John Mayer sang- Your
body is a wonderland! He is certainly right. But how many of the mysteries of
this wonderland have we busted with our gifted brain?? Woah! Don’t freak out. I
ain’t going to take you back to your anatomy or biology classes and bog you
down. There are certain parts of our mind and body we always wish we knew
better. Especially the ones which rule our emotions- love, fantasy, hunger,
fear, lust etc. Well, we shall stick to that part of our human body and unravel
the enigma.
As a sequel to our previous Unmask edition, this week let
us change the angle of our microscope a little and find out more about men and
their hormones. The general thought is that hormones are associated with women!
It’s like an inevitable equation women & hormones. Don’t men have
hormones?? Ooops I mean besides their testosterone! That everybody is sure of.
Men and violence (not the terrorist level but general
anger with physical acts) go hand in hand. The hormones which instigate this
are cortisol and epinephrine. Its called your Alarm system. Imagine
your alarm clock screaming…its fast..its shrill and its active! Precisely the
same happens to your body. Your heart beats faster and your mind becomes more
alert. Keeping your cortisol under check requires.. well not much..just regular
exercise. Looks like Gandhi did a lot of exercise..Ahimsa is our
moto!
Of late , more than women , it is men who are conscious
about their physique. Men hit the gym, spas etc. to be in shape. There is six
packs..eight packs..so on and so forth. When it comes to weight issues, we
become our biggest doctors. Cut the carbs..add the greens..go for walks! What
not! Well, have you ever bothered to stop by and think which part of your body
controls your weight?? Weight is a direct function of your hunger. When your
tummy cannot be in control, so will be your weight. This is the deal! Your body
has a battalion of hormones to tell you when you feel hungry and when to get
your platter full of yummy food and also when to put the fork down. The
grumbling sound of your tummy is kick started by the hormone Gherlin which
sends signals to your neurons. We have generally heard of our stomach secreting
acids to digest the food, haven’t we? Our stomachs also secrete CCK-
cholecystokinin which is an appetite suppressant. Yes foodies! CCK is the black
sheep. PeptideYY and Leptin are your warning signs. It is them who tell you-
stomach full and back out soldier!
It is Leptin who tells you- Dude you have gained extra
weight..cut down right away! But we have a spoiler in our system! If insulin
levels go high, it confuses your brain and overtakes leptin and puts up the
sign- Go eat! You have been starving. Well, the secret to reduce your weight is
this. Cut down on sugar. Less sugar..less insulin..High leptin..brain is
clear..mission weight reduction shall begin. And talking about weight loss, if
a woman competes with a man on weight loss, it is the man who always wins. Men
tend to lose weight faster. The reason being men have 40 pounds more muscle
than women and 10 times more testosterone.
(Women also secrete testosterone). However, men in their mid age, tend
to put on weight and develop pot bellies. The reason being, a gradual decrease in
levels of testosterone decelerates the fat burning metabolism.
PMS- Premenstrual syndrome is considered a teeny tiny
devil which men and women fear facing. Well, hormone trouble is not just
entitled to women. Men have it too. Men’s hormones also rise and fall over a
period of 30 days. If one keenly notices men also have a period of the month
where they are supremely energetic and in good mood all day. A man’s
testosterone levels rise and fall over five times in an hour and is high in the
morning than at nights. As an add on, men’s testosterone levels even vary with
seasons-high during spring. Men’s testosterone seems to fluctuate worse than
our voltage! There is a huge myth surrounding Male menopause or
Andropause. Please do not go “Yuk” at
the idea. There is still no certainty on this topic. Male menopause deals with
the decreasing levels of testosterone. However, it is a gradual process as we
all know. It decreases at the rate of 1% per year after one has reached his BIG
30. Lower testosterone levels are characterized by certain symptoms. Besides
the obvious symptom, there could be depression, insomnia, reduction in muscle
bulk, loss of body hair etc. A shocking detail about testosterone is this! Men
with high testosterone levels facilitate your grey matter to adapt to
technology better. Dear tech savvy men, take a note!!!
Mid life crisis in men- lack of interest in family or
career etc routes back to the physiological grounds. Not a brand new BMW but a
simple blood test can help one to overcome his mid life crisis
The sleeping beauties! What makes you sleepy?? The
miracle man is Melatonin! Melatonin is the winding key behind your internal
alarm clock. And it is generally preferred to have lights switched off while
sleeping because light exposure short circuits melatonin production and start
the ball rolling for cancerous growth in our body.
When your internet
connection ain’t good..the wifi doesn’t work well..be it your
laptop..desktop..mobile..ipads..everything has a malfunctioning. So is the case
of your Body’s internal internet! If your hormone levels ain’t right, the body
has a total malfunctioning! Watch out on your internet connection folks!
-N&N
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