🧠 [Know Your Body to Lose Weight #4] Hormones and Weight

🧠 [Know Your Body to Lose Weight #4] Hormones and Weight – The Story of Thyroid, Leptin, and Cortisol

✅ One-Line Summary

The key to weight control isn't just about calories; it's about hormones. Specifically, thyroid hormones, appetite-regulating hormones (leptin), and stress hormones (cortisol) are crucial in your weight loss journey. By understanding and managing their balance, you can truly transform your body to lose weight!



📌 1. Dieting is a 'Hormone Battle'!

Many people fail at dieting, not simply due to a lack of willpower. It might be because they've disrupted their body's delicate hormonal flow. Our bodies maintain a precise hormonal balance, and when this balance is broken, they quickly shift to one that easily gains weight. So, instead of just counting calories, let's start a smart diet that understands and manages your body's hormones!


📌 2. Thyroid – The Hidden Regulator of Basal Metabolic Rate

Thyroid hormones (T3, T4) are like your body's engine. They directly control its energy usage rate, or Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR). When thyroid function declines, it's akin to the engine's output being lowered. Even if you reduce your food intake, energy consumption slows down, making it easy to gain weight.



🧪 Key Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

•   You feel easily tired and lack energy throughout your body.
•   You feel the cold more than others and your hands and feet are cold.
•   Your face or hands and feet swell (edema), and constipation is severe.
•   You lose a lot of hair and it becomes brittle (hair loss).
•   You gain weight for no reason or find it hard to lose weight.
•   In women, menstrual irregularities or changes in menstrual flow may occur.



⚠️ Important Note

If these symptoms persist, and you gain weight despite dieting efforts or feel extreme fatigue, it might not just be a lack of willpower but could indicate a problem with your thyroid hormones. It's important to consult a specialist and get a thyroid function test (TSH, FT4, etc.).
Be especially cautious with extreme low-carbohydrate diets, as they can temporarily suppress thyroid function. Instead of radical restriction, approach it carefully by gradually adjusting carbohydrate types and ensuring you consume sufficient minerals (selenium, zinc, etc.) and vitamins (vitamin D).



📌 3. Leptin – The 'Satisfaction Hormone' That Makes You Feel Full

Leptin is a hormone secreted by fat cells that signals to the brain, "You can stop eating now!" It's essentially a satisfaction hormone that acts as a brake on appetite.


❗ But if you have a lot of fat, you also have a lot of leptin, so why doesn't your appetite stop?


👉 The problem is Leptin Resistance!

Leptin resistance occurs when there's plenty of leptin hormone, but the brain doesn't properly understand the signal. Since your brain doesn't recognize the "I'm full" signal, your body constantly feels hungry, leading to overeating and ultimately a vicious cycle of accumulating more fat. Late-night snacks, binge eating, and highly addictive processed foods are major culprits that severely worsen leptin resistance.



🛠 Strategies to Overcome Leptin Resistance

1) Cut out processed foods, sugar, and trans fats: Especially refined carbohydrates and sugars that rapidly raise blood sugar promote insulin secretion and further reduce leptin sensitivity, so they should be actively reduced.

2) Sufficient and Quality Sleep: Lack of sleep reduces leptin sensitivity and increases ghrelin, a hormone that stimulates appetite. Getting at least 7 hours of quality sleep is important.

3) Regular Meals and Exercise: Consistent exercise and regular meals that stabilize blood sugar greatly help restore leptin sensitivity and regulate appetite in a healthy way.



📌 4. Cortisol – The Pathway Where Stress Turns into Fat

Cortisol is a hormone secreted to protect your body in stressful situations. While moderate cortisol is necessary for maintaining immunity, chronic stress leads to excessive cortisol secretion, causing various problems.


😣 Results of Excessive Cortisol Secretion

1) Abdominal Obesity: Cortisol significantly contributes to stress-related abdominal fat accumulation.

2) Rapid Blood Sugar Increase and Insulin Rise: Cortisol raises blood sugar, promoting insulin secretion, which then leads to fat storage.

3) Muscle Loss: It can cause unnecessary muscle loss, lowering the basal metabolic rate.

4) Causes overall health deterioration such as sleep disorders and chronic fatigue.



🍩 Why do you crave sweet foods when you're stressed?

This happens because cortisol instructs your brain to "Replenish energy quickly, right now!" Your body perceives stress as an energy depletion situation and seeks high-calorie, high-sugar foods. However, this is ultimately just the beginning of a vicious cycle.



🧘‍♀️ Strategies to Reduce Cortisol

1) Short naps or meditation, deep breathing: Take some time during the day to practice relaxing your body and mind. Simply breathing slowly can be a great help.

2) Get morning sunlight: Morning sunlight helps regulate cortisol secretion in a healthy way and makes the secretion of melatonin, the sleep hormone, regular.

3) Regular Exercise: Moderate-intensity regular exercise is excellent for relieving stress and helps regulate cortisol levels healthily.

4) Reduce the habit of looking at your phone late at night: Blue light from electronic devices can disrupt sleep and affect cortisol secretion.



📌 5. Before Dieting, Your Body's Hormone Checklist

Are you experiencing any of these symptoms? By doing a simple self-check, you can assess your body's hormone status and consult a specialist to find an accurate diagnosis and solution.

1) If it's too hard to wake up in the morning and you constantly feel tired and lack energy: You might suspect a thyroid function abnormality.

2) If you feel constantly hungry no matter how much you eat and find it hard to feel full: There's a possibility of leptin resistance.

3) If you find yourself eating to cope with stress without realizing it: There's a possibility of excessive cortisol secretion.

4) If your bedtime is irregular and your appetite is erratic: Your overall hormone balance might be disrupted.



📚 References

•   Harvard Health Publishing: Hormones and Weight Gain (2023)
•   Mayo Clinic: Hypothyroidism and Metabolism
•   The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism: Leptin Resistance in Obesity
•   Korean Society of Endocrinology: Stress Hormones and Obesity (2022)




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