Hormonal Weight Gain: Why hormones cause weight gain (and how to fix it)!

The steps to losing weight are well-known around the world – eat a healthy diet and exercise. However, for many who eat the right foods and exercise regularly, stubborn weight gain or lack of weight loss continue and are unimproved. The end-result for many includes feelings of frustration, hopelessness, and feeling self-defeated. If you are doing all the right things regarding your diet and physical activity, you are not alone…The problem can be hormonal weight gain.

Did you know that one’s weight is also affected by their hormone levels? Hormones are essential to human life and have several functions. Various hormones can influence our appetite, metabolism, and body fat distribution. Those who are overweight or obese are thought to have hormonal shifts that encourage the accumulation of body fat. Learning of the various types of hormones that can influence problematic hormonal weight gain is essential to understanding and correcting the problem.

Hormones That Affect Your Weight

Many hormones, some known and some not well-known can significantly affect your weight loss goals. Therefore, it is important to work with a holistic healthcare provider who can work with you in getting to the root of your hormonal weight gain concerns through the evaluation of specialized blood chemistry to better understand your hormone levels. Below, we discuss the most common hormones that have been implicated in affecting one’s weight.

Estrogen

Estrogen is a sex-hormone that is largely produced by the ovaries during a women’s reproductive years. The specific estrogen that is produced – estradiol – helps maintain a healthy weight in women. However, when a woman produces too much estradiol, hormonal weight gain problems can arise, particularly in the hips and buttocks (pear-shaped). Conversely, producing too little estrogen can also lead to problematic weight gain in many women. Low estrogen is typically the result of menopause in women. In menopause, the ovaries virtually stop producing estradiol, and instead estrone is produced, which is another type of estrogen produced from fat cells. Menopausal women are typically more prone to abdominal obesity (apple-shaped). Visceral fat typically starts to accumulate in higher amounts likely from the production of estrone, which not only can lead to problems with weight, but weight-related complications including heart disease and diabetes.

Avoiding soy products, which are estrogenic in nature, and possibly the use of bioidentical HRT for those with low estrogen/menopause may help achieve better estrogen balance and possibly improved body weight.

Testosterone

Testosterone is a sex-hormone that is produced in large amounts in the testes of men in their reproductive years. As men age, testosterone levels decline. Many studies have shown the association between low testosterone levels and an increase in body fat percentage compared to those with higher testosterone. Men with low testosterone levels typically gain abdominal fat around their midsection, which increases their risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Men with clinically low testosterone levels may benefit from testosterone replacement therapy, along with an appropriate dietary and exercise protocol, to help maintain a healthier weight and improve overall health and wellness.

Insulin

Insulin is an essential hormone produced by the pancreas. It is responsible for regulating blood glucose (sugar) and the metabolism of fat. Specifically, when you eat a large meal, the carbohydrates from that meal are broken down into simple sugars. Insulin is then released from the pancreas to drive the sugar from your blood into your tissues for storage and energy. Insulin also helps regulate how much fat is stored from the meals you eat, and how much fat is broken down for energy use.

For those who are obese, insulin can have a harder time signaling to the tissues to store blood sugar for energy use. This can cause a known condition called insulin resistance, which is correlated with hormonal weight gain. Specifically, it can lead to metabolic syndrome, which includes central obesity, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and cardiovascular disease.

Choosing a healthy anti-inflammatory dietary protocol with low sugar/carbohydrates, as well as intermittent fasting, an exercise regimen, and possibly medications that reduce insulin resistance are key to improving insulin levels and controlling weight.

Cortisol

Cortisol is a stress hormone that is produced by our adrenal glands and is essential for survival. Heard of the flight or fight response? The cortisol hormone plays a part in this and regulates appropriate response to perceived stress or threat for optimal functioning. In today’s world however, cortisol is released far more often than ever before, which can have consequential effects on our health and weight.

Chronic cortisol elevation can lead to rises in insulin, which work into overdriving shoving glucose from the blood into the tissues. This can lead to sugar crashes, which fuels hunger and overeating. Cortisol is known to increase the consumption of fat and sugar. Studies have shown that cortisol has been associated with abdominal obesity.

Incorporating mindfulness therapies, such as deep breathing or meditation are some of the many ways to naturally reduce cortisol levels. Certain herbal therapies, such as ashwagandha has also been shown in some budding research to normalize cortisol levels, reducing the stress response.

Leptin

Leptin is a type of hormone that is produced by our fat cells and is responsible for regulating metabolism. This appetite suppressant hormone communicates to the brain and informs it when we are satiated and when we are hungry.

As leptins are produced by our fat cells, those who are obese have higher amounts of leptins. One may think that the more lectins a person has, the more responsive one will be to its effects, which would further regulate appetite and metabolism. However, studies have shown that obese people are more likely to develop leptin resistance, similar to insulin resistance. This causes a person to eat more and more as the signal that controls appetite is unable to communicate to the brain that a person is full. Foods high in trans fats and processed foods have been correlated with higher rates of leptin resistance.

Consuming a healthy, nutrient-dense, anti-inflammatory diet, along with intermittent fasting, can regulate leptin responses and better control hunger and food cravings.

Thyroid

Thyroid, a gland that sits on the anterior part of your neck, is essential for regulating metabolism of every major organ in your body, as well as regulating lipid (fat) and glucose metabolism. When your thyroid is underperforming, this can lead to an underactive thyroid, known as hypothyroidism, which can have significant implications for your health and metabolism.

Food is generally stored as fat for energy use. However, if you have an underactive thyroid, metabolism is slowed down, which means the food that is stored as fat for energy never gets used. This can lead to problematic weight gain and other health complications.

Medications are typically prescribed for managing hypothyroidism. Dietary changes that are nutrient-rich and anti-inflammatory in nature also can help support weight management and overall health.

If you have worked hard to incorporate good dietary habits and exercise protocols but are still struggling to manage your weight, there is hope. At the Weight Loss & Health Clinic by Embodied Wellness, we holistically consider the various underlying issues, such as possible hormonal imbalances, that can impede on your ability to lose unwanted weight. Contact us today to schedule your free consultation.