Hormone-Weight Connection: Separating Fact from Fiction in the Quest for Weight Loss

Your hormones do a lot for your body, from regulating your sexual drive to influencing how stressed you feel. There's also been a lot of talk about "hormonal belly" - the notion that you are gaining weight in your stomach due to a hormonal imbalance.

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Unveiling the Hormone-Weight Connection: Debunking Myths and Discovering the Facts

With the hormone-weight craze comes the alleged answers, which are frequently in the form of eating programs that claim to help you lose weight by targeting these imbalances, such as the Galveston diet and the so-called Hormone eating (which was invented by a naturopathic doctor - all the specifics coming soon!). So...is it true? True, your hormones can influence your weight. “Hormonal fluctuations play a significant role in weight for women over the life course,” says Fatima Cody Stanford, M.D., MPH, an obesity medicine physician and clinical researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital. “Hormonal shifts during [certain life stages] may influence hunger signals in the body,” Dr. Stanford says. There are three major times when you might see weight changes (1^✔ ✔Trusted Source
The influence of sex hormones on obesity across the female life span

Go to source):

• When you first start your period
• Pregnancy
• Menopause

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Hormones Related to Weight Gain in Women

According to Jessica Cording, RD, a nutritionist and author of The Little Book of Game-Changers, several hormones have been related to weight gain. The stress hormone cortisol, estrogen, insulin, serotonin, melatonin, and testosterone are among the most well-known (2^✔ ✔Trusted Source
Ovarian hormones and obesity

Go to source). The way they all work is a little different, but in general, the hormones either influence how hungry you feel or signal to your body to store fat, according to Cording.

“There are female hormones like estradiol and progesterone that may influence weight,” Dr. Stanford says. “They act upon hunger hormones like ghrelin, which tells us to eat and store more, and leptin, which helps us feel full to influence eating behaviors and fat storage in the body.”

But it's important to note that the relationship between hormones and weight is complicated, and losing weight is not always as simple as rebalancing your hormones - unless you have a condition like hypothyroidism, says Mir Ali, M.D., a bariatric surgeon and medical director of the MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, California.

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Unraveling the Hormone-Diet Connection: Exploring Natasha Turner's Approach to Weight Loss and Hormonal Balance

Natasha Turner, a naturopathic doctor, created the Hormone Diet food regimen and book. (The entire title of the book is The Hormone Diet: A 3-Step Program to Lose Weight, Gain Strength, and Live Younger Longer.)

Turner believes that controlling your hormones can aid in weight loss. Turner recommends an anti-inflammatory detox, as well as nutritional supplements and an emphasis on working out, sleeping properly, controlling stress, and utilizing clean skincare to assist manage your hormones.

She also claims that when you have mid-afternoon sugar cravings, chronic migraines, and a lack of energy, your body is attempting to tell you that your hormones are out of whack.

Natasha Turner's 3-Phase Approach for Hormonal Diet

Phase 1

During the first stage, you avoid gluten, dairy, alcohol, most oils, caffeine, peanuts, sugar, artificial sweeteners, red meat, and citrus fruits for two weeks. Gluten-free grains, most vegetables, beans, nuts and seeds, chicken, fish, eggs, plant milk, and goat or sheep's milk products are all encouraged.

You should also take vitamins such as probiotics, turmeric, and fish oil at the same time.

Phase 2

At this point, Cording recommends reintroducing some items into your diet and monitoring how your body reacts. You should also avoid high-fructose corn syrup, non-organic items, mercury-rich fish (such as sea bass, mackerel, and tuna), raisins, dates, peanuts, processed meals, refined cereals, and foods containing nitrates.

Turner describes her approach as a combination of the Mediterranean diet and items that won't raise your blood sugar.

Phase 3

Finally, you are urged to proceed with the second phase, focusing on cardio and strength training.

Does the Hormone Diet Help With Weight Loss?

There is no actual scientific proof relating the Hormone Diet to weight loss or that it can affect your hormones. However, some eating plan principles, according to specialists, may help you lose weight.

Dr. Stanford emphasizes that eating a minimally processed diet is always preferable. "However, if you only follow a plan for six weeks, you will most likely find that any weight you lose will return once you resume your normal eating pattern." "As a result, if you commit to a diet that works for you, you must stick with it," she adds.

References:

1. The influence of sex hormones on obesity across the female life span - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9929857/)
2. Ovarian hormones and obesity - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28333235/)

Source-Medindia