Ready to Tackle Hormonal Weight Gain?

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While poor diet and lack of exercise are commonly blamed for weight gain, hormonal imbalances can also be a culprit. To tackle hormonal weight gain, it's important for you to understand how to balance your hormone production and release.

Even small amounts of hormones can have significant effects. Protein hormones quickly react with cell surface receptors, triggering events. Steroid hormones, on the other hand, react with receptors inside the cell, leading to a slower response. Imbalances in certain hormones can lead to weight gain in the form of fat storage.  

There are organs like the stomach, intestines, and heart that produce hormones, but their main function is not hormone secretion. Your ovaries or testes also play multiple roles, including hormone production and the production of eggs or sperm.

Disrupted Hormone Levels Cause Problems

The hormones leptin, insulin, sex hormones, and growth hormone exert influence over appetite, metabolism, and body fat distribution. Those struggling with weight often have disrupted levels of the hormones discussed below, such as:

Testosterone: Since testosterone is responsible for various aspects of the human body, including your sex drive, fat distribution, muscle strength, bone mass, and red blood cell production, both men and women should take notice of imbalances.

Progesterone: Testosterone is often referred to as the male hormone, and progesterone is often referred to as the female hormone. Nonetheless, each play important roles in both men and women.

Estrogen: Maintaining a healthy lifestyle is key. Estrogen levels can affect how the body utilizes starches and blood glucose during energy consumption. Imbalances can accelerate fat storage leading to long-term weight loss challenges.

Insulin: Insulin regulates various metabolic processes in your body. Along with its counterpart glucagon, the two hormones are responsible for controlling your blood sugar concentration. Both hormones are released from the pancreas and primarily impact functions in the liver.

Cortisol: Cortisol plays a vital role in keeping you healthy and energized. It helps regulate your metabolism, blood pressure, and even your ability to form memories. However, when cortisol sticks around for too long, it can cause serious health problems.

Thyroid Hormone: Thyroid imbalance can wreak havoc on weight control and leave you feeling fatigued. It can be frustrating, but there are steps you can take to regain control of your body and support your thyroid health. Medication, a better diet, exercising more, and other healthy lifestyle changes like stopping smoking can help.

Elevated estrogen can throw a broad range of hormones out of balance, worsening symptoms of hormonal weight gain. While there's no evidence that specific foods can directly boost leptin, the hormone that regulates appetite, having a poor diet or carrying excess weight can make leptin less effective, which can lead to leptin resistance.

If you're experiencing vague symptoms, it could be a sign that your hormones are out of whack. Certain imbalances can have a big impact on your overall well-being and goals for healthy living. At MRC, we understand the importance of balanced hormones and work closely with you to identify and correct deficiencies.