Additionally, improving dietary choices, increasing physical activity, getting more sleep, managing stress levels effectively, quitting smoking, and limiting alcohol are all ways to decrease and avoid hormonal weight gain.
Women (and men) with high levels of estrogen experience weight gain and the inability to lose weight. Estrogen levels naturally shift during menopause, but they can also become irregular due to environmental toxins or a poor diet rich in alcohol, added sugar, and processed carbohydrates.
Estrogen dominance causes several issues in the body, but most women will find that it can be extremely difficult, and almost impossible, to lose weight as a result of estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance causes fat gain, water retention, and bloating, and puts women at a higher risk for obesity.
“Women also become more estrogen-dominant as we move into perimenopause and beyond. Estrogen dominance promotes insulin resistance, which causes the belly fat build-up,” she says.
To regain the estrogen balance, the body starts converting all energy sources into fat, which leads to weight-gain, especially in the abdomen area.
The hormone leptin is produced by fat cells and is secreted into our bloodstream. Leptin reduces a person's appetite by acting on specific centres of their brain to reduce their urge to eat. It also seems to control how the body manages its store of body fat.
What does hormonal weight gain look like? Hormonal weight gain looks like any type of excess weight. Factors such as age, sex, body type, and cause of weight gain may make you gain weight differently. However, it's not possible to know that hormones are causing your weight gain by the way it looks.
Leptin is a hormone produced naturally in the body that helps regulate feelings of satiety (fullness or hunger). Because of this, marketers commonly promote leptin supplements as a weight-loss aid. But these supplements don't actually contain leptin, which means they're unlikely to lead to weight loss.
As we know, hormones support many vital functions within the body, including our ability to maintain muscle, lose body fat, and experience stress and hunger. When a hormonal imbalance occurs, it becomes considerably harder to lose weight.
Some evidence suggests that estrogen hormone therapy increases a woman's resting metabolic rate. This might help slow weight gain. Lack of estrogen may also cause the body to use starches and blood sugar less effectively, which would increase fat storage and make it harder to lose weight.
Exercise regularly. Research suggests that exercise can help to reduce high estrogen levels. Premenopausal women who engage in aerobic exercise for five hours a week or more saw their estrogen levels drop by nearly 19%. Cardio exercise helps the body break estrogen down and flush away any excess.
High estrogen symptoms include irregular menstrual cycles, dense breast tissue, mood swings/irritability, weight gain, acne, and many others. High estrogen symptoms can result from a true excess of estrogen levels, or you might have estrogen dominance (relatively high estrogen in relation to low progesterone).
This is the hunger hormone! Ghrelin helps stimulate appetite and increase fat deposition. It is mainly secreted by the stomach, as well as the small intestine, pancreas, and brain. Elevated levels of ghrelin in the blood can lead to weight gain.
Hormonal imbalance affects your body in a number of ways — and one of the most common symptoms is weight problems. Having a hormonal imbalance can cause weight gain or make it hard to lose weight, even when you diet and exercise.
You Might Be Eating Too Little
This phenomenon is called “starvation mode,” and while your body isn't actually starving, it will naturally hold onto whatever calories it receives in an effort to help you maintain your energy balance.