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Hormones That Affect Body Shape And Weight Loss
We shall look at the complete List Of Hormones That May, Or May Not, Affect Your Body Fat ,Body Shape and Weight Loss As You Age.
What are hormones?
Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers that travel in your bloodstream to tissues or organs that affect many different processes, including: Growth ,Development and Metabolism – (how your body gets energy from the foods you eat.)
- Hormones are the most powerful chemical messengers in the body, and when it comes to weight loss and feeling well, can make it or break it.
- They control blood sugar and insulin balance,
- hormones also control metabolism and therefore are intricately connected to the amount of fat you gain or lose.
- Burning fat and achieving successful weight loss is in fact partly a hormonal event.
Hormones are the most powerful chemical messengers in the body and can make or break your weight loss.
Hormones and Exercise
The food you eat and the exercise you do has a huge impact on your hormonal health and weight-For weight loss, calories are not the entire picture. Hormonal balance is key to helping you burn belly fat and look and feel your very best at any age.Levels of certain hormones change with age and they can occasionally cause weight gain.
The Hormones I Want You To Know About Are:
1.Thyroid hormones
The thyroid gland is a small organ that’s located in the front of the neck, wrapped around the windpipe (trachea). It’s shaped like a butterfly, smaller in the middle with two wide wings that extend around the side of your throat. The thyroid is a gland. You have glands throughout your body, where they create and release substances that help your body do a specific thing.
What they do:
Your thyroid makes hormones that help control many vital functions of your body like:
- Stimulating fetal growth
- Regulating heart rate
- Regulating body temperature
- Dictating metabolic rate (the rate at which you burn calories) including energy expenditure; thermogenesis; and protein, carbohydrate, and lipid metabolism.
- Thyroid dysfunction can lead to obesity or obesity-related diseases, such as metabolic syndrome, hypertension, hyperglycemia, and dyslipidemia.
The body weight connection:
Your thyroid creates and produces hormones that play a role in many different systems throughout your body. When your thyroid makes either too much or too little of these important hormones, it’s called a thyroid disease. There are several different types of thyroid disease, including hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, thyroiditis and Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.
2.Estrogen
What is does: One of the main sex hormones for women, the hormone triggers puberty in girls and regulates fertility. Estrogen also helps protect the cardiovascular system and bones and influences mood.
The body weight connection: Estrogen may affect your shape, nudging fat to the hips and thighs. “That’s why, when estrogen levels plummet with menopause, women tend to gain more ‘visceral’ fat that lodges deep in the abdomen. But whether menopause itself makes you gain weight overall isn’t clear,” says Burman.
Hormone Rx: Because menopause is a natural stage of life and not a disease, there’s usually no need for hormone replacement therapy unless symptoms like hot flashes and insomnia are taking a bite out of your quality of life. “But this is a time to be extra conscientious about nutrition, calorie intake and exercise to keep visceral fat in check. In excess, this fat raises risk for heart disease, type 2 diabetes and other conditions,” says Burman.
3.Testosterone
What it does: The main sex hormone for men (initiating puberty and fertility and influencing body composition and libido), it also affects mood, cardiovascular health and more.
The body weight connection: Testosterone encourages muscle formation and tamps down body fat. Starting in a man’s 20s and 30s, levels of this hormone naturally drop about 5 to 10 percent per decade. Does this drop drive up body fat? “Maybe just a little, but the research isn’t definite on this. However, in hypogonadism, which is diagnosed by finding a low testosterone level in men with symptoms like low libido, depression or signs like anemia or osteoporosis, men tend to have a lower percent of muscle and a higher percent of fat, especially visceral fat,” says Joshua Thaler, M.D., associate professor of medicine in the Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition at the University of Washington.
Hormone Rx: If your testosterone levels are normal, do nothing. “Getting extra hormone probably won’t change body composition and can have harmful side effects such as prostate enlargement and worsening cholesterol,” explains Thaler. But if you’re diagnosed with hypogonadism, you should consult your doctor about the potential benefits of testosterone treatment. “It might take off a few pounds, especially around your midsection, but don’t expect the treatment to completely reverse overweight or obesity,” says Thaler.
4 Insulin
Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas whose main role is to regulate glucose (sugar) levels and promote fat storage especially around the belly. Foods that promote the secretion of insulin include white refined flours and sugars.Insulin is the main fat storage hormone in the body. Reducing sugar intake, cutting carbs and exercise are the best ways to lower insulin levels.
5. Glucagon –
Glucagon and insulin are “enemies” and have opposing effects. In other words, when one is up, the other one is down. Glucagon is a fat burning hormone and is secreted by the consumption of protein.
6. Cortisol –
Cortisol is your stress hormone. Unfortunately, cortisol and insulin are best buddies. If cortisol is elevated due to mild to moderate periods of stress (typically chronic stress), insulin is typically raised which can make weight loss difficult.
Top 10 ways to achieve hormonal balance and promote weight loss include:
- Minimize all insulin stimulating foods. These include white sugar, excess alcohol and all processed flours.
- Pick glucagon stimulating foods at every meal. Glucagon stimulating foods are proteins such as chicken, fish, turkey, cottage cheese, yogurt, lean red beef, eggs, hemp, protein powder (pea, rice or whey).
- Support your hormonal health with essential fatty acids. In addition to cold water fish, nuts and seeds – it is advisable to supplement with a distilled fish oil supplement daily (you will love what it does for your hair as well!)
- Stay hydrated. Drinking 2 litres of water per day is critical for energy, vitality and overall health. No excuses on this one –just make it a habit.
- Drink green tea. In addition to boosting metabolism, green tea secretes an amino acid called L-theanine which tends to have a calming effect.
- Exercise, there is no way around it. Exercise is by far one of the most effective ways to lower cortisol response.
- Sleep well. A good night’s sleep can do wonders for proper cortisol secretion and weight loss. In fact, research has shown poor sleep quality to be associated with an increase in cravings and hunger, thereby leading to weight gain.
- Hug someone you love. Whether it is your child, hubby, friend or parent – hugging naturally lowers cortisol response.
- Meditate, pray or journal. While this may sound “out there” for some of you, I assure you, it works.
- Take time for you. Whatever it is that you love to do – walk, spend time with friends, – try to take time 15-30 minutes per day for yourself.
