Are Your Hormones Keeping You Fat? - 4 minutes read
Are your hormones causing you to gain weight? Hormones and weight gain have a strong relationship, and your hormones could be playing a significant role in your weight gain or inability to lose weight. However, you are not entirely at the mercy of your hormones, and there are some simple lifestyle changes you can make to help.
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What Are Hormones and What Do They Do?
Hormones are chemical messengers that are secreted by various cells and glands in your body. They travel through your bloodstream to receptors, where they activate a signal that causes the cells in your body to perform a specific function.
Insulin, which most people are familiar with, is a good example. It is produced in the pancreas, an organ located directly behind your stomach. When you eat, the digested food is broken down into glucose, the most basic form of sugar that your body requires for energy.
When glucose enters the bloodstream, your pancreas secretes insulin. Insulin binds to receptors in cells, allowing glucose to enter and be used as energy.
When glucose enters your cells, its level in your blood drops and your pancreas stops producing insulin. If your blood glucose level falls too low, as if you were doing strenuous exercise, your pancreas will release the hormone glucagon, which instructs the liver to release stored glucose into your bloodstream to keep those hungry cells fed. Once enough glucose has been released and blood sugar levels have stabilized, the pancreas stops producing glucagon.
This feedback system helps to regulate your body; too much glucose causes your body to produce insulin, while too little glucose causes your body to produce glucagon. Similarly, if you are too hot, your body will begin sweating to cool you down, and if you are too cold, your body will begin shivering to warm you up. However, the stresses of modern life can sometimes cause these feedback systems to malfunction.
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Weight Gain and Hormones
Consider the hormones leptin and grehlin. Leptin's role is to signal satiety (or to tell you when you are full) to your brain, whereas grehlin's role is to increase your appetite by making you feel hungry.
According to recent research, chronic lack of sleep increases grehlin levels (causing an increase in appetite) while decreasing leptin levels, so it takes longer to signal your brain that you are full, allowing you to easily overeat. Because your body cannot replenish its energy through adequate sleep, it will try to obtain energy through extra food.
Stress can also contribute to hormonal imbalances and weight gain. When you are stressed, your body produces more grehlin, the hunger hormone. You also produce more cortisol, which is sometimes referred to as the "stress hormone".
Cortisol causes fats and carbohydrates to be metabolized in order to release energy quickly. Stress also causes insulin release in order to maintain blood sugar levels, which can also increase your appetite.
As cave dwellers, our distant ancestors needed the "fight or flight" response to prepare them for fighting off the enemy or fleeing predatory animals that saw them as food. Unfortunately, modern-day stress can elicit the same "fight or flight" responses and hormonal responses.
How You Can Maintain Hormonal Balance
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If you believe that hormones and weight gain are causing you to gain weight, here are the two best things you can do. First and foremost, ensure that you get at least 7-8 hours of sleep every night. Secondly, try to keep your stress levels as low as possible.
If you can't avoid your daily stressors, try changing your reaction to them. You might try meditating for 10-15 minutes before work each day; it could help you face the day more calmly and more focused.