Health and Fitness
Here’s How to Solve Hormonal Issues Preventing Fat Loss in 3 Steps.
Treatable hormonal issues with awareness, medical support, and healthy lifestyle habits
Three Hormonal Issues Contributing to Obesity
Fat loss is not a trivial matter. Two billion people are overweight globally. Obesity turned out to be an epidemic after the 1970s. Human metabolism is complex. Each person has a unique metabolic profile and requirements. However, the anatomy, biology, and chemistry rules apply to all of us.
For example, hormones signal the brain to create specific biological and chemical actions.
Like our metabolism, the endocrine system, managing our hormones, is very complex. Hormones affect both physical and mental health. They play a critical role in fat gain and fat loss.
In this article, without going into theoretical points, I highlight three powerful hormones that impacted my fat loss and weight management journey. There are, of course, many more hormones that are impossible to mention in a single article.
From my experience and literature review, three hormonal issues significantly affected fat gain. They are insulin resistance, leptin resistance, and elevated cortisol levels. I briefly explain each condition and provide simple tips mainly related to healthy lifestyle choices.
1 — Insulin Resistance — Preventing Fat Burning
Learning about the importance of insulin on our metabolism was one of the most empowering types of knowledge in my health and fitness journey.
I used to think insulin was just another hormone and did not understand its critical role in our fat metabolism. Therefore, I create awareness of this hormone in my articles related to fat loss and the healthy weight management process.
Even though insulin has many metabolic functions as a storage molecule, its role in managing blood glucose is the key point to understanding fat loss goals.
The body uses insulin to remove excess glucose from the bloodstream as it sees too much sugar as toxic. Mainly excessive carbohydrates and protein raise blood glucose and cause insulin spikes.
Insulin does a great job of distributing excess glucose to muscles and various organs. If muscles accept it, that’s great for our growth and fitness.
However, if muscles and other organs do not accept it, as a last resort, insulin dumps the glucose into our fat cells to store it as fat molecules for future use. So, the more glucose and insulin spikes, the bigger the fat cells get. However, this is only one aspect of fat gain.
Another critical aspect to understand is that when the pancreas creates more insulin, the body produces a condition called insulin resistance. Many scientific studies indicate that insulin resistance is the root cause of several metabolic disorders, as I mentioned in some articles.
So my point is if we can turn insulin resistance into insulin sensitivity, we can gain a metabolic advantage. As mentioned in an article, Fat loss isn’t complex. We make it mysterious. Health is all about homeostasis. Here are Three tips to eliminate insulin resistance and shrink your waistline.
2 — Leptin Resistance — Satiety Hormone
Leptin is the body’s signaling hormone informing satiety to the brain. Created by fat cells, the leptin hormone tells the hypothalamus (controllers of hormones in the brain) when we consume enough food each mealtime.
So, fat loss is not just a physical point but also a mental one through the communication of hormones and neurotransmitters in the brain.
So, my point is if leptin does not work, we cannot stop eating and feel hungry constantly. As pointed out in this study,
“Leptin is secreted by adipose tissue and regulates energy homeostasis, neuroendocrine function, metabolism, immune function, and other systems through its effects on the central nervous system and peripheral tissues. Obese individuals are resistant to leptin.”
When leptin levels go down, another hormone, ghrelin, goes up. Ghrelin makes the body feel hungry. Good leptin levels can reduce ghrelin.
There is also a health condition known as leptin resistance, like insulin resistance. In a nutshell, leptin resistance means that the body cannot respond to this critical hormone; hence we don’t feel satiety.
Unfortunately, the body senses leptin resistance as starvation. Therefore, it is believed to be one of the root causes of obesity. And it is critical to understand the problem of leptin resistance for fat loss goals.
Fixing insulin resistance can also contribute to addressing the leptin resistance issue. Even though it is complex and requires medical intervention for patients, simple lifestyle habits such as reducing chronic stress, improving sleep, and undertaking moderate workouts might contribute to solving the leptin resistance issue.
Doing too much exercise when stressed and sleep-deprived can worsen the situation. Time-restricted eating and consuming healthy fats are also believed to contribute to leptin sensitivity.
If you are new to time-restricted eating and experience side effects, you may check this article to give you some ideas to overcome them. There are also alternative options like fast-mimicking diets and ketogenic diets.
In addition to leptin resistance, another condition is congenital leptin deficiency. This condition also requires medical intervention from qualified health care professionals.
For example, after medical assessment, some children who have this condition are treated with a leptin analog injection.
3 — Elevated Cortisol Levels — Stress Hormone
From my experience, cortisol is one of the trickiest hormones. However, it is essential to manage our stress. Without cortisol, we cannot survive.
Therefore, when we face stressful situations, even minor stressors, the pituitary gland stimulates the adrenal glands to produce the necessary amount of cortisol. This is an excellent biological mechanism by design.
However, excessive cortisol when it goes above the threshold creates serious health issues. Too much cortisol in the bloodstream indicates that the body experiences significant stress.
In short, the body needs cortisol to handle stress. In addition, cortisol controls blood pressure and increases glucose metabolism.
The key point to understand is that when cortisol levels are above the threshold, the body cannot utilize fat as an energy source. Especially tapping into belly fat (visceral fat) becomes difficult as cortisol increases glucose utilization.
The important point of addressing excessive cortisol is reducing physical and emotional stressors in our daily life.
As cortisol levels significantly increase when we are sleep deprived, fixing sleep issues can be beneficial to address this issue. Mindfulness practices and scheduling fun can be invaluable in reducing stress and improve sleep quality.
In terms of cortisol, there are two well-documented medical conditions that we need to be aware of and need support from qualified healthcare professionals.
The first one is Cushing’s syndrome indicating the body produces too much cortisol. The second one is Addison’s disease revealing the body produces too little cortisol.
Takeaways
Fixing insulin resistance is essential for fat loss and maintaining a healthy weight. We can gain insulin sensitivity by making simple lifestyle choices such as moderate exercise, time-restricted eating, reducing stress, and improving sleep quality.
Lifestyle choices for the resolution of insulin resistance can also improve leptin resistance. For example, reducing stress and improving sleep quality can make us less hungry. In addition, consuming healthy fats may increase leptin levels.
Likewise, reducing stressors and improving sleep can also provide better cortisol levels and contribute to lowering elevated levels.
Insulin resistance, leptin resistance, and elevated cortisol levels are complex and serious health conditions. Therefore, it is essential to get medical support from qualified health care professionals and follow their advice to create healthy lifestyle habits.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Here’s How a Mature-Age Couple Reversed Diabetes and Trimmed Their Bodies with Lifestyle Habits.
Please note that this story is not health advice. I shared my reviews, observations, and perspectives for information purposes only. If you have any disease symptoms, please consult your healthcare professionals.
Fat Loss & Healthy Weight Management Articles
If you enjoyed this story, you might also check the relevant articles listed below.
Three Tips to Eliminate Insulin Resistance and Shrink Waistline
Rewire the Brain to Melt Unwanted Belly Fat Preventing Obesity
Losing Fat by Understanding the Intricacies of Six Major Hormones
How Alberto Melted His Potbelly & Doubled Testosterone in a Year
The More Nutritious Fat Consumed the More Belly Fat Got Burned
I aim to increase the hormonal intelligence of my readers and write about neurotransmitters such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin, GABA, acetylcholine, norepinephrine, adrenaline, glutamate, and histamine.
One of my goals as a writer is to raise awareness about the causes and risk factors of prevalent diseases that can lead to suffering and death for a large portion of the population.
To raise awareness about health issues, I have written several articles that present my holistic health findings from research, personal observations, and unique experiences. Below are links to these articles for easy access.
Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, and Major Diseases.
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Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients to improve metabolism and mental health.
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