Weight Loss: Calories vs. Hormones

Weight loss isn’t always simple!

If someone tells you that weight loss is as simple as calories in and calories out, they are lying to you. For some people (especially men), it is that simple, but it isn’t that simple for everyone. If you have been reducing your calories, increasing your activity, and you still aren’t losing weight, it could be your hormones getting in the way. In women, there are several hormones that could be the problem (and they unfortunately all start to influence each other so once one is out of balance the rest are likely affected as well). These hormones are (mainly): estrogen, insulin, leptin, testosterone, cortisol, growth hormone, and thyroid hormones.

Women’s hormones and weight

There are two hormonal conditions that women can get that are directly related to difficulty losing weight. These are PCOS and hypothyroidism. PCOS is characterized by insulin insensitivity as well as an increase in testosterone, and in it’s classic form is seen as diabetes and obesity. Hypothyroidism is when the thyroid gland isn’t producing enough thyroid hormone, which basically is the metabolism hormone. Not having enough thyroid hormone leads to weight gain and difficulty losing weight, as well as fatigue and menstrual changes. Unfortunately, having one of these conditions increases your likelihood of having the other. Which sounds like it’s stacking the odds even more against you, but the important part is to recognize which hormone systems are an issue and address them which makes losing weight much, much easier.

Estrogen is another reason that women have a harder time losing weight than men. Some women are poor at getting rid of estrogen (i.e. not good poopers, or gut flora is off) and hold on to too much. Some women are exposed to something called xenoestrogens, or chemicals in our environment that our bodies mistake as estrogen. Or sometimes both these issues are present. Estrogen promotes weight gain by affecting insulin and insulin resistance, and insulin resistance promotes increased levels of estrogen. Estrogen in the gut promotes microflora that in turn influences the body to keep fat cells. So it is important to make sure that estrogen is being cleared from the body efficiently.

If you’d like to read about how naturopathic medicine can support women’s health click here!

Stressed out about weight? It may be contributing!

Cortisol is another hormone well known to be associated with fat deposits, especially around the tummy. When over 2500 people aged 54 and older were tested for cortisol levels in their hair, it was found that increased BMI and increased waist circumference (tummy fat) is significantly associated with increased levels of cortisol. Therefore stress likely has a role in weight gain. It’s also been shown that cortisol and epinephrine (adrenaline) both significantly contribute to insulin resistance. So for those stuck in a fight or flight response, and then if you add endurance exercise and low calorie diets on top of that (which your body interprets as a stressor as well) you might be worsening the very thing you’re trying to fix!

On that note, I am often getting into discussions with patients on what stress is. Stress is so much more to your body than your mind feeling overwhelmed. The same hormonal and neurological experience and being actively stressed out about something in your life can be mimicked by being hypoglycaemic, working out too much or too late at night, having a poor sleep, or too much coffee. In my opinion just being super busy is a stressor. Our brains evolved to have a lot of nothing going on. Watching the horizon for predators, walking through the forest looking for food, or hanging out by the fire. The sheer amount of information our brains need to process today just by watching TV, opening our phones, glorifying the hustle and filling every 5 in of your day with something. I think that the world we live in today is inherently more “stressful” to our brains than even 100 years ago. Our nervous systems can get stuck in this state as well, so in cases of past trauma, even if that happened a long time ago doesn’t necessarily mean that your nervous system thinks so too.

The Gut, the Bad, and the Ugly

The unfortunate part of fat cells (also called adipocytes) are an endocrine organ all their own, and secrete hormones that tell the body to do things. This process is supposed to regulate the amount of fat in the body, but if this process is broken it can actually promote keeping the fat around or even increasing body fat. This is mainly done through the hormones leptin and adiponectin, but fat cells also produce estrogen as well. Leptin is directly involved in satiety and is correlated with fat storage in the body. More leptin stimulates feeling full while low levels stimulate food intake. Adiponectin is a little more round about, and has a greater affect on insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake by tissues like muscle and the liver. Interestingly, fat cells secrete IL-6, which is an inflammatory molecule, influences more fat storage and liver insulin resistance. This leads in to the association of chronic inflammation and obesity. Adiponectin is an anti-inflammatory compound but it is low in obese insulin resistant people. Fat cells also secrete other pro-inflammatory compounds similar to IL-6, like TNF-alpha. These talk to the liver and result in increased secretion of more inflammatory molecules like CRP. This is likely why losing weight is good for chronic pain conditions like arthritis. It might be helping reduce weight on joints but it is also reducing inflammation as well.

The gastrointestinal system secretes hormones that are involved in weight gain via the feeling of being full. These are cholecystokinin, glucagon like peptide-1 (GLP-1), peptide YY, and vagal nerve feedback. A hormone called ghrelin stimulates appetite, and works mostly on the brain. GLP-1 affects insulin secretion from the pancreas and suppresses sugar storage release from the liver. Peptide YY decreases overall food intake by affecting the brain and nervous system. Obese children have lower fasting levels of peptide YY compared to adults, and when children lose weight their peptide YY levels may normalize but this doesn’t happen in adults. This tells us that like most weight related hormones, their secretion is affected by amount of fat in the body, but that children are affected differently. This data suggests that it is easier for children to bounce back hormonally speaking whereas adults who have been overweight are changed hormonally for the long term.

Changing weight by changing your lifestyle

So there is a complex network of interlocking hormones that promote weight gain. To successfully lose weight, these hormones need to be in harmony. But how is that done? One way is to decrease environmental exposure to “endocrine disruptors”. Endocrine disruptors are toxins in our environment that influence hormone levels in our bodies. For example, the famous chemical found in plastic BPA acts like estrogen in the body and also disrupts the production, transportation and metabolism of most hormones in the body. Organochloride pesticides are linked to an average weight gain of 9.5 pounds in high concentrations vs low concentrations over 50 years. Many of these endocrine disrupting chemicals are found in cosmetics, flame retardants on fabrics, and household cleaners.

Another way to modify these hormones is through lifestyle. Part of this is decreasing habits that are associated with out of balance hormones. For example, the nitrates in processed meats are associated with diabetes and cellular aging. Alcohol and caffeine are associated with estrogen issues. Stress and cortisol are associated with weight gain around the tummy and insulin resistance. Cortisol also negatively affects sleep quality, which is associated with worsened glucose metabolism, growth hormone levels, and injury repair. Women who sleep more than 7 hours weigh less but eat more than women who sleep 5 hours or less. Exercise promotes better glucose control and insulin levels.

“Associated” means that we can’t say these things have a direct cause, but avoiding environmental toxins, sleeping well, eating less junk and more vegetables, and exercising moderately might help regulate these hormonal imbalances and promote weight loss. We don’t yet have studies that allow us to say we know for sure there is a direct link, but we do know the mechanism of how they work in the body, and we know that weight gain is found when these conditions are met. So it is likely that toxins and lifestyle factors affect hormones which then effect weight. If we slowly work on these things, the ball might start rolling in the other direction.

There are also herbs and nutrients that can be given in supplement form to help with hormone balancing. There are very few herbs and supplements that have been shown to accelerate weight loss, but there are lots that help with hormone regulation. So theoretically, over time, they would indirectly help with achieving a healthy weight as well.

Weight loss is not simple. The longer someone has been overweight, the harder it is to lose weight. This is likely because the intricate web of hormones involved in fat cells and metabolism have had a longer time to become more out of whack, and so it is harder to balance them out again. This whole web of hormones is stuck in a positive feedback loop influencing each other to stay wonky. So in many cases, weight loss isn’t as simple as just eating less and exercising more. It’s eating and living DIFFERENTLY. And it’s going to take time. Not only do the positive feedback loops need to be interrupted, but the receptors for these hormones need to reset to an appropriate level, and that doesn’t happen overnight.

Are you having trouble losing weight with just simple calorie restriction and increased activity? Maybe it’s time you had a look at your hormones!

References

Jackson SE, Kirschbaum C, Steptoe A. Hair cortisol and adiposity in a population-based sample of 2,527 men and women aged 54 to 87 years. Obesity (Silver Spring). 2017 Mar;25(3):539-544.

Kliegman, Robert M., MD; Stanton, Bonita F., MD; St Geme, Joseph W., MD; Schor, Nina F., MD, PhD. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics, 20th edition. 47; 307-316.

Sara Gottfried. The Hormone Reset Diet. 2015.

About Dr. Shannon Ferguson, ND

Dr. Shannon is a Naturopathic Doctor and RMT in Calgary, Alberta. To learn more about Dr. Shannon or Naturopathic medicine, email her or book a complimentary 15 minute visit at Country Hills Massage Therapy by calling 403-547-2243 or scheduling online.

This website is not to be used as a diagnostic or treatment tool. Always consult with your Medical Doctor or Naturopathic Doctor for specific concerns. In cases of medical emergencies visit your nearest hospital or call 9-1-1.