JOIN USDid you know that weight gain or not losing weight can effect your general physical and mental being. In some cases, your weight gain may be due to an altered health condition. Knowing some of these conditions can help you speculate the situation where you could be facing a battle of weight loss, which will take longer than usual.
Dr Pankaj Aggarwal, MD, Agrawal Homeo Clinic has listed some conditions for Metrolife readers.
n Chronic stress: When you live with anxiety, stress, or grief, your body can produce chemical substances -- like the hormone cortisol -- that make your body more likely to store fat, especially around the waist. That’s the type of weight gain that really increases your risk of serious health problems.
n Cushing’s syndrome: This happens when the adrenal glands (located on top of each kidney) produces too much cortisol, which leads to a build-up of fat on the face, upper back, and abdomen. Cushing syndrome is caused by excessive medication.
n Lack of vitamin D: Receptors in your brain need vitamin D to keep hunger and cravings in check, as well as to pump up levels of the mood-elevating chemical, serotonin. Vitamin D even optimises your body's ability to absorb other important weight-loss nutrients, especially calcium. When your body lacks calcium, it can experience up to a fivefold increase in the fatty acid synthase, an enzyme that converts calories into fat. By fuelling your body with the D-rich nutrients it needs to get out of a fat-storage state and into a fat-burning one, you could potentially speed weight loss by up to 70 percent.
n Hypothyroidism: If your thyroid is underactive, your body may not produce enough thyroid hormone to help burn stored fat. As a result, your metabolism is slower and you will store more fat than you burn -- especially if you’re not physically active.
n Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS): This is the result of a hormonal imbalance, afflicts more than 5 million women in the US. Common symptoms are irregular menstrual bleeding, acne, excessive facial hair, thinning hair, difficulty getting pregnant, and weight gain that is not caused by excessive eating.-
n Depression: Many people who are depressed turn to eating to ease their emotional
distress.
n Hormonal changes in women: Some women may gain weight at times in their lives when there is a shift in their hormones -- at puberty, during pregnancy, and at menopause.