Hormonal Imbalance and Weight Gain
Being over-weight or obese is often associated with having a bad diet, not having enough exercise, or worse, being lazy. But those are not the only reasons why people gain weight. Some may gain weight due to hormonal imbalance, which can affect both men and women.
The term hormonal imbalance does not immediately mean that your hormones should be at a certain level, or that each person should have the same level. Just like an individual’s thumbprint, a person’s level of hormones is unique to his or her own.
One’s hormones dictate how our bodies respond to various things in life, such as stress, sleep, food, exercise, and etc. Hormones also have a vital role when it comes to a person’s metabolic function, which is responsible for converting food into fuel that the body needs.
With hormonal imbalance comes a multitude of problems, particularly on one’s weight. Aside from altering a person’s metabolism, some hormones can directly make you gain weight Hormones from a person’s adrenal gland, ovaries, thyroid, and insulin levels can all affect your weight.
What exactly triggers these hormonal imbalances? Without even knowing it, you might be triggering these hormonal imbalances yourself. Some of the things that may cause hormonal imbalances are: stress, pregnancy and childbirth, birth control pills, and certain foods such as those that refined, processed, have preserving additives, and high in transfats.
What you eat can significantly affect your hormones. While some believe that eating healthily can reduce their risk for hormonal imbalance, some people can actually get their hormones imbalanced with what they eat as some foods may interfere with your thyroid function.
How does one go about balancing hormones?
Unfortunately, balancing one’s hormones varies from person to person as hormones are uniquely their own. In order to address hormonal imbalance that is leading to your weight gain, you must have yourself checked.
You can see a doctor to have your hormones checked. If you do, you will have to undergo blood testing, saliva testing, or have your thyroid function checked. After careful analysis from a laboratory, your doctor will be able to see your full hormonal profile.
Depending on your hormonal profile, your doctor might give you suggestions about your lifestyle. These suggestions may have something to do with your diet and other lifestyle choices. It is important to point out that though there is hormone replacement therapy, it is still possible to balance your hormones without them.
