There are some women who have hormone imbalances and are unaware of it. It may be that you’re one of them. A hormone imbalance can cause weight gain. Once you’ve gained stubborn weight, it’s difficult to lose it, but not impossible. You’ll lose weight only when your hormones become balanced. Losing weight is all about keeping your hormones in check. Hormone imbalance can occur due to stress, age, genes, and poor lifestyle habits, resulting in an altered metabolism. This ultimately leads to weight gain.
What Is a Hormone Imbalance?
Hormone imbalance happens as a result of hormone fluctuations in your body that occurs naturally during puberty, menopause, and perimenopause. It may be due to an unbalanced lifestyle or toxins. Progesterone deficiency is caused due to hormonal imbalance, which is most common among young women. Hormones should be in a balanced state for the body to function normally. If your estrogen levels are higher than progesterone, then there is a hormone imbalance.
Difference Between Estrogen and Progesterone
Estrogen and progesterone are hormones that are secreted by the ovaries. They contribute to women’s fertility and menstrual cycles. Estrogen increases body fat, whereas progesterone uses fat for energy. Progesterone is a natural antidepressant, whereas estrogen can cause headaches, especially migraine headaches when there’s a drop in estrogen level. Progesterone helps normalize blood sugar levels. Progesterone also restores sex drive, whereas estrogen decreases it.
How High Estrogen or Low Progesterone Causes Weight Gain .
Sugar Cravings:. When estrogen level is high, insulin increases. This is why you crave sugar, especially women during their Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS). Progesterone helps to lower insulin level.
Fat Stored: High levels of estrogen help fatty tissue growth, and your fat cells, in turn, make more estrogen. The excess fat gets deposited around the belly for men and on the hips and thighs for women. Balancing estrogen with progesterone will help produce a healthy weight.
Thyroid: Low progesterone can lead to thyroid problems, which can cause weight gain or difficulty losing weight. When you have low progesterone level, your liver produces an excess protein called TBG.
Sleep and Appetite: Progesterone has a soothing effect on the brain, whereas estrogen has a stimulating effect. Women with high estrogen may experience sleep difficulties. Lack of sleep damages the hormone that controls your appetite (leptin). When you’re sleep-deprived, your appetite increases and you tend to eat more.
Do Low Estrogen Levels Cause Weight Gain?
Estrogen hormone increases a woman’s resting metabolic rate, which helps in slowing down weight gain. When there’s a lack of estrogen, your body uses starch and blood sugar less effectively. This increases fat storage in the body and makes it difficult to lose weight.
Can Stress Cause Weight Loss or Weight Gain?
Signs of Hormone Imbalance
Some of the most common signs of hormone imbalance are:
- Weight gain (especially belly fat)
- Infertility (It’s not permanent. It’ll come back when your hormones become balanced.)
- Heavy or irregular periods
- Insomnia or poor sleep
- Low libido
- Hot flashes
- Premenstrual Syndrome (headaches or migraines, cravings, moodiness, cramps, fatigue, tender breasts, irritability, and depression)
- Hair loss
Causes of Hormone Imbalance
The main cause of hormonal imbalance is due to long-term use of the contraceptive pill. The contraceptive pill contains the synthetic progestin, which lowers your progesterone levels. Other causes of hormonal imbalance include stress, poor nutrition, lack of exercise, menopausal changes, and xenohormones.