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5 Hormonal Influencers of Fat Loss
1. Insulin – The Fat Storer In the hierarchy of hormonal influencers for fat loss, insulin still reigns as king according to current evidence. This hormone, relative to the others, is most strongly influenced by carbohydrate intake and over consumption of food, both of which cause a detrimental increase in blood sugar. Over consuming any macronutrient whether it be carbohydrate, fat, or protein will elevate this hormone. For the average American, who tends to be sedentary, and also over consumes, insulin will increase and remain high. Chronic high levels of insulin will eventually cause your body to become resistant to this hormone, meaning you will have difficulty burning fat. With the epidemic of type II diabetes and obesity, this means that most Americans are insulin resistant and thus unable to burn fat. With lots of insulin around you cannot burn fat. To remedy the high levels of insulin floating around one should lower their carbohydrate intake and be mindful of not over-eating. 2. Glucagon – The Fat Burner Glucagon can be thought of as insulin’s good twin. It is insulin’s twin because these two hormones, in a healthy body, work together to keep your blood sugar and energy needs in balance. It has the opposite personally of insulin, because higher levels of glucagon in the body enable the body to burn fat instead of storing it. If insulin levels are low then glucagon can begin to help the body burn fat. To cause an increase in glucagon one should not over-eat, while at the same minimize carbohydrate intake. 3. Cortisol – The Stress Hormone Cortisol, secreted from the adrenal glands, has a split personality in the body. In other words, it is not all bad or all good. Acute stressors on the body tend to cause a short-term increase of this hormone. It gets the body primed to either fight or flee from the stress. This served us well in paleolithic times when we were not at the top of the food chain. A lion jumping out at us requires a metabolic messenger that is quick acting to prime us to fight or flee for our lives. Once we got of danger this hormone allowed us to get stronger and better for the next time a predator thinks we are food. Unfortunately, these days our hectic lifestyles causes our adrenal glands to think there are dangerous creatures everywhere jumping out at us, and as such, cortisol levels tends to be either chronically elevated or very very low, both of which can create a fatty fatigued body. Cortisol that is released with HGH and testosterone becomes a fat burning influencer. To positively influence this hormone one should exercise in the two extremes, long duration low intensity or short duration high intensity, with the primary focus being the former. Also, sleep and meditation will positively influence this hormone to help you become a happy healthier fat burner 4. Irisin -The Exerciser Hormone Irisin is a recently discovered hormone that is secreted from muscle tissue that has been exercised. It helps the body burn excess fat, while also improving cognition and general well-being. It even appears to have anti-aging effects by lengthening telomeres. Telomeres are analogous to your biological clock. The longer they are the healthier you tend to be. If you are sedentary then you do not get any benefit from this hormone. Contracting your big muscle groups (chest, back, and leg muscles) on a regular basis maximizes secretion of irisin. Exercising your big muscle groups with weights consistently will help your muscles secrete this hormone so that you burn fat more efficiently. Runners should not fret, because aerobic exercise also helps this hormone get secreted. 5. MOTS-c – The Power House Hormone MOTS-c is unique among hormones in that it is encoded in the DNA of mitochondria — the “powerhouses” of cells that convert food into energy. All other hormones are encoded in DNA of the nucleus. This hormone is one of the most recently discovered hormones. It primarily targets muscle tissue, where it restores insulin sensitivity, counteracting diet-induced and age-dependent insulin resistance. In animals studies it appears to reverse both diabetes and obesity. Exercise on a regular basis, especially intense exercise, helps one make more mitochondria thus possibly increasing the levels of MOTS-c in the body
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