When it comes to fat loss, carbohydrates are the most confused nutrient.

In order to speed up fat loss, so many women, including myself, have completely eliminated carbs from their diet.

However, for most women, especially over 45 the best fat loss results come from eating carbs rather than taking them out altogether. The specific fat-burning hormones that only respond when carbs are included in your diet are a big reason for this.

This is an important point to consider since hormones control whether you are a fat-burning powerhouse or simply a slimmer version of yourself with little change in body fat.

The truth is that anyone can lose weight by following a low-calorie diet. However, just because you’re losing weight doesn’t necessarily means you’re losing a lot of body fat. Hopefully, “losing weight” is not your main intention.

You want to lose fat! And, in order to lose body fat, you must have full control of your hormones.

Here are the four most important hormones in the fat-burning event, and how avoiding carbohydrates slows down your fat loss:

1. Leptin, is known as the “fat-burning hormone,” is a hormone that helps you lose weight. When leptin levels are high, your body is signalling that it’s time to start burning body fat.

Leptin is a hormone produced by fat cells. The more body fat you have, the more leptin is released by your body. When you start a fat-loss diet, the decrease in calories and loss of body fat naturally leads to lower levels of circulating leptin. Fat burning slows down when leptin levels are low.

Carbohydrate-rich meals are the most effective approach to maintain leptin levels high so you can continue to burn fat. On the other hand, a low-carb diet suppresses leptin, which stops fat burning.

2. Cortisol. You’ve definitely heard cortisol is the stress hormone that causes belly fat to develop. If you haven’t heard, cortisol is the stress hormone that causes belly fat to build. 

When your body is put under any stress, it produces cortisol. When cortisol levels get too high, belly fat begins to develop.

Carbohydrates are necessary for maintaining cortisol homeostasis. Carbohydrates, in the form of glucose, offer a simple energy source for the body. When glucose levels are optimum, there is no need for a stress reaction to create energy.

However, when carbohydrate intake is maintained to a minimum, there is less readily accessible glucose to be used. Cortisol is released in this case to free stored energy (your glycogen stores) and deliver the glucose required to keep you functioning. Cortisol continues to be released as a result of low energy levels, as is the case with consistently low carb diets, resulting in the growth of belly fat.

3. Thyroid Hormone. The thyroid gland produces this hormone, which is responsible for your metabolic rate. In other words, healthy thyroid hormone levels keep your metabolism revving, but low thyroid hormone levels prevent fat burning.

So, low carb diets cause thyroid hormone levels to drop, putting a stop to your fat-burning efforts and slowing down your metabolism. 

4. Insulin. When you consume carbs, they are broken down into glucose and your blood sugar rises. This tells your pancreas to start producing insulin. Insulin’s duty is to transport sugar from the bloodstream to muscle cells, making  insulin an anabolic hormone. 

Your muscle cells eventually get “filled up” and can no longer take in any more sugar. Insulin stores the remaining energy in body fat once your muscle cells are no longer taking sugar. There’s a reason why insulin is called “fat storing hormone”.

The low carb diet was created with the idea that if carbohydrates are removed from the diet, blood sugar would remain low and insulin will be under control,  and fat storage will be avoided. This works to some extent, and brief bursts with very few carbohydrates can help you lose weight, but it’s not the most efficient approach to keep your fat loss going for the course of your diet.

Do you know what “Insulin Sensitivity” is? Insulin sensitivity refers to your muscle cells’ (glycogen stores) willingness to receive insulin (the hormone that transports blood sugar) so that it can be distributed efficiently. Sugars get deposited in the proper spot (muscle cells) when you’re insulin sensitive, and they don’t get stored as body fat.

Carbohydrates have the biggest impact on insulin. If you go too long without eating any carbs and don’t get enough insulin spikes, your muscle cells will begin to reject insulin, resulting in insulin resistance. When you have insulin resistance, your body goes into fat storage mode.

For best fat-burning results, all four of the mentioned hormones must be in balance. You may say goodbye to fat burning if any of them are out of balance. And when you cut carbs too low for too long, you run the risk of hormonal imbalance.

So don’t be afraid of carbohydrates; instead, use them wisely and strategically to boost your fat loss.