You’ve done all the right things. You hit the gym. You eat all the right foods. But your weight loss has plateaued and you just can’t figure out why.

Does this sound all too familiar? Your hormones may be to blame.

Without the right balance of hormones, your body can lose the ability to regulate processes that help with weight loss.

While diet and exercise are important factors in helping you lose weight, maintaining healthy hormone levels is crucial. If your hormones aren’t balanced, you may not be able to shed pounds, or could even experience weight gain.

You may want to consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy as part of your weight loss plan.

How Does Hormonal Imbalance Cause Weight Gain?

Hormone imbalances may cause weight gain because they can slow metabolism, increase abdominal fat and decrease energy. In women, fluctuations of hormones caused by perimenopause and menopause can impact appetite, metabolism and fat storage.

Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy helps balance hormones, optimizing your body for weight loss.

Which Hormones Can Help Me Lose Weight?

When given in conjunction with a weight loss plan that includes diet and exercise, these hormones can help with weight loss.

Estrogen: Estrogen is a female sex hormone produced by the ovaries, adrenal gland and fat cells. It facilitates the production of Leptin, a protein that regulates metabolism and appetite.

When a woman’s estrogen levels significantly decrease, her body will search for other sources of estrogen in fat cells, causing the body to store and convert more calories to fat. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy can help women control their appetite and sugar cravings.

Progesterone: Progesterone is produced in large amounts during and after women ovulate. It’s a natural diuretic, so a decrease in progesterone levels during perimenopause and menopause can cause the body to retain excess salt and water.

Progesterone facilitates the conversion of stored body fat to energy. An imbalance can also cause women to overeat.

Testosterone: Produced by both men and women, this hormone inhibits fat storage, especially in the abdomen. Low levels can cause sugar cravings and may lead to insulin resistance.

Testosterone is produced in smaller amounts in women and is the hormone primarily responsible for building and maintaining muscle mass. Because muscle helps burns calories and increases metabolism, a significant decrease in muscle mass can cause metabolism to slow, and weight to increase.

DHEA: This hormone promotes weight loss by increasing the body’s metabolism, preventing fat storage and decreasing the appetite for dietary fats.

Insulin: This hormone regulates fat metabolism and causes glucose absorption in the liver, muscles and fat tissues.

Incretin: By preventing elevated glucagon levels, this hormone helps ensure an appropriate insulin response after eating. Incretin produces a sense of fullness and slows the rate of gastric emptying.

Pregnenolone: A powerful hormone that can regulate other hormones to help prevent abdominal fat storage and stress caused by cortisol, Pregnenolone keeps metabolism high, improves brain function and memory and can provide rejuvenating effects.

We Can Help You Balance Your Hormones for Weight Loss

Your weight issues may not be stemming from the food you are eating, or the amount of physical activity you engage in. You may need to optimize your hormones.

By replenishing your ideal amounts of these hormones through bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, you can get your hormones back in balance and your weight loss back on track.

Albuquerque’s Duke City Health takes a whole-body approach when looking at all of the factors that are preventing you from losing weight. Contact us today to see how we can develop a plan to help you achieve your weight loss goals.