9 Hormones That Affect Your Weight — And How To Improve Them

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Evidence Based9 Hormones That Affect Your Weight — and How to Improve Them

Medically reviewed by Marina Basina, MD — Written by Ellen Landes, MS, RDN, CPT — Updated on March 3, 2025

Insulin
Leptin
Ghrelin
Cortisol
Estrogen
NPY
GLP-1
CCK
PYY
Takeaway

Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers. They facilitate nearly every bodily process, including metabolism, hunger, and fullness.

Hormones serve as chemical messengers in your body. Because of their association with appetite, some hormones also play a significant role in body weight.

Here are 9 hormones that can affect your weight, along with tips for keeping them at healthy levels.

Insulin

Insulin is secreted by your pancreas in small amounts throughout the day and in larger amounts after meals. This transfers glucose from food into muscle, liver, and fat cells to use as energy or storage.

Insulin resistance causes cells to stop responding to insulin, resulting in high blood sugar. It’s been linked to obesity, which can play a role in other conditions, such as type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

Tips to improve insulin sensitivity

Insulin sensitivity is the opposite of insulin resistance. To improve insulin sensitivity, focus on lifestyle habits like:

Exercise regularly: Research supports exercise at both high and moderate intensities as a means of improving insulin sensitivity and decreasing insulin resistance.
Improve your sleep habits: Not getting enough or quality sleep is linked to obesity and insulin resistance.
Get more omega-3 fatty acids: Omega-3 supplements may improve insulin sensitivity in people with metabolic conditions such as diabetes. You can also try eating more fish, nuts, seeds, and plant oils.
Change your diet: The Mediterranean diet — which includes many veggies and healthy fats from nuts and olive oil — may help reduce insulin resistance. Decreasing saturated and trans fat intake may also help.
Maintain a moderate weight: Healthy weight loss and weight management may improve insulin sensitivity.
Focus on low glycemic carbs: Rather than try to eliminate carbs from your diet, aim to make most of them low glycemic and high fiber. Examples include whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes.

Leptin

Leptin works by telling your hypothalamus — the portion of your brain that regulates appetite — that you’re full.

Leptin resistance occurs when the message to stop eating doesn’t reach your brain, eventually causing you to overeat. In turn, your body may produce even more leptin until your levels become elevated.

The direct cause of leptin resistance is unclear, but it may be due to inflammation, gene mutations, or excessive leptin production, which can occur with obesity.

Tips to lower leptin levels

Although no known treatment exists for leptin resistance, a few lifestyle changes may help lower leptin levels:

Maintain a moderate weight: A decrease in body fat may help reduce leptin levels.
Improve your sleep quality: Leptin levels may be related to sleep quality in people with obesity. Although this association may not exist in people without obesity, there are numerous other reasons to get better sleep.
Exercise regularly: Research links regular, consistent exercise to a decrease in leptin levels.

Ghrelin

Ghrelin is essentially the opposite of leptin. Its main function is to increase appetite by sending a message to your hypothalamus indicating that your stomach is empty and needs food.

Ghrelin levels are usually highest before eating and lowest after a meal. Curiously, research indicates that people with obesity have low ghrelin levels but are more sensitive to its effects. This sensitivity may lead to overeating.

Tips to lower ghrelin levels

Here are some tips for lowering ghrelin to help reduce appetite:

Maintain a moderate weight: Obesity may increase your sensitivity to ghrelin, increasing your appetite.
Practice good sleep hygiene: Unfavorable sleep may lead to increases in ghrelin, overeating, and weight gain.
Eat regularly: Ghrelin levels are highest before a meal, so listen to your body and eat when you’re hungry.

Cortisol

When you’re stressed, your adrenal glands release cortisol, which triggers an increase in heart rate and energy levels. This is commonly called the “fight or flight” response.

Persistently high levels may lead to many health concerns, including heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, sleep disturbances, and weight gain.

Certain lifestyle factors — including lack of sleep, chronic stress, and a high intake of high-glycemic foods — may contribute to high cortisol levels.

Plus, not only does obesity raise cortisol levels, but high levels may also cause weight gain, creating a negative feedback loop.

Tips to lower cortisol levels

Here are some lifestyle changes that may help manage cortisol levels:

Optimize sleep: Chronic sleep disturbances, including insomnia, sleep apnea, and irregular bedtimes, may contribute to high cortisol levels. Focus on developing a regular sleep schedule.
Exercise regularly: Cortisol levels temporarily increase after high intensity exercise, but regular exercise generally helps decrease levels by improving overall health and lowering stress levels.
Practice mindfulness: Regular mindfulness practice can help lower cortisol levels, though more research is needed. Try adding meditation to your daily routine.
Maintain a moderate weight: Because obesity may increase cortisol levels and high cortisol levels can cause weight gain, maintaining a moderate weight may help keep levels in check.
Eat a balanced diet: Diets high in added sugars, refined grains, and saturated fat may lead to higher cortisol levels. Following the Mediterranean diet may help lower cortisol levels.

Estrogen

Estrogen regulates the female reproductive, immune, skeletal, and vascular systems.

High estrogen levels are associated with an increased risk of certain cancers and other chronic diseases. Low levels may affect body weight and body fat, also increasing your risk of chronic ailments.

People with low estrogen levels often experience central obesity, which is an accumulation of weight around the trunk of the body. This can increase the risk of high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and heart disease.

Tips to maintain healthy estrogen levels

To keep estrogen levels at a healthy equilibrium, try some of these techniques:

Maintain a moderate weight: Weight loss or maintenance may reduce the risk of heart disease due to low estrogen levels in perimenopause. Research also supports maintenance to reduce your risk of other diseases.
Exercise regularly: During periods of low estrogen output, such as menopause, regular exercise is important to aid weight management.
Eat a balanced diet: Diets high in red meat, processed foods, sweets, and refined grains have been shown to increase estrogen levels, which may raise your risk of chronic disease. Limiting your intake may help.

Neuropeptide Y (NPY)

NPY is produced by cells in the brain and nervous system. It stimulates appetite and decreases energy expenditure in response to fasting or stress.

It’s activated in fat tissue and may increase fat storage and lead to abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome, a condition that can increase the risk of chronic diseases.

The mechanisms that lead to obesity may also cause an inflammatory response, further worsening health conditions.

Tips to maintain NPY levels

Here are some tips for maintaining healthy levels of NPY:

Exercise: Some studies suggest that regular exercise may decrease NPY levels, though research is mixed.
Eat a balanced diet: Although more research is needed, high fat, high-sugar diets may increase NPY levels. Lowering your intake of foods high in sugar and fat may help.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)

GLP-1 is produced in your gut when nutrients enter your intestines. It plays a major role in keeping blood sugar levels stable and making you feel full.

Research suggests that people with obesity may have problems with GLP-1 signaling. As such, GLP-1 is added to medications — particularly for people with diabetes — to reduce body weight and waist circumference.

Tips to maintain GLP-1 levels

Here are some tips to help maintain healthy levels of GLP-1:

Eat plenty of protein: High-protein foods such as whey protein and yogurt have been shown to increase GLP-1 levels.
Consider taking probiotics: Preliminary research suggests that probiotics may increase GLP-1 levels, though more human research is needed. Consult with a healthcare professional before starting a new supplement.

Cholecystokinin (CCK)

CCK is another fullness hormone produced by cells in your gut after a meal. It’s important for energy production, protein synthesis, digestion, and other bodily functions. It also increases the release of leptin.

People with obesity may have a reduced sensitivity to CCK’s effects, which may lead to chronic overeating. This may further reduce CCK sensitivity, creating a negative feedback loop.

Tips to increase CCK levels

Here are some tips for maintaining healthy levels of CCK:

Eat plenty of protein: A high protein diet may help increase CCK levels and, therefore, fullness.
Exercise: While research is limited, some evidence supports regular exercise for increasing CCK levels.

Peptide YY (PYY)

PYY is a gut hormone that decreases appetite. PYY levels may be lower in people with obesity, and this may lead to a greater appetite and overeating.

Sufficient levels are believed to play a major role in reducing food intake and decreasing the risk of obesity.

Tips to increase PYY levels

Here are some ways to keep PYY at a healthy level in your body:

Eat a balanced diet: Eating plenty of protein may promote healthy PYY levels and fullness. The paleo diet — which includes ample protein, fruits, and veggies — may raise PYY levels, but more research is needed.
Exercise: While research on exercise and PYY levels is mixed, staying active is generally beneficial for health.

The bottom line

Research suggests that certain lifestyle habits can optimize levels of these hormones, but it’s important to consult with a healthcare professional if you believe your hormones may be at unhealthy levels.

Overall, pursuing a balanced diet, prioritizing sleep, and exercising regularly may benefit your overall health and reduce your risk of chronic disease.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

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Medically reviewed by Marina Basina, MD — Written by Ellen Landes, MS, RDN, CPT — Updated on March 3, 2025

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