The balance between the action of fat burning hormones and fat storing hormones is the determining factor in whether or not a person loses or gains weight and body fat. Although the fat burning hormones outnumber the fat storing hormones, they are weaker in their overall effects. In fact, all of the effects of the fat burning hormones can be completely blocked by high levels of just one fat storing hormone.

Because of this, it is important to understand how the hormones that control body fat interact with each other and the factors that control the relative effects of these hormones. With this understanding, it will become much easier to spot the mistakes you may be making in your weight loss program and to correct those mistakes to obtain the most efficient fat burning.

The primary fat burning hormones are thyroid hormone, adrenailne (epinephrine), glucagon, testosterone, growth hormone, and insulin-like growth factor.  A full discussion of how each of these hormones works would be quite lengthy and is beyond the scope of this article, but there are some basic concepts you can apply that will assist you in promoting the effects of the fat burning hormones.

To stimulate the release of the fat burning hormones and to maximize the action of them, there are three major factors to consider. These are diet, exercise, and sleep.

The dietary aspects of maximizing your fat burning hormones may not be what you think. With regards to enhancing the effects of these hormones, the main consideration is promoting the health and functioning of the liver. The liver is responsible for the conversion and activation of many hormones, including the ones that promote fat burning. If the liver gets overworked, it cannot do its job as efficiently as possible, and the effects of the fat burning hormones decline as a result. While most people are aware that excess alcohol consumption and medications can be bad for the liver, many are unaware that a diet that is too high in fat and/or animal protein can also put excessive strain on this vital organ.

Perhaps you or someone you know has tried the Atkins diet and did well at first, but then hit a point where the weight loss stopped. This is actually to be expected because the Atkins diet is very hard on the liver over the long-term. While the low-carb aspect of it is good, the excessive fat and animal protein, particularly combined with the lack of healthy nutrients from vegetables and fruits, will make the liver tired and sluggish, and the result is decreased effectiveness of the fat burning hormones.

While there are other aspects of diet to be considered with respect to minimizing the effects of the fat storing hormones and providing lose weight help, the main concept here is to eat a diet that maintains the health of the liver.

In addition to diet, the proper form of exercise is critical to maximizing the work of the fat burning hormones.  Controversy exists about what type of exercise is best to promote fat burning.  While most current research indicates that low intensity, high duration exercise at your target heart rate is the most effective type of exercise for fat burning, there is an important distinction that needs to be made between the fat burned during an exercise session and the overall fat burning effect of an exercise session.

During the exercise session itself, low intensity, long duration exercise does burn more fat than high intensity, short duration exercise.  The overall fat burning effects of high intensity exercise are considerably greater than for low intensity exercise though, even when the low intensity workouts are much longer.  This is because high intensity exercise stimulates the production of certain fat buring hormones and increases the body’s metabolic rate.  Increased fat burning continues for about a day or so after the workout.  In the case of low intensity exercise, the fat burning effects mostly stop when the workout ends.  This means that a high intensity exercise session can produce many times the fat burning effects of a low intensity exercise session.

Closely tied to the effects of high intensity exercise on fat burning is the effect of sleep. One of the reasons that high intensity exercise stimulates metabolism is that it stimulates the release of growth hormone, which we mentioned earlier is a fat burner. This brings me back to the importance of the liver. The liver converts growth hormone to insulin like growth factor, which stimulates fat burning to keep your blood sugar levels steady when you go for long periods without eating. For most people, the usual time when they go the longest without eating is when they are sleeping. When you do not get adequate sleep, you don’t produce as much insulin-like growth factor, and therefore you don’t burn as much fat.

For the majority of people, about 7 hours of sleep per night is enought to provide maximum effects from the fat burning hormones.  Because of the effects of light on the pituitary gland (which produces growth hormone), nighttime sleep results in better production of growth hormone, and therefore results in better fat burning effects.  Night shift workers are advised to make their sleeping area as dark as possible for their daytime sleeping.

In conclusion, to maximize the effects of your fat burning hormones, it is very important to eat a healthy diet that supports the function of the liver, to do high intensity exercise, and to get adequate sleep. Failure to handle any one of these factors will decrease the effectiveness of your weight loss program, and can lead to frustration when you are trying your best to lose weight.

To learn more about fat burning hormones, visit Dr. Best’s website and get a free copy of his Ebook, The Total Solution For The Weight Loss Impaired. 

Tags: exercise and weight loss, fat burning hormones, sleep and weight loss, weight loss