8 Root Causes of Weight Gain

Many weight loss programs out there are great, but if you follow up with the participants just 3 months later, the weight is already starting to come back. This typically happens because most weight loss programs don’t address the root causes of weight gain, and aren’t supervised by a doctor.

What we’ve realized, after asking hundreds of patients what they think the root cause of their weight gain might be, is that they have no idea. Most of the time we hear they are overeating and not getting enough exercise.

The truth is, there are 8 root causes of weight gain:

Candida
Thyroid
Sleep
Brain-Based Food Cravings
Toxicity
Hormones
Stress
Food Management

With our physician-supervised weight loss program, we will be teaching your mind & body how to burn fat instead of sugar. We’ll be here to support you through your journey of addressing the causes of your weight gain, and by giving you a lifetime program to keep the weight off permanently!

8 Root Causes of Weight Gain

Candida

Candida is a yeast and a fungus found in the gut lining of the body. A little is OK, but when there is an overgrowth, it starts to cause some serious health issues. Candida feeds off sugar and thrives in cool environments in the body. Because of this, it causes sugar cravings, and thyroid function begins to decrease. Candida and toxicity go hand in hand because as candida starts to die off, it releases up to 80 different types of toxins in the body. In order for these toxins to get out of the body, they have to filter through the liver. If the liver is already full of toxins (because of the toxic food we eat, for example), the extra toxins get stored in fat cells. Usually, these fat cells start to accumulate around the midsection because the hormone Cortisol drives them there. This is what occurs with stubborn fat.

Toxicity

Half of the U.S. population suffers from JFH Syndrome. That’s the “Just Feel Horrible” Syndrome. It’s not really a syndrome, but sometimes it’s annoying little symptoms such as achy joints or muscles, brain fog, fatigue, headaches, and unexplained weight gain that keeps you feeling down and out. Toxicity could be the cause of most of these ailments, and detoxification could be the solution, especially for weight gain. When individuals hear the word “detox,” it gives them a bit of anxiety. When we use the word “detox,” we mean a scientifically designed regimen that detoxes you from sugar and everything that turns to sugar. The fun part is that it’s done simply by taking out the bad stuff and putting the good stuff into your body. Our body is designed in such a way that our cells do not have enough room for toxicity and nutrients, so as you move nutrients into the cells and toxicity out of the cells, the cells become healthier. An intelligently designed detox helps eliminate more than just unwanted pounds. Yes, your weight will decrease, but you will also find that your energy, mood, and chronic problems, including pain, will start to improve.

Thyroid

The thyroid has a big job. The hormones it secretes help maintain a healthy heart rate, maintain healthy skin, and play a crucial role in your metabolism. When the gland is sluggish due to candida, as we just discussed, it can rob you of your energy, dry out your skin, and make your joints ache. Those are all undesirable symptoms, but what we’re specifically talking about here is that it can cause dramatic weight gain. That’s a lot of grief for such a small gland. Thyroid hormones normally help the body break down fat, and they help the liver and pancreas function to metabolize stored calories to be used for energy. These hormones also support the muscles throughout the body as they use energy. When there is an adequate amount of thyroid hormones circulating the body, the hypothalamus, which is a regulator of thyroid hormone in the brain, decreases the amount of thyrotropin regulating hormone (TRH) secretion. This will result in low energy, will cause the body to hold on to calories and store them as fat, and makes it especially difficult to burn and metabolize fat.

Hormones

When we mention hormones in this program, we are not talking about progesterone, testosterone, and estrogen. Although they do play a role in weight gain, ghrelin, leptin, adiponectin, insulin, and cortisol are hormones that truly are the missing link when it comes to achieving permanent weight loss. These hormones give us feedback on things like the feeling of fullness, appetite, energy, balance, and fat storage. When these hormones are out of balance, the key sensations are increased hunger, decreased energy, and unwanted cravings. These three things give us clues as to how our hormones are behaving. You cannot lose weight permanently or stay on a good food management plan if your “HEC” (hunger, energy, and cravings) are out of balance.

Sleep

Research suggests an association between sleep restriction and negative changes in metabolism. In adults, sleeping 4 hours a night, compared to 8-10 hours a night, appears to increase hunger and appetite, particularly for calorie-dense foods high in carbohydrates. Other studies have found similar patterns in children and adolescents. One explanation might be that sleep duration affects hormones regulating hunger, such as those we just discussed, like ghrelin and leptin. Another contributing factor might be that lack of sleep leads to fatigue and results in less physical activity. So to improve sleep, one must consider two of the most overlooked causes of poor sleep patterns which are decreased Vitamin D and magnesium. Low levels of Vitamin D were linked to lower sleep efficiency scores. Also, individuals with low magnesium often experience restless sleep and waking frequently during the night. Magnesium plays a role in supporting deep, restorative sleep by maintaining healthy levels of GABA, a neurotransmitter that promotes sleep. Maintaining healthy magnesium levels often leads to deeper, more sound sleep.

Stress

Studies of individuals who tended to react to stress with high levels of cortisol (the stress hormone) secretion showed that these individuals also tended to eat more when under stress than individuals who secreted less cortisol. Another overlooked aspect of stress and weight gain is not just the emotional stress; it’s the oxidative stress as well. As visceral fat stores expand, adipocytes generate increasing levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) that produce increased expression and secretion of inflammatory adipokines (pro-inflammatory cells that produce insulin resistance). Oxidative stress leads to insulin resistance is one of the hallmarks of obesity and accounts for many of its comorbidities. Including hypertension, high cholesterol, and arteriosclerosis. Accumulation of oxidative stress in adipose tissue is one of the early events in developing metabolic syndrome in weight gain and obesity.

Brain-Based Food Cravings

We have been raised to think that food cravings come from a simple desire to eat that specific food. Most of the time, it’s a signal from your body that there is a deficiency of some sort, a nutritional need, or an imbalance in your body and/or brain chemistry. Women especially are affected at more than twice the rate than men because they produce less serotonin and have more hormones working against them. A lot of emotional distress is triggered by malfunctions in the body that can be reversed and depleted with simple nutritional changes. The most important thing is to look at your diet and certain amino acids. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein and turn into neurotransmitters in our bodies. These neurotransmitters can stimulate your brain’s hormones that affect your mood, energy, sleep, libido, and ability to concentrate. Recent research is also linking amino acids to the hunger-stimulating hormone ghrelin.

Food Management

Planning your meals may seem daunting at first, especially if you’re new to healthy ingredients or portion control, but with a little practice, you will see how easy it can be to get your clean eating on track. Whether you want to lose pounds or maintain a healthy weight, eating proper portions is as essential as eating the right foods. According to the National Institute of Health, food portions in America’s restaurants have doubled or tripled over the last 20 years. This alarming statistic directly contributes to the increases in obesity rates among children and adults. With all of the super-sized meals we are served, most Americans have a hard time recognizing proper portions and serving sizes. Portions and serving sizes are often used interchangeably, but there is a difference. A portion is the total amount of food you eat in one sitting. A serving size is the recommended amount of one particular food. For example, the amount of chicken you eat for dinner is a portion, but 3 ounces of chicken is a serving. Keeping serving sizes in check helps with portion control, which helps with weight loss.

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