Welcome to Dr. Gupta's Healthy Hormones Program
Hormones can have a big effect on your health and wellbeing. Fortunately, you can start to bring them back in line with the right functional medicine testing and supplements, and of course, a healthy lifestyle.
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Basic minimum testing:
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Protein plays a lot of important roles in your body but you may not realize how important it is for keeping your appetite in check. Protein helps to control hormones that reduce your levels of a hormone called ghrelin (also known as the “hunger hormone” as it triggers overeating).
According to studies, eating a meal that contains plenty of protein led to men experiencing a 14% and 20% increase in these hormones compared to eating a meal with a normal amount of protein. And that meant a 25% reduction in hunger too.
The same seems true for women. Eating a diet that was made up of 30% protein resulted in higher levels of the GLP-1 hormone and increased feelings of satiety compared to eating a diet with only 10% protein. It also boosted metabolism.
If you need to keep appetite hormones under control, protein is definitely going to be your friend! To get the most benefits, it’s generally recommended that you aim for 20-30g of protein at meals, according to this study - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25926513
What can you eat to get to this amount? Try eggs, chicken breast, turkey breast, fish, nuts, oats, cottage cheese, lentils, Greek yogurt, tuna, quinoa, pumpkin seeds and even broccoli.
TASK TIME!
1. Did you order your adrenal profile and gut test yet?
2. What will you be eating to get plenty of protein today?
What did you think about using protein to keep appetite hormones in check? Have you tried eating more protein to keep you full and stop overeating?
We’re going to look at how you can balance your levels of stress hormones, especially cortisol and adrenaline. The latter is the stress hormone that’s released during the “fight or flight” response when your brain considers itself under threat. In the past, these triggers were genuinely of the life or death variety but these days, our “threats” are a lot more mundane and a byproduct of modern life.
Unfortunately, this means that stress hormones can be high most of the time and that’s seriously bad news for health and weight. Diabetes, heart disease and even cancer are all linked to inflammation from chronically high stress levels so it’s definitely something you want to keep in balance!
According to studies, you can bring stress hormones in line by reducing steps to reduce your stress levels. Meditation, mindfulness, journaling, yoga and massage are just a few of the things that you can do on this front. Massage probably isn’t the first thing that springs to mind but studies have shown that it can reduce cortisol levels by as much as 31% and at the same time, it can boost serotonin and dopamine levels by almost 30%.
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TASK TIME!
1. Did you order your adrenal profile and gut test yet?
2. What will you be doing to keep stress levels in check and balance stress hormones?
Now we’re talking about why it’s super important to get plenty of sleep to keep lots of key hormones working well. According to studies, not getting enough sleep is bad news for a whole host of hormones, including the hunger hormones ghrelin and leptin, insulin, cortisol and growth hormones. A study that significantly reduced men’s sleeping hours for just two nights found that leptin levels reduced by almost 20% and at the same time, ghrelin levels jumped up by almost 30%. The combination of these hunger related hormones indicates that poor sleep stops you feeling full and triggers cravings.
Quality of sleep is also important as growth hormones are affected if your brain isn’t able to move through all of the sleep cycles during the night. These are at their highest during deep sleep cycles. Let’s talk briefly about how you can make it happen:
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A dark bedroom that is at optimum temperature for good sleep is a must. If any lights shine into your room, try blackout blinds to cut them out.
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Switch off devices at least an hour before bed so that “blue light” doesn’t negatively affect your body’s melatonin levels.
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Eat foods that get your body ready for sleep in the run up to bedtime.
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A warm bath can prep your body for bed.
TASK TIME!
1. Did you order your adrenal profile and gut test yet?
2. What will you be doing to keep stress levels in check and balance stress hormones?
Let's look at exercise and how it can help you to keep your insulin levels healthy.
All exercise helps but according to studies, aerobic exercise and strength training have been proven to increase insulin sensitivity and keep insulin levels in check. Endurance exercise is another option for this too. In one study that lasted for 24 weeks, obese women had better insulin sensitivity and higher levels of a hormone called adiponectin, which is anti-inflammatory and keeps metabolism under control.
Exercise has another benefit from a hormone perspective too, especially if you’re concerned about losing muscle mass as you get older. Hormones that help you to maintain muscle mass tend to decline with age but studies have suggested that this isn’t always the case for people who are physically active. You don’t need to be doing really intense exercise either … even walking regularly has been shown to keep these hormones at a healthy level.
TASK TIME!
1. Did you order your adrenal profile and gut test yet?
2. What exercise will you be doing to manage insulin levels and avoid insulin sensitivity in the future?
Dr. Gupta's hormone restore tips
