Fat Burning Hormones and Weight Loss
Your body's fat burning hormones and fat storing hormones battle each other to determine whether you gain fat or lose it. The balance between these hormones is the determining factor in the success or failure of an individual's weight loss efforts. Though there are more fat burning hormones than fat storing hormones, the fat burning hormones individually are weaker in their effects than the individual fat storing hormones. As a matter of fact, the effects of all of the fat burning hormones combined can be completely blocked by high levels of insulin, the strongest of the fat storing hormones.
By understanding how the fat burning and fat storing hormones interact, and the factors that control their effects, you will be better prepared to identify and correct the mistakes you may be making in your weight loss program and thereby obtain the most efficient fat burning.
For the purposes of this article, I'm going to concentrate on maximizing the effects of the fat burning hormones. The primary ones are adrenaline, thyroid hormone, growth hormone, glucagon, testosterone, and insulin-like growth factor. While a detailed explanation of how each of these hormones works is beyond the scope of this article, there are some basic factors that will promote the fat burning effects of these hormones.
To stimulate the release of the fat burning hormones and to maximize the action of them, there are three major factors to consider. These are diet, exercise, and sleep.
With regards specifically to your fat burning hormones, the diet aspects may not be what you are expecting. When it comes to the hormones that stimulate fat buring, the most important thing is promoting the health of the liver. The liver processes and activates many hormones, including the ones that promote fat burning. An overworked liver becomes less effective in processing hormones and the effects of the fat burning hormones may decline as a result. Of course, drinking too much alcohol or consuming too many medications will hurt the liver, but many people are unaware of the damaging effects to the liver of a diet that is too high in fat and/or animal protein.
For example, perhaps you or someone you know has tried the Atkins diet and did well at first, but then reached a point where they stopped losing weight or even started gaining weight. Unfortunately, the Atkins diet is very hard on the liver when you stay on it for a long time. Despite the fat that the low-carb aspect of it is good in general, the high consumption of fat and animal protein combined with the lack of healthy nutrients and dietary fiber from vegetables and fruits will gradually overwork the liver, reducing its effectiveness in processing and activating the fat burning hormones.
Minimizing the effects of the fat storing hormones requires other dietary considerations, but when it comes to enhancing the effects of the fat burning hormones, the priority is to maintain the healthy function of the liver.
In addition to diet, the proper form of exercise is critical to maximizing the work of the fat burning hormones. There is some controversy about what type of exercise is best to promote fat burning. While scientific research indicates that low intensity, high duration exercise at the "target heart rate" is the most effective type of exercise for fat burning, we need to make a distinction between the fat burned during an exercise session and the overall fat burning effect of an exercise session.
Low intensity, long duration exercise does burn more fat than high intensity, short duration exercise or interval training during the exercise session. But because of the hormonal effects of high intensity exercise, the overall fat burning effects of high intensity exercise are considerably greater than for low intensity exercise, even when the low intensity workouts are much longer. High intensity exercise significantly enhances the function of certain fat buring hormones and raises the body's metabolic rate for 12 to 24 hours, so increased fat burning continues for up to a day after the workout is completed. With low intensity exercise, the fat burning effects mostly stop at the completion of the workout. So, a single high intensity workout can produce many times the fat burning effects of a low intensity workout.
The effect of sleep is closely tied to the effects of high intensity exercise on fat burning. High intensity exercise stimulates the release of growth hormone, which we mentioned earlier is a fat burning hormone. The liver converts growth hormone to another fat burning hormone called insulin like growth factor, which causes the body to burn fat to maintain your blood sugar levels when you go for long periods of time without eating. The usual time when people consistently go the longest without eating is when they are sleeping. When you do not get enough sleep, you don't produce as much insulin-like growth factor, and don't burn as much fat.
For most people, about 7 hours of sleep per night is enought to provide maximum effects from the fat burning hormones. Because of the effects of light on the pituitary gland (which produces growth hormone), nighttime sleep results in better production of growth hormone, and therefore results in better fat burning effects. Night shift workers are advised to make their sleeping area as dark as possible for their daytime sleeping.
To sum things up, in order to maximize the effects of your fat burning hormones, the best action steps are to eat a healthy diet that supports the function of the liver, to do high intensity exercise, and to get adequate sleep. Failure to do so will decrease the effectiveness of your fat buring hormones and frustrate your efforts to lose weight.
About the Author:
For more information about how lose fat and how to increase the effects of your fat buring hormones, visit Dr. Best's website and get his free Ebook, The Total Solution For The Weight Loss Impaired.
