Healthy Diets for Healthy Hormones

When it comes to hormones, women have a better understanding of the damage that can be done if they are unbalanced. Men tend to not be as experienced in this area. However, when the subject turns to hormones and healthy weight loss, both males and females must be educated and aware of what is happening in their own bodies.

There is a group of hormones that are sometimes called the weight loss hormones. These chemicals manipulate a person's appetite and dictate how much weight will be lost or gained.

Adipose fat tissue is an organ that releases powerful amounts of these hormones. What was once thought to be extra, harmless energy storage is now known to be one of the biggest influences on whether or not you are eating right and choosing healthy meals and snacks.

Leptin is one specific hormone that is secreted by fat tissue. It binds to the hypothalamus, which is the body's appetite control center, signaling that no more food needs to be taken in. In healthy diets, high leptin levels occur after every meal. Appetite is nixed and calories can start being burned.

So healthy eating is easy with leptin, right?

Right. Until it malfunctions. When a body already carries extra fat, leptin becomes less efficient and is secreted more often than necessary. A person might eat a meal full of appropriate diet food and still feel hungry if their leptin is out of whack. This problem could quickly lead to extra weight gain.

Insulin resistance may be the cause of leptin malfunction. Obesity often prompts the development of insulin resistance, which requires more insulin to be used to clear sugar from the bloodstream. Higher insulin levels block the leptin signal that is traveling to the brain. The result is that your brain thinks you are hungry, so even if you know how to eat healthy, you are going to consume unnecessary calories. As the cycle repeats itself, hormones become more and more unbalanced.

To add to the complexity of the issue of hormones and appetite, we have ghrelin. This hormone works between the stomach and hypothalamus. An empty stomach causes ghrelin to stimulate neurons in the hypothalamus, which tell the brain that it is time to eat. As food is consumed, the stomach stretches and another hormone, called cholecystokinin, is secreted. Several hormones start working together to tell the body it is time to stop eating.

One of the hormones that your body can fall back on is peptide YY. This one is triggered when food moves into the intestines. So if you ignored the first signal, you have other reminders to stop eating.

Many hormones work to control appetite. Leptin and insulin are the most notable and can actually shut down the whole system if they start to fail. Sugar intake is the primary cause of leptin and insulin breakdown, as too much sugar raises insulin levels and blocks leptin from doing its job. The end result: no appetite control.

Hormones are complicated, but good nutrition can go far in keeping them balanced and working properly. Just by cutting some sugar out of your diet plans, you might see immediate healthy weight loss. A long-term healthy eating plan to maintain effective hormones would be a low sugar, high protein diet. Knowing how to eat healthy can keep your body running smoothly so that it is your biggest partner in healthy weight loss success.