The New Year is just around the corner. Most of us are ready for 2021 to begin and want some changes to take place. The new year comes with the opportunity to begin a journey to shed some pounds and get in shape. However, if you, like many others, have struggled to lose weight or keep it off, then your unbalanced hormone levels may be partly responsible. Hormones control every aspect of weight loss. This includes your metabolism (the body’s process of burning calories), how and where your body stores fat, your appetite and even your food cravings. High estrogen, low progesterone, low testosterone, low DHEA, low thyroid hormone, high insulin and low 5-HTP are a few of the hormonal imbalances that can work against any effort to diet, exercise and effectively lose weight and keep it off.
An under-functioning thyroid gland can be especially problematic. The hormone produced by the small gland in the neck works to convert oxygen and food calories into energy. When the gland is not operating at its optimum level, your metabolism slows down, and so does your effort to lose weight. A large percentage of the population suffers from undiagnosed hypothyroidism (underactive thyroid), while others are receiving inadequate treatment for this condition. Unusual weight gain is one of the most noticeable symptoms of hypothyroidism. Compounded thyroid medication, and sometimes the addition of the synthetic hormone liothyronine (t3) to levothyroixine (t4), can be very effective treatment options for hypothyroidism.
When an underactive thyroid gland goes untreated or undertreated for a long time, the sex hormones (progesterone, estrogen, testosterone, DHEA, etc.) and the adrenal hormones may also become unbalanced as each tries to compensate for the other. This eventually results in symptoms such as fatigue, mood swings, hot flashes, night sweats, sleep difficulties, and weight gain.
If losing weight and getting in shape is part of your New Year’s Resolution, do not let hormone imbalance work against your effort. A simple blood or saliva test is all it takes to identify and correct your imbalance. For information on functional medicine doctors to help balance hormones, contact the Towne Lake Family Pharmacy. 770-635-7697