Work with your body - expert’s view on hormones and weight loss

The problem of extra weight concerns almost 2 billion people over 18 years old on this planet. More than 40 million children under 5 are obese and suffer enormously from this disease. Some of them try to fight the issue, while others give up in despair and only worsen their current condition.

In most cases, the usual factors of influence are imbalanced diet and lack of physical activities, that lead to overweight and obesity problems. However, in many cases the reason is our hormones that block the ability of the body to get rid of additional pounds.

Dr. Sara Gottfried, who is an expert on hormones, a yoga teacher, a writer, and a Medical Doctor from Harvard, studied the problem of extra weight and its loss from a scientific point of view. Below you can learn her insights as well as several additional facts about hormones our bodies produce.

Note, that information provided in this article mainly concerns women and female physiology. Yet, hormone disbalance can also be an issue for men and children who fight their overweight.

Weight loss blockers and how to deal with them

#1: Estrogen
Estrogen is a hormone responsible for woman’s hips and breasts as well as intraarticular liquid. It also controls your body’s reaction to food and drinks. Keep in mind that estrogen is still produced by your body even after menopause. The older you get, the harder it gets to lose weight, and it’s exactly estrogen that slows down the process.

What can you do?

To lower the estrogen level you need to eat at least 11 lb of vegetables a day. Vegetables will replace meat in your diet, and their fibers will help estrogen excretion. Why does lowering meat consumption help?
Scientists genetically modify food and meat much faster than our bodies are able to adapt to these changes. As a result, our bodies are unable to process meat properly, so we get extra estrogen. It doesn’t mean that you need to stop eating red meat at all, but some restrictions on its consumption will only help you with the weight loss problem.

#2: Serotonin

Serotonin controls our appetite. The more serotonin our body needs, the hungrier we feel. The hormone, in its turn, is very closely related to the stress level of the body. More stress means more food consumption and, as a result, gaining more weight, — the calculations are that simple.

What can you do?

The basic tip is not to stress out because stress leads to higher levels of serotonin and, consequently, to extra weight. However, it’s important to understand that it’s long-term stress that is harmful; measured and controlled stress is essential for our bodies. For instance, if you don’t like your job — it’s a long-term psychological stress; if you practice sports activity — it’s a different and positive physical stress that does more good than harm. And, of course, it’s essential to give yourself a break from time to time.

#3: Insulin

Diabetes is one of the most common illnesses among people around the world. Any extra pound only aggravates unstable level of insulin. As a result, the level of glucose loses its balance and the level of sugar in the blood starts jumping. As a result, extra pounds begin accumulating.
What can you do?

The best way to get rid of the excessive insulin is to drink lots of filtered water with two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar. According to American Diabetes Association, people with resistance to insulin can significantly lower the glucose level in their bodies with the help of vinegar.
Of course, more traditional ways include the exclusion of sugar and artificial sweeteners from your diet.

#4: Cortisol

Cortisol helps us deal with stress. But as we deal with stress on a daily basis, it’s essential that you understand the issue. When it comes to weight loss for women, all roads lead to cortisol.

Our bodies tend to protect themselves from stress; usually, they simply accumulate fat, and in most cases, in the abdomen area. Furthermore, cortisol also leads to food addiction in general, and sugar addiction in particular.
People begin abusing cookies and semi-products that leads to the fat formation all around the body.

What can you do?

In order to lower cortisol level, stop consuming caffeine. Even a one-week abstention from coffee will help you sleep better and feel calmer. If you can’t refuse caffeine forever, then you can replace it with green tea (there’s even more caffeine, but it has less harmful structure). After that, you can switch to hot water with lemon with Cayenne pepper. A couple of cups in the morning will stimulate GIT and help your body egest toxical hormones.

#5: T3 (thyroid hormones)

Thyroid hormones are frequently the consequence of high cortisol and large amounts of stress. Lack of T3 hormones (called hypothyroidism) leads to the sluggish metabolism and, as a result, inability to bring the weight into the normal range. So no matter how hard you train and eat less, it won’t work if the T3 is low. If, on the contrary, your body produces too much thyroid hormones (called hyperthyroidism), you can experience trouble with gaining weight both general and muscular.

What can you do?

In most cases, an imbalance of T3 hormones comes from unhealthy dieting and high-stress levels. Besides that, you can increase the consumption of vitamin D, or get it naturally from the sun. Yet, you need to remember that low T3 level can be a genetic precondition of your body and may require additional hormone replacement therapy. In this case, always consult your doctor before purchasing any hormones or diet supplements.

#6: Adiponectin

Adiponectin is one of the key hormones that make your body burn fat. It controls the glucose level and the process of lipocyte breakdown. This hormone is also responsible for the communication between our brain (that sends the signals for burning fat) and our fat cells. If your body is lacking it, it will start accumulating fat cells.

What can you do?

The best home remedy to get your adiponectin level in order is to eat pistachios. Several researches showed that pistachios help not only with the adiponectin level, but also influence on the waist size decrease, lowering of cholesterol and LDL (low-density lipoprotein) level, the blood sugar level, and high sensibility to CRP (C-reactive protein).

In order to level up adiponectin of your body, you can starve yourself a little, namely not eat anything before sleep. Women need at least 18 hours without food, while men need at least 16 hours for adiponectin to accumulate. Besides pistachios, pay attention to avocados and dark chocolate. And don’t forget about physical activity.

To sum up. You need to live in harmony with your body and listen to it very carefully. When you visit a professional nutritionist, then, first of all, they will get your hormone level in order before giving you any particular diet plan. Once you start understanding your hormones and learn to control them, you will be able to lose weight and not gain it back after a month. Furthermore, you will be able to eat what you need and what you like at the same time without feeling guilty about a piece of cake from time to time.