NUTRITIONIST NOTES Hormone Harmony For Weight Loss

Written by Jen Casey

Have you ever listened to a symphony? When all the instruments arise at just the right moment, at the just right note, the sound is flawless. When one musician plays out of tune, you hear it!

The body’s hormones are a bit like the music of a symphony: When they’re well-orchestrated, you feel and function at your best. When there’s discord, it can throw off a lot of systems and your weight.

A healthy diet and lifestyle play a big role in creating hormonal balance. So, if you are the conductor, what can you do to keep your hormones in harmony?

What are hormones, anyway?

Hormones are chemical messengers made by the endocrine glands. They travel through our bloodstream to organs and tissues to signal responses like hunger, satiety, energy, sleep/wake cycles, mood, metabolism, heart rate, growth, development and reproduction.

What does it feel like when hormones are out of balance?

When one hormone is out of balance—producing too much or too little—it can trigger a cascade of imbalances with other hormones as our body tries to regain harmony. Symptoms might not show up right away, but ones to watch for are fatigue, brain fog, sugar cravings, swollen joints, exhaustion, insomnia, acne, heavy and painful PMS and menstruation, infertility and the dreaded inability to lose weight, especially around the midsection.

How do hormones get imbalanced and affect weight?

Hormones fluctuate throughout life, and too much or too little at any time can really affect your health.

We can’t control some factors that affect hormone balance, such as age, genetics, injury and some medical conditions. However, we can help support our hormonal harmony, especially when it comes to managing a healthy weight, by:

• Reducing excess body fat;

• Avoiding endocrine disruptors found in some cosmetics, personal care products, additives in foods, and cleaning products;

• Skipping snacking and grazing between meals;

• Swapping out refined carbs for meals balanced with complex carbs, lean protein and healthy fat;

• Managing chronic stress;

• Creating a sleep hygiene routine; and

• Limiting alcohol use.

What hormones should I focus on to manage weight?

Remember, hormones really need the other 50 band members by their side. Thyroid, melatonin, adrenaline, ghrelin, leptin, glucagon, growth hormone, progesterone and dozens of other hormones make up our endocrine system.

When you’re trying to lose weight, keep these in mind:

Insulin

The pancreas secretes the hormone insulin when you eat or drink. Insulin’s job is to help your cells pick up glucose (sugar) from your food and use it for energy. If you’re a grazer, snacker or lover of refined carbs, that mechanism can lead to tired insulin receptors.

Now, that insulin resistance can cause more glucose to stay in your bloodstream. If you have a sedentary lifestyle, that sugar is eventually going to be stored as excess fat.

To keep insulin levels healthy, allow for a 4–5 hour fasting period between meals by skipping snacks and fancy lattes—and sticking to three balanced meals a day made up of complex carbs, healthy fats and lean protein. During this fasting, your body taps into stored fat as a source of fuel, or energy. This is also a great time to get in some extra exercise to burn the glucose.

You can give your insulin receptors a break by eating less baked goods, sweets, sodas, juices and starches. Instead, eat more fibrerich carbohydrates from whole grains, beans, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables.

Estrogen

Estrogen is responsible for sexual and reproductive health, bone, glucose, and cholesterol metabolism. When estrogen levels are high in relation to another hormone called progesterone, you might experience weight gain, especially around the midsection.