Sorry, Weight Loss Goes to the End...
Today we want to talk about why we should focus more on health rather than weight loss. As mentioned in our Goals blog, in most cases the extra weight is just the tip of the iceberg where other underlying conditions may be hidden under the water. If these underlying conditions are not attended first, two things may happen:
- It will sabotage weight loss progress
- Sooner or later it will come up to the surface with more notorious symptoms. Hence, getting labeled with one of 55,000 diseases, syndromes and illnesses from the ICD-11 Guidebook
As also mentioned in our blog about calories; we are not designed to lose weight; but rather to thrive, reproduce and survive. We gain weight not necessarily because of eating too much and not exercising; but because of eating too much of the same type, not enough nutrients or sleep, having a stressful life, toxins, etc. Therefore, these may bring a lot of imbalances into the body.
A lot of people talk about calorie deficit as the only solution for weight loss. If that would be true why there are some many people religiously going to the gym and eating healthy, and still not losing weight?
However, this is a very narrow thinking [1]. In other words, we need to take weight loss through a more holistic approach to address the real root causes of the underlying conditions of the iceberg. This may go even beyond the body; there may be mental, emotional or spiritual factors involved. Primary foods are also needed, which if not fulfilled will also affect your weight loss progress.
Let’s talk about what is underneath the water that may be sabotaging our weight loss progress. This is the list of the top underlying conditions that when we use a Functional Medicine principles, we will go to the root causes that once addressed, weight loss may come as a side effect:
Insulin resistance occurs when excess of glucose in the blood reduces the ability of the cells to absorb and use blood sugar for energy. In response to the body’s insulin resistance, the pancreas deploys greater amounts of insulin hormone to keep cells energized and blood glucose levels under control. The ability of the pancreas to increase insulin production means that insulin resistance alone won’t have any symptoms at first. Over time, though, insulin resistance tends to get worse, and the pancreatic beta cells that make insulin can wear out. Eventually, the pancreas no longer produces enough insulin to overcome the cells’ resistance. The result is higher blood sugar levels, and ultimately prediabetes or type 2 diabetes [3] .
Main contributors for insulin resistance are a high glycemic diet and stress, increasing the glucose load in the body. Over time, increases in blood sugar can lead to insulin resistance where cells are suffering from low energy. This is why many people with this underlying condition have sugar cravings because their body cells need glucose, but they are impaired to accept more glucose, leaving the body with high levels of glucose circulating in the bloodstream.
How to know if you have insulin resistance
If you have not been diagnosed as diabetic or pre-diabetic, but you suspect you may have insulin resistance; you can request your primary physician these two tests:
- An A1C level of 6.5% or higher on two separate tests indicates that you have diabetes.
- An A1C between 5.7 and 6.4 % indicates prediabetes.
- Below 5.7 is considered normal.
Actions to Take
As always, if you have been diagnosed with diabetes or pre-diabetes, please follow your primary physician’s recommendations. Independently on your insulin resistance level/condition, there is great evidence that dietary and lifestyle changes may improve dramatically sugar levels [4].
Basic Recommendations:
We also mentioned that another contributor for insulin resistance was stress. Stress itself is the main contributor of not only insulin resistance, but also by several ways it sabotages weight loss progress. For instance, it affects other hormones and switches our bodies into sympathetic nervous system (survival mode) [7]. We will explain later in more detail.
The thyroid gland uses iodine from food to make two thyroid hormones: thyroxine (T4) and subsequently triiodothyronine (T3). It also stores these thyroid hormones and releases them as they are needed. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, which are located in the brain, help control the thyroid gland. The hypothalamus releases thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), which stimulates the pituitary gland to release thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH). When the hypothalamus and pituitary are working normally, they sense when:
- Thyroid hormone levels are low, so they secrete more TRH and TSH, which stimulates the thyroid to make more hormones.
- Thyroid hormone levels are too high, so they secrete less TRH and TSH, which reduces hormone production by the thyroid.
Thyroid hormones affect every cell and all the organs of the body. They:
- Regulate the rate at which calories are burned, affecting weight loss or weight gain.
- Can slow down or speed up the heartbeat.
- Can raise or lower body temperature.
- Influence the rate at which food moves through the digestive tract.
- Control the way muscles contract.
- Control the rate at which dying cells are replaced.
Subclinical hypothyroidism is very common; it will cause the thyroid to underperform. We say “sluggish thyroid can cause sluggish anything”. Fatigue can result in moving less and sluggish metabolism can cause weight gain.
Common symptoms:
- tiredness
- being sensitive to cold
- weight gain
- constipation
- depression
- slow movements and thoughts
- muscle aches and weakness
- muscle cramps
- dry and scaly skin
- brittle hair and nails
- loss of libido (sex drive)
- irregular periods or heavy periods
How to know if you have hypothyroidism
If you have any of the symptoms above, and suspect that you may have hypothyroidism, please work with your primary physician or endocrinologist to run a full thyroid panel including: TSH, Free T4, Free T3, Reverse T3 and thyroid antibodies (TPO and TG) to look for various types of hypothyroid function.
Actions to Take
These may vary depending on your lab results. Please follow your doctor’s recommendations. In some cases, you may need thyroid medication. If you have low T4, he may recommend an iodine supplement. Depending on the results, there are some lifestyle recommendations that we can suggest using Functional Medicine principles.
3. Stress: Chronic stress is contributor to many other dynamics in the body, and it is often a major driver of stubborn excessive weight.
Stress is mainly with the purpose of survival under dangerous situations. It switches our body from parasympathetic(relax and thrive) to sympathetic nervous system – the fight, fly or hide mode. Therefore, this is a survival mode, so the body is not interested in weight loss, thriving or reproducing; but in having the right elements including higher blood pressure and glucose to get into action.
When we are stressed, we release more cortisol, which is a catabolic hormone. As a consequence, it will break down muscle to generate blood sugar in the process of gluconeogenesis. It does this, while simultaneously increasing insulin resistance.
High levels of cortisol also reduce thyroid function. Hence, it will increase T4 conversion to Reverse T3 (inactive version of T3 hormone), instead of T3 as expected.
Many people trying to lose weight inadvertently may increase their cortisol levels (and thus their Reverse T3) with excessive exercise or insufficient calories. In the other hand, sustained low cortisol due to prolonged stress or burnout can also reduce thyroid action via reducing cellular uptake of thyroid hormone.
Sources of stress that may lead to trouble losing weight include physical, mental, emotional and spiritual:
- Emotional/ spiritual stress
- Ongoing physical/emotional trauma
- Ongoing chronic pain
- Excessive exercise
- Chronic dieting/insufficient calories (starvation mode)
- Lack of rest and/or inadequate quality sleep
- Too many stimulants: caffeine, news, electronics
- Allergen exposure – environmental and food sensitivities
- Toxicity e.g. heavy metals, mold, chemicals
How to know if you have high stress
There are some direct and indirect ways to measure your levels of stress. You may feel it; your sleep may be disturbed. If you have chronic pain or some type of emotional stress, you may know it. But sometimes, we try to ignore it. We have busy demanding lives, and we act like everything is fine and under control; but we cannot lie to our own bodies.
Normally there is no need to spend money in cortisol tests, but knowing your cortisol levels at different times of the day, may be a point of interest in some cases.
Actions to Take
Depending on the source of stress, we may recommend from meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, lifestyle changes, journaling, counseling, etc.
Many of these intolerances are to common foods people eat. This happens mainly due to damage of the gut lining, a condition called enhanced intestinal permeability (leaky gut) causing spaces between the cells where food particles leak into the bloodstream. The body sees these particles as invaders, and as a reaction it creates antibodies and inflammation. Remarkable new research links obesity and inflammation. Being overweight promotes inflammation, and inflammation promotes obesity in a vicious cycle [10].
Most common food sensitivities are:
- Dairy
- Gluten
- Other grains, e.g., corn
- Nuts
- Seafood
- Soy
- Caffeine
- Citrus
How to know if you have a food sensitivity
You can verify this indirectly by a food elimination diet like the one recommended in Ultra-Metabolism book. You may either start to feel much better when certain foods are eliminated, e.g. headaches, bloating, etc. or you may feel much worse when those foods are re-introduced.
In some cases, it may be preferred to run a food panel sensitivity that measures a combination of both IgG and IgA antibodies preferably or at least IgG. Still, these tests may not be accurate enough, and may not tell the whole story as the body has other ways to react negatively to foods that not necessarily involve antibodies or measurable reactivity.
Actions to Take
If you suspect of a food sensitivity or confirmed the presence of, 100% elimination of those foods from your diet would be the first step. In most cases when talking about food sensitivity and not allergy, the elimination diet may be just for a couple months until the antibodies disappear [11]. At the same time, it may be recommended to include some supplements that will heal faster the gut lining like slippery elm or aloe vera, among others.
We not only need to reduce exposure; we often need to remove stored residual toxins from the body as well. For example, mold is a toxin that can lead to weight gain or trouble losing weight.
Some diet options like keto or intermittent fasting may move a lot of toxins from adipose tissue, going back into circulation in the body, which may cause more trouble than benefit.
How to know if you have a toxin overload
Unfortunately, there is not an easy way to verify all types of toxins in the body. It may be more based on personal health history and symptoms. If you suspect of heavy metal toxicity for example, there are those tests available for that; but it needs to come from a reputable lab as you may get inaccurate results.
Main symptoms of toxicity include:
- Mood swings
- Fine tremor
- Fatigue
- Brain fog
- Memory loss
- Confusion
- Poor appetite
- Headaches
- Constipation
- Achy joints and muscles
If you have silver dental amalgams, those contain mercury which may increase your risk of heavy metal toxicity.
Actions to Take
Before any intensive weight loss efforts or detoxification, there are a few important things to ensure before proceeding, otherwise you will have a detoxification process stuck or toxin overload:
- Good hydration to dilute and eliminate toxins via the urine
- Regular bowel movements to eliminate toxins via the feces
- Good bile flow to help us excrete fat soluble toxins
- Good sleep hygiene as cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) clears metabolic waste products from the brain during sleep
- Toxin avoidance – cut out pesticides, herbicides, etc. by eating 100% organic. Also review ingredients on household and personal products.
After that, you may consider some detoxifying/chelating foods like green tea, cilantro, parsley and cruciferous vegetables like broccoli.
You may also include binders like chlorella or activated charcoal with supervision of a wellness expert.
6. Sex Hormone Imbalance: All hormones in the body interact together including the sex hormones. In women, having too much estrogen leads to symptoms of PMS and weight gain. This is mainly due to blocks in estrogen metabolism and clearance, or due to increased estrogenic load coming from hormone disruptors found mainly in personal products (parabens, phthalates) and food (pesticides, herbicides).
But also, hormone imbalances could be due to high testosterone in women mainly due to insulin resistance, leading to PCOS [13]; or in men due to high levels of estrogen by the same reason causing sexual dysfunction and infertility [14].
Men can also have low testosterone due to stress, excessive exposure to estrogen or excessive alcohol intake, etc.. Deficiency can lead to low motivation, irritability, insulin resistance and weight gain. Much of our androgens are produced in the adrenal gland, so if the adrenal gland is busy pouring out stress hormones, testosterone production can suffer, as cortisol blocks testosterone receptors. In addition, with excessive body fat, adipocytes may lead to more estrogen and low testosterone because adipose tissue is an endocrine tissue and can convert testosterone into strong estrogens [15].
How to know if you have a hormone imbalances
There are many symptoms related to hormone imbalance starting with:
- Changes in libido
- Infertility
- Mood swings
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Excessive belly fat
- Fatigue
- Weight changes
- Digestive issues
- Thinning or hair loss,
- Skin changes
- Voice changes
- Changes in menstrual periods
If you present any of the symptoms above, there is a chance you may have a hormone imbalance. There are many sex hormone panels available at labs. that can help you to confirm both your estrogen and androgen hormones:
- Estrogen metabolites: Estradiol, estrone and estriol
- Progesterone metabolites: a-Pregnanediol, b-Pregnanediol
- Androgen metabolites: Testosterone, DHEAs, DHT
Actions to Take
Recommendations depend on results. In some cases, it requires hormone therapy prescribed by medical expert.
When insulin resistance is a driver, same recommendations as mentioned in the insulin resistance section apply.
Hormone imbalances may be not only caused by endogenous hormones but also by exogenous sources – substances both natural and man-made, that mimic or interfere with body’s hormones, e.g. birth control pills, hormone disruptors in personal products, e.g. parabens, or plastic products containing BPAs or phthalates ,e.g. plastic water bottles.
These are some lifestyle recommendations to avoid hormone disruption and imbalances:
7. Other underlying condition that may sabotage your weight loss progress if not addressed first
- Sleep deprivation increasing cortisol hormones causing stress and fatigue
- Strenuous excising and big calorie deficit causing stress and fatigue, lack of energy
- Lack of activity which promotes disease by itself, no crap food, toxins or stress required
- Nutrient deficiency – the body needs the right ingredients and energy to burn fat
Our Last Words for You
We hope you found this information useful and helps you as a guideline, and also as a reminder of the importance of focusing more on our health rather than just simple weight or beauty standards. Otherwise, what is the case of being skinny or fit if we are not really healthy?
Being skinny, looking fit or like a bodybuilder does NOT necessarily mean to be healthy. Many people have achieved a desired body composition with a lot of patience & dedication focusing on nutrition and fitness. However, many others have used unhealthy or risky procedures to achieve it through steroids, methamphetamines or surgeries.
Skinny people also get cancer, diabetes, autoimmune disorders and heart attacks. If really our focus is only physical appearance we may end up prey like many others on those fad diets, liposuction [16] or gastric bypass options [17] which are well know to come with risks.
We pledge at Splendhealth to shift this mindset, and focus more on our most valuable treasure we have that is our health.
Fortunately, the trend is shifting. Even when the U.S. weight loss market is now worth $72 billion, the number of dieters has fallen, due to the growth of the size acceptance and body positivity movement.
#splendhealth #wellness #healthylifestyle #functionalmedicine #healthcoach #weightloss #health
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5639963/ Reducing Calorie Intake May Not Help You Lose Body Weight
[3] https://www.diabetes.org/healthy-living/medication-treatments/insulin-resistance
[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3820526/ Nutritional Modulation of Insulin Resistance
[5] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5409691/ Effects of Higher Dietary Protein and Fiber Intakes at Breakfast on Postprandial Glucose, Insulin, and 24-h Interstitial Glucose in Overweight Adults
[6] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6288903/ Association of night eating habits with metabolic syndrome and its components: a longitudinal study
[7] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5579396/ The impact of stress on body function: A review
[8] https://www.thyroid.org/media-main/press-room/
[9] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2695393/ The Differential Diagnosis of Food Intolerance
[10] Hyman, Mark. Ultra-Metabolism: The Simple Plan for Automatic Weight Loss. Atria Books, 2006. Print https://amzn.to/3shMSZn
[11] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2139405/ THE LIFE SPAN OF IgA PLASMA CELLS FROM THE MOUSE INTESTINE
[12] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6101675/ Adipose Tissue as a Site of Toxin Accumulation
[13] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3846536/ Insulin and hyperandrogenism in women with polycystic ovary syndrome
[14] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC179885/ Estrogen in the adult male reproductive tract: A review
[15] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5227141/ Extra-gonadal sites of estrogen biosynthesis and function
[16] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3901919/ Unfavourable outcomes of liposuction and their management
[17] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6203132/ Early and late complications of bariatric operation
