Endocrinologist-nutritionist Elena Davidenko answered questions about weight loss and excess weight

Endocrinologist-nutritionist Olena Davydenko explained why overweight people cannot always lose weight using classic recommendations, what hormones affect overweight and how modern medicine can help solve this problem.

Is it true that excess weight is almost always associated with hormonal problems?

No. To answer your question, excess weight is often the result of a high-calorie diet and a sedentary lifestyle. Even in people with a genetic predisposition, in order for this predisposition to be realized, it is necessary, so to speak, to turn on these genes, to create conditions - and these include stress, overeating, and a sedentary lifestyle.

However, in practice, I meet more and more people who follow dietary recommendations and follow a regime of physical activity and at the same time are overweight. These are most often patients over 25-30 years old. And their excess weight is caused precisely by hormonal imbalance.

These are not only patients with hypothyroidism (in whom metabolic processes in the body are slowed down due to thyroid gland dysfunction), with polycystic ovary syndrome (but here it is not clear what is primary: excessive body weight provokes polycystic ovary syndrome or PCOS leads to weight gain, but in in any case, with this diagnosis, it is necessary to work on reducing body weight), metabolic syndrome (which does not develop for one specific reason, but when a number of factors are combined, and hormones play not the least role). Very often people who are overweight suffer from it, who have not yet brought themselves to pathologies (and excess weight contributes to this), but on the verge of being overweight, it is already a symptom, a signal of the body that it has problems.

How are the hormonal causes of excess weight revealed?

If a person has been struggling unsuccessfully with excess weight for a long time, and all efforts to reduce it lead to only minimal results, or after losing weight, it quickly gains again, then the reason is probably hormonal disorders.

If you are overweight and have at least one of the following symptoms, you definitely need to see an endocrinologist:

• increased blood pressure;
• swelling of limbs and joints and other joint problems;
• constant thirst, dry mouth, a feeling of a lump in the throat or a feeling of the presence of sand in the eyes;
• chronic fatigue and slow recovery of the body after physical exertion;
• Depressive state with mood swings, tearfulness.

What hormones are most often responsible for excess weight?

Thyroid hormones. Produced by the thyroid gland. When there is a lack of them, a person recovers and cannot lose weight until he balances his hormones.

Cortisol. This stress hormone reduces the sensitivity of insulin receptors, which leads to insulin resistance and provokes a chronic increase in insulin. The higher its level, the thicker the waist

Insulin. The higher its level, the greater the weight and the more difficult it is to drop it. Even strict restriction of caloric intake for six months against the background of high insulin will not give the expected results. But it is only necessary to normalize this hormone, you will achieve a significant, and most importantly, a steady decrease in body weight.

The doctor tells more about this in the video:

Estrogens. Due to the work of this hormone, fat mass in young people is located in the lower part of the figure (on the hips), and in women after menopause, it is above the waist (on the stomach). With a lack of estrogen, excess weight is gained. The level of this hormone can often fall in stressful situations.

Prolactin. Its elevated level leads to a decrease in the concentration of sex hormones (estradiol in women, testosterone in men), which slows down the main metabolism, weight gain occurs, and appetite increases.

Progesterone. Increases during and after ovulation. Thanks to it, the female body begins to store all the useful substances in order to safely bear a child. Due to the high level of progesterone, the appetite of pregnant women increases, they are tormented by a strong feeling of hunger. If the hormone is constantly elevated in non-pregnant women, failures in the reproductive system begin, and metabolism is disturbed. The body perceives this as a false pregnancy, begins to accumulate adipose tissue.

In approximately 50% of women, excess androgens are the cause of excess weight. But here it is necessary to look not only at androgens, but also at other reproductive hormones. Because, for example, being overweight can be associated with both low and high levels of free testosterone.

I named the most frequent culprits. In order to determine the exact cause of the weight, to develop a therapeutic scheme for the correction of detected violations, I recommend contacting specialists, doctors. And don't waste time, because timely early diagnosis and taking measures (primarily dietary) will help to avoid the development of other diseases that will be a consequence of excess weight.

For consultations and treatment, please contact Dr. Olena Davydenko, a therapist-endocrinologist, nutritionist to:

Telegram: @dr_davydenko

WhatsApp: +380 67 466 42 19