Elevated Cortisol Can Cause Food Cravings

Testing can reveal whether hormones are the root cause of the unintentional weight gain that sabotaged your best efforts to maintain a healthy weight. Hormone test results often identify hidden causes of fat gain. Hormones regulate metabolism, respiration, growth, reproduction, sensory perception, movement, and are the underlying reason for a wide range of weight management problems.

At-home tests are readily available, convenient, and able to detect a variety of weight-related conditions using well-established biomarker to help identify the cause. Following a menu plan with plenty of colorful vegetables and fruit, heart-healthy sources of fats, such as olive oil, nuts, or fish, and lean proteins can help you restore your good health and will make it much easier to manage your weight.

If you are like many Americans, your waistline is wider than it was in your 20s. Discussed below are some of the chemical messengers that could hidden culprits:

• Cortisol - Elevated cortisol levels can cause food cravings, especially for sweet, fatty, and salty foods. Under stress, you are more likely to order a milkshake with fries than you are a balanced meal.
• Leptin - Leptin is the satiety hormone and is the main hormone that tells you when it is time to stop eating. Produced in the fat cells, hunger pangs are shut down unless leptin resistance exists.
• Ghrelin - People who suffer from obesity usually are sensitive to ghrelin hormone. Invariably, it signals the brain to tell your body that you need to eat more food.
• Estradiol - In both women and men, adequate amounts of estradiol are needed for healthy bone growth and development. In older adults, deficiencies can lead to osteoporosis due to loss of bone mass.
• DHEAs – DHEA is produced in the adrenal glands and helps produce other hormones, including testosterone and estrogen. Normal levels fall as men and women age.

Abnormalities in any of the suspect hormones described above can influence your metabolism and have a huge effect on how well your body can defend itself from weight gain, chronic diseases, natural aging, and obesity. Metabolic Research Center offers a Hormone Test Kit that makes salivary testing for hormone imbalances readily available and easy to use for both women and men. Hormones regulate metabolism, respiration, growth, reproduction, sensory perception, and movement. Imbalances can wreak havoc on body’s production and release of chemical messengers. Visit the Metabolic Research Center nearest you to learn more about our simple hormone test kits that allow you to collect the salivary concentrations needed to measure and monitor your imbalances.