Are you unhappy with your weight? You may not be aware that there are several possible explanations for why weight gain occurs. There’s a lot more to it than just how much you’ve eaten and how much you’ve moved. Your hormones, your liver, your thyroid and your mood all make a significant contribution to how efficient your metabolic rate is.

The following factors could all potentially cause weight gain or make it impossible for you to lose weight:

  • You have a fatty liver and don’t know it. Approximately one in 3 adults in the USA has a fatty liver, which many of them don’t realize. Your liver is supposed to be the main fat burning organ in your body. If you have an unhealthy liver you will not burn fat adequately and it will accumulate inside your liver, around your torso and any other places on your body you are predisposed to weight gain. I designed my liver tonic Livatone Plus to specifically make your liver a more efficient fat burner.
  • Your cortisol level is too high. Cortisol is a hormone made by your adrenal glands. It’s known as a stress hormone because you make more of it when under stress. A lot of people lead stressful lives, so their cortisol level remains elevated. This isn’t good because it promotes weight gain around the torso and it worsens insulin resistance. It can cause stubborn weight around your waist that’s very difficult to shift. You can ask your doctor for a blood test to check your cortisol. Ideally this would be done early in the morning and again in the evening.
  • You are suffering from depression.  We all know that a person who feels sad or lonely tends to eat more comfort food. Sometimes the symptoms of depression are a lot more subtle and you may not realize that you’re actually depressed. Many people don’t feel as happy in winter as they do in summer. Perhaps you’ve recently experienced a series of stressful events and that has affected your usually positive mood. Depression usually affects a person’s appetite; some people eat less, but the majority eat more. Depressed people often don’t feel the same satisfaction from a meal and therefore tend to eat larger portions or snack throughout the day. They also tend to crave carbohydrate rich foods because they can help increase serotonin production. Tyrosine can help to re-balance brain chemistry, and there is a lot of helpful information in the book Help for Depression and Anxiety.
  • You have insulin resistance. This means the hormone insulin doesn’t allow you to burn the calories from carbohydrate you’ve consumed into energy. Instead they get stored as body fat. Insulin resistance typically causes weight gain around the torso. It can also make you prone to fluid retention and high blood pressure. A low carbohydrate diet and the herbal extract berberine are brilliant for reversing insulin resistance.
  • The medication you take is making you gain weight. There are a great many drugs in this category; some examples include the oral contraceptive pill, hormone replacement therapy, some antidepressants, some antipsychotics, medication for epilepsy and some drugs used for breast cancer and prostate cancer. I don’t recommend you stop taking your medication, although if you’ve experienced a significant amount of weight gain, please discuss with your doctor the possibility of an alternative medication. People who need to take several different drugs typically experience weight gain because of the added strain placed on the liver to break down and excrete them. Most people find that taking a good liver tonic can help improve the efficiency of their liver and therefore allow weight loss despite taking medication.
  • You have a food allergy or intolerance. Many people don’t realize that food sensitivities can cause weight gain or inhibit weight loss. If you regularly ingest a food you are allergic to, your immune cells mount a response and release a host of inflammatory chemicals. The excessive inflammation generated in the body can cause insulin resistance by inhibiting the correct function of insulin receptors. Not every allergy produces extreme symptoms such as swelling or itching. Sometimes food sensitivity can cause a very subtle reaction; fatigue, insomnia, dark circles under the eyes or abdominal bloating are all common symptoms. It is best to see a naturopath or nutritionist to help you uncover problematic foods. While you are trying to uncover hidden food sensitivities, the herbs and nutrients in Metabocel tablets help to address insulin resistance and therefore make weight loss much easier.
  • You might have subclinical hypothyroidism (under active thyroid gland). This is an extremely common problem. It is most common in women, however at our clinics we are seeing increasing numbers of men who suffer with this condition. Your thyroid gland controls your metabolic rate. If it is sluggish you will also have a sluggish metabolic rate and be prone to weight gain and fluid retention. Your doctor can give you a blood test to check the health of your thyroid gland, but the problem is, most blood tests are nowhere near comprehensive enough. Simply having a TSH blood test is not enough because this can be in the normal range during early stages of thyroid dysfunction. It is important to have other hormones tested, as well as thyroid antibodies. This is explained in the book Your Thyroid Problems Solved. Selenium is necessary to activate thyroid hormones, and many people aren’t getting enough of this mineral, hence they have a slow metabolic rate.

The above statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat or cure any disease.

 

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