Hormones that can affect your weight!

Good grief! I have been trying to get this blog up forever… so here we go.  I just read through Jillian Michael’s entire book - Mastering your Metabolism, and although I am not a big fan of her tactics on the Biggest Loser, she has definitely done her homework here. There is a TON of great information, in fact too much to actually post. So if you are interested in reading more, I definitely recommend you pick up a copy of her book.

Hormones play a huge part in our weight loss and gain. They balance our blood sugar, help us fall asleep, burn fat and build muscle.

I’ve listed below the foods that trigger increases and decreases in the hormone Ghrelin – the hunger hormone, Leptin - the fullness hormone and Cortisol – the stress hormone.

Let’s start with Ghrelin – the hunger hormone which is secreted in your belly and intestines when your stomach is empty that makes you want to eat. Ghrelin also slows metabolism and decreases your body’s ability to burn fat. During weight loss, some studies have found that individuals who lose weight and try to keep it off make more ghrelin than they did before losing weight. This would put some credit to the “Set Point” theory. The set point theory states that your body has a weight that it likes to be at and will fight to stay there. According to MIT Medical (interesting read) the best way to reset your set point, is a gradual reduction in calories, and a sustained increase in excercise. If your diet is too severe your body thinks it is starving and slows down your metabolism. Make sense – this is what I call breaking through a plateau.

Reducers:

• Big Breakfasts – people who ate a higher calorie breakfast produced 33 percent less ghrelin thought the day and felt satisfied for a longer period of time.
• Complex carb and fibers – Insulin and ghrelin go hand in hand. If insulin goes up, ghrelin goes down.
• Eating on schedule – Research has found that ghrelin levels rise and fall at your usual mealtime; eating on schedule prevent spikes.
• High-volume, low calories – Levels of ghrelin remain high until food stretches the walls of your stomach, making you feel full. High-volume, low-calories foods reduce ghrelin levels long before you’ve overeaten.
• Protein

Raisers:

• Alcohol – triggers higher levels of ghrelin… Ever notice after a few drinks you’re looking for snack!
• Midnight snack- A study found that night eating raises ghrelin levels. Since lower levels of ghrelin induce sleep, the higher levels from eating will actually keep you awake.
• Extremely low calorie foods – A study found that losing 1% of your body weight results in a 24 percent increase in ghrelin level. Don’t be tempted to lose weight quickly using meal-replacement drinks and bars. Slashing calories too dramatically will leave you hungry all the time – which for me is equal to an eventual binge!
• Fats – work in the opposite way as the carbs mentioned above – no increase in insulin mean ghrelin goes up
• Fructose – unlike glucose, fructose does not increase insulin, which means that ghrelin will rise after you have fructose.
• Greasy low protein food – I’d say for obvious reasons…
• Walking by a bakery – your brain releases ghrelin and alerts you stomach as soon as it sees or smells food.

Next up Leptin -this hormone is released from your fat cells after you eat to tell your body to stop feeling hungry and start burning calories. More should be good right? Wrong. The fatter your body, the more leptin you produce, which causes your body to become resistant – The goal is to optimize your leptin levels by choosing foods that work to increase your body’s sensitivity to it.

Raisers:

• All Omega 3’s – consistently high levels of leptin can get your metabolism in a rut, but eating omega-3 fatty acids may cause a brief dip in them and re-start your metabolism
• EPA Stimulates leptin production by increasing the metabolism of glucose – found in wild salmon ( not farmed), mackerel, sardines, and herring
• Protein – A study found that increasing protein improved leptin sensitivity, which resulted in an overall lowered calorie intake – up your protein to 30 % of your daily calories.
• Zinc – similar to EPA, Zinc can raise leptin levels

Reducers:

• Huge dinners – A study found that eating an entire day’s worth of calories at dinner delays leptin release until 2 hours after the meal. Eating 3 meals and 1 or 2 snacks helps optimize leptin levels.
• Alcohol – the body might sweep up leptin with the alcohol and dispose of them both in the liver or kidneys.
• Caffeine – study showed high caffeine consumer had low leptin levels.
• Fructose – does not stimulate insulin like other sugars – so the body does not release leptin to tell you that you are full!
• High fat, triglyceride-rising foods – reduce the saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol and simple carbs.

A study done at the University of Chicago found that when a group of young men had their sleep restricted for just two nights in a row, their level of the hormone Leptin dropped almost 20% (the fullness hormone), and their level of ghrelin (the hunger hormone) shot up almost 30%. Their appetite for sweet foods like candy, cookies and ice cream and starchy foods like bread, pasta – went up 33% and for salty foods like chips and nuts – 45%. If you are craving junk food, check your sleep patterns! Another study showed that healthy people who were deprived of the ability to reach a deep sleep, where most of our growth hormones are released, for 3 days, lost 23% of their ability to process sugar – They essentially became insulin-resistant in just 72 hours.

and lastly Cortisol - the stress hormone. Cortisol is a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland, which is released in response to stress.  Cortisol stimulates fat and carbohydrate metabolism for fast energy, and stimulates insulin release and maintenance of blood sugar levels. The end result of these actions can be an increase in appetite. Studies of women who tended to react to stress with high levels of cortisol secretion have shown that these women also tended to eat more when under stress than women who secreted less cortisol. Another study demonstrated that women who stored their excess fat in the abdominal area had higher cortisol levels and reported more lifestyle stress than women who stored fat primarily in the hips.

Reducers:

• High Fiber foods – Specifically dietary fiber, lowers cortisol. High-fiber carbs don’t cause an insulin spike.
• BSE – a natural buffer for the over production of cortisol in response to stress – foods like Mackerel, herring, eel, tuna, chicken, beans, beef pork, whole grains, green leafy vegetables, and rice.
• Plant Sterols – can help with adrenal stress response – you can get this from fortified table spreads and salad dressings –
• Vitamin C – can prevent a rise in cortisol and protect from other physical forms of stress
• Whey protein – The tryptophan in whey protein increases serotonin, lowering cortisol and enhancing your ability to deal with stress –

Raisers:

• Alcohol – causes the adrenals to produce more cortisol.
• Caffeine – causes and increase by elevating production of certain hormones.
• Gluten – Gluten intolerance leads to elevated cortisol levels. Many people are gluten intolerant and don’t even know it –
• Licorice – steer clear of licorice and definitely skip the red twizzlers made almost entirely of corn!
• Salt – Sodium modifies an enzyme that helps turn cortisone into cortisol.h

My friend Denise commented on stress and adrenal fatigue – “We scan adrenals in MRI all the time and they (the patients) have their blood work done beforehand, covering all various different hormones. I am surprised at how many people suffer from this, although I shouldn’t be….today’s world we live in is at an all-time stress high. Contributers I believe to be bad diet, long work days, commuting, poor sleep, lack of meditation, lack of social life/time for oneself anymore….overall just too much stress in a person’s life, throws our entire endocrine system off as well as the whole body in general. It seems just about everyone I know tells me they suffer from adrenal fatigue, high cortisol levels and insulin levels. ……. But, I believe proper nutrition, sleep, and reducing stress is our prescription for this.”

So I’m writing you all a prescription – take some me time, will ya!

Oh and one other thing… This article really made me think and start reading food labels – you have no idea how many foods this is in.. Take a look at this article on High Fructose Corn Syrup if you get a chance – this stuff is no joke!  Sugar Coated…

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