Hormones, Thyroid, Gut Health, and Weight Loss
How to lose weight
We often talk about needing to be in a caloric deficit to lose weight. While this may look different depending on the individual (a calorie deficit for some is higher than for others) and can be achieved in many ways, it IS a requirement if you want to lose weight. While you can be eating low calorie and still NOT be in a caloric deficit (you can read more about that here ), being in a caloric deficit is still a requirement to lose weight. Getting into this deficit will almost always produce weight loss. However, there is a small percentage of the population that may have other issues going on preventing them from losing weight – even if they are truly in a caloric deficit. This is probably the case for about 1-5% of the clients we have worked with but I can’t say how widespread this might be for the entire population. If you know you are in a caloric deficit and have done the proper work to optimize your metabolism but you STILL aren’t seeing results, your thyroid, hormones, or gut may be playing a role.
What Can Cause Weight Loss Resistance
There are many things impacting how easily someone might be able to lose weight. Obviously if someone is over-eating processed food and not getting in much activity, they are likely not going to be able to lose weight. (That’s a no-brainer). Metabolic adaptation can also play a HUGE role in your ability (or inability) to lose weight. You can read more about that here . However, if you’ve confirmed that your diet and exercise are on point, what else might be playing a role in your inability to lose weight? Getting inadequate sleep, being chronically stressed, GI issues, toxins, hormonal imbalances, and thyroid issues can all play a role. I personally have a history of messing up my own hormones from years of dieting and over-training. Luckily, I took matters into my own hands when no doctor would help me (and simply told me to go on birth control) and was able to remedy years of infertility, hormonal issues, and weight loss resistance by healing my body through diet and exercise (for me it meant MORE food and LESS exercise).
How does under-eating impact weight loss
Under-eating can have many negative effects, especially when done for months or even years. Not only does the metabolism adapt in a negative way when we diet, but it is also a huge stress on your body. It can increase cortisol, cause hormonal imbalances, and interfere with glucose and insulin regulation. Further, the more diets you have tried and the more extreme the caloric restriction with those diets was, the harder time you will eventually have losing weight. You can offset these effects by gradually getting your body back to homeostasis.
Hormones and weight loss
Hormones play a huge role in many things we do – including how easily we lose weight. As we discussed above, cortisol is a very important hormone when it comes to weight loss. If your cortisol is chronically high, you may have trouble losing weight. Cortisol levels are naturally higher earlier in the day and trend downward as the day goes on. If you are chronically stressed, this disrupts the body’s natural rhythm. You can naturally manage cortisol levels by getting enough sleep, not over-training, properly fueling your body, and supplementing with things like ashwagandha as needed.
Insulin is another hormone that plays a big role in weight loss. If your insulin levels are not healthy, you will have a difficult time losing weight, even if you are truly in a caloric deficit. Insulin is the hormone that gets released from the pancreas into the bloodstream to regulate the amount of glucose in the blood by moving it to the cells to be used as energy or to be stored in the liver, fat, and muscle tissues. If your body is what we call “insulin resistant”, this will make it difficult to lose fat. Insulin resistance refers to when the body produces too much insulin over time and eventually the cells of the pancreas are no longer able to keep up with the body’s increased demand, resulting in prolonged elevated blood glucose levels. This can eventually lead to Type 2 diabetes. Optimal glucose levels are less than 100 fasted and less than 140 when testing 2 hours after eating (higher than 200 is not good). You can measure your insulin levels with a glucometer – check fasted in the morning, before meals, and two hours post-meal. You can promote healthy insulin levels by pairing your carbs with protein and fats and keeping them higher in fiber. Lifting weights and walking are also great for improving insulin sensitivity. Finally, supplements such as berberine can help with insulin resistance as well.
Lastly, there are many other hormones that can impact weight loss – estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, pregnenolone, DHEA, leptin, and ghrelin can also play a role. If you are having issues losing weight and have taken all of the necessary lifestyle and diet steps towards improving your health, getting a full hormone panel may reveal an imbalance. Getting those fixed can go a long way towards helping you with your weight loss goals. You may be able to balance your hormones naturally with diet and exercise, but it is possible that hormone replacement therapy will be required.
Gut health and weight loss
If you gut isn’t healthy, it is likely that many other functions (such as losing weight) may become more difficult as well. Some common digestive issues include intestinal permeability (leaky gut), dysbiosis, inefficient digestion, and infections such as candida. If you suspect you have a gut issues going on, it is best to work with a functional medicine doctor to get the necessary testing. Similar to hormonal issues, you may be able to heal your gut with diet and lifestyle, but it may require using medicine for a period of time.
Thyroid and weight loss
It should not come as a surprise that the thyroid also impacts weight loss. If your thyroid is not functioning optimally, you may have a hard time losing weight. Just because the few thyroid hormones that your doctor may routinely test come back in the “normal” range does not mean your thyroid is functioning optimally. You want to be sure you are getting your TSH, free T3 and free T4, and thyroid antibodies (to look for Hashimoto’s) tested if you suspect you may have a thyroid issue going on. While you may be able to improve things through diet and lifestyle, you may need to go on thyroid medicine to get things functioning optimally.
To sum it up, if you have done the work to repair your metabolism, you know you are eating in a caloric deficit, but you STILL aren’t seeing the results you think you should, one of these factors may be to blame.
You can also learn more about hormones, thyroid, and gut health by watching our webcast HERE.
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