Factors that hinder weight loss

The number of overweight people is steadily increasing worldwide. Many of those affected are desperate because, despite good will, motivation and perseverance, they simply cannot manage to reduce their weight. They have already experimented with countless diets without success and have often broken off with a few pounds more on their ribs and completely discouraged.

1. Thyroid problems prevent you from losing weight

The thyroid is responsible for the production of the thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4). These vital hormones regulate the activity of the metabolism.

With an underactive thyroid, the body runs on the back burner and therefore has a correspondingly low energy requirement. This means that the affected person often does not lose weight despite low calorie intake or even gains weight.

These are the overweight people who keep assuring me: I really eat next to nothing and just don’t lose weight.

Symptoms of an underactive thyroid

If you experience the following symptoms, you may have an underactive thyroid:

  1. tiredness and lack of energy
  2. low blood pressure and slow heartbeat, but high blood pressure is also possible
  3. constipation
  4. bad sleep
  5. dry skin, hair, nails
  6. painful menstrual period
  7. elevated cholesterol levels
  8. unexplained weight gain

If this applies to you, you can have your thyroid levels checked by an endocrinologist.

Be sure to check all three levels of the thyroid, ie TSH (Thyroid Stimulating Hormone), free T4 and free T3. As often only the TSH value is checked.

TSH is the hormone released by the pituitary gland in the brain when the levels of thyroid hormone in the blood drop. TSH is supposed to stimulate the thyroid gland to produce more hormones. High TSH levels, therefore, indicate hypofunction.

If your TSH value is in the “normal” range (0.3 to 4.2), your thyroid is considered healthy and nothing further is done by a doctor. The result can be deceptive, however, because the standard values ​​could be set too high. And so a TSH value of over 1.0 can already indicate an underactive thyroid.

2. Hormone imbalances inhibit fat loss

In addition to thyroid problems, other hormonal disorders can also play a significant role in the development of obesity and make it extremely difficult for those affected to lose weight. Only a balanced hormone level – in addition to its many other health-related effects – also ensures the optimal distribution of fat reserves.

A maldistribution of fat often manifests itself in the form of an excessive accumulation of fat cells on the buttocks or abdomen. An excess or deficiency of the sex hormones estrogen, progesterone or testosterone can be responsible for this.

  1. Among other things, testosterone enables the release of body fats (especially in the abdominal area) so that they can be broken down. If the testosterone level is too low, fat loss is automatically significantly reduced.
  2. Progesterone stimulates metabolism, supports fat burning and keeps insulin levels at a healthy level. A lack of progesterone is therefore usually accompanied by an overproduction of insulin, which can lead to hyperinsulinemia (pathologically increased insulin levels). Ultimately, this development also contributes to obesity, as do the metabolic changes and reduced fat burning caused by the deficiency.
  3. Estrogen dominance causes the body to build up more fat cells and causes increased water retention. In addition, estrogen dominance impairs the production of thyroid hormones. All of these factors make it extremely difficult to lose weight.

Being overweight is not necessarily due to an excessive appetite, but often also due to a hormone imbalance. A balanced hormone level is therefore of great importance if weight loss is finally to work. A doctor can determine a hormone deficiency. But there is also the possibility of a hormone saliva test on the Internet.

3. Food allergies and intolerances make it difficult to lose weight

Many people suffer from food intolerances or allergies that they are initially unaware of.

These can trigger inflammatory processes in the body over a long period of time, during which large amounts of a protein called TNF-alpha are released. This endogenous substance can trigger inflammatory processes.

In the case of ongoing inflammatory processes, which take place due to the body’s overreaction to certain foods, this protein is released in excess. This in turn can lead to a general glucose utilization disorder and trigger type 2 diabetes or its precursors. As a result, losing weight can now become an almost insurmountable hurdle. In milder cases, a hidden food allergy can also irritate the gastric mucosa and thus trigger recurring cravings, which also stand in the way of weight loss.

Of course, if you already know your allergen or the food your immune system is reacting to inappropriately, you must first strictly avoid it. The strong reaction to a normally completely harmless food shows that for whatever reason, your immune system is currently irritated. It is therefore very important to generally relieve our defense system as much as possible.

Since toxins (dental poisons, spray residues in food, medicines, etc.) and other pollutants are often responsible for overloading, you should intensively cleanse and detoxify your body and explicitly your intestines, because the majority of the immune system is located here. There are various colon cleanses for this, in which the dissolved toxins are immediately bound and quickly excreted. At the same time, high-quality probiotics should be supplied that are able to build up the intestinal flora in a stable manner.

These measures contribute significantly to the relief of the immune system and can not “only” contribute to the disappearance of allergic reactions, but also make it much easier to lose weight.

4. Incorrect intestinal flora prevents weight loss

It has long been known that overweight people have a different composition of intestinal flora than people of normal weight. Apparently, the intestinal flora of overweight people prevents them from turning into people of normal weight.

However, if you are overweight and take special probiotic bacterial strains that are part of the normal weight intestinal flora, losing weight suddenly becomes much easier. A corresponding study then also showed that women who not only kept a diet but also took a probiotic lost twice as much weight as those who only kept a diet.

5. Lack of fiber

Often the cause of being overweight is simply a lack of dietary fiber. Fiber activates intestinal peristalsis and thus counteracts constipation because a sluggish intestine causes weight to increase quickly.

A sufficient dietary fiber content also ensures slower carbohydrate utilization, so that large amounts of glucose do not enter the blood all at once. Otherwise, the excess glucose would be converted into fat and stored in the fat deposits, which would certainly not be conducive to losing weight.

Finally, fiber also blocks certain fat-digesting enzymes (lipases), so less fat is absorbed from food.

Dietary fibers are mainly found in vegetables, fruits, berries, seeds (linseed, sesame), nuts and seeds (sunflower, pumpkin seeds) as well as in legumes and whole grains.

Since the vegetable fibers swell up when they are in contact with liquid, they have a lasting satiety effect. In order to increase the intake of fiber, an additional intake of finely ground psyllium husks or linseed is highly recommended. They are simply mixed with water.

The alkaline konjac powder – a very special dietary fiber – can also optimize your dietary fiber supply very easily. Konjac powder is taken in capsule or powder form and works even in the smallest amounts.

6. Drugs can cause weight gain

Taking certain medications can be a problem for people who would like to lose weight. A study by Harvard University confirmed that many over-the-counter medicines, but also prescription medicines, definitely promote weight gain and thus make it very difficult to lose weight.

These include blood sugar and cholesterol-lowering medication, beta-blockers, cortisone-containing medication, the pill, migraine medication, antidepressants and neuroleptics. These drugs can reduce energy metabolism and thus inhibit fat burning, unbalance hormone levels, stimulate appetite or cause water retention.

All of these factors make it extremely difficult to lose weight. It is therefore advisable for any patient who sees their weight gain in connection with their medication to consult their doctor. In many cases, they might be able to offer alternatives.

7. Artificial sweeteners create cravings

People who are trying to reduce their weight are increasingly resorting to so-called light products in which the sugar content has been replaced by sweeteners.

However, synthetic sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose often do the opposite of what they advertise.

And so there are always studies that prove a direct connection between the consumption of sweetener-containing foods and weight gain. For a long time it was believed that the body generally reacts to the taste of “sweet” with a release of insulin, whereupon the blood sugar level drops sharply (because no sugar was consumed) and the body then demands more with ravenous hunger.

The number of calories ultimately consumed increases as a result, the increased insulin level promotes the storage of fats in the fat cells, also inhibits their burning and as a result of all these actions in the body that are hostile to your figure, you gain weight.

Today, however, we know that sweeteners hardly lead to an increase in insulin levels. Nevertheless, it is noticeable that not all, but quite a number of overweight people – although they consistently avoid sugar and instead dutifully use sweeteners – do not manage to lose weight. A 2008 study even showed that sweetener consumption led to higher food intake, greater weight gain, and increased body fat percentage compared to sugar consumption (at least in rats). The researchers involved assume that sweeteners could permanently irritate the metabolism. But experience has shown that the body associates sweet foods with a certain amount of calories.

So if something sweet is eaten, the core temperature of the body increases, the digestive organs get going and the metabolism becomes active. However, if there are no calories after the sweet taste has arrived, then – according to the scientists – at some point all these actions of the body will also stop. The core temperature no longer rises, digestion no longer works properly, nutrients are utilized less efficiently and the body ultimately demands more and more food until weight control is simply no longer possible.

8. Glutamate paralyzes the feeling of fullness

Glutamate is a flavour enhancer that is used today as a seasoning in almost all ready meals. This is not surprising either, because this food additive gives every dish a particularly spicy and intense taste, which significantly increases appetite.

Many scientists are now in agreement: glutamate is partly responsible for the rapidly increasing number of overweight people worldwide. The reason for this is obvious because glutamate puts the feeling of satiety in the brain out of action.

What some readers may not know is that glutamate is used in many nursing homes to wet the appetite of residents. In the meantime, fewer and fewer restaurant chefs are seasoning without glutamate.

However, glutamate is not only supposed to stimulate appetite, but also to suppress a hormone that influences fat burning. However, an increased appetite combined with inhibited fat burning makes it almost impossible to lose weight.

Glutamate is hidden behind the following terms: E 620 to E 625, seasoning, aroma, yeast extract or nutritional yeast, and granulated broth. Go through your food supplies and see how many products have one of these terms (or even several at the same time) on the label.

9. Lipoedema

Lipoedema (Lipohyperplasia dolorosa) is a congenital, genetically determined and also painful fat distribution disorder with water retention, which affects women in particular and is estrogen-dependent. It occurs symmetrically on the hips, legs and sometimes – in one-third of those affected – on the arms. The rest of the body has normal proportions.

If lipoedema is present, the usual diets and exercise efforts are usually unsuccessful. In lipoedema, the fat collects in particular on the hips, thighs and buttocks, rarely on the entire leg and even more rarely on the upper arms.

Lipoedema is a pathological fat distribution disorder that can also cause painful edema. Losing weight with normal measures only works where the lipoedema is not, i.e. on the abdomen, chest or face. Lipoedema, therefore, requires a different approach. Speak to a specialist for lipoedema, a lymphologist or a phlebologist (specialist for vascular diseases).

weight loss

Check the factors that hinder weight loss

Not all overweight people just eat way too much or just eat the wrong thing all the time. As you now know, there are a few other possible causes that hardly anyone thinks of. Unfortunately, there are also only a few doctors who are aware of the above-mentioned connections. Therefore, you should take the initiative yourself. You can check some factors yourself and change them if necessary. For all other possible causes, consult an alternative doctor you trust.

We hope to have helped you a little in your search for the “why” and wish you successful weight loss in the future.

No matter the reason why you can’t lose weight, cleansing your colon and detoxing your system is always helpful and should be part of any approach for weight loss.

Book your Colon Hydrotherapy session today
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