9 proven ways to balance hormones that control your weight

According to research, hormones affect our appetite and the rate of fat stored in our body (1, 2, 3).

Here are the 9 best ways to “balance” the hormones that control your weight:

insulin It is a hormone produced by beta cells in the pancreas.

Insulin, which is secreted in small amounts during the day, is secreted more after meals.

Insulin makes it possible for cells to convert or store your blood sugar into energy, as needed.

Insulin is also the body's main fat storage hormone. It tells the fat cells to store fat and this prevents the stored fat from melting.

When the cells are insulin resistant (a very common condition), both blood sugar and insulin values increase significantly.

Chronic high insulin values (called hyperinsulinemia) obesity and metabolic syndrome can cause many health problems such as (4, 5, 6).

Overeating - sugar, processed carbohydrates, and fast food - in particular, stimulate insulin resistance and increase their value (7, 8, 9).

Here are the tips for balancing insulin values and improving insulin sensitivity:

• Drop or reduce sugar: Highly consumed Fructose and Sucrose increases insulin resistance and level (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15).
• Reduce carbohydrate: A low-carb diet can quickly lower insulin values (16, 17, 18, 19).
• Load into protein: Protein actually increases insulin values in the short term. However, it can reduce insulin resistance by helping to burn fat in the abdomen in the long term (20, 21).
• Eat healthy fats: Omega-3 in fatty fish helps you lower your rising insulin values (22).
• Exercise regularly: According to the researches, overweight women walking or jogging have improved insulin sensitivity after 14 weeks (23, 24, 25).
• Eat enough magnesium: People with high insulin resistance often have megnesium deficiency, and magnesium supplements regulate insulin sensitivity (26, 27, 28).
• For green tea: Green tea lowers blood sugar and insulin levels (29, 30).

Result: Insulin is the main fat storage hormone in the body. Stopping sugar and carbohydrate intake and exercising are the best ways to lower insulin values.

Leptin hormone is produced by your fat cells.

​It is also called “satiety hormone” and cuts your appetite, making you feel full. 

The role of leptin as a signal hormone hypothalamusis to communicate with the part of the brain that regulates appetite and food intake.

Leptin signals the brain that there is enough fat in the body, and there is no need to store more fat. This prevents overeating.

Overweight and obese people often have large amounts of leptin in their blood. One study states that the rate of leptin found in obese people is 4 times higher than in people with normal weight (31).

If leptin stops appetite, obese people with high levels of leptin need to eat less and lose weight.

Unfortunately, when it comes to obesity, the leptin system doesn't work as it should. This is called leptin resistance.

When leptin signals are disrupted, the message to stop eating does not go to the brain correctly, so the brain cannot detect that enough energy is stored (32, 33).

In essence, your brain thinks you're hungry and that's why you feel the need to eat.

Leptin level decreases when weight is lost, so it is also very difficult to balance weight loss in the long run. The brain thinks you're hungry, forcing you to eat more. (34, 35, 36).

One of the two potential causes of leptin resistance is chronic high insulin values, and the other is hypothalamus inflammation (inflammation) (5, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41).

A few suggestions to regulate Leptin sensitivity:

• Avoid foods that cause inflammation: Foods that cause inflammation, especially sugary drinks and limit trans fat consumption.
• Eat healthy foods: Eat inflammatory food, such as fatty fish (42).
• Exercise regularly: Being active in terms of exercise is good for leptin sensitivity (43, 44, 45).
• Sleep regularly: According to research, irregular sleep causes a decrease in leptin levels and increases appetite (46, 47).
• Nutritional supplements: According to one study, a woman on a diet to lose weight and consume alpha-lipoic acid and fish oil lost more weight than others and saw a lower decrease in leptin level (48).  

Result: HE ISPeople with bezity problems resist the effects of leptin. Consuming foods that fight inflammation, exercising and sleeping regularly can improve leptin sensitivity. 

ghrelin It is known as the "hunger hormone".

When your stomach is hungry, the hormone of ghrelin is secreted and a signal to eat is sent to the hypothalamus (49).

Normally, ghrelin hormone is highest before eating and lowest one hour after eating.

However, in overweight and obese people, fasting gynerol levels are lower than in normal weight people. (50, 51).

According to research, people with obesity problems decrease slightly in the value of ghrelin after eating. For this reason, the hypothalamus cannot receive a strong signal to stop eating, which causes overeating (52).

Here are a few tips to improve the functionality of girelin:

• Candy: Avoid high-fructose corn syrup and sugary drinks, as this may disrupt the reaction of the ghrelin after eating (53, 54).
• Protein: Consuming protein at every meal, especially at breakfast, lowers the level of ghrelin and strengthens the feeling of fullness (55, 56, 57, 58).

​Result: Eating high amounts of protein and avoiding foods and beverages high in sugar keeps the level of girelin in balance. 

cortisol It is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands.

Cortisol is also known as the "stress hormone" because it is secreted when you are stressed.

Just like other hormones, it is vital. However, chronic high cortisol value can lead to overeating and weight gain (59).

It seems that women who carry excess weight in the middle of their body react to stress with a higher increase in cortisol values (60, 61).

However, a strict diet can also increase cortisol value. One study found higher cortisol values and stress in women on a low-calorie diet than those on a normal diet (62).

Some strategies you can apply to lower cortisol values:

• ​Eat well: Follow a balanced, real food diet program. Do not reduce calorie consumption to too much.
• Meditate: Meditating can significantly lower cortisol levels (63).
• Listen to music: According to the researchers, cortisol values do not increase very much thanks to the soothing music listened during medical procedures (64, 65).
• Get more sleep: According to a study, when pilots lost 15 hours of sleep for a week, cortisol values increased between %50 and 80 (66).

Result: High cortisol values can cause too much eating and weight gain. A balanced nutrition program helps manage stress and balance sleep with increased sleep cortisol production.

Estrogen it is the most important female hormone.

It is mostly produced by the ovaries and is responsible for regulating the female reproductive system.

Both high or low estrogen hormone can cause excess weight gain. Of course, this situation depends on age, other hormones and the general health of the person.

Estrogen begins to store fat during puberty to maintain fertility during reproductive years (67).

In addition, it can cause body fat in the first half of pregnancy (67).

Women with obesity problems have more estrogen hormones than women with normal weight, and according to some researchers, this is due to environmental factors (68).

The estrogen level decreases and the oily transformation from the hips and thighs into the internal organs, due to the less production of the lumps during menopause. This raises insulin resistance and increases the risk of disease (69, 70).

The following nutritional and lifestyle strategies help balance estrogen:

• Fiber foods: If you want to lower your estrogen levels, eat plenty of fiber (71, 72, 73).
• Cruciferous: Feeding from cruciferous group may be beneficial for estrogen (74, 75).
• Flax seed: In flaxseed  phytoestrogen  Although the rate is open to debate, it shows its benefits in most women (76, 77).
• Exercise: Physical activity helps to keep estrogen levels normal in women before and after menopause (78, 79).

Result: Excess weight gain may occur when the estrogen level is too low or too high. This situation may vary according to age and other hormonal factors.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY) is a hormone produced by the cells of the brain and nervous system.

It stimulates appetite especially for foods containing carbohydrates, and is highest in fasting or starvation (80, 81, 82).

Recommendations to reduce neuropeptide-Y value:

• ​​​Eat enough protein: Insufficient protein consumption increases neuropeptide-y values, which leads to more hunger and weight gain (85).
• Do not starve for a long time: According to animal experiments, fasting for more than 24 hours can greatly increase neuropeptide-y values (86, 87, 88).
• Soluble fibers: Consuming abundant soluble prebiotic fibers to nourish beneficial bacteria in the gut can lower the level of NBP (89).

Result: Neuropeptide-Y stimulates the feeling of hunger, especially during stressful times. Protein and soluble fibers can help lower your neuropeptide value. 

Gluagon-like peptide-1 When foods enter the stomach, they are hormones produced by the intestines.

GBP-1 plays a very important role in keeping blood sugar levels in balance and makes you feel full.

According to researchers, decreased appetite after surgery for weight loss is partly due to rising GBP-1 production (90).

According to one experiment, the GBP-1 mix given to men for breakfast made them feel fuller and ate %12 fewer calories at lunch (91).

Suggestions to raise the value of GBP-1:

• Eat plenty of protein: The fish,  protein powder  and yoghurt protein ratio like boFoods that are l are known to increase GBP-1 values and improve insulin resistance (92, 93, 94). 
• Eat foods that fight inflammation: Chronic inflammation is linked to the production of reduced GBP-1 (95).
• Green vegetables: According to one experiment, women who consume vegetables such as spinach and cabbage have a higher GBP-1 value and lost more weight than others.96).  
• Probiotics: In one of the animal experiments, probiotic additives increased GBP-1 values, which reduced the need for eating (97).

Result: GBP-1 facilitates weight loss and stops appetite. Eating lots of green vegetables and protein can increase your values. 

Just like GBP-1, cholecystokinin (CCK) is a satiety hormone produced by cells in the gut (98).

People with high CCK value are less likely to eat than normal (99, 100, 101).

Strategies to increase the CCK value:

• Protein: Eat plenty of protein at every meal (102).
• Healthy oils: Oil consumption triggers CCK release (103).
• Fiber: In one experiment, when men ate a meal with beans, their CCK levels were doubled compared to when they ate a low-fiber meal (104).

Result: Cholecystokinin is a hormone that occurs in protein, fiber and fat consumption and stops appetite.

It is secreted by cells in the colon and intestines.

Peptide YY is known as the hormone with the most important role in reducing obesity risk and the need to eat (105, 106).

Suggestions for increasing PYY values:

• Low-carb diet: To keep blood sugar levels in balance, you need to create a low-carb diet with unprocessed foods. High blood sugar values can disrupt the effect of PYY (58, 107, 108).
• Protein: Eat high-protein foods regardless of vegetables or meat (58, 109).
• Fiber: Eat foods rich in fiber (89, 110, 111).

Result: To avoid PYY levels and reduce appetite, try to avoid processed carbohydrate foods and consume lots of protein and fiber.

Hormones work together to reduce or increase appetite and store fat.

If you have a glitch in your system, you can often find yourself dealing with weight problems.

Fortunately, diet and lifestyle habits can have a very powerful effect on the functioning of hormones.