9 Hormones Related to Your Fat Burning

1. Growth hormone - the secret of strength and muscle growth: Growth hormone is the most powerful hormones to affect every cell in the body, also affects our appearance ( beauty ), mental status , and movement. Over 30 years old, growth hormone will start reducing; when we have poor sleep or eat too many refined carbohydrates, it will reduce growth hormone. If you have more muscle means you have higher metabolic rate and burn more calories which can avoid the weight gain. Growth hormone peaks occurs about an hour after onset of sleep, Ideal sleep time is 10pm, then you will have maximum of growth hormone.

2. Thyroid hormone - affecting metabolism and energy level: If you gain weight rapidly without significant diet changes, mentally depressed or fatigue, you may need to consult with doctor to check thyroid status. These are typical symptoms of Hypothyroid which will slow down your metabolism and reduce energy level. Low metabolic rate of people easily gain weight. Here is my previous post about thyroid disorder. Thyroid Disorder - Causes and Cure

3. Hunger hormone (Ghrelin) - promote appetite, Hunger hormone tells the brain "I'm hungry". It’s secreted by stomach. Ghrelin is not only secreted when you have an empty stomach, but it will be secreted by your brain which is expecting to eat something, such as in your regular meal time or seeing a delicious cake. Doctors have been warning that if you don’t eat carbohydrates for long term in order to reduce weight, it could cause massive outbreaks of hunger hormones, tempt you to take the cake, Croissant and other refined starches. So, try to have regular meals time and not to skip meals. And some carbohydrate foods are required. If you are a person with busy schedule and irregular meals, I suggest you prepare some snacks in your bag, such as dry fruits, dry seeds, milk or fruits. Eat something and avoid hunger. Here is a video about hunger hormone: Hunger Hormone in 60 sec

4. Peptide YY( PYY) – produced by intestines. PYY acts to reduce appetite and secrete when you start eating for 15 minutes approximately. Obese people secrete less PYY than non-obese people, Please eat slowly and chew your foods properly. If you eat too fast, you may eat too much because you do not feel full yet. And eating fast, the foods are not properly chewed. These foods will be more difficult to be digested and causing stomach upset or bloating or other digestive problems.

5. DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone) - Grow muscle and burn fat, DHEA is a hormone that is naturally made by the human body, can turn into a male testosterone and estrogen. It can increase muscle strength, reduce fat and make us feel young and energetic. DHEA may decline with age and cause sex drive reduced, weak bones, muscle loss, abdominal-fat gain, etc. By having balance diet can reduce the decline of DHEA in our body.

6. Leptin - control satiety, Leptin is secreted by fat cells play an important roles to control appetite. Leptin reduces appetite in response to feeding, but obese people develop a resistance to Leptin. If brain cannot receive signal from Leptin, then you will always feel hungry. Then you will keep eating, especially for foods high in calories. For obese people should follow good diet program which can control their hunger to reduce their weight. Here is my previous post about hunger hormone. Hunger and Hormones- A Vicious Cycle

7. Insulin - affect your fat synthesis: Insulin can help glucose release from blood into muscle cells or fat cells to synthesize fatty acids; that means, insulin secretion will reduce the fat decomposition. But how much the insulin secretion is depending on glucose in your blood. If blood sugar slowly increases, then insulin would not secrete too much. But if glucose is fluctuating, more insulin will be secreted to release glucose from blood to your muscle or fat cells. More insulin more fat, we need to control our diet to have proper sugar level and insulin. Please read my previous post to know how to control your insulin. Healthy Lifestyle Happy Life, about Weight Control

8. Cortisol - Anxiety hormones: Long-term stress causes cortisol level increased. Cortisol converts calories into fat and decided where the fat will be stored - not the thighs and hip, but in abdominal area. Stress is the enemy of weight loss! Try to manage and release your stress such as exercise, meditation, yoga and taking vacation, etc.

9. Estrogen - the key to belly fat: When ovarian function in women began to degenerate, less estrogen will quickly allocate the fat from hips, thighs, and arms to belly. Estrogen-like endocrine disrupting chemicals such as plastics, pesticides, detergents, nonstick cookers, cosmetics, canned foods, etc, can lead to female hormone disorder; Too much high-fat food, refined or processed foods, also make estrogen at unhealthy levels. To detoxify these chemicals out of our body is essential to have optimum health. About estrogen-like chemicals, you may read this research. Estrogen-like endocrine disruptive chemicals affecting puberty in human.