“I can’t lose weight because my hormones are out of whack.”
Women who suffer from depression, fatty liver, high cholesterol level, pre-diabetes and gall bladder problems may struggle to lose weight and stay healthy.
Unexplained weight gain has been linked to hormonal imbalances. As women grow older, they are more likely to experience this problem.
Why Hormones Need to be Reset
Each hormone in our bodies is like a key which needs to turn a lock to be able to do its work. The “locks” are actually receptor sites. Various inflammations can affect the receptors and that is why some hormones may become ineffective.
Some hidden reasons why receptor sites may be ineffective include:
“grain drain” from wheat, rye, barley, and corn-based products, usually genetically modified, compounding the problem
constant exposure to xenoestrogens, substances which mimic estrogen, in our diet, environment, and our personal care products
meat, dairy and eggs from animals treated with growth hormones
sugar, alcohol and caffeine intake
high fructose intake, from high fructose corn syrup and even from natural foods like unsweetened applesauce and tomatoes
stress, EMFs (electromagnetic frequencies) and sleep deprivation
Give Yourself a Personal Hormone Tune-Up
Making a few simple changes in your daily routine can really help maintain hormonal balance, allowing you to take charge of your weight and health.
Read on to learn about important hormones in women’s bodies that must be balanced to be healthy and feel well.
Estrogen 101
Estrogen is an especially important hormone. When it is not balanced with the related hormone progesterone, this imbalance can cause water retention, memory loss, and migraine headaches. An hormonal imbalance may also cause fat accumulation around the hips and thighs. Finally, it can accelerate the aging process.
Tune-Up Tricks For Clean Estrogen Receptors
Apply a topical progesterone cream can act against estrogen dominance.
Avoid copper-rich foods like nuts, seeds, avocados, chocolate and shellfish. Copper is proven to be closely linked with estrogen, so women who use copper IUDs or birth control pills are more likely to have problems with estrogen dominance.
Always wash your fruits and vegetables well to clean them from herbicides, estrogen-mimicking pesticides and fungicides.
Stop reheating food in plastic containers.
Drink water from glass or stainless steel bottles, not from plastic ones.
Don’t use personal care products that contain endocrine disruptors like parabens and phthalates.
Defeat excess estrogen by using two tablespoons of lignin-rich toasted cold milled flax seeds every day. Sprinkle it on your food or put it in your smoothies.
Season soup, stew, chili or other bean dishes with 2-3 cardamom seeds. Cardamom has an amazing ability to cleanse and detoxify the liver, which is crucial for hormone balancing.
Control the estrogen metabolism by supplementing with DIM (diindolylmethane). Take 100 mg two times a day with meals.
What About Insulin Levels?
When we consume excessive amounts of alcohol, sugar, and caffeine, our insulin levels may rise. Unhealthy meals and high levels of fat intake can also increase blood sugar levels, overloading receptor sites and accelerating the accumulation of fat.
Insulin resistance occurs when the receptors are blocked, causing high blood sugar levels and high triglycerides, too.
If you have problems with weight gain, intense and frequent hunger, lacking focus or motivation, problems with concentration, anxious feelings, or fatigue, then it is time to clean up your insulin receptor sites.
Tune-Up Tricks For Clean Insulin Receptors
Drink a glass of water with one teaspoon of raw apple cider vinegar during every meal. The acidity of ACV slows down the digestion of carbohydrates, potentially lowering blood sugar levels up to 30%!
First thing in the morning, drink hot lemon water instead of a cup of coffee. Drinking coffee while fasting is associated with increased insulin levels and decreased insulin sensitivity, according to the The American Diabetes Association.
Chromium is an important mineral for blood sugar regulation, but is usually deficient in our diet. The UNI KEY Weight Loss Formula contains 400 mg of chromium, helping insulin to work quickly and more efficiently.
Use stevia instead of sugar in drinks, smoothies, and baking. Stevia is a naturally sweet-tasting herb that does not cause increased blood sugar level.
Add cinnamon, cloves, bay leaves, and coriander to your meals, all of which can metabolize sugar.
What Does Leptin Do?
The hormone of satiety is known as leptin. If you feel hungry soon after you have consumed your meal, then you probably have clogged leptin receptors. The problem is worsened if you consume high amounts of fructose instead of healthy fats.
Tune-Up Tricks For Clean Leptin Receptors
To solve the problem, you need to avoid food rich in fructose because it stimulates the appetite, including processed food and drinks. Less dangerous options are agave syrup, tomatoes and unsweetened apple sauce.
Consume protein within 30 minutes after waking up. Drink a plant-based protein smoothie, as it is scientifically proven to clean leptin receptors.
Reactivate leptin receptor sensitivity by consuming omega fatty acids 3, 6, and 9. Black currant seed oil is rich in all of these essential fats that boost the metabolism, fight inflammation, and make your hair, skin, and fingernails shiny.
Cortisol, the Stress Hormone
The hormone cortisol is activated by stress, sleep deprivation and EMF exposure. Just a single night of improper sleep can raise cortisol levels by 45%! A stressful situation at work is enough to overload cortisol receptors in just a few minutes. Often, use of wireless devices also triggers excessive cortisol production, with the creation of over 20 heat-shock proteins. Excessive cortisol levels are linked with fat accumulation around the midsection, low immunity, tissue destruction, salt and sugar cravings, and inflammation.
Tune-Up Tricks For Clean Cortisol Receptors
Consume coffee with one tablespoon of coconut oil and vanilla whey protein. Black coffee on an empty stomach increases blood sugar levels, which also increases cortisol levels. Adding a little healthy fat and protein can prevent the cortisol level from rising.
Practice yoga and meditation. These stress-relieving activities are known to lower cortisol levels.
Don’t use electronic devices one hour before bed. EMFs affect the body on a biological level, increasing cortisol levels as well. Try reading a book instead of watching TV.
Hormones in the Thyroid Gland
The thyroid gland is very important. Inactive or underactive thyroid glands can cause problems with depression, joint pain, constipation, fatigue, impaired memory, dry skin, cold hands and feet, weak fingernails, and hair loss.
Tune-Up Tricks For Clean Thyroid Hormone Receptors
A lot of grains contain gluten, a type of protein that is very similar to the thyroid hormone, so it can deceive our bodies to produce lesser amounts of this critical hormone. Avoid gluten-containing grains to naturally trigger thyroid hormone production. Wheat, spelt, rye, kamut, oats, couscous, barley, and triticale should not be consumed. Gluten-free grains include taro, millet, teff, buckwheat, brown or wild rice, quinoa and amaranth. Instead of flour, you can use arrowroot or tapioca for thickening.
Use coconut oil for cooking and baking. This healthy fat contains medium chain fatty acids that are known to improve thyroid function and boost metabolism by 56%!
Run some tests. Consult your doctor to run a thyroid test that evaluates TSH, free T4, free T3, reverse T3, and thyroid antibodies. However, you must be aware that “normal” values of these hormones are not always the ideal level for your body.
Human Grown Hormone
Human growth hormone (HGH) is not only responsible for growing. It also plays a major role in strengthening bones and, as we grow older, it protects the heart. Unfortunately, once you turn 40, HGH production may decrease by by 14% every ten years!
The problem becomes even worse when we consume excessive amounts of HGH in meat, dairy, and eggs, which are often treated with anther growth hormone called rBST. This unnatural hormone can deceive our bodies into producing less of our own natural HGH. Symptoms of low HGH levels can include muscle loss, depression, anxiety, high body fat percentage, anxiety, low libido, and high blood pressure.
Tune-Up Tricks For Clean HGH Receptors
Consume Montmorency tart cherries. They are rich in melatonin. Italian researchers discovered that when participants took 5 mg of melatonin at night before bed, they increased their HGH levels by up to 157%. So, drink ¼ cup of tart cherry juice diluted with 1 cup of water between 7 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Do an interval training exercise program. Try combining short periods of high intensity training with longer periods of low to moderately intense training. It can increase HGH production by more than 500%!
Ground yourself. The revolutionary Earthing “technology” naturally increases melatonin levels and at the same time it lowers cortisol level and eliminates inflammation.
Eliminate dairy. Although most of the milk labels claim that cows were not treated with rBST, many other dairy products are not claiming the same – think butter, yogurt, sour cream, cheese, and coffee creamer. Keep the synthetic growth hormones away from your plate!
Consume only organic meat and eggs. USDA organic standards do not allow the use of growth hormone in animals.
The Daily Detox
Not only does excess fat contribute to weight gain, but it also contains toxins that can damage our body. Chemicals, leftover drugs, heavy metals, and excess hormones can be deposited in our fat cells. When we try to lose weight, many toxins can be released into our blood stream.
These toxins can be dangerous. You can detoxify your body in the following ways:
Prepare a luxurious detox bath once or twice a week. First, add 2 cups baking soda and 2 cups sea salt into a hot bath and then relax until the water cools. Put a towel around you and do not shower for 4 hours. The hot water will bring the toxins to the skin’s surface. As the water cools, osmosis cleans the toxins from the warm body and into the cooling water. This is especially useful to alleviate jet lag and radiation-related fatigue.
Cleanse with Liver Lovin’ Formula, which contains taurine. Taurine is used by the liver to produce bile, which is crucial for reducing and removing heavy metals, aldehydes, chlorine, alcohol, petroleum solvents and ammonia.
Try drinking ½ of your body weight in ounces of water each day, as well as cran-water! Cranberry water and pure water are really important to keep your lymphatic fluid flowing, which is crucial for toxin removal.
Fiber up with flax and chia seeds. Their soluble and insoluble fiber bind quickly to toxins that are found in the digestive tract and eliminate them from our bodies. Flax and chia seeds are amazing, so try consuming 2-4 tablespoons every day!
Try using activated charcoal, which is able to absorb the toxins in the stomach.
Have you experienced problems with losing weight due to hormone imbalance? Please share your experience with us in the comments below!
Adapted and republished with permission from healthyfoodteam.com.