1 00:00:02,960 --> 00:00:07,920 Speaker 1: Welcome to Christian Natural Health with naturopathic doctor Lauren Deville. 2 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:11,399 Speaker 1: Christian Natural Health is the podcast on how to get 3 00:00:11,440 --> 00:00:16,840 Speaker 1: and stay healthy God's Way. You'll hear topics on nutrition, exercise, sleep, 4 00:00:17,079 --> 00:00:22,680 Speaker 1: avoiding toxicity, meditating on scripture, what supplements to take, stress management, 5 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: defeating anxiety and worry, how to reconcile Eastern medicine approaches 6 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:32,200 Speaker 1: with Christianity, and a whole lot more. Now here's your host, 7 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:33,240 Speaker 1: doctor Lauren. 8 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 2: Welcome back to another episode of Christian Natural Health. Today, 9 00:00:38,560 --> 00:00:40,960 Speaker 2: I'm going to be talking about why it's so hard 10 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,800 Speaker 2: to lose weight despite doing everything right. So we've all 11 00:00:44,840 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 2: heard the usual calories in, calories out equation for weight loss. 12 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 2: In theory, if you burn more calories than you consume, 13 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 2: weight loss should follow. For some people, it's really that simple. 14 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:58,480 Speaker 2: Unfortunately for many it isn't. But why not, especially for 15 00:00:58,520 --> 00:01:01,200 Speaker 2: those who really are doing everything right. Intermittent fasting, a 16 00:01:01,240 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 2: paleo or keto diet, regular even intense exercise like hit 17 00:01:05,240 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 2: or CrossFit, all the metabolic supplements like bergamot, berberine, cinnamon, etc. 18 00:01:09,760 --> 00:01:11,880 Speaker 2: What more do you have to do? No? Wonder the 19 00:01:11,920 --> 00:01:14,520 Speaker 2: weight loss GLP one drugs are so popular, even though 20 00:01:14,560 --> 00:01:17,840 Speaker 2: their potentially severe side effects are finally getting a bigger spotlight, 21 00:01:17,880 --> 00:01:20,759 Speaker 2: so their popularity may be waning at last. For people 22 00:01:20,760 --> 00:01:24,080 Speaker 2: who are doing everything right, there's usually an underlying feedback 23 00:01:24,120 --> 00:01:27,959 Speaker 2: mechanism at place, sabotaging your best efforts. That mechanism generally 24 00:01:28,000 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 2: stems from stress in one form or another, whether it's 25 00:01:30,680 --> 00:01:35,800 Speaker 2: physiologic or mental, emotional. Anything your body perceives as stressful 26 00:01:35,800 --> 00:01:39,440 Speaker 2: triggers a release of adrenaline, the primary neurotransmitter involved with 27 00:01:39,480 --> 00:01:42,880 Speaker 2: the sympathetic fight or flight nervous system. Adrenaline leads to 28 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:45,920 Speaker 2: rapid consumption of glucose into energy because it's equipping you 29 00:01:45,959 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 2: to fight or to flee. As glucose is consumed, insulin 30 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,560 Speaker 2: levels fall. You don't need insulin when there's no glucose 31 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:54,160 Speaker 2: for it to shuttle inside your cells. Anyway, you need 32 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,520 Speaker 2: to replenish your glucose. On the other side of this, though, cortisol, 33 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 2: considered distress tolerance hormone in your body's natural steroid, then 34 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:04,880 Speaker 2: triggers your liver to produce glucose in a process called gluconeogenesis. 35 00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 2: If you're not stressed, just fasting, the pancreas hormone glucagon 36 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:12,000 Speaker 2: stimulates gluconeogenesis instead to keep your blood sugar stable between meals. 37 00:02:12,720 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 2: Just as the pancreas secretes glucagon when it senses lower 38 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,919 Speaker 2: glucose levels, it secretes insulin when it senses higher glucose levels. 39 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 2: Insulin ushers the newly made glucose from gluconeogenesis into cells, 40 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 2: just like it does with newly consumed glucose from meals. 41 00:02:26,240 --> 00:02:29,520 Speaker 2: Insulin itself provides the feedback mechanism to the liver, telling 42 00:02:29,560 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 2: it we have enough glucose, now shut down the production. 43 00:02:32,320 --> 00:02:34,360 Speaker 2: This is the way it is supposed to work once 44 00:02:34,360 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 2: the stress is over and you're able to repair. But 45 00:02:37,120 --> 00:02:39,080 Speaker 2: what if you're living in chronic fight or flight the 46 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:43,359 Speaker 2: constant sympathetic freeze mode. If you're living on adrenaline, you 47 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 2: won't be able to burn a fat burn fat efficiently. 48 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:49,080 Speaker 2: Breaking down glycogen into glucose in the liver is just quicker. 49 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 2: If you're running on adrenaline, your body can assumes that 50 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:53,640 Speaker 2: it's in life or death struggle, and it will thus 51 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:58,000 Speaker 2: prioritize quick energy. Not only will adrenaline block fatty acid breakdown, 52 00:02:58,040 --> 00:03:01,239 Speaker 2: but you'll have a constant demand for cortisol. Two excessive 53 00:03:01,280 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 2: cortisol over time will perpetuate high glucose production from the 54 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:08,520 Speaker 2: liver and high insulin, leading to insulin resistance. Once that happens, 55 00:03:08,600 --> 00:03:11,799 Speaker 2: visceral weight gain follows. But what if your serum or 56 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,720 Speaker 2: salivary cortisol don't consistent consistently measure as elevated. Could this 57 00:03:15,800 --> 00:03:20,200 Speaker 2: process still describe your problem? Unfortunately, conversion of inactive cortizome 58 00:03:20,280 --> 00:03:23,080 Speaker 2: to the active cortizol hormone can occur in the visceral 59 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:26,400 Speaker 2: adipose tissue itself, so once you're carrying more visceral fat, 60 00:03:26,440 --> 00:03:30,600 Speaker 2: a feed forward mechanism might perpetually activate your cortisol locally, 61 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:35,120 Speaker 2: even if cortisol doesn't measure high systemically. Another possibility is 62 00:03:35,120 --> 00:03:38,120 Speaker 2: that cortisol is stemically elevated, just not at the times 63 00:03:38,120 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 2: that you're checking it. Obese individuals tend to maintain elevated 64 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:43,800 Speaker 2: cortisol at night, when it's supposed to be at its 65 00:03:43,800 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 2: lowest level. The expected rhythm in which chi cordisol alternates 66 00:03:47,600 --> 00:03:51,200 Speaker 2: with high melatonin tends to be substantially diminished in these individuals. 67 00:03:51,920 --> 00:03:54,800 Speaker 2: So even if am cortisol on blood work or salivary 68 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 2: cortisol looks normal the cumulative tissue exposure over a twenty 69 00:03:58,760 --> 00:04:01,320 Speaker 2: four hour period might still will be quite high, and 70 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,440 Speaker 2: again leading to insulin resistance and then weight gain. To 71 00:04:04,520 --> 00:04:07,240 Speaker 2: make matters worse, when you're chronically stressed and inflamed, your 72 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,160 Speaker 2: body funnels your T four from T three, the active 73 00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,400 Speaker 2: form of thyroid, into reverse T three, the inactive form, 74 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:16,960 Speaker 2: effectively putting the brakes on your metabolism. It's trying to 75 00:04:17,000 --> 00:04:20,000 Speaker 2: conserve energy to deal with the perceived threat, whatever it 76 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,679 Speaker 2: is that seems to keep your adrenaline cortisol running high. 77 00:04:23,080 --> 00:04:26,800 Speaker 2: High reverse T three leads to leptin resistance. But how 78 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,480 Speaker 2: might this process get started in the first place, and 79 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 2: what do we do to stop it. Maybe you don't 80 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 2: think you're stressed, but if you're doing everything right, there's 81 00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:36,560 Speaker 2: a chance that the goal of losing weight itself has 82 00:04:36,600 --> 00:04:39,640 Speaker 2: become the stressor you might be overexercising, you might be 83 00:04:39,720 --> 00:04:42,280 Speaker 2: at a calorie deficit. You might just be feeling self 84 00:04:42,279 --> 00:04:44,800 Speaker 2: imposed pressure to hit a goal or frustration that you're 85 00:04:44,800 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 2: not hitting that goal. All of these stress the body 86 00:04:47,240 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 2: triggering adrenaline and subsequent cortisol release. These are the people 87 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:52,640 Speaker 2: who tell me that they actually lose weight when they 88 00:04:52,680 --> 00:04:55,840 Speaker 2: eat junk food here my caveat here. I'm not endorsing 89 00:04:55,880 --> 00:04:58,640 Speaker 2: eating junk as a lifestyle, of course, but the point is, 90 00:04:58,720 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 2: if your rules are excessive rigid, sometimes relaxing those rules 91 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:05,719 Speaker 2: a bit actually decreases the emotional stress those rules imposed. 92 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,560 Speaker 2: As a result, adrenaline drops, which means the body can 93 00:05:08,640 --> 00:05:12,200 Speaker 2: now access its fat stores. Also, cortisol drops, which means 94 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:15,080 Speaker 2: less glucuneogenesis, which, despite the junk food, may lead to 95 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 2: a net drop in glucose levels. Insulin begins to decrease, 96 00:05:18,920 --> 00:05:22,880 Speaker 2: and metabolic flexibility improves. T four stops funneling into reverse 97 00:05:22,920 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 2: T three and instead shifts to T three. If this 98 00:05:25,760 --> 00:05:27,600 Speaker 2: is you, it might be time to give yourself a 99 00:05:27,600 --> 00:05:31,360 Speaker 2: little grace to bend or break the rules. Occasionally, maybe 100 00:05:31,400 --> 00:05:34,760 Speaker 2: it isn't anxiety about weight loss itself that's triggering your stress, 101 00:05:34,760 --> 00:05:37,680 Speaker 2: though the problem might instead be an underlying physical stressor 102 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,640 Speaker 2: these might include anything that could trigger inflammation in the body, 103 00:05:40,720 --> 00:05:43,159 Speaker 2: such as food sensitivity, is a chronic infection or a 104 00:05:43,200 --> 00:05:45,840 Speaker 2: toxic burden, Or it might be the lack of one 105 00:05:45,880 --> 00:05:49,719 Speaker 2: of the most important building blocks from metabolism oxygen. Sleep. 106 00:05:49,760 --> 00:05:52,800 Speaker 2: Disordered breathing can occur secondary to the weight itself, or 107 00:05:52,920 --> 00:05:55,840 Speaker 2: from anything that might restrict airways, like allergies or other 108 00:05:55,880 --> 00:05:58,920 Speaker 2: sinus issues. If you're not getting sufficient oxygen at night, 109 00:05:58,960 --> 00:06:01,760 Speaker 2: it triggers adrenaline with as your body will naturally perceive 110 00:06:01,800 --> 00:06:05,039 Speaker 2: this to be a stressor Chronic hypoxia at night also 111 00:06:05,200 --> 00:06:08,720 Speaker 2: renders the body hypersensitive to hypoxia, leading to an elevation 112 00:06:08,800 --> 00:06:12,279 Speaker 2: in baseline adrenaline levels too. This is why sleep apnea 113 00:06:12,360 --> 00:06:15,320 Speaker 2: often presents with hypertension, and it can also set up 114 00:06:15,320 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 2: the vicious cycle of higher cortisol, higher glucose, insulin resistance, 115 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:21,640 Speaker 2: and visceral waking. If you've been trying to lose weight 116 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 2: for years and you've been unsuccessful, consider a sleep study. 117 00:06:24,800 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 2: These days, there are convenient at home app based options 118 00:06:27,680 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 2: for this. So the bottom line, if you've done everything 119 00:06:30,560 --> 00:06:32,880 Speaker 2: right and you're still not losing weight, the next step 120 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:35,240 Speaker 2: is to consider whether there might be any hidden stressors, 121 00:06:35,240 --> 00:06:38,560 Speaker 2: physical or emotional, that might conspire to sabotage your best 122 00:06:38,600 --> 00:06:41,160 Speaker 2: laid plans. So I will link in the show notes 123 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,640 Speaker 2: to the blog post this comes from, and that will 124 00:06:43,640 --> 00:06:46,400 Speaker 2: also have all of the steady links in it. Thanks 125 00:06:46,400 --> 00:06:48,080 Speaker 2: for joining me and I'll see you next week. 126 00:06:49,720 --> 00:06:53,279 Speaker 1: Thanks for listening to Christian natural health. This show is 127 00:06:53,400 --> 00:06:56,160 Speaker 1: run by you, so please write in with topic and 128 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,120 Speaker 1: guest suggestions for future shows. For more great content and 129 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:05,960 Speaker 1: subscribe to Doctor Laurence blog at www dot doctor Laurendeville 130 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,840 Speaker 1: dot com or follow her on Facebook or Twitter at 131 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:13,560 Speaker 1: doctor Laurendeville. If you enjoyed the show, don't forget to 132 00:07:13,640 --> 00:07:15,920 Speaker 1: share it with your friends and give us a five 133 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:19,480 Speaker 1: star rating in iTunes. It really helps us to stand 134 00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,720 Speaker 1: out so other people can discover great content as well. 135 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,040 Speaker 1: Have a great week and God bless you.