If you're trying to lose weight, you will need to understand more about your body and specialty about your hormones. There are three hormones that affect your weight loss and they decide whether you going to lose weight and not. Let's find out more about them.

What are hormones?

Hormones are very powerful chemical messengers in the body. In case of weight loss, they can decide whether you'll be successful in your effort to lose weight or not. Hormones control blood sugar and insulin balance, they also control metabolism and that is why they are crucial in deciding how much fat you will gain or lose.

Three important hormones

There are three important hormones that affect your body weight and weight loss.

Insulin

Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas. It is responsible for regulating glucose (sugar) levels and promote fat storage especially around the belly. There are certain foods that can enhance secretion of insulin. Such foods include white refined flours and sugars.

Glucagon

Glucagon has opposing effects to insulin. When one is up the other is down. Glucagon is a fat burning hormone. It is secreted by consumption of protein.

Cortisol

Cortisol is also known as stress hormone. Cortisol and insulin are friends and one cortisol goes up, insulin also goes up along with it. Cortisol generally goes because of stress. If insulin levels are high in your body, it will be difficult to lose weight.

How to fix and balance these hormones so that you can lose weight?

Insulin

If you want to normalise insulin levels and improve insulin sensitivity, you will need to avoid or minimise sugar. High amounts of fructose and sucrose increases insulin resistance and raise insulin levels in the body.

You'll also have to reduce carbohydrates because a high carbohydrate diet can increase insulin levels.

You will need to eat more protein. Protein raises insulin in the short-term but it can help you with long-term reductions in insulin resistance because it will reduce your belly fat.

You should eat more healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids because they will lower fasting insulin levels.

Exercising regularly will also help you to reduce insulin levels in your body and can improve insulin sensitivity after 14 weeks.

Cortisol

To decrease cortisol levels in your body, you will need to eat a balanced diet. Eat their real food-based diet but do not cut calories to extremely low levels.

Meditation will also help you to reduce stress and thereby reduce cortisol in your body. It can significantly reduce cortisol production.

Listening to music will also help you to reduce cortisol levels present in the body.

Sleeping more can also help you to reduce cortisol levels in your body. A study found that when pilots lost 15 hours of sleep over the course of a week, there cortisol levels increased by 50 to 80%.

Glucagon

If you want to balance glucagon, you will need to eat plenty of protein. High-protein foods like fish, whey protein and yoga can help you to increase glucagon levels and thereby improve insulin sensitivity.

To balance glucagon in your body, you will need to eat anti-inflammatory foods because chronic inflammation is linked to reduced glucagon production.

Eat more leafy greens to rebalance glucagon levels. Spinach and kale are good for you as they will increase glucagon levels in your body and thereby will help you to lose more weight.

References 1. Over 30 Hormone Solution
2. Interested in Losing Weight?
3. Losing Weight