BELLY FAT; IT’S A REAL TURKEY

UNBUCKLE YOUR BELT, HERE IT COMES

A lot has changed since the first Thanksgiving shared by the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans in 1621.  The “lot” being the growing groaning table of Thanksgiving goodies. Creamed this, buttered that, every kind of carb from mashed potatoes to mac and cheese, tater tot casseroles, and of course sweet potato casseroles with tons of tiny little melting marshmallows. And pies. Don’t forget the pies. All kinds of pies. Overeating has become a tradition. Did you know that the average American gains 1 to 3 pounds between Thanksgiving and New Year’s Day every year? According to a study published by the New England Journal of Medicine, Americans add on an average of 0.7% of their weight during the holiday season. All that food just dumps itself onto your belly. That might have been jelly before you jumped into the fight for the greasy, crisp turkey skin.

AN ABUNDANCE OF BELLY

But for many people, a big belly isn’t about a holiday belly. Extra pounds park themselves around their middle on an ongoing basis. Potbelly. The pouch. Spare tire. Middle-age spread. Though the term might sound dated, “middle-age spread” is a greater concern than ever. As people go through their middle years, their proportion of fat to body weight tends to increase — more so in women than men. And lower belly fat is hard to shed. Certain body fats hold onto fat around the lower stomach longer than any other part of the body.

ARE YOU A PEAR, OR ARE YOU AN APPLE?

Fat isn’t just “fat”. There are different types that have different effects on different parts of your body. But we’ll focus on subcutaneous and visceral fat here.

The subcutaneous fat is the outermost layer of fat; it’s the fat you can pinch between your fingers. This layer sits on top of the abdominal muscle tissue. If you can pinch a good amount of subcutaneous fat, chances are you have a large amount of visceral fat lurking underneath your abdominal muscles. Subcutaneous fat is less harmful to health and serves as a layer of protection for your organs as well as insulation to regulate body temperature. This is what defines the “pear shape”.

Visceral fat hangs beneath the muscles in your stomach, close to all your organs. Can’t see it and can’t pinch it. This is what is called the “apple shape”. In the mid-1990s, scientists learned visceral fat releases hormones and other substances that affect the body’s functioning. These substances cause inflammation, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, and other chronic diseases. Visceral fat also secretes a protein that makes it harder for the body to use insulin effectively, which increases the risk of diabetes. And because visceral fat is so close to the liver, it may cause the liver to produce too much cholesterol, which raises the risk of developing high blood pressureheart attack, and stroke. It can cause sleep apnea, asthma, and even different types of cancer. Not exactly something to give thanks for.

HORMONAL FEASTING FRENZY

Let’s get into some of those hormones we were talking about. Let’s say you’re doing everything right. You work out and eat healthy meals as much as you can, but your belly won’t budge. The fat hanging over the pants just persists. The same hormones that mess with your libido (estrogen and testosterone), can impact your waistline. Cortisol also plays a major role in metabolism regulation, and basically, chronic stress can lead to chronically high cortisol. That’s a one-way ticket to a big appetite and high blood sugar. (Next stop: belly fat!). You may have leptin resistance. Leptin is the hormone that helps regulate your appetite. It tells your brain when your belly is full. If your body starts ignoring leptin’s messages, that’s called leptin resistance. Another hormonal cause of belly fat? Insulin imbalance. Wild sugar cravings, sudden weight gain, and lack of focus could all indicate insulin issues. A common symptom of an underactive thyroid is weight gain, often around the abdomen. So don’t blame that gut you’ve got on the platters of goodies that have put you in a food coma.

THE SAFEST WAY TO WHITTLE YOUR MIDDLE

Belly fat can be tricky to ditch. Like the day-after-Thanksgiving Day-leftovers, it just keeps hanging around. Belly fat can drive people to some pretty dangerous ways to dump the lump. Extreme or bizarre diets. Starving themselves until they’re ready to pass out. Exercising until they lose it. (And we’re not talking about the fat). Online and over-the-counter meds that might actually do more harm. What you need to do, is see a medical professional who is trained in hormones and the way they affect your weight, and specifically not-beer gut. The hormone experts at Denver Hormone Health can help you carve out a safe and personalized program. It’s called Hormonal Weight Support. Everything you need to help you on your weight loss (belly loss) journey. Including emotional support. At Denver Hormone Health, they understand your frustration and care about you in every way. From hormonal replacement therapy to the guidance of experienced nutrition and exercise specialists. Denver Hormone Health is the way to make that belly be a thing of the past. Be your best. Feel your best. Look your best. Call Denver Hormone Health for an appointment now.

MY STRESS HORMONES ARE KILLING ME

STRESS HORMONES

Today, everything seems to be stressful. We’ve just gotten through the 15-month lockdown that left us experiencing collective trauma. Things are open. At last. But there are jobs lost, new rules of doing business, new rules of dating, new rules of living, actually. Masks are off. But will they stay there? Do we shake hands yet? Can we hug strangers? 2 in 3 adults say that the number of issues we’re facing is overwhelming to them. Wired, keyed up, agitated…it can really take a bite out of your health. But thankfully we have stress hormones.

THE SABRE-TOOTHED TIGER EFFECT

Before we go any further, let’s debunk one myth; stress is not necessarily always a bad thing. Without our body’s brilliant ability to feel stress, humankind wouldn’t have survived. Just ask our cavemen ancestors. Stress was what alerted them to potential dangers like the long terrifying canines of a ferocious saber-tooth tiger. When stressed, the body thinks it is under attack and switches to ‘fight or flight’ mode, releasing a complex mix of hormones and chemicals to prepare the body for physical action. Through the release of these hormones, caveman gained a rush of energy, which prepared him to either fight the tiger or run away. If he just froze, he’d become a great dinner. We haven’t had to face these beasts in, oh, 10,000 years or so, but even encountering a large Pitbull barking at you on your morning run can set the stress response off just as much.

AND ON AND ON AND ON IT GOES…

There are two types of stress; acute, and chronic.  Acute stress is one of the least damaging types of stress, which is good because it is also the most common type. We experience acute stress multiple times throughout the day. Acute stress is experienced as an immediate perceived threat, either physical, emotional, or psychological. These threats don’t even need to be intensely threatening—you’ve lost your phone, you’ve fought with your partner, you’ve felt restrained road rage during killer traffic jams. Which are back again post-Covid. Chronic stress occurs when the body experiences stressors with such frequency or intensity that the autonomic nervous system does not have an adequate chance to activate the relaxation response on a regular basis. This means that the body remains in a constant state of physiological arousal. Trouble is, we just weren’t built to maintain high levels of stress for any prolonged time. This affects virtually every system in the body, either directly or indirectly.

HIGH STRUNG STRESS HORMONES

Remember that cocktail of hormones we spoke of that are part of the stress response? Cortisol, adrenaline, norepinephrine, and insulin are all work together to prepare you for stressful situations. They raise your heart rate, blood pressure, and energy supplies so that you become more awake, focused, and generally more responsive. They also help shift blood flow away from areas where it might not be so crucial, like the skin, and toward more essential areas at the time, like the muscles, so you can flee the stressful scene. If one hormone doesn’t have your back, another does.

IF THIS DOESN’T STRESS YOU OUT, WHAT WILL?

There is absolutely nothing good about chronic stress. Nothing. Just look at all it can lead to:

  • Weakened immune system
  • Raised blood pressure
  • Digestive issues
  • Food cravings and weight gain
  • Sleep apnea
  • Depression and anxiety
  • Erectile dysfunction
  • Cognitive and memory problems
  • Accelerated aging process
  • Skin conditions such as eczema
  • Heart disease
  • Yikes!

FROM DISTRESS TO DE-STRESS

When it comes to stress tolerance, we’re all different. Some people seem to be able to roll with life’s punches…” I’ve got this”, “no biggie”, “things could be worse”, “someday I’ll laugh about all this”. Other people crumble. Their stress hormones are in a constant misfire, and no amount of “think positively, take deep breaths, smell a rose or try goat yoga”, is going to help. The help they need is balancing their hormones. And the best place to do that is at Denver Hormone Health. Denver Hormone Health has years of advanced training and experience in treating people of all ages for hormones imbalances that could happen for any number of reasons. Like stress. DHH knows all too well the stressors that could be in your everyday life, and you can feel comfortable discussing it all with their caring experts. Even though the country is finally opening up, Covid and the stress of the last 15 months could still be with you. Causing you stress on top of any other stress that could be dragging your health down. Start feeling the best you’ve felt in a long time. Call Denver Hormone Health for an appointment now.

THE ANTI-AGING SURVIVAL GUIDE

FACT: We all get older. Older than what? 12 is older than 10. 20 is older than 18. 50 is older than 49. So everyone is older than someone else. But the world is in an anti-aging arena, ready to do battle with Father Time and the rest of his “out-to-get-you” family. It’s a fight that’s been going on since Ponce De Leon told Queen Isabella, he discovered The Fountain of Youth.

IT’S A SENIOR SHAMING JUNGLE OUT THERE

When it comes to aging gracefully, know that no one has ever really defined what “gracefully” means. It sounds like you’re being put out to pasture. Senior citizen. Elderly. Getting on in years. How about hearing “you look good for your age”? Labeling is always flawed, There’s no getting around it. Surely, someone could come up with some alternate language. It stinks, but “young” is a compliment. Any version of aging is not.

“KNOWLEDGE IS POWER” IS A BETTER SLOGAN THAN “KNOWLEDGE IS ANXIETY-INDUCING”

No one likes to really deal with the concept or realities of getting older. Golden years. Is that where you really want to go? To many, when it comes to aging, it’s “I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to think about it. I don’t know about it”. Not exactly a savvy or productive anti-aging plan. The point is, if you do nothing about it, you can know for sure, nothing good will ever come of it. And you can do something about it. Something pretty remarkable. It’s called Sermorelin Therapy.

ACCEPT THAT YOUR HORMONES ARE GOING TO GO THEIR OWN WAY

Before getting into the wonders of Sermorelin for anti-aging, you need to know something about hormones. Hormones are the chemical messengers responsible for nearly every function in the body. And as you age, many of your 150 or so hormones start to wane, a phenomenon considered one of the principal medical signs of aging.

HGH. AN ACRONYM FOR STAYING YOUNG

One of the most notable hormones affected by the aging process is human growth hormones. Human growth hormone (HGH), is a naturally-produced hormone generated from the pituitary gland. Growth hormones stimulate cell production and regeneration in both males and females, helping to maintain the health of our organs and tissues throughout our lives. Production of growth hormones in the body peaks around 30 years of age, then decreases by as much as 15% per decade after that.

SERMORELIN THERAPY CAN DO MORE THAN TURN BACK TIME

Sermorelin acetate is a growth hormone-releasing hormone (GH-RH) that stimulates the pituitary gland to produce and release HGH. Sermorelin mimics the effects of HGH but tells the pituitary gland in the body to produce HGH naturally, as needed. Hgh is responsible for growth in the body, but it accounts for so much more, the benefits of which can help you feel and perform years younger than your chronological age.

TAP INTO ALL THE ANTI-AGING SUPERPOWERS OF SERMORELIN THERAPY

So what are these benefits you get with Sermorelin Therapy?  Just look what it can do for you:

  • Increase lean body mass
  • Increase strength and endurance
  • Improve cardiovascular and immune function
  • Improve vitality
  • Improve bone density
  • Feel better
  • Heal better
  • Sleep better
  • Lose weight
  • Gain confidence
  • It goes on.

KNOW THIS, AND LISTEN CAREFULLY:

Sermorelin Therapy can slow aging, and in some cases, actually, reverse it. So where can you get Sermorelin? At Denver Hormone Health. You can trust the medical experts at DHH to understand the intricacies of Sermorelin Therapy and know exactly what is right for you. You probably have a million more questions about Sermorelin Therapy, but it’s fine. DHH is there for you. They’ll explain everything to you in all the detail you want. Because what they want, is to make every patient feel positive about the possibilities ahead. With Sermorelin Therapy, mid-life will never have to be a crisis. Your prime will never have to end. The only hill you’ll be over is the challenging one you hike on. Grey? The new blonde. 60 can still be “hot”. Sermorelin Therapy at Denver Hormone Health can change everything.

If you want to look younger and feel younger, just feel the best you ever, call Denver Hormone Health for an appointment now.