Cortisol Is the Flight or Fight Hormone

Hormone level testing can help determine whether or not your weight gain or inability to lose weight may be due to hormonal imbalances. Research suggests 96% of our clients tested had a hormone imbalance causing an uphill weight loss battle. Hormone imbalances occur when glands, cells, and organs get the wrong chemical signals. This can play an integral role in your overall health including having the ability to maintain a healthy weight, especially as you age.

If weight loss has become more difficult over time, your body may be compensating by lowering its metabolic rate. Hormonal balance can be key to helping you burn unwanted fat deposits, especially those around your mid-section or thighs. Eating meals or snacks that include a good source of lean protein and/or healthy fats can boost the production and release of hormones that help you feel more satiated, which supports healthy weight loss and weight management.

Fat cells, once thought of as dormant storage spots, are now known to act like other organs, secreting chemicals, sending signals, and influencing other parts of your body. Listed below are hormones that are prone to imbalances:

• Leptin - When leptin resistance occurs, chemical signaling is interrupted, so that no matter how much leptin is produced, the brain does not get the message to stop eating.
• Ghrelin - Ghrelin is an important hunger hormone that sends a signal to your brain that it is time to eat. It plays a key role in regulating your energy intake and determines how and when your body stores fat.
• Cortisol - Your body’s fight-or-flight hormone is cortisol, which is produced in the adrenal glands and is responsible for stimulating your fat and carbohydrate metabolism to create a surge of energy in your body.
• 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.

Identifying imbalances in one or more hormones can help explain unintentional weight gain, increased accumulation of belly fat, food cravings, or a sluggish metabolism that can lead to feelings of hopelessness. Although blood tests were once considered the gold standard, studies suggest salivary tests may be better for screening, diagnosing, and monitoring hormone balance in women with menopause or other consequences of aging. Although there are only two primary sex hormones in women (estrogen and progesterone), any imbalance can trigger an array of excess and deficient releases with a compounding effect. Using a Metabolic Research Center hormone test kit, you will collect saliva that is saved in small tubes four times in a single day and that is it. The results will show hormone levels for estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, DHEA, can cortisol.