X-SOPHY

Hormones of Weight Loss - Full Story

A quality weight control program whether you understand this or not, must consider the body hormones that have  a major impact on our metabolism. All this information can be found in scattered bits and pieces if you search various articles , but most often the relationships are not explained too clearly. I will present a brief but hopefully more clear explanation of the hormones involved in weight loss as well as weight gain.

One of the very important hormones that affects weight control is insulin. Insulin is a blood sugar regulator. High carbohydrate intake leads to higher blood sugar levels. This in turn leads to an increase of insulin output by the body. Insulin production is the body’s natural response to the condition of  high sugar levels in the blood. If that sugar is not getting converted into energy fast enough to produce safe levels in the blood, insulin will will turn to an alternate action and convert that blood sugar into fat that will be stored by the body.

The term lipogenic refers to that quality of being fat producing. In addition to insulin being lipogenic, it also inherently exhibits another quality that has negative results in terms of weight loss programs. Insulin is also antilipolytic. This simply means that it naturally works to fight against the breakdown of fat. As you now see, a diet that stimulates high insulin output will certainly be encouraging natural body activities that are counter productive to your goal of losing weight.

When the body is stressed due to a variety of reasons, insulin production also increases in order to stimulate the production of cortisol, our stress hormone. The body then responds to high cortisol by lowering the levels of the hormone dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). This hormone is very important in the production of muscle. Producing more muscle than fat is our ultimate goal.

Chronic stress stimulates fat cells into storing fat. Fat cells located in the abdominal wall, characteristically possess more cortisol receptors on their cell membranes. So in turn, stress will encourage these cells to retain more fat.

Leptin is produced by adipose tissue and leptin binds to nucleus cells of the hypothalamus, a region of the brain known as the “satiety center.” Binding of leptin to this nucleus tells the brain that the body has had enough to eat thus giving you the feeling that you are full or that you have had enough to eat. In a small number of humans, mutations of the leptin gene are present that stimulate a constant demand for food. This normally leads to severe obesity. Unfortunately this condition often compounds itself. As the body produces greater and greater quantities of leptin to fulfill the requirements of the process it can also cause higher tolerances and reduced efficiency. Although a method to control this hormone has not been developed, there have been some short term benefits experienced by the administration of a product called “recombinant human leptin” by way of injection.

The hormone serotonin, a neurotransmitter in the brain made from the amino acids found in proteins. Like leptin, it also sends messages that body is satisfied and that we have eaten sufficient to meet our body’s needs. Low serotonin levels cause depression, obesity, lethargy, and a greater desire for refined carbohydrates. Low levels of serotonin leads to overeating because the brain believes the body is starving. A diet that restricts protein-rich calories can be one reason for low serotonin levels. Some people that produce very high levels of cortisol also tend to experience lower serotonin levels.

Another glandular condition known as hypothyroidism may affect as high as 30 percent of the population. A low thyroid condition reduces our fat burning rate and causes fatigue, inhibiting energy levels. Your thyroid is small gland at the base of your neck that controls energy flow. A shortage of thyroid hormones makes you feel lethargic and promotes low activity levels. Slowed digestion causes constipation, sluggish metabolism leads to weight gain and elevated cholesterol levels. The brain also needs thyroid hormones to stimulate the production of hormones like serotonin that we talked about earlier. Hypothyroidism can lead to depression and lethargy and weight gain.

Although not often mentioned in the discussion of weight loss and hormones, testosterone and estrogens are key players as well. These are typically male, female hormones. The production of these hormones tends to reduce as age increases. The male hormone, testosterone stimulates high energy and associated fat burning benefits. Quite the opposite though, the female hormone estrogens actually encourage the storage of fat. A decrease in estrogens levels therefore would seem beneficial in your weight loss program. Unfortunately a number of conditions call for the addition of estrogens to ease women through the menopause process. Although beneficial in that affect, it will be counter-productive to weight loss or weight control efforts.

As becomes quite obvious, a number of hormones play a part in weight control. Some of these hormones interact with each other. Some hormones can be manipulated with drugs or by good meal planning. Others hormones such as leptin are can be manipulated to some degree. As always, the ultimate answer is a careful selection of food groups and meal planning and healthy exercise.

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 7th, 2008 at 10:59 am and is filed under Weight Loss Tips and Programs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

Hello Fellow citizens.  Today 30 April 2007 as I was getting interviewed about my book on Philosophy on WAOK CBS Radio 1380 AM I was asked this question by the Honorable Shelly Wynter (Radio Host/Talk Show) about the Immigrants. What do you think should be done about the illegal immigrant problem (mostly Hispanics) in America today? I have since had time to ponder the question and these are my personal thought on this controversial topic.

The Immigration dilemma in the U.S. now is a tough situation. This is brought about a civil war like mentality to the masses. It’s a “it’s us or them mentality,” and it is stifling and exasperating the troublesome situation. I personally have friends that are the so-called illegal aliens that are hard working decent people. Who what only one thing to live a good life with food, shelter, and happiness for their families and themselves.

Say that the shoe is on the other foot. You are that man or that woman and your family is literally starving, (kids, mother/father, grandmother/grandfather, etc…) living in a destitute town where you are treated like cattle and right across a knee deep shallow river lies prosperity and a future for you and your suffering family. Please tell me what would you do??? Any descent type of man or woman will not sit by and let their family waste away and be destroyed and enslaved right before their eyes. Really even if you had the tiniest of chances to began a new life would not not take that risk? What if you did not to take the risk could you bear the thought of your family dying because you simply do not have money in your possession? Personally I could not live with that. Especially when millions of your brothers and sisters dared to take the risk and succeeded. Come on People this is not a overnight fix that a mass deportation will remedy.

If you are an American Citizen you are constantly bombarded with images of wealth and how much of it that we have. If you were born somewhere else you would not see those images you would see tin shacks, ground wells, and no plumbing. To others the lives of our poorest citizens mirrors a utopia. To try to force them out would be like prohibition of alcohol and that definitely didn’t work. It gave rise to organize crime that is still a thorn in our sides and abolishing the immigrants will create a big underworld demand for people with the hopes of freedom and a future.

The Solution:

The biggest complaint from my fellow Americans is that the immigrants take away all the jobs. First of all in ten years the America economy will be a complete bust for nearly everyone because the government allows all of the big job creating corporate entities move the jobs to cheap labor camps far from U.S. borders, this is where the jobs are disappearing to. If they do this then tariffs(taxes) need to go directly to the American People with just a tiny portion going to a already free flow spending greedy government to subsidize of dwindling incomes or stop trading here or be fined which also goes to subsidize the citizens. Next create thousands of new jobs make jobs for the poor and disenfranchised American citizens to work in ways to legally faze in the immigrants and make sure these are Americans that are poor. This would create jobs like building housing and processing buildings (construction), education for the poor that need to fill the job positions, saving billions of our tax dollars on arresting and shipping illegal immigrants away and so on.

Peace needs to be the forefront of our politics in this matter not hatred and slave master mentalities that make immigrants suffer in a limbo of quasi citizen and indentured slavery from people who would not suffer them their civil liberties as fellow human beings.

Divine Peace, “X”

Hello everyone this is your author simply known as “X”. First of all I want to apologize for the delay in having the website ready for your purchases. Due to an extreme influx of books being ordered some changes had to be made to accommodate the website system. Now you can order the books at will safely and effectively and God bless you for your support.

People ask me what motivated me to write book Philosophy of “X”. I wrote the book firstly that I am sick and tired of people leaving their life to chance and suffering way to much unnecessary drama which can often time make you wish you were never born to see and listen to such crap. Secondly to make a ton of money but I promise you the money does go to other charities beside myself. Get the book and if you have any questions I will answer what I can and God bless. “X”