If you are working hard to lose weight, but aren’t seeing the results you want, keep going. However, a simple reason your weight loss efforts are not paying off is that you might be drinking too much water. That’s right, water. While our bodies need to stay hydrated, consuming too much of it can lead to weight gain. Here are 4 reasons why drinking too much water can cause us not to lose weight and gain some.
Genetic features
At birth, we each receive a set of genes that control everything in our bodies, including how fat is made and used. Depending on our genes, people can be divided into three groups: those who store fat, burn fat, and have a balanced amount of fat.
The state of the organism determines the activity of genes. It means that if a person smokes, eats poorly, or sleeps poorly, all the “bad” genes will eventually be turned on, and the “good” ones can’t help. As a result, problems will start to pile up.
What to do: You should see a doctor even if you feel fine. This way, the doctor can find problems early and fix them before they become more significant.
Insulin resistance
Insulin is a hormone that helps to keep blood sugar at an average level. It changes sugar into energy that the body can store for later. But the body can’t store this energy forever. So if there is already too much energy, insulin will turn it into fat. This fat will build up around the waist.
Each time, a new portion of insulin is produced when blood glucose levels increase. However, at a certain point, there can be too much insulin. When there is an excess of fatty tissue, the insulin doesn’t work as well to transport glucose into the body’s cells. As a result, it can cause blood sugar to rise. This condition is called insulin resistance. High insulin levels can also cause problems with weight gain, even if a person eats healthy and exercises regularly.
What to do: To confirm insulin resistance, you need to donate blood for insulin and fasting glucose. Based on the examination results, nutrition will be recommended to normalize the insulin level and, if necessary, treatment.
Hormone deficiency
Our body uses energy all the time, even when we sleep. How much energy it uses depends on many factors, including the level of lipolytic hormones. These hormones help to reduce fat reserves. If thyroid hormone production decreases, the body’s metabolism slows down, and fluid builds up. As a result, it causes weight gain and puffiness.
Some people tend to lose weight quickly when they are in a stressful situation because of their genes. But other people tend to eat a lot of unhealthy food when stressed, which causes them to gain weight.
What to do: to exclude hormonal deficiency, it is necessary to undergo an examination. You may need an ultrasound and blood tests for hormones.
Insufficient or inadequate sleep
It is known that people who do not sleep well at night are more likely to gain weight compared to those who sleep enough. However, not only does the amount of time you spend sleeping matter but also how well you sleep.
The best sleep happens at night, before midnight. Make sure it is dark in your room, and you will be able to continue. Your body can only heal and repair itself during deep sleep, which happens when the hormone melatonin is produced. If you wake up every 2-3 hours, you may never reach deep sleep and miss out on melatonin production.
Melatonin is a hormone that helps the body with energy processes, the production of thyroid and sex hormones, and other things. A melatonin deficiency can make these things not work as well and can make people feel tired.
What to do: To assess sleep quality, you can use a sonogram, which allows you to differentiate sleep phases and estimate their duration.
