Yesterday I listened to call on hayhouseradio.com given by Nurse Practitioner Marcelle Pick on hormones and weight reduction.

At one point in the call, a woman who is vegan called in complaining of weight gain. Marcelle responded that some postmenopausal women don’t do well on a vegan diet. The carbs in a vegan diet are too high and contribute to insulin resistance, a condition in which insulin no longer responds when you eat food. The point she made is that the quality of your food must work for your physiology.

How I can relate to that scenario. That is exactly what happened to me. When I finally went to see Dr. Gabhart, she basically told me the same thing. She put me on a lower carb diet and the weight amazingly started to come off, something that seemed an impossibility for me no matter what I tried for oh, so long.

One additional side benefit of reducing carbs for me was a big decrease in my cholesterol level, a reduction of 50 points over a period of 5 weeks. Imagine the thrill I experience finally, after all these years, to be able to get off the statin drugs for high cholesterol. I don’t know which I am more excited about: the weight reduction or getting off the statin drugs. I think getting off the statin drugs wins!

Dr. Gabhart explains that insulin is the fat storage hormone, and yes, one can reduce weight and cholesterol by monitoring carbohydrate intake. Pick told her audience she recommends 15 – 16 carbs per meal.

In my own case, I started examining the labels of everything I consume. Processed foods of any sort are a no-no. I now replace higher carb protein with lower carb protein. I replace higher carb fruits and vegetable with those with lower carbs.

In my search, what was most shocking was that I found carbs in places that I hadn’t paid attention to. For example, I looked at the fiber supplements that I was using – anywhere from 15 – 24 carbs per serving. Ouch! In addition, I was grinding my own flaxseeds, 12.4 carbs per ¼ cup. I was giving myself a bolus of carbs before I ever even pulled up to the table, all under the impression of giving healthy things to my body.

I switched my fiber supplement to psyllium, powder or capsules, and I went back to using my Arbonne vegan Essential Fatty Acid for my omega 3 supplement.  An important point that Pick made is to not eliminate fat from the diet. Many of our hormones are derived from cholesterol. Therefore it is important to eliminate “bad” fats from the diet, such as saturated fats or trans fats and consume good fats, such as omega 3 and olive oil.

A point Pick made that I want to research more is that she is finding that gluten in the diet seems to be contributing to weight gain. She repeatedly advised to take glutens and carbs from the diet to lose weight. It is important to not eliminate carbs, but to reduce them. The body requires a balance of carbs, proteins, and fats for healthy living.

Another important factor in having the ability to lose weight are healthy adrenals. Stress and emotions affect hormone balance. In addition, as Pick stated, you won’t lose weight if you are consuming 700 calories a day. The body recognizes this as a stressor and, consequently, goes into preservation mode.

Pick went on to say that belly fat is related to one of three reasons:

1. Hormones are out of balance
2. The adrenals are exhausted
3. Insulin Resistance

In summary, if any of you find yourself in a situation where you cannot lose weight, perhaps some of these tips will be the key to unlock the perplexing puzzle.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 10:18 am and is filed under Weight Loss. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.