Instead of drug treatment of obesity, the doctor may advise you to go in for sports, temper the passions in your head and eat right. Endocrinologists and nutritionists agree that it is not always worth resorting to chemical compounds in order to curb your hormones and lose weight.
In many cases, women wonder why they gain weight for no apparent reason and what to do about it. Significant hormonal disruptions, pathological problems with metabolism, which must be treated with medication, occur in only 2% of women. For all other ladies, the specialist will recommend fitness and a balanced diet.
All biochemistry in the body proceeds under the influence of hormones, which are wireless connecting threads between the brain (pituitary gland, hypothalamus) and all other organs (kidneys, genitourinary system, gastrointestinal tract and others). What hormones can answer the question of why weight increases: insulin, estrogen, prolactin and cortisol.
Why Weight Gain: How Hormones Affect Weight Gain
The endocrine system includes endocrine glands that produce hormones that carry information from the brain to all cells.
Would you like a bite to eat? Hormones work. Fast metabolism or too slow? Depends on hormones. Too fast buildup of fat cells? Hormones again. Learn about the effects of hormones on the body and how to curb them.
Insulin, obesity and diabetes
Insulin spikes in the blood – phenomenon is permanent. Insulin is secreted every three hours, requiring glucose from the body for energy. When sugar enters the body, more insulin is produced, which is taken to quickly break it down and put it in its place. Therefore, the glucose level drops very quickly.
Shortly after eating a portion of chocolate, for example, when glucose has been processed, the feeling of hunger is felt again. It may seem that giving up carbohydrates, you can protect yourself from spikes in insulin and, accordingly, weight. But, no, not everything is so simple in the body. If insulin notices a glucose deficiency, it begins to turn to the liver for a small supply of an energy source. When supplies in the liver run low, insulin is sent to the fat fibers.
Therefore, if there are long breaks in the meal and the level of insulin jumps, at the same time as fat is consumed, you want to eat more and it is very difficult to stop your appetite. The more fat cells are broken down by insulin, the more they accumulate.
What to do: Eat every three hours to prevent insulin spikes. As a snack between regular meals: fruits, vegetables, cereal bread, rice, cookies. The more insulin jumps, the faster diabetes will overtake.
Estrogen and feminine essence
A woman is born to procreate. Nature took care of this and rewarded women with a special hormone – estrogen. He is responsible for building up a protective fatty layer in the places necessary for carrying and giving birth to a baby: the abdomen and thighs. If the production of estrogen decreases in the ovaries , fat takes over the protective function and produces substances similar to estrogen and the fat layer increases. Therefore, the less estrogen, the greater the likelihood of female type obesity – on the abdomen, buttocks and thighs.
What to do and how to fight: do active strength training and cardio. With a decrease in the fat layer, the ovaries will begin to restore their functions. Only during menopause, all the features of fat accumulation should be consulted with an endocrinologist and undergo an examination. Perhaps the results of laboratory tests will show the need for hormone therapy.
See also: Hormones and weight: like two sides of the same coin
Prolactin and pregnancy
Prolactin levels rise after conception and increase as you get closer to childbirth. Prolactin causes appetite in expectant mothers to replenish the necessary reserves of vitamins and trace elements for the development of the child. After labor, prolactin levels remain high to ensure milk production and feeding of the baby. Over time, the production of this hormone decreases and stops when the mother stops breastfeeding.
Prolactin surge occurs during hormonal failure in non-pregnant and non-lactating women and is characterized by breast enlargement, fat accumulation and milk secretion. This syndrome is called hyperprolactinemia. With an increase in the level of prolactin, edema may appear in women, especially in the last phase of the menstrual cycle. Fluid retention occurs against the background of water-salt imbalance.
What to do: Only a qualified specialist can recommend therapy that can subdue prolactin. Sometimes iodine-containing drugs and vegetarianism help. Regarding such a transition, it is better to consult an endocrinologist and a nutritionist.
See also: What methods will help diagnose and treat hyperprolactinemia in women
Cortisol and stress
Stress Hormone – cortisol – secreted in the adrenal glands and with a constant tension of the nervous system provokes a slowdown in metabolism and weight gain. Why does weight increase in some under stress, while in others – start weight loss? It depends on the long-term experiences and nervous strain. Don't confuse cortisol with another stress hormone – adrenaline.
Learn "The effect of the hormone cortisol on lean body mass"
Adrenaline is secreted in extreme conditions, with a sharp fright, which passes quickly and at the same time burns a lot of fat, that is, energy. When adrenaline is produced in people who lead an active lifestyle, there are fewer fatty fibers. As for cortisol, it is released in order to save energy reserves "for a rainy day." And the energy source – it's fat, and the more the better. Therefore, stress – this is the root cause of excess weight.
What to do: it is recommended to avoid stressful situations, go in for active sports, change a profession that stresses the nervous system and do what you love.
Do not be surprised if you are prescribed sports and diet, and not pharmacy drugs. One has only to change the way of life, your attitude to food and physical activity, the weight will begin to go away. And if there are still obvious violations in the body that cannot be corrected by conventional methods, the doctor will prescribe corrective therapy to normalize the hormonal background.
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