Hormonal Balance and Weight-loss
by Bryn Towns, Kinesiologist

For several years now I have had the pleasure and the challenge of working with many overweight people.

There are a multitude of issues facing the 'horizontally gifted': diet, exercise, physical and hormonal balance, mental toughness, to name but a few. A vitally important and often neglected aspect, is the role that hormones play in the accumulation and riddance of body fat.

Men have two basic hormones that need to be balanced or stabilised in order to facilitate weight-loss; insulin and thyroxin. Women have a third in addition to these; oestrogen.

A key hormone to control in the war against weight is Insulin. Described as a 'fat accumulating hormone' by modern medicine, it plays a major role in the digestion of carbohydrates. The combination of excess carbohydrate and so by default, excess insulin, is a surefire recipe for weight-gain, so insulin control is very important for weight-loss.

Nothing is more common in my practice than overweight clients whose fat intake is extremely low, carbohydrate intake high, and who can't seem to shift the excess weight.

Thyroxin is a hormone excreted by the thyroid, which in turn regulates the metabolism. A sluggish thyroid will invariably lead to weight-gain over time. There is a simple temperature test I teach to my clients, to assess thyroid function. If under-active, there are a few naturopathic remedies that may help.

Oestrogen is a female hormone, also often described as 'fat accumulating' by modern medicine. I see many women that are on either the Pill, Contraceptive Injection or Hormone Replacement Therapy whose oestrogen dominance is such that it has caused them to gain weight. I have regularly seen that achieving a more harmonious overall hormonal balance will help enormously in the 'war against width'.

In addition to the above I advocate a high protein, medium fat, low carbohydrate diet.

If you are one of the many people struggling to lose weight, find yourself a doctor or complementary therapist that is willing and able to help you with your overall diet, physical and hormonal balance, and you could be on your way to 'Slim-ville' sooner than you think.