BUT I EAT SO HEALTHY!
This hormonal dysregulation is really powerful, making it very difficult to overcome your addiction to supernormally stimulating foods and not to gain fat, and virtually impossible to be healthy in the long-term.
So you’re probably thinking, “I must need to exercise more.”
But you’d be wrong.
And you’ve probably tried that already, haven’t you?
You cannot “out-exercise” poor food choices and the resulting hormonal disruption.
Remember that hormones create and perpetuate these dysfunctions. And the single largest factor in the balance and function of these hormones is food.
So maybe now you’re thinking, “Then I must need to eat less.”
Wrong again.
You’ve already tried that, too, with all of the low-fat, low-calorie “health foods” you’ve been eating. But consider the food choices you’ve made in these last two symbolic days. We didn’t have the hypothetical you binging on pizza, cheeseburgers, or Cool Ranch Doritos. Why? Because we can easily make our point with granola bars, bagels, and low-fat yogurt. Surprised that candy, cakes, and cookies aren’t the only foods-with-no-brakes? Processed foods that add or concentrate carbohydrates, sugar, salt, and/or fat—even the “healthy” ones—more than meet the criteria.
Which leads to overconsumption. Which leads to leptin resistance, insulin resistance, and a disrupted cortisol cycle. All of which further promote overconsumption.
Given all this, I wonder if you’re thinking what we’re thinking?
The “healthy” diet you’ve been eating isn’t really all that healthy after all.
And simply eating less of the same foods isn’t going to improve your hormonal responses. (In fact, cut calories too much and you’ll make your cortisol situation even worse.)
If you need to take a breather right now, go right ahead. This is new information for a lot of people, but we hope it switches on some light bulbs.
Why do I crave sweets late at night?
Why can’t I lose weight, even when I eat less?
Why do I get that 3 o’clock slump every afternoon?
Why do I wake up at 2 or 3 a.m. every single night?
Why do I get so cranky if I don’t eat every two hours?
Where did this spare tire come from—I eat so healthy!
If this sounds like you, take comfort in two simple facts.
Now you know why.
And we will help you fix it.
THE GOOD NEWS
There is some good news. (About time, right?)
The good news is that even after decades of poor eating habits and hormonal dysfunction, all the way through leptin resistance, insulin resistance and, in many cases, a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, your health condition is highly reversible.
You can stop overconsuming, dial all the way back to insulin and leptin sensitivity, retrain your body to burn fat and, to a significant degree, restore normal cortisol levels, by doing one simple thing:
Changing the food you put on your plate.
Read on, please.
THE SCIENCE-Y SUMMARY
The food choices you make should promote a healthy hormonal response in the body.
Chronic “overcarbsumption” of food-with-no-brakes leads to reliance on sugar for fuel, an accumulation of body fat, triglyceride buildup in the liver, and an excess of glucose and triglycerides in the bloodstream.
Excess glucose and triglycerides in the bloodstream promote leptin resistance in the brain.
Leptin resistance means your brain doesn’t hear the leptin message and thinks you’re still too lean. This promotes further overconsumption, and the down-regulation of your metabolism (in part, via your thyroid).
Leptin resistance promotes insulin resistance, in which cells are no longer sensitive to insulin’s message to store. Forcing nutrients into cells creates damage and inflammation and leads to chronically elevated blood sugar and insulin levels.
Chronically elevated blood sugar and insulin levels are contributing factors to type 2 diabetes and a number of other lifestyle-related diseases and conditions.
Glucagon can help you stabilize blood sugar and use fat for fuel, but only when insulin levels aren’t elevated.
Cortisol is a stress hormone. Periods of fasting or excessive caloric restriction, along with lack of adequate sleep or too much stress, may contribute to chronically elevated cortisol levels.
Chronically elevated cortisol levels increase blood sugar, which may contribute to insulin resistance and promotes weight gain in the abdominal region, a component of metabolic syndrome.