3 brainy tips to boost weight-loss hormones

It’s not just your imagination. Staying slim in the winter truly is more difficult.

Winter signals a change in our bodies’ chemistry: one for the worse when it comes to weight-management. Blame shorter days. We need sunlight to produce serotonin, a ‘feel-good’ hormone that also regulates appetite.

When enough serotonin is coursing through the brain, we feel satiated sooner, and it’s easier to resist comfort foods like the simple carbohydrates that give us a temporary lift. As every dieter knows, sugar is a fleeting fix. It leaves us depleted and hungry, on the prowl for more calories.

But never fear, there are ways to boost your serotonin and manage winter weight-gain. Try these simple tips:

1. Take a winter walk: Take every opportunity on clear days to get out in natural light. A brisk walk may be just what you need to boost serotonin and resist the siren call of sweets.

2. Increase your vitamin intake: Supplementing your diet can impact hormone health. Magnesium aids in the conversion of the amino acid tryptophan into serotonin, regulating appetite and exerting a powerful influence on our mood. Canadian actor Sitara Hewitt says that using a magnesium supplement called Natural Calm magnesium has helped in her own resolution to kick sugar. This thirty-something mother and natural health advocate explains: “My energy is much more level now. I don’t feel drained, and so I’m not driven by the sugar impulse. It feels great.”

3. Explore alternatives: Who among us doesn’t get a little more domestic when the weather is forbidding? Convert your guilty-pleasure recipes by experimenting with coconut sugar, organic maple syrup and stevia to sweeten. Sugar not only adds empty calories, it depletes our magnesium stores, triggering the vicious craving cycle.

A combination of natural light therapy and nutrition may be all you need to your balance hormones and keep your weight in-check this winter.