Hormones: Well-Being Deep Dive
Hormone struggles can challenge us at any age. Whether you’re male or female hormones control a lot of what goes on in our bodies and with our emotions. Having them out of balance can wreak havoc on our well being. For teen girls and women we have to deal with things like PMS, cramps, moodiness, irregular periods, heavy periods, painful periods, poly cystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, fertility or infertility, libido, perimenopause, menopause, probably some that I missed. Men’s hormones control lots of things too. Muscle mass, libido, moods, energy, fertility or infertility and I’m sure many more that I’m not as familiar with in this female body.
But what happens if your hormones are out of balance or causing you symptoms? The most common medical solution is to prescribe hormones, but is this actually effective? I don’t believe this is a good option because it doesn’t get to the root cause of what is happening and by taking hormones, all the systems that support hormonal health get thrown off. So how to you affect hormones without doing anything about the hormones? Let’s dive a little deeper…
3 ways:
Blood sugar. Keeping blood sugar steady is the first key to balancing your hormones because it supports proper endocrine system function. If your blood sugar is constantly spiking and dropping, your body can’t regulate itself. Not just when it comes to hormones, but with all the systems. My number one tip to help with this: if you’re craving sugar, eat protein instead. It will curb the craving and give your body long lasting fuel
Healthy fats and cholesterol. Your endocrine system (all the glands that control your hormones) runs on healthy fats. Cholesterol is the base for all of the sex hormones. Those are the ones you’ve heard of like estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. Cholesterol is only found in animal foods and it does not cause heart problems. That is a myth. You need it for healthy hormone function. I do caution you to be careful about your source as animals that are pumped full of growth hormones and antibiotics are not going to provide healthy fats and cholesterol. If you want to receive my Guide to Healthy Fats, join my mailing list!
Healthy detox systems. This means that your liver and kidneys are functioning well and can process waste. Endometriosis, for example, is often caused by the liver being unable to process excess estrogen, so it builds up and causes problems.
By looking at these things before adding more hormones, not only do your hormones function better, your whole body gets healthier. Hormones are usually the last item to address because getting all the other systems in order fixes them. It’s all connected.
