Hormones role in weight management. 

Understanding the Role of Hormones in Weight Management 🤔🔍

How do hormones influence weight management and metabolism?                      Sexual function, growth, mood, appetite, and metabolism are all affected by hormones. Because of this, hormonal dysregulation can impact your health, including your weight.

Hormones control your appetite to maintain a healthy body. Certain hormones make you feel hungry, while others make you feel full. This means that if the level of hormones responsible for making you hungry becomes higher than normal, you can experience weight gain.

So now you may be wondering what are these hormones that dictate our appetite and regulate our metabolism. There exist two appetite hormones in particular. The first one is known as ghrelin and is associated with feelings of hunger. The second one is known as leptin and causes feelings of fullness.

However, hormones do not just influence your weight by controlling your appetitie. Hormones can also influence weith by influencing fat storage and metabolizing fat.💡🏋️‍♂️

What 3 Hormones Control Female Metabolism?

In females, there exists 3 key🔑hormones that manage metabolism. These are:

 1.🤤Insulin: This hormone is produced by the pancreas and helps control sugar levels and stores fat, especially around the belly. 🍔 Since it causes fat to be stored in the belly, insulin promotes hormonal belly fat. Foods like white flour and sugar can increase insulin production and thus contribute to hormonal weight gain. 🍰

            How does insulin affect weight gain and insulin resistance? 🤔

As mentioned previously, insulin is a hormone that helps control sugar levels. It does this by bringing glucose from the blood into your cells. By bringing glucose from the blood to your cells, it helps keep your blood glucose levels in check, especially after a meal when levels are likely to be high. Unfortunately, some people do not produce enough insulin. This makes the body less capable of lowering blood glucose levels, which in turn causes diabetes.

Diabetes can also occur even if a person is making enough insulin. This is because, in some individuals, the body becomes insensitive to the effects of insulin. As their body does not respond well to insulin, they end up with heightened levels of blood sugar as well.

To counteract the effects of insulin resistance, your body tries to make more insulin. This can then contribute to weight gain because insulin promotes fat storage.

Insulin balance is what your body will achieves on the Best Weight                                        Ways to Lower Insulin                                                       a. Reduce Carbohydrate Intake: 🍽️Adopt a dietary regimen with fewer carbs, as they have the greatest impact on raising blood sugar and insulin levels. While carbs are  crucial, reducing intake can aid in weight loss.        b. Portion Control: 📏Watch your portion sizes, especially with high glycemic index foods, to avoid excessive insulin release from the pancreas.                                                                                                                c. Regular Exercise: 🏋️‍♂️ Incorporate regular aerobic exercise to lower insulin levels, particularly beneficial for those with obesity or type 2 diabetes.                                                                                                                d. Healthy Lifestyle: 🌱Eating healthy, exercising regularly, and maintaining a proper sleep cycle are crucial in combating hormonal weight gain.

                                        Signs of  Hormonal Belly Fat

a. Persistent Hunger:🤤If you feel hungry despite having a full meal, it may indicate hormonal influence on metabolism-regulating hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone.

– Estrogen and Leptin: 🚺 Lower estrogen levels may lead to reduced satisfaction after eating. Higher estrogen levels are associated with increased leptin concentration and decreased appetite.

– Testosterone and Leptin: 🚹 Elevated testosterone levels can decrease leptin levels, leading to increased hunger and weight gain.                             b. Abdominal Weight Gain: 🤰 Hormones like insulin, cortisol, and low estrogen levels can contribute to weight gain around the abdomen.             c. Sugar Cravings: 🍭Constantly craving sugar may signal insulin resistance, where cells can’t take in glucose,  leading to elevated leptin levels and increased appetite.                                                                            d. Hair Loss: 💇‍♀️Simultaneous hair loss and abdominal weight gain may be linked to thyroid hormone imbalances.                                                         2.🩸💉Glucagon: This hormone opposes insulin, and when one is high, the other is low. Glucagon helps burn fat and is released when we eat protein. 🥩 Since protein supplies the body with this fat-burning hormone, consuming protein can promote hormonal weight loss. 🏋️‍♀️

 3.😫Cortisol: Just like insulin, is also a hormone. Released during periods of stress, cortisol and insulin , cortisol and insulin levels rise together.😫😓           If cortisol levels are high due to ongoing stress, insulin levels also rise. This can contribute to a stressed hormonal belly and weight gain. 🤯However, unlike insulin, cortisol is released by the body when it is stressed. It can put you in fight-or-flight mode and slow down your metabolism. While it is important for survival, too much cortisol can be harmful.

This is because excess cortisol can cause weight gain by increasing your appetite and making you crave sugary energy-dense foods. In addition to this, elevated cortisol can also decrease muscle mass and slow down calorie burning. Which will allow fat gain around the stomach area.

What lifestyle modifications can mitigate cortisol-related weight challenges? 🏋️‍♀️💤

As cortisol contributes to hormonal weight (especially around the belly), you may be wondering if there are ways through which you can mitigate its effects.

Lifestyle changes you can make to lower your cortisol levels.

1. Giving priority to your sleep: 😴 This can prove to be an efficacious approach to diminishing cortisol levels. This is because persistent sleep disorders, including obstructive sleep apnea and insomnia, have been linked to elevated cortisol levels. Create a bedtime routine: Doing the same activities before bed, like taking a shower and reading a book, can help your brain and body relax for sleep. Create a quiet sleeping environment: Use white noise, wear earplugs, and silence your phone to minimize interruptions while you sleep. Take naps if needed: If you have a job with irregular hours, taking short naps can help reduce sleepiness and prevent a sleep deficit. However, napping may not be beneficial for those with regular sleep schedules.

Stick to a consistent sleep schedule: Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day is one of the best ways to improve your sleep.

2. 🏃‍♂️Exercise earlier in the day: Regular exercise can help you sleep better, but make sure to finish your workout at least 2-3 hours before bedtime. Regular exercise has been found to make people more resilient to sudden stress and can hence reduce the negative health impacts of stress, like high cortisol levels.

3. Limit caffeine intake: Try to avoid consuming foods and drinks with caffeine about 6 hours before you plan to go to bed.

4. Avoid nicotine and alcohol: Both nicotine and alcohol can affect the quality and duration of your sleep.

5. Reduce exposure to bright light at night: About 45-60 minutes before bed, try to limit your exposure to bright or blue light. Instead of using your phone, consider reading a book or listening to a podcast.

6.🧘‍♂️ Learn how to identify stressful thoughts: Mindfulness-based stress reduction is a technique that involves being aware of stress-causing thoughts, accepting them without judgment, and processing them. You can train yourself to be aware of your thoughts, breathing, heart rate, and other signs of tension. This helps you recognize stress when it starts. By being aware of your mental and physical state, you can observe your stressful thoughts objectively instead of being controlled by them.

Incorporating the above changes can prevent you from cortisol-associated weight gain.

Conculsion🎯

Recognizing the impact of hormones on body shape and appetite is crucial. Addressing hormonal imbalances becomes essential in achieving weight loss and overall health goals. NO MORE STRESS😫.  This is one of the issues that Best Weight On You Plan helps to resolve. Email: melita@bestweightonyou.com …. and lets get the conversation stared.