Sexy Forever: How to Fight Fat After Forty by Suzanne Somers

abdominal fat and builds muscle in many older men.In some people, it also improves insulin sensitivity and improves blood sugar control. But there is one hazard: as many as one-third of men who use supplemental testosterone also make excess estrogen from testosterone itself, a condition called hyperaromatization. This works against weight loss, and in some cases causes weight gain. Plus, it is dangerous for the prostate gland. Careful testing will usually reveal insulin resistance, a forerunner of type 2 diabetes. This is all completely reversible with diet, exercise, and proper supplementation.
    Human growth hormone . HGH is a very misunderstood hormone. It gets a bad rap in the media from those who usually have no comprehension of the incredible benefits of supplementation in proper dosages. Instead, they report on athletes who may take a hundred times more than physiologically required, which
is
dangerous to the body.
    Human growth hormone is something we all make in our own bodies, even as adults. If HGH levels are low or low normal then raising them to within the normal adult range helps reduce fat and increase muscle, and is very unlikely to be harmful. Testosterone, DHEA, and thyroid (and probably estrogen) all stimulate the internal production of HGH. Estrogen also regulates growth hormone use in the body.
    HGH itself is injectable and expensive. Substances that stimulate the body’s production of HGH are available in oral or injectible forms and are less expensive. HCG (human chorionic gonadotropin; see next section) also stimulates HGH production.
    Human chorionic gonadotropin . HCG suppresses your appetite by causing low-level nausea (the nausea associated with pregnancy is believed to be due to the surge of HCG during pregnancy). Some practitioners claim HCG is an effective weight loss tool, but success requires severe calorie restriction (fewer than 500 calories per day). HCG is injected but much less expensive than HGH. HCG can stimulate production of testosterone, especially if LH (luteinizing hormone) levels are also low.
    Insulin . Insulin is the fat-storing hormone. High levels of insulin lead to weight gain. Insulin production is overstimulated by consumption of sugar and carbohydrates, especially refined carbohydrates. This is a special problem for individuals from families with a predisposition to type 2 diabetes. In men, high insulin levels are also very bad for the cardiovascular system and prostate gland. DHEA and testosterone (along with vitamin D, omega-3 fatty acids, chromium, biotin, and many other nutrients and botanicals, especially the natural plant alkaloid berberine) lower insulin resistance and therefore insulin levels for both men and women. With women the decline in estrogen and progesterone shoots insulin levels high. (Remember the teeter-totter?) As the minor hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) dip, the gender-neutral hormones (insulin, thyroid, adrenals, and cortisol) rise.
    So for women, by allowing your estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels to decline, you set yourself up for weight gain from high insulin and cortisol. In addition, you no longer have the fat-burning benefits of a properly working thyroid. And your adrenals are high (cortisol again), so now you can’t sleep, and are putting yourself at risk for a heart attack. This entire cascade is due to declining estrogen, progesterone, and DHEA (which declines in both sexes starting at age thirty to thirty-five, allowing cortisol to start a slow upward creep well before menopause). So you can see that all the hormones are affected when one is off. When your doctor says you have high insulin levels, take the information seriously. (You may need to check with a doctor who knows how to do proper insulin resistance testing with a sugar challenge to get this information, though.)
    Cortisol . High cortisol levels make sleep impossible. On the other hand, if your cortisol is low, weight is lost in excess (but