For the fortunate few, losing weight is as easy as cutting back on those guilty trips through the Taco Bell Drive-thru or skipping desert a few nights a week. For most, though, losing weight can be a struggle. For many, losing weight can seem darn-near impossible!
If you are one of the latter two groups, a close look at your hormones may be the missing link. At the Lamkin Clinic, we frequently talk about several specific hormones that can ruin your better efforts at weight loss.
There are a number of hormones or imbalances that occur (more commonly as we age) that influence our use and storage of energy resources (i.e. fat, carbs, protein). These hormones, when either suboptimal, deficient, or elevated (depending on which one), can cause “weight-loss resistance”.
“Normal” test results
You may have consulted with your primary physician and had a thyroid blood test and told that the results were “normal”. The reality is that there is broad variance in what the “normal range” is from lab to lab. Further, most physicians only check a TSH, which is an indirect measure of thyroid function.
Measuring the actual thyroid hormone levels is absolutely essential to determine if you are low or suboptimal.
Further complicating things, is that many doctors today are satisfied having levels somewhere within the “normal” range. This is contrary to research which clearly shows optimal health outcomes by optimizing thyroid levels. Patients at the Lamkin Clinic receive a full thyroid profile with goals to optimize rather than normalize.
Have you seen the health of the average person? All labs use their blood to determine a “normal” range. In fact, it’s a statistical manipulation in which the top five percent and the bottom percent are cut off to establish that “normal range”. And this is without any investigation into the health of those that submitted blood!
Insulin levels
Another weight-loss resistant hormone is Insulin. If you have fasted for 8-10 hrs then there really shouldn’t be much circulating insulin in your blood. In fact, it should be barely detectible.
At TLC, we give a little leeway and designate under five as our normal range. If it is above this, there could be developing insulin resistance. Insulin resistance is the fundamental problem that leads to Diabetes. Furthermore, when elevated in a non-fasting state (after you’ve eaten), it will always be higher.
Insulin induces fat storage and leads to weight-loss resistance. Insulin resistance CAN be reversed, but takes a focused approach (fortunately for those trying to lose weight, this process also promotes body fat loss!
Stress and cortisol levels
Stress, Stress, Stress! We all have it. Unfortunately, stress, whether its physical or emotional, leads to spikes in cortisol, the stress hormone. Cortisol elevates blood sugar and contributes to storage of fat.
We can’t always change what’s going on in our lives but we can help our body adapt preventing many of the health consequences of that stress. Controlling inappropriate stress hormone production can help those suffering from weight loss resistance.
Could you be suffering from weight-loss resistance? Time to call The Lamkin Clinic at 405-285-4762.
To your health,
Brian E Lamkin DO