Look at your health from a hormone perspective.

Hormones are signaling molecules that control and regulate every biological process in your body. They also impact behavior based on the signaling programmed. From conception to death, nothing happens in your body without the influence of a hormone regulating the process.

We often focus on habits to improve our health. We decide to eat more fruit, walk more daily, and get more sleep with our fingers crossed that we’ll lose weight, improve our health, and feel better. How exactly do these behaviors move the needle on our health? They directly influence the rise and fall of hormone levels in the body. You see, hormones allow us to look behind the curtain to the magic show and see how the performance is actually created. How our body actually works to live. We get to see the levers being pulled, the lights turning on and off, and the characters at play.

What are some examples of hormones and biological processes:

-       Body fat loss, body fat accumulation.

-       Muscle growth, muscle loss.

-       Fatigue, insomnia

-       Daily energy expenditure (calories).

-       Heart rate, blood pressure.

-       Cholesterol, triglyceride, blood glucose, and HbA1c levels.

-       Appetite, hunger, satiety.  

I want to break down two key hormones that influence weight management and risk of metabolic conditions such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, and poor cholesterol.

1.     Insulin – A hormone that regulates your blood glucose levels among many other duties. As you eat a high carbohydrate meal, your blood glucose spikes and insulin gets released to pull sugar out of your bloodstream and store it in your liver, muscle, and fat tissue. This keeps your blood sugar normal.

a.     If insulin is high, you will not burn body fat regardless of your calorie intake.

b.     Refined sugars are the culprit of high blood glucose and in turn, high insulin throughout your day. Breads, grains, sugars, sweets, cereals, chips, etc.

2.     Cortisol – A hormone that releases as a result of stress. This can be psychological stress or physiological stress. Cortisol releases stored glucose back into the bloodstream for you to have fuel to overcome the stressor in front of you. This is ideal for a physiological stressor like fighting for your life, but fortunately, most of our stress today is psychological which does not need more fuel to overcome.

a.     High stress = high cortisol = high blood sugar = high insulin.

b.     High insulin = body fat accumulation, increased blood pressure, and poor cholesterol markers.

c.     Lack of sleep, lack of self-care, and poor diet are significant contributors to stress.

So do you have a problem with weight management, blood pressure, type 2 diabetes, and cholesterol? Or, do you have a problem with insulin and cortisol?  

Here are a few tips to improve your circumstances:

1.     Improve your diet. Prioritize animal protein, eat produce, eliminate refined sugars.

2.     Prioritize sleep. Make an effort to wake up each day well rest and thriving.

3.     Move often daily. Train hard ≥ 3 days per week.

4.     Practice self-care. You deserve 60 minutes each day to read a book, open your bible, attend a CrossFit class, get coffee with loved ones. Balance your life to self-care.