3 Fat Storing Hormones - Why it May Be Hard to Lose Weight

Now that we've reviewed the fat-burning hormones it's important for you to understand the fat-storing hormones that is making losing weight more difficult. Obviously, as the name implies, fat-storing hormones help your body store fat. You may be asking yourself, why would my body want to do that? Remember, fat is stored, like money in the bank; fat is an energy reserve that is used when there is less food energy coming into your body than energy being spent.

When you have circulating blood sugar your body doesn't need to burn fat. Sugar is used as fuel. That leads us to the first of the 3 fat-storing hormones, insulin.

1. Insulin- is made by the pancreas and used to lower blood sugar after meals. Insulin helps the cells absorb sugar as fuel. It will convert any excess sugar (can that be you?) to body fat and cholesterol. The bottom line is that sugar will trigger insulin and in the presence of insulin you will not be able to burn fat appropriately.
2. Estrogen- this is a bigger problem for women, but men do have estrogen receptors, although in much lower numbers (about 1000x less). Estrogen is responsible for female characteristics, menstrual cycle, etc. It provides a fat layer around the woman's body, especially the outer thighs and hip area.
3. Cortisol- is an important hormone secreted by the adrenal glands. The adrenals are activated by any kind of emotional or physical stress. Interestingly, cortisol is an anti-inflammatory and also releases sugar from the liver and muscles into the blood for instant fuel during times of stress. This then raises insulin levels. Cortisol is 'classified' as a fat-burner but has indirect fat-storing effects because it turns muscle protein into sugar which then causes insulin to store the excess sugar as fat in the mid-section.