Hormones That Help You Lose Weight
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Losing body fat isn’t just about calories and exercise. Much of how we use the food we eat and burn the fat we have stored is controlled by hormones. Some hormones can promote fat loss, and other directly inhibit the break down and use of stored body fat. Here’s the most important hormones that help you lose weight, and how you can influence them.
Insulin
Good or Bad: Elevated insulin has been linked to weight gain and obesity
What it does
Insulin is important for building muscle, muscle recover, and maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. The amount of insulin produced is directly linked to the type and amount of carbohydrates you eat every day. Too much insulin, however, directly inhibits how you use and store fat.
Maintaining healthy levels
Avoid high sugar foods, and try to get your carbohydrates from slow digesting foods like fruit and vegetables.
Glucagon
Good or Bad: Glucagon is good for fat loss
What it does
Most of our hormones will have natural counters enabling your body to return to a balanced state instead of staying at extremes. Insulin stores carbs and fat, while glucagon breaks down fat and carbs for use as energy.
How to increase
Eating high protein, low carbohydrate meals can influence the release of the glucagon hormone.
Related: How to lose 20 pounds really fast
Need to lose 10 pounds fast?
Try this three week diet. It has detailed meal and exercise plans to help you lose 5-7 pounds in the first week, and up to 20 pounds after three weeks.Ghrelin
Good or Bad: Elevated Ghrelin is bad for weight loss
What It Does
Ghrelin is produced in your stomach and has been linked to sending hunger signals to your brain. When your Ghrelin levels are elevated, you’ll continue to feel hungry even after eating. Studies have shown prolonged calorie restriction has a direct correlation with ghrelin levels. The longer you stay on a diet, the more your body tries to get you to eat.
How To Decrease
Cardio vascular exercise is a natural way to decrease your ghrelin levels.
Leptin
Good or Bad: Neutral. You want normal levels to continue losing weight.
What it does
Leptin is released directly from your fat cells telling your brain to eat less and burn more calories. On the surface this sounds good for weight loss, but too much leptin can decrease sensitivity. When you produce too much leptin, your brain will dismiss the signals and effectively ignore this calorie burning hormone.
How To Increase Effectiveness
You don’t want to increase the production of leptin, but you do want to increase the sensitivity to leptin. This will make the hormone produced more effective. You can increase sensitivity by getting enough sleep, and increasing foods high in antioxidants like berries and vegetables.
See Also: How to lose 5 pounds this week
Adiponectin
Good or Bad: Elevated adiponectin is good for fat loss.
What it does
Like leptin, adiponectin is released directly from your fat cells. It’s been linked to boosting metabolism, and increasing the efficiency of using carbohydrates for energy. It can also help control and curb your appetite.
How to increase
The lower your body fat the more adiponectin is produced. Exercise, limiting simple carbohydrates and eating more monounsaturated fats can help reduce body fat and increase this hormone production.
Need to lose 10 pounds fast?
Try this three week diet. It has detailed meal and exercise plans to help you lose 5-7 pounds in the first week, and up to 20 pounds after three weeks.Pin This Article
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