Fat Burning Hormones

Your body produces several fat burning hormones, and it's important to know what they are and how they affect your body.

Testosterone- Testosterone is the primary male sex hormone, but it's also found in females. On average, females have about one tenth the amount of testosterone that males do. Testosterone increases lean muscle mass, decreases body fat, raises metabolism, increases bone density and strength, boosts energy and libido, and sharpens memory and mental focus. Testosterone levels in men begin to decline around age 40, and levels in women begin to decline once they approach menopause.

Short, intense workouts, especially weight lifting, increase testosterone levels. But prolonged workouts, such as endurance training, can decrease testosterone levels.

Proper nutrition consisting of a good mix of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and unsaturated fats will help you maintain optimum testosterone levels. Make sure to also include some saturated fat in your diet, as it's needed for testosterone production.

The mineral zinc plays a crucial role in the production of testosterone. Even though a wide variety of foods contain zinc, it's a hard mineral for the body to absorb, which is why many people are zinc deficient. Taking a zinc supplement is the best way to prevent a zinc deficiency. Vitabase's zinc supplement is arguably the best zinc supplement on the market.

There's strong evidence that certain nutrients can boost testosterone production. Xtend-Life's Male Rejuvenator is an excellent product that contains several testosterone boosting nutrients.

Human Growth Hormone (HGH) - HGH is produced by the pituitary gland. HGH increases lean muscle mass, decreases body fat, helps keep bones strong and healthy, boosts energy, and helps in controlling blood sugar and insulin levels. HGH levels peak somewhere between the ages of 21 and 30 and then decline at about 14% per decade.

Just like with testosterone, short, intense workouts, especially weight lifting, increase HGH production.

Limiting consumption of foods that primarily consist of simple carbohydrates is necessary for maintaining optimum HGH levels. Eating simple carbohydrates rapidly increases blood sugar, which causes the body to produce high amounts of insulin. The body then produces a chemical called somatostatin to suppress the excess insulin, but somatostatin also suppresses HGH release.

Most of your HGH is produced while you sleep, so getting an adequate amount of sleep on a consistent basis is necessary for maintaining optimum HGH levels.

Thyroxine - Thyroxine is produced by the thyroid gland. Thyroxine raises your metabolism, which causes your body to burn more calories and body fat. Thyroxine levels increase by about 30% during exercise and remain elevated for several hours afterward. Regular exercise also increases your thyroxine levels when you're at rest.

Epinephrine - Epinephrine, also known as adrenaline, is produced by the adrenal glands. Epinephrine is produced at times of acute stress to enhance our capability of "fight or flight." It increases heart rate, diverts blood to the muscles, and opens the airways. Epinephrine is also produced during exercise, where it causes the breakdown of stored carbohydrate and fat to be used as fuel.

As you can see, fat burning hormones play an important role in keeping your body fit and healthy. So do all that you can to keep your body producing them.

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