Obesity is skyrocketing in western nations, with 63.4% of Aussie adults overweight or obese. While the misconception persists that high fat diets are to blame, carbs are the real culprits.

The sugar-laden Standard Australian Diet (SAD) diet has our bodies swimming in glucose – we are eating more than we can physically handle, and we are sicker and fatter for it. Excess sugar and refined carbs cause high blood sugar, leading to weight gain and more visceral fat – the kind that clings to our tummies, vital organs and muscles, increasing our risk of disease.

Insulin is a hormone closely linked with carbohydrate intake; it is the cells’ gatekeeper – policing the amount of glucose that can enter. When we eat, the carbohydrate portion is converted to glucose; glucose enters the blood stream and insulin is released, pushing glucose into our cells to be used as energy. We know that people who eat a high-carb diet can develop high blood sugar and insulin resistance and are often overweight. In addition to insulin, leptin and ghrelin are two hormones whose balance is distorted by poor nutrition. Let’s learn how this occurs …

The ghrelin-leptin tango

Ghrelin and leptin work like a veritable seesaw. Ghrelin is your hungry hormone; its level rises before meals and drops once you’re full. Ghrelin is the only known hormone that stimulates appetite in humans. Leptin, when working correctly, pumps the brakes on ghrelin. When fat stores sit at a comfortable level, our fat cells tell the body to put down the goddamn donut!

Leptin and ghrelin receptors reside in the same part of the brain. There is still much to learn about these hormones, but we do know this – in a healthy body, they strike an artful balance in maintaining optimal bodyweight.

In addition to signalling hunger, ghrelin promotes fat-storage; it uses mind control to make you eat more, so that the body can store more fat. Thanks to human evolution, our bodies are hardwired to experience periods of famine and will eat to increase fat stores for a rainy hunting day. Ghrelin decreases the use of fat for fuel in your body, clutching onto those fat stores, in case you don’t catch dinner this week.

Ghrelin is that devious voice in your ear, telling you to eat one last cupcake, even though your belly is crying out that it’s full. Next time you’re doubled over with stomachache from overindulging, know that it wasn’t your fault – blame the ghrelin!

Ghrelin is secreted by the stomach, mainly, but its production is dependent on the brain and nervous system (I nerd out on all things brain!) Its level peaks and troughs, depending on when and what you eat.

Leptin works oppositely to ghrelin, suppressing appetite and food intake to mediate weight gain. Unfortunately, many obese people are leptin resistant and do not heed its signals – making it easy to remain overweight and continue gaining. When leptin resistant, you need to eat more to feel full, before your body will produce leptin and stop you from eating.

How did I gain weight on my diet???

I’ve got one word for you: ghrelin.

Drastically reducing your food intake sends your nervous system into panic mode, stimulating excess ghrelin production. Ever cut your food intake so low – think lemon detox, or cabbage soup diet (Thanks Gwyneth - NOT!) – you’ve binge eaten an entire pack of Tim Tams, cradling yourself on the pantry floor? That was ghrelin doing its thang. High stress and cortisol levels also increase ghrelin secretion, it’s why many of us ‘eat our feelings’, or hide from that mounting to-do list, canoodling a block of chocolate.

Stabilising ghrelin for weight loss

Diet and lifestyle can be powerful hormone helpers. The simplest things, done consistently, will bring haywire hormones into balance. I don’t recommend ‘dieting’ – I don’t want you to feel deprived and resort to a sugar binge, two days in. Making simple, sustainable substitutes for sugar and refined carbs will reset your body and restore your health; so much so that you’ll want to maintain this new way of life, because you feel so damn good all the time! It’s wise to start slowly, gently weaning your body from stale, addictive eating habits, onto more healthful ones.

Step one: check your stress

Stress generates cortisol, affecting blood sugar regulation and our levels of insulin, ghrelin and leptin. If you suffer from chronic stress and want to shed excess weight, you’ll need to identify your stressors and alleviate them. You needn’t have a high-powered job, poor sleep habits or a busy lifestyle to be stressed – stress can be triggered by mental, environmental and physical burdens: PTSD from a life-altering event, or ongoing trauma; chronic inflammation or disease; chemical exposure; over-exercising … Many things can send your body into a chronic stress state.

Some people are able to manage stress with yoga, mindfulness, meditation, and counselling; others require support from a healthcare provider to help them identify and address underlying physical causes. If you’re chronically tired, or you find that the simplest things leave you frazzled, it’s time to make stress management a priority.

Step two: don’t starve yourself!

Severe food deprivation will place your body under stress, triggering ghrelin production. Choosing unprocessed wholefoods and healthy fats will keep you feeling full. The simple act of replacing white starchy foods – sugar, bread, rice, pasta and potato, with lower-carb alternatives, like coconut sugar, paleo bread, cauliflower rice, pea or lentil pastas and sweet potato, will reduce your calorie intake and satisfy you for longer, as many of these substitutes are high in fibre.

Ghrelin remains low until three hours after a meal, so if you’re hungry for a snack shortly after eating, consider the quality of your meal – did you eat enough? Did the meal contain portions of fat, protein and carbohydrates? Have you had plenty of water to drink? (Dehydration can be mistaken for hunger). The aim is to reduce your carbohydrate intake and incorporate low-GI carbs, not nix carbs altogether – the body does require them for energy.

Step three: protein for breakfast.

Dietary authorities, sponsored by cereal companies, coupled with stellar marketing, will have you believe that grains are a healthy breakfast option. Protein and fat should be the stars of your breakfast lineup – think eggs, bacon, coconut yoghurt, smashed avo, chia pudding, tofu scramble, nuts and seeds.

Research has found high protein meals to reduce ghrelin levels and keep you full for longer than carbohydrates do. When you knock out your protein quota at breakfast, you can have an easy salad or wholegrain sandwich at lunch, without stressing about carb intake. To learn more about eating the right balance of proteins, fats and carbohydrates, take a look at the Balance My Sugars Guide.

Step four: exercise

Aerobic training is the most powerful form of exercise in regulating metabolism. I highly recommend the Maximum Aerobic Function (MAF) method, which prescribes your maximum heart rate and customised diet and exercise recommendations, based on a series of health surveys. Download the app here to get started.

The MAF method will condition your aerobic system to burn fat for fuel, kickstarting weight loss. Aerobic exercise is great for brain health – improving function of the hippocampus – an area of the brain often smaller in people who live with chronic stress. Aerobic conditioning supports adrenal function, improving the body’s stress response, and won’t leave you depleted or injured from overtraining.

If you suffer with chronic stress, high-intensity interval training (HIIT) can exacerbate it. Choose HIIT no more than once a week, training aerobically the remainder of the time. While great for rapid weight loss, HIIT activates your anaerobic system, raising cortisol levels and placing you at greater risk of injury and fatigue.

While there is some evidence that HIIT reduces ghrelin secretion, therefore quelling appetite, each person is unique, requiring an individual strategy for hormone balance – one that considers the multilayered picture of their health.

Step five: prioritise sleep

The human brain and nervous system wire us to be early to bed and early to rise. While our jampacked lives and omnipresent LED lighting don’t support this, efforts to improve sleep hygiene can restore your health.

When our eyes perceive light levels at sunrise and sunset, this triggers hormones for wakefulness and sleep, respectively. Artificial blue light, the kind that illuminates our homes and digital devices, has befuddled our perception of nighttime. LED screens trick the brain that it’s not yet night, keeping us awake until ungodly hours. Caffeine and stimulants, late night exercise and stress also play a role.

When these habits continue, we produce much less melatonin than our bodies need. If you have trouble falling asleep, wake several times a night or wake unrefreshed, turn off Netflix nice and early, have a relaxing soak in the tub or read a book. While it’s not practical for most adults to turn in at sunset, reduced LED exposure at night and a 10pm bedtime will boost melatonin, for better quality sleep.

Without adequate sleep, our bodies don’t have a hope of healing from the stress and exertion they endure each day. Chronic lack of sleep elevates cortisol, sending our bodies into ghrelin-pumping, fat-storage mode and then we crave sweets to keep us going.

Mums of young children are especially prone to sleep deprivation. With babies waking to feed and toddlers demanding water and commandeering our beds, we get poor quality sleep and too little of it. Please prioritise your wellbeing, nap when you can and don’t expect too much of yourself – this too shall pass.

Step six: avoid processed food

Processed foods are crammed with sugar and salt to make them highly-addictive – they activate the reward center of the brain to keep us yearning for more. Such foods are high in calories (from sugar and trans fats) and virtually devoid of nutrients; we don’t need to eat many to see the effect on our waistlines, and they don’t keep us full, so we eat again soon after.

Our brains are hardwired to seek out processed foods, compelling us to binge until we feel sick (we’ve all been there). The more that we eat, the more we crave them and on it goes in a vicious cycle, as we spiral towards insulin and leptin resistance and high ghrelin.

It’s okay to indulge on special occasions, but baked goods, fizzy drink, white breads and wraps, sweets, salty snacks and takeaway foods should be banished from your daily and weekly lineup. Aim for a diet of at least ninety percent wholefoods to stabilise your hormones, blood sugar and bodyweight.

Make veggies the VIPs on every plate, along with a good whack of healthy fats and a small portion of protein (meat, eggs, chickpeas). Reach for fruit at snack times, choose a banana and coconut milk smoothie instead of coffee and cake. It’s important not to go overboard with fruit, as it’s still metabolised as sugar.

There you have it – the not-so-skinny on hormones and weight gain. If you have concerns about your weight or hormonal health, you could benefit greatly from personalised healthcare and nutrition coaching. I would be honoured to support you in your journey towards health and vitality.