Hormone Health
Hormones are molecules naturally produced in our body. These molecules send signals throughout or body to regulate physiology and behavior. They act as messengers that enable communication between different parts of our body. There are lots of hormones in your body, but it can be helpful to understand the major hormones that fit into the following three categories: sex hormones, adrenal hormones, and thyroid hormones. Sex hormones are involved in reproductive health. Adrenal hormones are produced by the adrenal glands and regulate things like stress response, blood pressure, development, and metabolic health. Thyroid hormones are produced by the thyroid gland and regulate bodily functions that impact body temperature, heart rate, and energy. As a female, hormone levels change throughout the month to support ovulation and reproduction; therefore, it can be helpful to think about optimizing our hormone levels rather than trying to balance them, because the levels are supposed to change throughout the month.
Do any of these symptoms sound familiar to you?
PMS symptoms
Abdominal cramping
Hormonal acne
Inability to sleep during menstrual cycle
Unexplained weight gain
Weight loss resistance
Cystic acne
Hair thinning, brittle, and/or falling out
Fatigue
Brain fog
Trouble falling and staying asleep
Waking up tired, but feeling wired before bed
Missing or irregular menstrual cycle
Our hormones influence many of our bodily functions and when hormone levels are not optimized, it can contribute to many of the symptoms listed. There is a lot we can do to support healthy hormone levels naturally including but not limited to nutrition, movement, supplementation, activity levels, sleep, and much more.
What could be contributing to dysregulated hormone levels?
Poor sleep
Stress
Toxic household products
Lack of vitamins and nutrients from diet
Not enough daily movement/exercise
Too much exercise
& more
How do you know if your hormone levels are optimized?
Listen to your body’s signals, are you struggling with any of the symptoms listed above? Acne, weight gain, hair thinning and falling out, fatigue, brain fog, etc.
Running a hormone test can be a very helpful way to collect real data on hormone levels that can then be used to create a personalized plan based on your results
Often times if our hormone levels are out of balance, the minerals in our body can be depleted; therefore, looking into mineral levels in your body can also help shed light on hormones.
Hormone health is not just about sleep, diet, and exercise. The thoughts we are thinking and the person we are BEING impacts hormone production and utilization.
People pleasing: Often leads to a jam-packed schedule, resentment because we don’t do the things we need to do for ourselves, and consumption of our valuable resources — The constant go, go, go can keep your nervous system in fight or flight which impacts production and utilization of hormones.
Worst case scenario thinking: We’ve all been in seasons of life where our plates are full and our minds get sucked into focusing on all of the things that could go wrong or just waiting for the other shoe to drop — When our minds are focused on the things that could go wrong or are going wrong around us, our minds perceive this fear based thinking as a threat, which pushes our body into sympathetic nervous system dominance and as a result impaction the production and utilization of hormones in our body.
Lack of boundaries: Your life feels so busy and full, yet none of the things you actually want or need to do are getting done. You often feel like you’re spinning out in your own head because of all the commitments you have, you can’t seem to get to bed on time, your feel like you have to say yes to your friends and they just don’t understand your busy schedule — When our mind is constantly running and wrapped up in stories and lacking the time to quiet it down, our body remains stuck in fight or flight which in turn impacts our hormones.
Constantly comparing yourself to others: It’s easy to get caught up playing the comparison game. Comparing may look like comparing your body to someone else’s, your skin to your friends’ skin, your house or your life to your neighbors life. It may also look like finding validation in being busy, and comparing how “busy” you are to how busy someone else is. Comparison can show up in so many different ways. — Again here, your mind is stuck in fear and a “lack” mindset, which keeps your body stuck in sympathetic nervous system dominance and in turn impacts our hormones.
Optimizing your hormones can be a wildly powerful tool to unlocking energy, vibrancy, and emotional capacity for life. There are many lifestyle changes that can be made to support healthy hormone levels. Additionally, collecting data through lab testing to understand your hormones can be a great way to look deeper and understand the symptoms you may be experiencing.