Hormones and Belly Fat Part 2
Cortisol. The role cortisol plays in the shape of our waistline is at times debated, but there is no doubt that it plays a role in belly fat. If your waistline is wider than your hips, this central fat plays a role in the inflammation of the arteries and increases your chance to develop heart disease.
If cortisol is too high or too low, you won’t live very long. This major hormone keeps us alive thanks to its three essential and powerful properties: it increases blood sugar levels (and thus energy levels), raises blood pressure and neutralizes inflammation.
In primitive times, cortisol was called upon only when we encountered stressful situations, such as running from predators. It gives us quick energy to run from danger. But today cortisol is called upon each time your sugar levels plummet after eating a cookie, drinking a soda, or consuming any other sugary food or drink.
Excess cortisol reduces your production of melatonin, the sleep hormone secreted by a small gland called the pineal gland. A drop in melatonin leads to insomnia.
Foods that help balance the cortisol hormone include: vegetables, fruits, fish, eggs, poultry and, occasionally some red meat. Sugar, alcohol, soft drinks, cookies, cereals, fat-free products are some of the foods and drinks that cause disturbances in cortisol hormone.
Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). DHEA another steroid hormone is produced in the adrenal glands. Levels of DHEA decline with age.
DHEA naturally increases serotonin, which tells your brain when you’ve had enough to eat and inhibits the conversion of glucose into fat. DHEA also protects against arteriosclerosis and lowers insulin.
Animal studies have show that DHEA assists in the prevention of obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease and even graying of hair. Again eat real food, include more fats and eliminate bad carbs.
Estrogen and Progesterone. Estrogen and Progesterone is produced in the ovaries but a small amount is produced in the adrenal glands. Estrogen and progesterone are the female sex hormones. Estrogen is primarily a female sex hormone but both men and women make estrogen. Estrogen causes sexual development and growth, maintains proper function of female reproductive system and progesterone prepares the uterus for pregnancy.
Symptoms of low estrogen or estrogen deficiency can occur at any age, but they are more prominent in menopause.
Progesterone, the other female sex hormone, downregulates estrogen activity. Progesterone is produced by the ovaries. It reduces anxiety and has a calming effect on mood. It makes women happy. Progesterone increases sleepiness, helps to build and maintain bones, slows down the digestive process, promotes appetite and fat storage.
Both estrogen and progesterone levels have suffered because of our modern diet. Excess sugar and elimination of natural fats led to serious disturbances in these important sex hormones.
Foods and other factors that balance estrogen and progesterone include: eggs, butter, fish, poultry, whole milk and weight loss. Sugar, fat-free foods, margarine, excess alcohol, smoking, drugs, fat-free products and obesity can cause disturbances in the production of estrogen and progesterone.
Testosterone. Testosterone is produced in the testes in men and adrenal glands in women. Everyone knows that testosterone is the essence of maleness. Yes, testosterone makes men masculine but it is also present in small amounts in women, and aids libido in both genders.
Don’t worry about making too much testosterone, because producing too much naturally is rarely a problem.
From breakfast cereal to fast food, today’s culinary landscape has been disastrous to overall health and these ten hormones. Hormonal imbalance is not a joke. Diet, not drugs, is both the problem and the answer. Consuming a healthy diet enables one to be fit and to postpone aging. Hormonal imbalances accelerate the aging process at the cellular level and set you on the path toward disease. The Perfect 10 Diet, by Michael Aziz, M.D.