Losing weight is more challenging, but it can even be more challenging when your hormones are not balanced. Below are some hormones that you’ll want to get in check to make sure you are on the healthiest weight possible.
Leptin hormone tells you that you are full, and it is time for you to stop eating. It’s the hormone that regulates your appetite and is meant to keep you slim and away from overeating.
When you eat foods rich in sugar, fructose’s oversupply is converted into fat and gets deposited in the liver, belly, and other areas of your body. Your fat cells will secrete more and more leptin, and your body gets insensitive. Your brain will stop receiving signals of “stop eating,” and this vicious cycle will lead to weight gain.
Ghrelin is a hunger hormone. Usually, whenever you’re hungry, your ghrelin would be too high and drop after having a meal. For obese people, their ghrelin is the same before and after having a meal. As a result, you eat more frequently eating, leading to weight gain. Your ghrelin hormone can also rise when you are on a very strict diet or fasting.
Insulin’s primary purpose is to help carry the glucose into the cells to be used as energy or stored as fat. But overconsumption of foods loaded with sugars like processed foods, alcohol, and artificial sweeteners can make your body resistant to insulin. Your muscles will not recognize the insulin, and the glucose will remain in your bloodstream. That finally leads to weight gain and diabetes.
Cortisol is a stress hormone produced by the adrenal gland. Cortisol plays a vital role in the proper functioning of the body. Its primary function is to:
A higher level of this hormone would result in overeating. It increases visceral fat deposition and fat cell maturation, thus leading to weight gain.
Given the poor lifestyle choices nowadays, your body can be in a constant state of stress allowing your adrenal gland to secrete more cortisol hormone, which could be why you are gaining weight despite your weight loss efforts.
Estrogen and progesterone are female sex hormones. Your body can function properly only if there’s a balance between these two hormones. Any imbalances in levels of these hormones can lead to weight gain.
Peptide YY is a hormone produced in the small intestine. It helps limit the food intake and reduce appetite. Regulating the Peptide YY hormone may help reduce weight gain. Foods that may help increase the PYY include fiber-rich foods, proteins, and low carb foods.
Your thyroid gland produces three thyroid hormones. The three hormones function together in regulating your metabolism, heart rate, sleep, growth, and brain development.
Sometimes, these three hormones become imbalanced. Underproduction causes hypothyroidism and is often associated with slow metabolism and weight gain.
Melatonin is a hormone that regulates wakefulness and sleep. When you sleep, your body releases growth hormones, which help heal, build lean muscles and improve body composition. When you do not get enough sleep, these processes get disrupted, causing stress and inflammation-induced weight gain.
This hormone helps reduce inflammation that can sometimes lead to unfortunate outcomes like weight gain. However, the effect of this hormone opposes that of insulin. It doesn’t favor sugar as a fuel for the body. An imbalance of glucocorticoids can lead to weight gain.
Testosterone hormone, also known as androgen, is a male sex hormone produced by females in a small amount. Together with the female sex hormone, this hormone helps regulate, repair, maintain the reproductive tissues, bone mass of women and improve libido. However, high stress and age can significantly decrease the testosterone level, leading to bone loss, muscle mass loss, and obesity.
How Can the HCG Diet Balance out all these hormones?
The HCG diet utilizes the HCG or Human Chorionic Gonadotrophin hormone produced in the placenta of pregnant women. The HCG hormone has been used in treating fertility issues in both men and women and has been used for decades in weight loss programs such as the HCG Diet.
When injected, the hormone allows your body to burn the stored fats to be the primary fuel source. One of the many benefits of using the HCG diet is that the HCG hormone can regulate other hormones in your body responsible for weight gain. It balances out your other body hormones, so you may lose weight safely and maintain a healthy weight for good.