Health Tips

Seven Keys To Weight Loss

If your body does not break down, or metabolize, food quickly enough, you gain weight. Figuring out what is dragging your metabolism down is essential to successful weight loss.
There are seven major causes of a slow metabolism, all of which can be identified and treated. Dr. Hyman considers each cause a "key" that, when understood, can open the door to optimal health.
"Not only will you experience effortless weight loss and create a healthy metabolism, you will address the underlying causes of chronic disease," says Dr. Hyman. "This will mean a new feeling of life and energy."

1. Control your appetite
The body produces hormones and brain chemicals that make you feel full or hungry. For example, the hormone leptin regulates your metabolism. Low levels of leptin can make you feel hungry. Ghrelin, a hormone found primarily in the stomach, stimulates the appetite. When the appetite-regulating hormones are out of balance, you overeat and gain weight. Blood tests to measure insulin, glucose tolerance, and fats (such as triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein) in your blood can help reveal appetite problems.

2. Subdue stress
Stress can take a tremendous toll on your overall health. It can increase body fat even if you eat well and get regular exercise. When you’re stressed, the body produces a hormone called cortisol. This increases your blood sugar and insulin levels, slows fat burning, and increases inflammation, leading to weight gain around the middle. Chronically high levels of cortisol make you less sensitive to leptin, so your appetite is increased and you gain weight. Some people have a genetic defect that makes it impossible to process cortisol properly. Persistent stress can also cause insomnia, which throws your normal circadian rhythm and appetite hormones off balance. This leads to further weight gain. Specific medical tests can determine whether you have an overactive or underactive stress response. Cortisol levels can be detected in urine, blood, and saliva. A blood test can reveal if you have abnormal levels of the growth hormone insulin-like growth factor-1, or IGF-1. Stress and high levels of cortisol lead to reduced IGF-1 levels.

3. Control inflammation
Inflammation increases with weight gain, and weight gain promotes inflammation. The result is a vicious cycle of metabolic lethargy and increased insulin resistance. Medical evidence suggests that obesity-related insulin resistance may be due, in part, to chronic inflammation.

According to Dr. Hyman, sugar is the greatest inflammatory substance in our diet, but trans fats are not far behind. Trans fats promote inflammation by blocking the receptors that normally switch your metabolism on and off. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in certain fish and fish oil capsules, are good fats that help these receptors function properly. Food allergens such as gluten can also promote inflammation.

The high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) blood test is the best method for measuring the body's general level of inflammation. It does not, however, identify the cause of inflammation. The levels can be elevated in patients with metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, food allergies, and a host of other diseases. People with high hs-CRP levels typically have problems losing weight. Blood tests can also be used to check for environmental and food allergies, gluten allergies, and celiac sprue disease. Getting to the root of the inflammation can help you determine how to adjust your diet so you shed pounds and keep them off.

4. Prevent oxidative stress
While oxygen is essential to life, the wrong kind of oxygen can cause cellular damage. Oxygen molecules like to have a partner. Oxidative stress occurs when a pair of oxygen molecules is split in two. The lone oxygen molecule becomes a highly reactive, unstable molecule called a free radical. Free radicals damage DNA, promote wrinkles, and throw a kink into normal metabolic processes, promoting weight gain and diabetes. Antioxidants, found in colorful plant foods, teas, red wine, cocoa, and many supplements, help reduce the number of free radicals in the body and help restore a healthy metabolism.

5. Turn calories into energy
You will not lose weight sitting around on the sofa. The best way to turbocharge your metabolism is to get moving. Physical activity has a positive impact on how fast cells turn food into energy.

6. Check your thyroid
Your thyroid gland is the master metabolic regulator. An under active thyroid slows down your metabolism. What you eat, what you breathe, and how you handle stress all affect thyroid function. A simple blood test can tell you if you have a sluggish thyroid.

7. Detoxify your liver
Toxins from food and the environment can make you fat. Toxins may come in the form of medication, bacteria, industrial chemicals, and heavy metals such as mercury. These pollutants can damage or block the signals that control your appetite. You can detoxify your body with the right balance of protein, fats, fiber, vitamins, minerals, and phyto-nutrients found in plant foods.