Hormonal Messengers Are Impacted by What You Eat

When hormones are out of control, you may feel tired all the time because your body is busy converting food into fat instead of fuel. This can cause a noticeable loss of muscle tone and build up of fat deposits. In addition, your body produces insulin, serotonin, cortisol, dopamine, estrogen and testosterone. Each of these chemical messengers can be impacted by the food choices you make. Balanced hormone production is responsible for how you think, feel and look. Yes, this includes how much you weigh and how difficult it is to lose weight with a good menu plan. Unfortunately, when you lose weight, leptin hormone levels in the bloodstream drop causing you to think that it is time to eat. Nonetheless, don't give in to fast-acting hunger foods that do not promote feelings of satiety.

Anyone can experience hormonal imbalances at some point in their life. Any endocrine gland that is not functioning properly can create nutritional deficiencies and wreak havoc on stable hormonal production.

• INSULIN HORMONE DIET - Insulin is the only hormone that is always telling your body to store energy as fat and maintaining stable sugar levels plays an essential role in achieving lasting fat loss. Excess insulin production can lead to insulin resistance or metabolic syndrome.
• SEX HORMONE DIET - Obese women tend to have higher estrogen levels than women of normal weight. Nonetheless, researchers say very high levels of estrogen as well as low estrogen production can both lead to unwanted weight gain and weight loss resistance.
• HUNGER HORMONE DIET - When leptin hormone is overwhelmed, your liver cannot deal with a type of sugar called fructose fast enough to use it for fuel. Moreover, when your body starts converting fructose into fats, your leptin levels increase because fat produces more leptin.
• THYROID HORMONE DIET - Without enough thyroid hormone, every system in our body slows down and you feel tired and sleepy. You may experience weight gain, depression, low libido or an inability to lose weight. Restoring thyroid hormone production can reverse this fat-packing thyroid condition.
• HORMONE RESET DIET - It takes good fat to burn stored fat. The monounsaturated fats (good fat) found in avocados trigger fat-burning hormones while simultaneously serving as the perfect energy boost for your exercise regimen.

Hormones work together to increase or decrease appetite and fat storage. If your endocrine or adrenal systems are not working properly, you may experience unwanted weight gain and continue to struggle with weight issues on an ongoing basis.

Functional medicine seeks to determine the root cause of hormone imbalances to provide better solutions for supporting the body's natural mechanisms for healthy hormone balance. According to a study in the International Journal of Endocrinology, sleep disturbances can have adverse effects on hormonal balance and may lead to fluctuating problems with appetite, diabetes and eventually obesity. Despite the fact that you cannot stop the aging process, there are many things you can do to support optimal hormone function, such as consuming a diet of nutritious foods, being physically more active and engaging in healthier lifestyle. Some pain from wear and tear is natural as you age but hormonal disruptions often lead to chronic pain patterns.