Instantly Stop Snoring 

Hormones and the role they play in your weight control. 

Hormones are responsible for helping our bodies to burn fat, build and maintain muscle and regulate our moods, sex drive and energy levels.  In fact they pretty much influence our entire day and the way we feel and operate from the minute we open our eyes.  But they also impact on our health during our sleep!

Snoring, sleep deprivation and some foods have the ability to unbalance your hormones creating all manner of health issues and preventing you from either maintaining your healthy weight, or losing weight overall.

Your thyroid, liver and adrenal glands need to be kept in great condition to regulate your metabolism, enabling you to burn fat more easily, to hugely increase your energy levels and to wake every day feeling so great you will feel keen to exercise.  By balancing your hormone levels you will no longer crave sweets, empty carbohydrates and you see the rewards quickly in the mirror.

Snoring and cortisol.

Snoring has the ability to increase the presence of cortisol, a stress hormone, by interfering with your quality sleep.  Cortisol is made by your adrenal glands and it regulates your blood sugar levels.  Too much cortisol leads to insulin spikes, an increased appetite and cravings for sugar and fatty foods.  Too much cortisol also makes your body store calories in the fat cells of your belly.  It can also cause your serotonin levels to drop, which can cause depression and mood swings, high blood pressure and other serious health issues. 

So getting good quality (7-8 hours) sleep most of the time is imperative to reducing your body's cortisol level.  Improved sleep will help stabilise your metabolism, give you the energy and motivation to exercise, and ultimately lose weight and keep it off easily!

Weight control is not just about cutting calories!  It's about great sleep, exercising, and eating the right type of food to further balance your hormones.

Too much estrogen can lead to weight gain, some female cancers and cellulite!  Estrogen can cause water and salt to be retained giving you a bloated puffy appearance. It can cause anxiety, low libido and blood sugar fluctuations.

Insulin is the hormone responsible for converting food/calories ingested into energy/output.  Insulin levels rise and fall depending on your diet, in particular your choice of carbohydrates (yes that includes sugar!), but too much insulin will tell your body to store fat!  The more weight you put on, the more your insulin your produce!

Progesterone naturally reduces bloating - though too little can cause sleep related issues and low energy.

Testosterone is not just for men!  Females make it in their ovaries too!  It builds muscle, lifts depression, increases your fat burning capacity and your libido.

Leptin is important too. Our fat cells produce this hormone which works as an appetite suppressant and increases your metabolism.  When the levels drop your brain is signalled to store fat.   Ensuring you don't snore and get great sleep, eating zinc rich foods and omega-3's are a great way to increase leptin levels.

Low calorie diets are not the only key to losing weight and keeping it off!  You must ensure your hormones are balanced by eating the correct foods, not fasting (which tricks your brain into storing fat for a famine!) and getting the best sleep you can!

So many people have told me they have lost weight easily once they treated their snoring, altered their diet and balanced their hormones.

Apart from losing weight and feeling great, you owe it to yourself to try to avert serious health issues like cancer. Cancer is linked to high levels of sugar, low immunity from poor sleep and unbalanced hormones.

If you have any of these symptoms take heart - fixing your sleep issues, increasing your energy output and making simple changes to your diet can assist in rebalancing your hormones and rejuvenating and 'resting' your organs and it can truly make you feel a million times better! You'll do your liver, your thyroid and your adrenal glands a huge favour and start to eradicate these issues.  Talk to your GP about how your hormones could be affecting your weight and moods. 

Bloating, indigestion and constipation

Cellulite and spongy/puffy appearance

High blood pressure or hypoglycemia

Hormone imbalance

Fatigue

Depression, irritability and mood disturbances

Snoring, insomnia and other sleep disturbances

Instantly Stop Snoring is not just committed to treating snoring.  We genuinely support people treating 'the whole person' and encourage you to send us your stories.

Suggested reading

This Is Why You're Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever) by Jackie Warner (on balancing your hormones, losing weight, and keeping it off forever!)

Tired but Wired by Dr Nerina Ramlakham (a sleep toolkit to help you overcome your sleep problems)

Eight Steps to Happiness by Dr Anthony M. Grant (Based on the ABC series)

Sleep Well, Live Better by Dr Helen Wright

Sweet Poison by David Gillespie

Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes