on Weight Problems
Our weight can affect our health and the way we feel physically, for many people it determines their overall quality of life. Weight problems are often the result of malnutrition, lack of exercise, sickness, and even psychological stress. We usually solve these problems with a balanced diet, regular sport or exercise, and deliberate recovery phases. However, it is not always possible to achieve our desired results – sometimes the pounds just don’t want to drop! After a long period of time this can become very frustrating.
Our body weight is not only influenced by life situations – organic processes also play an important role. They create the foundation needed for a healthy body to function. Hormones are the chemical messengers of the body and they interact with one another in a complex system. They thereby significantly regulate the lipid metabolism and also the provision of energy to the body. Imbalanced hormone levels can, in this case, be the cause for difficult weight loss or even weight gain. Balanced hormone levels are essential in order to effectively burn the pounds.
An excessive insulin and cortisol level can, for example, have a negative effect on the lipid metabolism and cause weight gain.
The most common cause for weight gain in women is an oestrogen excess. This leads to natural weight gain in the stomach, bottom and thigh areas. This, at first, unexplainable weight gain can also be observed in women who begin taking the contraceptive pill (based on oestrogen and progestin).
Are you unhappy with your current weight but having problems slimming down? A good foundation for successful weight loss can be balanced hormone levels. Verisana offers a saliva test which can easily determine whether your hormones are within the reference range. The required sample can be easily collected by yourself, in the comfort of your own home. The saliva test is the recommended test form for the determination of hormone values, from the World Health Organisation (WHO).
For more information on our Weight Hormone Check, click here.
Your weight can also be influenced by your gut, or more specifically, the bacteria groups in it.
The two dominant groups of bacteria in the human gut are at 90% the bacteroides and firmicutes. An increasing number of studies confirms the connection between body weight and individual gut flora, in particular the ratio of firmicutes to bacteroides: The lower the proportion of firmicutes or the higher the proportion of bacteroides, the lower the body weight.
Our Adiposity Index Test gives you information about the firmicutes/bacteroides ratio in your gut as this ratio impacts your food utilisation and your body weight.