Hormone balance: the easy way to lose weight and keep it off

If you've gained weight during the COVID-19 pandemic, you aren't alone. A recent poll shows that as many as 42% of us have put on more weight than we intended since the pandemic started. But now that national lockdown restrictions are easing, is it time you tackled those extra pounds? 

Calorie counting is only one approach to weight loss (and its often the hardest). Only a small percentage of people who follow a calorie restricted diet are able to lose weight and keep it off. In fact, studies show that following a calorie restricted diet is a better predictor of future weight gain than just about anything else. If calorie counting works for you, great you may not need to read this, but if you’ve struggled with conventional dieting in the past, maybe it’s time for a new approach?

There is value to paying attention to calories, but the story is so much bigger than that. Tracking calories (units of energy) is too simplistic because it doesn’t take into account how the body uses energy. Different macronutrients have different effects on metabolism. By changing the types of food you eat, when you eat and why you eat, you can change the way your body manages calories.  

What to eat

Our bodies produce hormones - chemical messengers that send messages throughout the body to regulate metabolism, growth, sexual function, healing, sleep, and mood.

Insulin is one of the most important hormones in human health. It signals to the cells to open up and allow energy in to be burnt for fuel. Insulin levels rise when glucose (sugar) enters the bloodstream, usually from the food we eat. What is important, and often overlooked, is that the presence of insulin also tells your cells to stop breaking down stored energy (fat) for use as fuel.

Dietary fat is not a major determinant of body fat. Eating an overabundance of any macronutrient can lead to excess storage of body fat. Insulin directs the body to convert any surplus glucose very quickly into stored fat. Every time we eat blood glucose rises, and insulin is produced, but we generally have the biggest insulin response when we eat carbohydrates.

Too much insulin activity (and too much fat being stored in cells) can lead to the downregulation of insulin receptor sites on cells so that the cells then can’t properly hear insulin’s messages. This means fat, glucose and other compounds are left floating in the bloodstream, which can lead to insulin resistance and cardiovascular damage.

Insulin resistance is primarily caused by the overconsumption of high glycaemic foods which release glucose quickly into the blood causing large blood glucose spikes. Try to limit or avoid high glycaemic foods such as white bread, white rice, breakfast cereals, cereal bars, cakes, biscuits, sweets, sugar-sweetened drinks, potatoes, crisps, fries, and dried fruits such as dates and raisins.

Most people don’t realise just how much sugar is added to processed foods. If your goal is weight loss, start checking the ingredients of packages and jars and cut out any foods where sugar is listed as a top 5 ingredient.

Generally speaking, if you shift the percentage of carbohydrates in your diet down a bit and raise your levels of protein and/or fat up a bit, you will see a favourable response in your metabolism because eating this way will help keep your insulin levels in check.

When insulin is inactive, insulin’s twin brother – glucagon steps in. Glucagon’s drive is to get stored fat out of your cells to give your body a chance to burn it for energy. One of the other interesting things that glucagon does is to decrease the creation of fat tissue. Consuming high-quality protein and shifting your protein/carbohydrate ratio is key to encouraging glucagon release.

Studies have shown that increasing your protein intake can enhance weight loss and reduce blood fat levels. This does not mean you should eat a high protein diet. Just having a portion of healthy protein at each meal will encourage better hormone balance.  Good options are poultry, fish, eggs, Greek yogurt, cottage cheese, beans, soya, lentils, quinoa, nuts, and seeds.

When to eat

The less often insulin is released the more chance glucagon has to mobilise existing energy reserves. This is one reason why intermittent fasting can be so helpful for some people. Intermittent fasting has been shown to improve metabolic function and increase the production of satiety hormones.  I often recommend a daily 12 - 16 hour overnight fast beginning after an evening meal and ending at breakfast the next day. Making this change can also reduce overall calorie intake as it eliminates evening snacking.

Did you know one of the most underutilised ways to help create a healthy metabolism is to add some muscle to your frame? Muscle is one of the most metabolically active tissues we have, so generally, the more muscle you have the more calories you burn, both during activity and at rest.

Why we eat

One of the other things that gets insulin riled up is its good friend cortisol. Cortisol helps to manage blood pressure, regulate inflammation, balance blood glucose, and support thyroid function. Cortisol can be helpful, but when it is chronically elevated and out of balance its bad news.

Whether you are eating a low carbohydrate diet or not, stress can send your blood glucose levels skyrocketing thanks to the action of cortisol. Cortisol breaks down muscle tissue and uses it for fuel. This is really useful if you find yourself in a life-or-death situation where you have to run away from a tiger but most of us don’t face any real threats to our survival on a regular basis.

Yet many of us are living with chronic low-grade stress that is slowly breaking us down on the inside. A combination of work stress, financial stress, family stress and emotional stress can all add to our overall stress load and keep cortisol elevated. This constant disruption to our blood glucose has a negative impact on our brain chemistry and can trigger stress eating in some.

Ironically, a poor diet can increase stress in the body and keep cortisol elevated too. Eating inflammatory foods, being deficient in key nutrients and your emotions around food can all add to your stress levels, keeping cortisol high, and thus keeping insulin high and glucagon out of the picture. Stress management is one of the most important aspects of any successful weight loss programme.

It is key not to add to your stress levels by following a difficult and restrictive diet which you don’t enjoy. Instead of counting calories and feeling deprived, why not focus on including nutrient-rich foods which have been shown to boost metabolism instead? Blueberries, cherries, leafy greens, cruciferous vegetables, almonds, dark chocolate and eggs are all excellent choices.

A big part of weight loss is being able to regulate appetite. Leptin is the leader of the body’s satiety hormones. It travels from your fat cells into the bloodstream and signals to your brain to stop eating. Ghrelin is the ‘hunger hormone’. It stimulates appetite, encouraging increased food intake and promoting body fat storage. When your metabolism is running properly ghrelin and leptin work well together. But if you are sleep deprived, ghrelin production is increased, and leptin is suppressed. This is why it is much more challenging to make good food choices and to regulate your appetite after a poor night’s sleep. Getting 7 – 9 hours’ sleep a night is a powerful tool for weight loss.

References

·  American Phycological Association, 2021. One year on: Unhealthy weight gains, increased drinking reported by Americans coping with pandemic stress. Available at: https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2021/03/one-year-pandemic-stress.

·  Qaid, M. and Abdelrahman, M., 2016. Role of insulin and other related hormones in energy metabolism—A review. Cogent Food & Agriculture, 2(1), article 1267691.

·  Drummen, M., Tischmann, L., Gatta-Cherifi, B. et al., 2020. High Compared with Moderate Protein Intake Reduces Adaptive Thermogenesis and Induces a Negative Energy Balance during Long-term Weight-Loss Maintenance in Participants with Prediabetes in the Postobese State: A PREVIEW Study. The Journal of Nutrition, 150(3), pages 458–463.

·  Braun, T. and Marks, D., 2015. The regulation of muscle mass by endogenous glucocorticoids. Frontiers in Physiology, 6, page 12.

·  Richardson, A., Arsenault, J., Cates, S. and Muth, M., 2015. Perceived stress, unhealthy eating behaviours, and severe obesity in low-income women. Nutrition Journal, 14, page 122.

·  Taheri, S., Lin, L., Austin, D. et al., 2004. Sleep Duration Is Associated with Reduced Leptin, Elevated Ghrelin, and Increased Body Mass Index. PLOS Medicine, 1(3), page e62