Manage Stress to Manage Food Cravings

Hormones are key players in regulating weight, metabolism, blood glucose levels, as well as where your body deposits fat. As you age, hormonal shifts can trigger numerous symptoms including 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. Generally speaking, a menu plan that contains plenty of whole foods, lean proteins, and healthy sources of fats and fiber tends to promote a healthy balance of vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals your body needs to maintain healthy hormone levels.

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:

• 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 - Correcting leptin resistance can help to restore hormonal balance and typically helps to control appetite so you can shed stubborn fat deposits.
• Ghrelin - Ghrelin is the hunger hormone that helps stimulate your appetite. Secreted by the stomach, intestines, pancreas, and brain, ghrelin hormone increases fat deposits.
• Estradiol - Estradiol is made mainly by the ovaries in women and testes in men. Low levels in men are believed to be a cause of erectile dysfunction and a loss of sex drive.
• DHEAs – DHEA is the highest circulating steroid present in the human body. Although it does not have much biological effect on its own, it is powerful when converted into testosterone and estradiol.

By accurately measuring levels of available hormones, our hormone test kit helps to identify the concentrations of unbound chemical messengers that your body needs to function safely and efficiently throughout your day. 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. Hormone imbalances are the underlying reason for a wide range of medical conditions including weight gain, muscle loss, headaches, fatigue, mood swings as well as more serious conditions when left unchecked. 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.