The world is buzzing with tips, techniques, diets, and procedures for losing weight. But what are the causes of gaining weight?
Weight is one of the major health scares in the world. Believe me, I am one of the people who are traveling this journey of gaining and losing weight.
Let’s look at the basic things in our daily life that have an impact on our weight. Sometimes dealing with the core causes can be more helpful in terms of alleviating the symptoms.
1. Stress/depression/anxiety
When we get stressed or anxious, our bodies go to fight or flight mode, and a high adrenaline level is produced.
Cortisol, which is the stress hormone also gets secreted. It increases appetite. Then we start eating food with high calories, larger portions… boom, we start adding some pounds.
People with depression often have a higher level of cortisol. When the cortisol level stays high for a longer period, our bodies continue storing fat, which can lead to gaining weight.
The mood becomes very low which might lead to starting to eat the wrong things to comfort ourselves.
Some of the medications used to control this situation can be the cause of gaining weight.
Please do not, and I repeat, do not stop taking your medication when you realize that you are adding pounds. Rather talk to your, doctor or therapist.
2. Aging
Exercising or moving our bodies should be part of our lives, regardless of age. More than sixty percent of adults are inactive. This number increases with age.
This is one of the reasons so many of us add pounds.
Hormonal imbalance has a huge weight impact on both women who are in their childbearing age and/or menopause.
Polycystic ovary syndrome PCOS– is a hormonal condition causing ovaries to be enlarged and small cysts to grow on the outer edges. This disorder leads to imbalanced hormones. It affects women of childbearing age.
PCOS has several symptoms including abnormal periods, infertility, depression, weight gain, acne, and many more.
Women with this condition are resistant to insulin, which is the hormone that helps to convert sugars and starches into energy. That may cause weight gain, especially in the midsection of the body.
Menopause is also one of the main reasons why women gain weight. Estrogen level is also a hormone that declines during menopause.
The lower level of estrogen has an impact on our metabolism, it makes it to be slower. The body may begin to use starches and blood sugar ineffectively and that will increase the fat being stored.
Of course, that will be the source of unexplained weight gain. Therefore making it difficult to lose weight.
3. Certain medication
Several prescription medications are the causes of gaining weight. These include drugs that are used to treat high blood pressure, seizures, migraines, and diabetes.
- Beta-blockers; used to lower blood pressure can slower metabolism.
- Antipsychotic drugs are also linked to weight gain. They are used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
- Some antidepressants have a huge impact on weight gain. Bear in mind that depression itself can cause weight gain or weight loss depending on the individual body.
Some people lose their appetite when they are depressed and when they start taking the treatment they experience unexplained weight gain. The reason might be they are getting better and their appetite is healthy hence they add pounds.
In this case, it is important to talk to the doctor to confirm if it is a healthy appetite or antidepressants that are causing weight gain.
- Oral birth control especially combination birth control pills has temporary weight gain side effects. Women may experience weight gain for a short period when they start taking them.
- Anti-inflammatory steroid medications like prednisone cause weight gain. The main reason is water retention and increased appetite.
With all this information, please work with your doctor to find a medication that treats your symptoms and reduces side effects.
NB: Please do not stop or change a medication without consulting your Doctor
4. Sleep
Sleeping less may affect the hormones that control hunger. Ghrelin – a hunger hormone, rises when someone is deprived of sleep. It then sends the message “it’s time to eat”. Meaning that the higher the ghrelin levels the more hunger one feels. It even causes cravings for fatty food and sugar. We all know, that the more we eat, the more calories we add leads to gaining weight.
The sleeping pattern has a huge influence on ghrelin.
The study shows that people who slept one hour more per week lost more weight than the ones who slept an hour less. They were given the same amount of calories to eat but those who slept more lost more weight. We are looking at a normal 6-8 hours’ sleep for an adult.
When working late at night or watching that series you enjoy so much, greater chances are you are snacking. Which means more calorie intake.
Sleep deprivation can also cause your body to produce too much cortisol and insulin. That leads to adding pounds because both hormones play a massive role in weight gain or loss.
5. Sedentary lifestyle
Living a sedentary lifestyle is hugely associated with weight gain. It also increases most if not all causes of mortality, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, depression, anxiety, and cardiovascular diseases just to mention a few.
A sedentary lifestyle is a major concern for the overall health of the global population. Most of our jobs have become more sedentary, sitting at a desk the whole day. We spend our leisure time watching TV, playing video games, or being on our devices. This means, that the inactive lifestyle is becoming popular. As a result, it increases the causes of gaining weight.
We may lose muscle strength and endurance when we are inactive. Our bodies burn fewer calories and that is a cue for weight gain.
6. Thyroid
Here we are referring to a butterfly-shaped endocrine gland that is located in the lower front of the neck. The thyroid’s job is to produce thyroid hormones. These hormones help the body to use energy.
Sometimes unexplained weight gain may be the result of lower levels of thyroid hormones, which is called hypothyroidism. Almost half of the people with hypothyroidism gain some weight.
They gain something like 5 – 10 pounds, some gain more depending on the severity of their hypothyroidism.
On the other hand, if the thyroid produces more hormones than the body needs, that may lead to unexplained weight loss.
Feel free to chat with me in the comments section below about your weight gain experiences.