Cortisol Hormone Can Cause Food Cravings

Testing can reveal whether hormones are the root cause of the unintentional weight gain that sabotaged your best efforts to maintain a healthy weight. Hormone test results often identify hidden causes of fat gain. Bloating, fatigue, irritability, hair loss, palpitations, mood swings, problems with blood sugar, trouble concentrating, and infertility are just a few symptoms of undetected hormone imbalance.

Seldom is there only one cause of hormonal imbalance. If you’re experiencing symptoms of a hormonal imbalance, such as unintentional weight gain, you may consider using a home hormone testing kit to identify a variety of conditions. 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.

Your body relies on a complex network of glands, hormones, and feedback loops to automatically keep your weight in check. If you’ve experienced weight gain, test to see if one of these chemical messengers out of whack:

• 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 - Leptin hormone circulates in your bloodstream and triggers the brain to regulate food intake and energy expenditure. When stored fat increases, leptin suppresses appetite until the weight gain is lost.
• Ghrelin - If you have elevated levels of ghrelin being passed through your body, it can lead to unwanted weight gain. Ghrelin levels can rise rapidly if you try to follow a food restrictive diet.
• 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 produced in the adrenal glands and helps produce other hormones, including testosterone and estrogen. Normal levels fall as men and women age.

When you get the results of your MRC Hormone Test, you will gain meaningful insights about your overall health, so a personalized approach can be designed to correct imbalances. MRC saliva tests may help to identify hormonal imbalances in both females or and males at any age. Restoring and maintaining balance can affect how a person feels on a daily basis, their appetite, and overall weight. If you are using injectable bioidentical hormone or a skin patch, you should wait a minimum of 24 hours after receiving an injection or applying a patch before collecting saliva for an MRC hormone test kit. Unlike blood-based hormone tests, saliva diagnostics can provide a more accurate measure of the amounts of free hormones that are available for target tissue in your body. Visit MRC online or stop by the center nearest you to get started today.