Mental Health + Hormones: Part 3
Welcome to week three of exploring the link between our mental health and our hormones. Today we are looking at how our food choices and our cravings are linked to our hormonal health and blood sugar levels. Sometimes the things that we choose to eat are not always based on our conscious control but other processes that are happening in our bodies, including our hormones.
Binge Eating, emotional eating, overeating. These are topics that are not often talked about. They can be associated with this idea of loss of control, that we are not able to stop ourselves, that there is something wrong with us. None of that is true
The truth is that our relationship with food and the food choices that we make are part of a web of interconnected processes that are occurring both physically and mentally. What that means is that it isn’t always a conscious decision or a decision that you have control over. There are many processes in our physical body that make us crave certain things. These processes control our hunger, fullness, and the type of food that our body wants. When these processes are out of balance it can predispose to overeating, eating large amounts of sugar or salt or binge eating. In fact, they can make it impossible to not binge eat.
Most of these processes are related to our hormones, stress, and our ability to balance blood sugar. Let us take a closer look at some of these and what they mean.
blood sugar
The first thing to remember is that our body is designed to stay alive. This means that when our blood sugar drops at all or if we are having trouble keeping it balanced our body is going to physiologically crave sugar. The goal when our blood sugar drops is to bring it up as quickly as possible. The easiest and fastest way to bring up blood sugar is to eat things that are high in sugar, simple carbohydrates, and foods that are more calorie dense.
In any condition where there is trouble regulating blood sugar there will be frequent sugar and carb cravings. This is part of the reason why the prevalence of binge eating disorder is so much higher in PCOS. Many women with PCOS have insulin resistance, which means it is much harder to properly regulate blood sugar. This often leads to uncontrollable sugar and carb cravings, as well as weight gain.
leptin & leptin resistance
Often coming alongside poor blood sugar control, is leptin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that is secreted by our fat tissues and by our gastrointestinal tract in response to food intake. Basically, when we eat, leptin is released, signaling to the brain that we are full and can stop eating.
In binge eating disorder, leptin levels rise appropriately, but our brains fail to pick up on and respond to leptin signals. This is called leptin resistance, and as a result, fullness cues are harder to pick up on. If you are struggling with leptin resistance, there’s a good chance that hunger and fullness cues are very hard for you to intuitively understand, so you just keep eating.
Although we have a long way to go in understanding this hormone in relation to binge eating patterns, it does appear to be a clear contributor.
estrogen & progesterone
Finally, the big two – our reproductive hormones estrogen and progesterone. Interestingly, research has observed that binge eating frequency fluctuates and aligns with the natural hormone fluctuations of our cycles.
Estrogen
Estrogen’s role in binge eating is much clearer than progesterone. Research has found that estrogen indirectly increases the concentration and effect of serotonin on the brain. This is important because lower levels of serotonin have been correlated to binge eating patterns.
In addition, women with abnormal cycles have been found to have a higher prevalence of binge eating behaviours. This finding has been corroborated by the fact that decreasing estrogen levels seen in menopause, are also associated with increased appetite and eating behaviours.
Progesterone
Progesterone’s role in all of this is much less clear. What we do know is that binge eating occurs most often when estrogen levels are the lowest, and progesterone levels are the highest – AKA the tail of end your luteal cycle, better known as PMS. This is why the week before your period is often the worst time if you’re struggling with binge eating behaviours.
A Final Word
While there are clearly many factors that contribute to binge eating, balancing out the physical processes that can predispose us to this behaviour can help to decrease this pattern and this inherent need to binge eat.
If binge eating is something that you have experienced, it is NOTHING to be ashamed of. Binge eating does not mean that there is anything wrong with you. What it means is that there is likely some kind of imbalance that we need to identify and treat. It is a way of coping with both physical and emotional processes so that your body can feel better.
For more information on how we can support you through experiences with binge eating or to see if your hormones might be playing a role in your relationship with foods, please do not hesitate to reach out for some support.
Ready to make a change?
Remember that you are not alone in this. Support for mental well-being is available through Naturopathic Medicine and many other tools. I am always sending so much love and support. If you’d like to learn more about how Naturopathic Medicine can help, you can book a free 15 minute consult with me.
Sending so much love,
Dr. Alexandra Sisam, ND