Hormones & Weight Loss

Hormones are chemical messengers that travel through the bloodstream, spreading information. They play a role in every aspect of our lives, from our mood to memory, and from our sleep to the distribution of body fat.

Our hormones affect us, but we also affect our hormones. For example, through the food we eat or the toxins we expose ourselves to. If an imbalance in our hormones has arisen due to an unhealthy lifestyle, the processes they are involved in also become disrupted. And you notice this, for example, in your eating patterns and weight. People who struggle to lose weight may therefore be dealing with a hormonal imbalance. In this article, you will read about which hormones play an important role in this.

Hormones that affect weight are

Insulin is the hormone that tells your body when it's time to store energy and when it's time to release energy. When your blood sugar rises (such as after eating), your pancreas releases insulin into your bloodstream; this tells your cells to take glucose from the blood sugar and store it as fat or glycogen for later use.

Leptin tells your brain how much energy (in the form of fat) is stored in your body, so you know when you need more (or less). Leptin also regulates appetite and metabolism by sending satiety signals to the brain. When you eat a meal, leptin levels rise, but if there's too much fat in your blood, leptin production can slow down or stop altogether.

Ghrelin is another hormone that affects appetite. In a healthy situation, an empty stomach releases the hunger hormone ghrelin, which reaches the brain via the blood. This makes you feel hungry. Once you've eaten, the satiety hormone leptin then ensures after a while that your hunger signal stops because enough energy has been consumed, until you have used this energy again.

Adiponectin is the hormone that tells your body to burn fat for fuel. A low level of adiponectin in the body can therefore lead to a higher risk of overweight.