Hormone Balance Is Important for Both Sexes

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If you are having problems with weight control, hormones produced in glands and released into your bloodstream give instructions for various bodily processes like growth, metabolism, mood and unexpected weight gain or weight loss resistance.

The production and release of hormones decrease with age, and a decline in response by cell receptors can contribute to weight gain and weight loss resistance. So, balancing them is crucial for maintaining a healthy weight.

There are two main types of hormones: slow acting hormones like steroids and thyroid hormones, and fast acting hormones like peptides and catecholamines. Your body produces the right amount of each hormone for its needs. Your hypothalamus, located deep in your brain, acts as the control center for your body. Its main job is to maintain homeostasis, a stable state for your body. It does this by influencing your autonomic nervous system to manage hormones.

Hormone Balance Supports Healthy Weight

An adequate intake of nutrients like fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants plays an important role in regulating hormone production and supporting healthy weight loss. Common culprits for imbalances are discussed below:

Estrogen: As a woman enters menopause, her body produces less estrogen. This decrease in hormone becomes critical to her bone health and can lead to osteoporosis, where bones and cartilage become more fragile and porous.

Progesterone: Progesterone is important for men too. It plays a role in defining male characteristics and helps build bone mass. It also regulates blood sugar and brain activity, ensuring overall balance in the body. Low progesterone levels in men may result in low libido and hair loss.

Testosterone: Since issues with testosterone balance can arise due to illness or as a part of a man or woman’s aging process. Exercise, a healthy diet, and medication management can help to restore balance to your hormone production and release.

Insulin: The fat-storage hormone insulin regulates your blood sugar levels by converting glucose from the foods you consume into fuel for energy and fat for storage in target cells. Insufficient insulin production or poor insulin usage can result in high blood sugar concentrations.

Cortisol: When exposed to high levels of cortisol, your body undergoes changes that can result in the relocation and deposition of fat, particularly in the belly area. To reduce this cortisol belly fat, it's important to ensure your diet includes a balance of protein, healthy fats, and foods rich in nutrients.

Thyroid Hormone: The afternoon crash, characterized by drowsiness, mental fog, fatigue, and lack of motivation, is often a result of low blood sugar levels. Managing unstable blood sugar becomes challenging for individuals with autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto's hypothyroidism.

Excess estrogen can disrupt other key hormones, creating an imbalance. While there's no evidence that any specific food boosts leptin hormone levels, a poor diet and lack of exercise can make the hormone less effective and may lead to leptin resistance with the intake of excessive amounts of food.

In addition to improving your dietary intake, exercise is key. It increases leptin levels, improves insulin sensitivity, and promotes changes in fat-storing cells. To learn more about MRC’s personalized approach to healthy living, visit us online now or stop by our weight loss center for a FREE no-obligation consultation.