Dieting: 8 Hormones You Should Be Aware Of

When people think of the word diet, they think of losing weight. That weight can come from anywhere: fat, muscles, or water. Whenever people say that want to lose a little bit of weight, I always get discouraged because to be able to keep off the weight, you have to lose the pounds in a way that will speed up your metabolism. By creating a faster metabolism, you are ensuring that you keep that weight off and continue to live healthily. In order to create a faster metabolism, you must lose fat when you lose weight. Not water weight. DEFINITELY NOT muscles. 

Why do you want to lose fat? By losing fat, you are not only creating a faster metabolism, but you are also creating the lean, sculpted, and toned look everyone wants. By losing water weight, you are just asking to regain the weight even faster than you lost it. And by losing muscle, you get the "skinny fat" look. And who wants that?

Your metabolism is linked to the hormones in your body. More of a certain hormone can slow or speed up your metabolism causing fat gain or fat loss. There are 8 different hormones everyone should be aware of when choosing their food choices, so that we are always trying to speed up our metabolism.

1. Adrenaline. We all know what adrenaline is. It's the hormone that gives you that heart-pumping, anxious yet excited, nervous feel before something big happens. Adrenaline signals the body to start burning fuel, and if testosterone and human growth hormone (HGH) are triggered, that fuel can be fat. But, if insulin and leptin are triggered or high in content, adrenaline signals the body to start burning sugar (we don't want that).
2. Cortisol. You have probably heard of cortisol. It's the hormone that can make you gain weight, and all other sorts of things. And for good reason. In the presence of high insulin and low testosterone and HGH, cortisol will signal your body to store fat and burn muscle (yikes!). BUT, if cortisol is released with high amounts of testosteron and HGH, it will block muscle burning and enhance fat burning.
3. Ghrelin. This is the hormone that makes the gurgling noise when you're hungry. It tells your body on a moment to moment basis how hungry it is. When there is a lot of ghrelin, your stomach is growling and you're hungry. If there is a low level of ghrelin, you feel full and satisfied. By eating protein and fiber, you can keep those ghrelin levels down!
4. Leptin. This is another hormone that tells your body if you are hungry by gauging your energy levels on a day to day basis. If you become leptin resistant, you will keep eating as if you are starving (hence how some people become morbidly obese). So, you want to keep those leptin levels steady so that your body knows when to stop eating and start burning.
5. Glucagon. This is the Jekyll to insulin's Hyde. It makes you burn fat! It works in the liver to help regulate sugar and fat usage. How do you get more glucagon? Protein stimulates glucagon, so eat more of it! This is why a lot of fitness/nutrition experts say to eat protein with every meal!
6. Insulin. Oh, the Hyde to Glucagon's Jekyll. Insulin helps you store fat (sad day). With a high level of insulin, any extra calories in the body is immediately stored as fat. This is why the Glycemic Index became so important. Foods with high GI spike your insulin levels, making your body store it as fat. Foods with lower GI keep your insulin levels steady, so no fat storing occurs.
7. (& 8)Testosterone and HGH. These two are the building and burning hormones. They assist with cortisol and adrenaline to burn fat instead of store it.

Now that you know the hormones you need to keep in check, here is a summary of what to remember:

To BURN FAT, keep your glucagon and HGH levels high while maintaining low levels of cortisol, leptin, and insulin.

How do you do this? 

Up protein, eat foods lower on the glycemic index, and LISTEN TO YOUR BODY so you know when you are full, satisfied, and hungry!