown by enzymes and, in return, promotes fat build-up .
In short, high insulin levels prevent fat burning.
Since insulins role is to regulate blood glucose, it is only legitimate that its presence blocks energy use from fat stores.
Accordingly, when you supply an adequate amount of glucose by eating carbohydrates, insulin does a first-rate job of consuming that energy.
How to Lower Insulin Levels
2. Glucagon
How to Increase Glucagon
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What Is Hormonal Weight Gain
Weight gain associated with underlying hormonal imbalances. For men, hormonal weight gain can be caused by high stress or cortisol levels in the body. The heightened levels of cortisol may make the body go into survival mode and induce the production of fat cells which will cause a declining metabolism to store food for later use. For women, a specific estrogen hormone called estradiol decreases at menopause helps regulate metabolism and body weight. The lower the levels of estradiol may cause weight gain. Throughout a womans life, they may notice weight gain around their hips and thighs.
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Menopause Weight Gain: How To Get Rid Of It
Exercise Physiologist, Carol Espel explains that Things shift when you start to go through menopause, but your ability to shape that is in your hands. Theres something you can do about it! Carol is the Fitness and Program Director at Pritikin Longevity Center who works with many guests, men and women, struggling with belly fat, and knows exactly what works. Newer science says going through menopause doesnt have to involve weight gain.
How You Can Stop Hormonal Weight Gain
The best way to stop hormonal weight gain is to have your particular imbalance diagnosed and then treated by an endocrinologist. However, there are things you can do yourself that might improve your condition.
- Prioritize your sleep and engage in good sleep habits.
- Eat a healthy and balanced diet.
- Cut out sources of stress wherever possible.
- Take supplements that support hormonal health.
- Exercise often and switch up the types of exercise you do.
If you want to support your battle against hormones and weight gain with surgery, Dr. Jalil is here to help. Whether you want to go ahead and schedule or discuss the effects of obesity on joint pain, we are ready to work with you.
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Weight Gain After Hysterectomy: Why & How To Reverse It
Hysterectomy surgery often demands the removal of both ovaries and fallopian tubes along with the uterus. Of course, the professionals try to spare at least one ovary, especially for the women who havent hit menopause yet.
Hysterectomy with the removal of ovaries, especially if the woman has not reached menopause, leads to faster weight gain. Lets discuss the causes and remedies for this sudden change in detail.
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See Inside The Gut There Are Two Dominant Types Of Bacteria
The balance between these two bacteria plays a key role in regulating our metabolism, fat storage, and hormone responses.
So as we approach menopause and plummeting estrogen levels alter the F/B ratio in our gut, it becomes incredibly hard to stay slim regardless of how clean we eat.
For example
Simply put, it doesnt matter how many foods women eliminate from their diet, if they dont heal their gut first, theyll continue to eat more and hold onto more fat.
This is why women continue to watch their thighs, hips and waistlines expand despite adopting a low-carb lifestyle.
And even when they do lose a little bit of weight its common that their body doesnt return back to their previous shape.
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Have You Tried Everything And Are Still Struggling To Get Rid Of Belly Bulge It Turns Out Your Hormones May Be The Answer Find Out Why A Hormonal Imbalance Can Cause You To Hold Onto Fat In Unexpected Places And How To Get Rid Of Hormonal Belly Today
Unexplained weight gain can be frustrating, especially when you feel like youre doing all the right things. Sometimes, though, a sudden belly bulge or stubborn abdominal weight you cant seem to lose is a sign of something deeper going on with your hormones. Your hormones actually play a big part in regulating metabolism, hunger, fullness, and energy. And because your hormones are always talking to each other, they form a tangled web of communication to keep your body regulated.
A number of hormone-related conditions can cause abdominal weight gain including an underactive thyroid, polycystic ovary syndrome , or menopause. Outside of specific conditions, general hormone imbalances, which can be the result of obesity, environmental triggers and toxins, chronic stress, or medications, may also be at the root of your resistant hormonal belly fat. If you think youre dealing with a hormonal belly, here are a few signs to look for.
Can You Combine These Supplements
While you will want to speak to your physician about combining these supplements, as a general rule of thumb, you may be able to combine one or more of these supplements into your daily intake. For example, because pregnenolone supports DHEA, you may be able to take both of these supplements at the same time.
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How To Lose Weight When Hormones Are Out Of Balance
To lose weight with a hormonal imbalance you will need to work to balance your hormones and increase your nutrition while still working towards that all-important calorie deficit.
For many, a Beachbody workout or similar and eating a better nutritional diet while tracking macros for weight loss can help balance hormones while others will need a bit of help.
Overcoming Temptations And Triggers While Fasting
At Noom Weight, we focus on more than just what you eat.
After all, weight loss is about so much more than calories in versus calories out.
Youll explore your habits and triggers around eatingwhich can also undermine any gains made by intermittent fasting.
While our Daily Lessons are brief , theyre impactful.
Take stress eating.
Fasting, by its nature, causes increased levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can make you feel stressed and crave high-calorie comfort foods.
Noom has lessons to help you overcome stress eating and find alternatives to food when youre tempted to break your fast.
Youll recognize when youre reaching for those potato chips because youre feeling stressed or bored.
And well teach you alternative strategies to incorporate during fasting, like meditation, journaling, or taking a walk.
Plus, you can opt to connect with a 1:1 coach for support.
Trained in key nutrition, wellness and psychology concepts, our coaches can help you tailor the Noom Weight program to whatever plan youre following.
Noom Weight coaches are open and supportive when it comes to intermittent fasting and how it works for you, whether its your first time fasting or youre a seasoned pro.
And if you hit a weight loss plateauwhich is common even for intermittent fastersyour coach has your back.
They might suggest tweaks, like incorporating more green and yellow foods during non-fasting periods.
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How To Balance Ghrelin Levels
If you have a sneaking suspicion your ghrelin levels are in need of some TLC, here are a couple of ways to balance them:
- Eat adequate amounts of protein. Protein helps you feel full and should be consumed with every meal. Studies show how eating protein promotes healthy ghrelin levels.
- Avoid sugar as much as possible. As you can see by now, consuming too much sugar disrupts hormonal balance, making weight loss seem an impossible feat. Be sure to read labels. If an item contains high-fructose corn syrup, dont buy it. A 2013 study published in Nutritional Diabetes shows how high-fructose corn syrup is one of the primary culprits of imbalance when it comes to hormones and weight gain.
Hormonal Imbalances You Cant Control
Again, even if youre doing everything right and utilizing these tips to try to keep your hormones in balance, you may still require some help from your doctor.
Checking your hormone levels in order to find out which of these are higher or lower and which may require more balance can help. This way, you will know what is creating your weight gain or loss and how you can better manage the issue at home and with your doctors help.
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Why Use Noom If Youre Already Intermittent Fasting
These days, more people than ever are practicing intermittent fasting thanks to its many health benefits, including weight loss.
But its not necessarily easy to stick with.
Intermittent fasters face unique challenges, such as:
- Heightened food cravings
All of which make intermittent fasting tough to stick with long term.
Lets look at how Noom Weights color-coded food system, daily lessons, and 1:1 coaching can help you deal with these obstacles and develop new, sustainable habits.