How to Reverse Your Hormones for Targeted Weight Loss
When it comes to weight loss we get hung up on calories or the latest revolutionary fad diet. But in all honesty weight never had to do with calories and we only make things more complicated with continued dietary trial and error. Weight issues often boil down to hormone imbalance. Hormones like insulin regulate and store your glucose levels, but over time you can become insulin resistant if you’re over consuming carbohydrates, eating the wrong carbohydrates (such as processed foods, simple carbs, sugar, starch), or overeating. Insulin overproduction can contribute to weight gain specifically belly fat.
Leptin is another hormone that can contribute to weight gain. Now leptin is a hormone that is produced in our fat cells and tells our body to suppress our appetite. When we don’t get enough sleep, don’t manage our stress, or eat too much of the wrong food leptin resistance develops over time. Other factors that can contribute to its development include overeating and high insulin levels. Leptin resistance results in a decrease in the ability of leptin to suppress appetite. Because of this, the main symptoms of leptin resistance are constantly feeling hungry and increased food intake despite having adequate or excess amounts of body fat.
So how do we reverse insulin and leptin resistance? The simple answer is fasting. All food, both healthy and non-healthy, can potentially raise both insulin and leptin levels. The primary way to lower insulin levels and improve insulin and leptin resistance is through fasting. Not only does fasting help reduce insulin and leptin levels it also helps improve our metabolism and increase human growth hormone which both help people lose weight and maintain that weight loss.
There are many ways to incorporate fasting into your life. Have you heard of intermittent fasting (IF)? I personally think this is the easiest method. The most common IF is to fast for 16 hours per day and allow an 8-hour eating window; some people can do a 20-4 split. Other fasting options include abstaining from food one day per week, one weekend per month, or a longer quarterly or bi-annual detox or fast.
So, the next time you consider counting calories for weight loss please give fasting a try instead!
Rachel Oppitz, ND
