Hormones and weight loss: what’s the connection?

It turns out that hormones play a huge role in your body’s ability to lose weight. Scientifically speaking, the only way to lose weight is to expend more calories than you ingest. Your hormones can either help or hurt in making that happen. 

Read on for five of the most important things to know about the relationship between your hormones and your weight.

Your Thyroid May Be the Culprit

As many as 60% of Americans suffering from thyroid problems haven’t been diagnosed. Healthy thyroid function is essential for managing your body’s weight loss hormones. If left unchecked, hypothyroidism can lead to hormonal weight gain and other hormone-related health issues.

If you suspect your weight issues are thyroid-related, have your doctor check your thyroid function. Make sure you ask them to check these hormones specifically:

• TSH
• Thyroid Peroxidase
• Free T3 & T4
• Reverse T3
• Anti-thyroglobulin antibodies

To optimize your thyroid function, make sure you’re eating enough iodine, too! Skip the iodized salt, and eat plenty of omega-3 rich fish and seaweed snacks!

HGH Supplementation May Help

Want to start taking a hormone to lose weight? Human growth hormone, or HGH, might be your best bet. 

HGH is a regulator of other hormones, so if you’re deficient, it can affect your body in tons of different ways. HGH also plays a role in muscle growth, which is why so many athletes turn to the supplement to help them with their gains and performance. 

Since your muscle mass affects your ability to lose weight, it may just be one of the best hormones to lose weight out there.

There’s one thing: you need a prescription from the doctor to start taking HGH. If you don’t want to fuss with that step, don’t worry. You can opt for a legal HGH alternative instead!

Your Diet Plays a Big Role 

You are what you eat.

You’ve heard it a thousand times, but it’s never been truer than it is now. With a ton of chemical-laden and GMO-grown food on the market now, you need to place more care than ever in your diet.

Your diet plays a big role in balancing hormones for weight loss. Make sure you eat as organically as possible. You should also eat plenty of foods that stimulate glucagon and contain essential fatty acids. 

Here’s a list of foods you should work to add to your diet:

• Fish, chicken, and other forms of lean protein 
• Yogurt and cottage cheese
• Hemp
• Eggs
• Protein powder 
• Nuts and seeds
• A fish oil supplement

Don’t forget to drink a cup of green tea a day, too! It’ll boost your metabolism and also add L-theanine to your diet, which will lower your cortisol levels!

Learn More About Hormones and Weight Loss

Now that you have a clearer picture of how your hormones and weight loss work together, hopefully, you can come away with a better plan of attack on how to banish that extra weight for good. 

Want to learn more about ditching the weight that’s holding you back? Check out our other weight loss articles for all the tips and tricks you need to know!