Whether you're trying to lose weight or just stay in shape, understanding how hormones affect your fat loss progress can help you achieve your goals. It also allows you to identify when an imbalance is causing your progress to slow down or even stop.
One of the most important hormones when it comes to weight loss and obesity, insulin is made by the pancreas and regulates blood sugar. It works by storing excess blood sugar in the body's fat cells, as well as converting it into energy for use throughout the day.
Another key hormone that's involved in weight loss and obesity, cortisol, regulates the release of other hormones that help your body burn calories and convert food into energy. High levels of cortisol are associated with increased appetite and energy intake.
A balanced diet, adequate sleep, regular exercise, and stress management are all ways to keep your hormones in check, so you can maintain healthy body weight. And, if you have hormone imbalances, it's crucial to address them, so they don't sabotage your progress and cause more problems down the road.
To learn more about the impact of hormones on weight loss and how to balance them, continue reading.
Impact of Hormones on Weight Loss
Hormones influence your mood, weight, energy, and even how you sleep. They can also help or hinder your ability to lose weight. Your endocrine glands produce over 50 hormones, each responsible for different functions in your body. The right balance of these hormones is key to feeling your best. Here are a few hormones that affect your weight.
Insulin
Insulin is a hormone that plays an important role in helping you lose and maintain weight. When it works properly, insulin helps your body control blood sugar levels. Over time, however, if you don't control your blood sugar levels, your cells may stop responding to insulin or become resistant to it, a condition called insulin resistance. This can lead to diabetes mellitus as well as weight gain.
Cortisol
Cortisol is a glucocorticoid hormone that the adrenal glands produce that help your body react to stress. It's also responsible for regulating your sleep-wake cycle, metabolism, and inflammation. If you're constantly stressed out, it can disrupt this natural cycle. The result is chronically elevated cortisol that has a negative impact on your weight. The hormone also impedes fat burning and encourages your body to store excess glucose in the form of fat, particularly around your belly area.
Leptin
Leptin is a hormone that helps maintain your body's normal weight over time by controlling hunger and energy balance. It sends signals to the hypothalamus to control your appetite and to burn fat stored in your adipose tissue. When your blood levels of leptin are too low, it tells your brain that you're hungry, and ghrelin goes on the attack to make you want to eat more. This leads to a vicious cycle of hunger, excess food intake, and weight gain.
Ghrelin
Ghrelin is a hormone that signals your brain to make you hungry. It releases primarily in your stomach but also in parts of your body, such as your small intestine and pancreas. Levels of ghrelin are usually highest right before you eat and drop after you eat. Research shows that ghrelin levels can increase in people who are underweight or obese.
Estrogen
Estrogen is one of the most important hormones in your body. It helps regulate the menstrual cycle, and it also powers the development of secondary sex characteristics like breast growth and pubic hair growth starting at puberty. When a specific type of estrogen hormone, i.e., estradiol, decreases, it affects metabolism and may lead to weight gain.
Neuropeptide Y
Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a 36 amino acid peptide that has a wide distribution throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems. It belongs to a family that includes peptide YY (PYY) and pancreatic polypeptides. This peptide stimulates appetite, increase fat deposition, and trigger anorexia in mice.
Glucagon-Like Peptide-1
Glucagon-like peptide-1 releases from the gut in response to food intake and acts as a satiety signal, reducing food intake. It also plays a role in gastric emptying and regulation of insulin release from the pancreas. It is mainly stimulated by food, and its levels are raised in the blood circulation for several hours after eating a meal. An imbalance in this hormone may lead to weight gain.
Cholecystokinin
Cholecystokinin (CCK) is a hormone that helps control the body's balance of calories. It circulates in your bloodstream and communicates with tissues throughout your digestive system, including the lining of your stomach and intestines. It also triggers your gallbladder to contract and release bile. In addition, cholecystokinin stimulates the pancreas to produce enzymes that help break down fats and proteins during digestion.
Peptide YY
Peptide YY is a neurohormonal secretion that the cells in the gastrointestinal tract produce. It binds to a number of different Y receptors in the brain and activates them to stimulate either appetite or anorexigenic activity. A low peptide YY level has links with poor health outcomes, including obesity.
How to Balance Your Hormones to Aid Weight Loss?
Hormones are chemical messengers that control a number of processes in the body, including appetite and metabolism, sleep cycles, reproductive functions, and mood. When they become out of balance, these hormones can affect a number of symptoms, from weight gain to fatigue and itchy skin. Learning how to balance your hormones can help you lose stubborn weight and keep it off for good. Here are a few simple tips for balancing your hormones and aiding weight loss.
- Exercise Regularly
- Improve Your Sleep Quality
- Maintain a Moderate Weight
- Eat a Balanced Diet
- Practice Mindfulness
- Take Prescription Vitamins and Supplements
- Lower Your Stress Levels
Conclusion
Many people with hormone imbalances experience difficulty losing weight. They have increased hunger, difficulty sleeping, increased cravings for sweets and fats, and decreased exercise tolerance. If you suspect a hormonal imbalance is affecting your weight loss, speak with your doctor about it. They will help you figure out if the symptoms you are experiencing are related to hormones and how they can be treated safely and effectively.
