Health and Hormones: Are your Hormones Hindering your Weight Loss?
It’s not hard to argue that the human body is an incredibly complicated place; as much as we want to, fully understanding how it works is almost impossible; of course, weight loss is no exception to this issue. As simple as weight loss might seem, weight loss and metabolic function are not quite as black and white as we think, and we often ignore a key factor in the equation: hormones! Hormones play a number of incredibly diverse roles in the body, and unfortunately, when an imbalance takes place with any of these chemicals… let’s just say things do not function as they should! So when you’re overly stressed and gaining weight, or when things just feel out of whack… what could be going on beneath the surface? Is it a hormonal imbalance, or have you been lied to? Let’s dive into it.
1. Cortisol
Cortisol is one of the body’s primary stress hormones, and it’s produced in the adrenal glands, which are located at the top of the kidneys. When our body responds to stress or fear, the sympathetic nervous system or SNS is activated; this is also known as the body’s ‘fight-or-flight response”. Once the SNS is activated by stress, cortisol, epinephrine, and norepinephrine, which are three stress hormones, are released into the body and activate the hypothalamus-pituitary adrenal axis (or HPA axis), which is a feedback loop between your brain and your adrenal glands that responds to stressors, either physical, emotional, or mental.
While cortisol can’t necessarily cause you to gain weight directly, it can certainly cause you to crave foods that will put you into a caloric surplus (excess of calories). While a short-term stress response (think: being nervous about a test) can cause appetite suppression, a long-term stress response that involves cortisol (think: living through a pandemic) causes the body to crave more energy-dense food regardless of appetite. This is why we so often see a correlation between obesity and chronic, low-grade stress; stress makes you crave pizza, and pizza… well, you know.
2. Insulin
I’m sure we all have heard a fair bit about insulin, but what does it really do? Insulin is the hormone that controls our blood sugar levels, and it helps signal the absorption of glucose into the bloodstream. When foods that are high in glucose (sugar) and high in calories are consumed, an insulin response is triggered; these unnecessary calories are then converted into body fat. As body fat increases, the body’s insulin response begins to malfunction, resulting in a failure in insulin response within the cells; this is known as insulin resistance, a key symptom of type 2 diabetes. Simply put, excessive calories (mainly ‘bad’ carbs) trigger insulin production, but the insulin doesn’t respond to the calories, so they aren’t used for energy. This causes excessive sugar to circulate in the body, which causes more insulin to be produced, which can cause you to crave even MORE food… it’s a vicious cycle. So again, while insulin cannot necessarily directly cause weight gain, insulin resistance as a result of excessive caloric consumption can lead to even more excessive caloric consumption, which can cause weight gain.
3. Estrogen
I’m sure we’ve all been told that excessive estrogen causes hormone imbalances and weight gain… especially in women. In reality, studies have demonstrated that excessive estrogen production has not been shown to cause weight gain; while it’s true that there is correlation between higher levels of estrogen and excessive body fat, it’s been found that it’s the weight gain that results in a hormonal imbalance, and not the other way around.
In addition, studies have also demonstrated that lowered amounts of estrogen could actually result in weight gain. For example, excess weight gain following menopause is common, primarily due to the decreased production of estradiol, a form of estrogen. For this reason, it’s important to discuss concerns about hormone production around menopause with your primary care provider in order to find potential solutions.
So what do we do?
First of all, we need to understand the truth about hormone imbalances; hormone imbalances are often (not always) a symptom of weight gain… not the cause. Weight gain that’s caused as a result of chronic stress, lack of sleep, etc. can cause hormonal fluctuation, which can lead to further complications with weight gain. Plainly, we need to address the cause of the weight gain, which is often the cause of the hormonal imbalance; how do we do this?
Focus on Nutrition
I know this kind of seems like a no-brainer, but you’d be surprised how many people attempt to lose weight without lowering their caloric consumption or cleaning up their nutrition. To find out how many calories you should be eating per day, try checking out this blog post here. It can also be helpful to focus on eating higher amounts of protein and lowering your intake of ‘unhealthy’ carbs, such as white bread, pastries, or candy. While there’s room for everything in a healthy, balanced diet, it’s best to focus on whole foods while paying attention to your hunger cues. Try to refrain from eating past satiety, and fill up on lots of fruits, veggies, and lean protein.
Get Active!!
Honestly, one of the best tips I have for ensuring a healthy hormone balance is to lift heavy and strength train often. Heavy lifting and strength training can increase muscle mass, which will increase your metabolism, which results in an increase in calories burned each day. In addition, it’s a great exercise to increase bone density and promote weight loss. If you can’t lift heavy consistently, then try to incorporate HIIT, or high intensity interval training, into your daily routine. Don’t be afraid to get into the weight room; it can have incredible health benefits, and strength IS sexy!
Get some SLEEP!
Let’s be honest, most of us do not get enough sleep on a regular basis; you should be getting at LEAST 7-9 hours of sleep every night! Without sleep, your cortisol levels can become elevated due to an increased level of chronic stress, which can lead to cravings and ultimately weight gain! It’s also almost impossible to recover from workouts and gain muscle without proper sleep. Try turning off all electronics off one hour before bed, and sleep with a completely lightless room! Nighttime mindfulness meditation can also help promote restful sleep; you can learn more about mindfulness meditation here.
Talk to your Doctor!
If you truly believe that hormonal imbalances are taking a toll on your health, reach out to your primary care provider ASAP. They can give you recommendations and assess what might be causing the issue. It’s more than possible that they will recommend that you focus on nutrition, sleep, and exercise in order to find some realignment, but in some cases, more serious interventions might be necessary.
All in all….
If hormones have caused chaos in your health and wellness, you are definitely not alone. Life has been throwing us all some curveballs lately, and it can feel like you’re no longer in control of your own health. We are here to tell you that you CAN take your body back, you CAN find a happy place of balance with your hormones, and you CAN lose that weight and find happiness with your body. Good things take time, and you deserve to spend a little extra time on yourself.