Weight loss isn’t just about eating less and exercising more. When our bodies are out of balance, especially in areas like cortisol and thyroid function, losing weight can feel near impossible. At Infinite Wellness, we take a holistic approach, looking at the root causes of why someone may struggle with weight loss. In this blog, we will break down how imbalances in cortisol, thyroid hormones, and other systems impact weight. Many of these imbalances are ones that we work with in practice every day. In understanding the imbalances, you can best identify the pathway that you need to take to move forward in your weight loss journey. Now more than ever, people understand that losing what is about is much more than food.
Cortisol and the Weight Connection
Cortisol, known as the “stress hormone,” plays a significant role in how the body stores and uses energy. When cortisol levels are chronically elevated due to stress, it can lead to several weight-related challenges:
- Fat storage in the abdomen: High cortisol encourages the body to store fat, particularly in the abdominal area, which is harder to lose.
- Blood sugar dysfunction: Elevated cortisol can lead to blood sugar imbalances, increasing craving for sugary or high-carb foods, which promote weight gain.
- Muscle breakdown: Chronically high cortisol can cause muscle breakdown, reducing your basal metabolic rate (BMR), and making it harder to burn calories.
To break this down even further, “The adrenal glands produce cortisol. When [we] encounter a stressful situation, [our] bodies release cortisol to prepare for a “fight or flight” response. This hormone increases energy levels by removing glucose from the bloodstream and altering various physiological processes, including metabolism and immune function. (1)” At Infinite Wellness, we help our clients manage stress, support adrenal health, and balance their cortisol levels through lifestyle changes. Targeted supplements can help reset your body’s natural weight regulation.
Thyroid Hormones: Your Metabolic Regulators
The thyroid gland produces hormones that directly impact your metabolism, especially T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine). When thyroid function is compromised, the metabolism slows down, making it difficult to lose weight. Conditions like hypothyroidism, where the thyroid is underactive, can lead to:
- Sluggish metabolism: A slow metabolism means fewer calories are burned at rest, making it harder to lose weight.
- Fluid retention: Thyroid imbalances can cause the body to retain water, adding to overall weight
- Low energy levels: Fatigue from hypothyroidism can make exercise and physical activity more challenging.
Through our integrative approach at Infinite Wellness, we go beyond looking at TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone). We believe that by understanding the whole picture, we can help you understand the root cause of your health concerns. Recent research states, “In conclusion, the alterations of thyroid hormones in obesity suggest an adaptation process. Since rapid weight loss is associated with a decrease of TSH and T3, the resulting decrease in REE (resting energy expenditure) may contribute towards the difficulties maintaining weight loss (2).” With our New Patient Plus Package, we ensure that we evaluate a full thyroid panel that includes free T3, free T4, and antibodies to give a more accurate picture of how your thyroid hormones could impact your weight loss.
Insulin Resistance and Blood Sugar Imbalances
This topic has become increasingly popular based on recent research and studies on GLP-1 drugs and interventions. Insulin is a hormone that helps regulate blood sugar levels. When our cells become resistant to insulin, blood sugar levels remain elevated, promoting fat storage and making it difficult to lose weight. High cortisol levels, poor diet, and lack of exercise can exacerbate this. Symptoms of insulin resistance include:
- Frequent cravings for carbohydrates and sugar
- Difficulty losing weight despite efforts
- Fat storage around the midsection
Focusing on diet changes, improving gut health, and managing stress leads to a more holistic approach to insulin resistance and blood sugar imbalances. These are helpful places to begin, whether you are on a weight loss journey or at a plateau in your weight loss. Through 100s of labs we review each year, we teach our patients the importance of being within functional and optimal ranges for their bloodwork to ensure they accomplish their weight loss goals.
Estrogen Dominance
Hormonal imbalances, like estrogen dominance or progesterone deficiency, can also play a significant role in weight gain, especially around the hips and thighs. Estrogen dominance when there is too much estrogen relative to progesterone leads to:
- Weight gain and fluid retention
- Difficulty losing fat, particularly in the lower body
- Mood swings and fatigue, which can hinder weight loss efforts
Balancing estrogen through dietary adjustments, supporting liver detoxification, and optimizing the microbiome can help address this issue from a functional medicine standpoint. However, before you start to self-assess and begin supplementation, it is important to understand what is causing estrogen dominance or progesterone deficiency. As a hormone, estrogen is very proliferative and serves its purpose by helping to grow the endometrial lining in preparation for pregnancy. Like most things in the body, any estrogen not being used is passed through the liver, and the liver’s job is to help detoxify. If there are imbalances within the gut, we have a sluggish liver that allows estrogen to accumulate in the body (3). This accumulation of estrogen causes hormonal imbalances and can block receptors in the body that are needed to keep things stable. If estrogen does not know where to go, it will accumulate in our tissues.
Gut Health: Your Foundation to Weight Loss
The gut is critical to overall health, including metabolism and weight regulation. This needs to be added to our current discussion around weight loss. Gut dysbiosis, or an imbalance of good and bad bacteria in the digestive system, can lead to inflammation, poor nutrient absorption, and weight gain. Key factors in gut-related weight issues include:
- Inflammation: Chronic gut inflammation from SIBO, yeast overgrowth, bacterial overgrowth, mold, or parasites can trigger weight gain by disrupting hormone signaling.
- Nutrient deficiencies: Poor absorption of key nutrients like iodine, selenium, and zinc can impair thyroid function and overall metabolism.
- Toxins and detoxification: A sluggish digestive system hampers detoxification pathways, leading to weight gain and difficulty shedding excess pounds.
At Infinite Wellness, one of the ways that we support healthy and maintainable weight loss is through restoring the gut microbiome. A healthy microbiome sets the foundation for healthy cells that are not inflamed. Our approach often includes eliminating inflammatory foods, supporting gut flora with probiotics, and optimizing digestive function to ensure proper nutrient absorption. Once you have reached your goal, we show exactly what to do to maintain your weight loss for years.
Sleep’s Role in Hormone Balance
Sleep, including cortisol, thyroid hormones, and insulin, is essential for hormone regulation. Poor sleep can disrupt these hormones, making it harder to lose weight. Chronic sleep deprivation leads to:
- Increased cortisol levels
- Insulin resistance
- Increased hunger hormones like ghrelin, which stimulate appetite
In a recent study, scientists showed that even waking up for 2 hours at night was enough time to see changes in blood regulation and insulin response for the next day while eating (4). This supported the hypothesis that sleep disturbances contribute to being a risk factor for metabolic-based diseases. Improving sleep hygiene is essential in supporting optimal health and well-being; restorative sleep is crucial for balancing hormones and weight loss.
Your Holistic Approach to Weight Loss
Losing weight is about far more than counting calories or macronutrients. When hormones like cortisol, thyroid hormones, insulin, and estrogen are imbalanced, losing weight can be difficult. Our approach at Infinite Wellness looks at the whole person, identifying the root cause of weight challenges by addressing stress, gut health, sleep, and hormone imbalances.
The body is better equipped to regulate metabolism, improve energy levels, and support sustainable weight loss by rebalancing these symptoms. We view weight loss as optimizing overall health, not just focusing on the number on the scale. To learn more about our practice and how we help 100s of men and women get their health back, schedule a free consultation to speak with one of our practitioners.
References:
Tonet, Natália Stinghen, et al. “Moderate chronic sleep perturbation impairs glucose and lipid homeostasis in rats.” Sleep 47.7 (2024): zsae118.Saved to Drive
Singh, Balvinder, and Neelesh Kumar Maurya. “The Cortisol Connection: Weight Gain and Stress Hormones.” (2024).
Reinehr, Thomas. “Obesity and thyroid function.” Molecular and cellular endocrinology 316.2 (2010): 165-171.
Kumari, Nikki, et al. “From gut to hormones: unraveling the role of gut microbiota in (phyto) estrogen modulation in health and disease.” Molecular Nutrition & Food Research 68.6 (2024): 2300688.