I have spent many years researching ailments and seeking advice from doctors only to be told there is nothing wrong with me and it is probably stress-related. In my gut, I always knew there was something that just wasn’t right. I exercised, ate relatively healthy, and lived a healthy lifestyle but still, I was plagued with mysterious ailments like a racing heartbeat for no reason, night sweats, dry skin, brain fog, disrupted sleep, forgetfulness, weight gain, bloating, and achy joints. I continued the search for years to find a healthcare professional who would help identify the culprit of my issues.
It turns out, there is a very important function in our body that is often ignored or dismissed as the reason for chronic symptoms. The hormones in our body are one of THE most important functions acting as chemical messengers to other parts of our body instructing them what to do. Both men and women rely on hormones for the correct functioning of various organs. Because hormones affect so many functions in the body, an imbalance can really wreak havoc on your health and mental well-being. Having a good hormonal balance can help you live with more energy and joy.
Hormone production begins in the endocrine glands, which include, primarily, the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands. Everything in the body is controlled by hormones, including sleep, metabolism, temperature, hunger, stress response, digestion, and many others. As the body is hard at work each day, hormones are sending messages telling each area how “hard” to work or what to do. If something causes a slight disruption in the hormonal balance, it can be enough to impact the function of other parts of the body and their functions. Often, when one part of our body is not functioning optimally, it can cause a chain reaction impacting other areas, including hormone imbalance.
The good news is that we do have some control over hormone balance through our habits and lifestyle. Sometimes making small changes in our habits can have huge benefits to our overall health and well-being.
Culprits That Impact Hormonal Balance
Sleep Quality
We all love a good night of sleep when we wake refreshed and ready to take on the day. Unfortunately, many things can disrupt our sleep or cause us to miss the quantity of sleep our bodies need to function optimally. Experiencing disrupted sleep or simply not getting enough sleep can affect your hormone balance and function.
One of the major negative impacts of poor sleep is the way our body responds to insulin, which helps us store glucose in cells for energy. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas whenever blood sugar rises, normally after eating. When insulin is released, it helps push glucose from the bloodstream into cells, which ultimately provides you with energy. Poor sleep can cause your body to repeatedly send messages to produce insulin, often leading to something called insulin resistance where your body is not responding as needed to insulin. Many chronic health conditions can begin with insulin resistance.
Experiencing poor sleep can also interrupt the proper functioning of the hormones that control your hunger. Ghrelin is the hormone that signals when you are hungry, and Leptin is the hormone telling you when you are full. When you are sleep deprived or have disruptive sleep, these hormones can get out of balance indicating hunger erroneously.
The stress hormone cortisol can also become out of whack as a result of poor-quality sleep causing your body to store fat and make it difficult to wind down at the end of a day to properly prepare for sleep. wired’ feeling many of us experience,” says DeSimone. Increased cortisol levels also prompt your body to prioritize fat storage and burn muscle tissue, ultimately leading to weight gain, she says.
Medications
Our bodies have a natural balance, with all organs and systems operating in sync like a beautiful orchestra. Everything we put in our body has the potential to disrupt this synchronization wreaking havoc on our hormones and body functions. Medications, although typically prescribed for a particular ailment, such as migraines, can often cause an imbalance in hormones accompanied by other symptoms.
While medication is necessary at certain times, it’s important to remember that everything we consume can impact our hormonal balance and body function. You are what you eat or consume.
Stress
Stress can sometimes be beneficial in our daily life. For instance, being under a deadline with limited time to complete a task at work can push us to keep going. However, too much stress or chronic stress can impact our natural hormonal balance. If our bodies are chronically stressed, without proper time to relax and recover, cortisol levels can increase causing an imbalance in hormones. Again, it can be a chain reaction effect.
Caffeine and alcohol
Caffeine has a few health benefits that should not go without mentioning. It can boost your energy level, increase metabolism, improve exercise performance, and some research shows that it can potentially improve heart health for women.
While the benefits may entice you to reach for a coffee, tea, or soda when you are feeling sluggish, it’s important to use caffeine in moderation. The stimulation from the caffeine can cause an increase in cortisol and disrupt the natural hormonal balance in your body. For people that suffer from anxiety or are already experiencing a thyroid imbalance, caffeine is especially detrimental to hormone balance.
Alcohol, while categorized as a sedative, can often disrupt sleep leading to an increase in cortisol and hormonal imbalance. Alcohol also can impact the functioning of your liver, which regulates most chemical levels in the blood and excretes waste products from the liver.
Sugar
It’s helpful to remember to think of sugar in two distinct categories: naturally occurring and added. Naturally occurring sugar can be found in fruits, vegetables, grain, and dairy. Sugar found in whole foods is okay. It’s the “added” sugar that really can cause a problem with hormones.
Whole foods with naturally occurring sugar can also include fiber, essential minerals, antioxidants, protein, and calcium. The body digests these foods slowly helping to maintain a consistent insulin level. Unfortunately, many food manufacturers add sugar to their products to enhance their taste and increase their shelf life. This added sugar can be found in all sorts of products such as condiments, soups, bread, fruit drinks, soda, pastries, and cereals. As a result, we can often consume far more sugar than we realize causing our liver to work extra hard to process. The excess sugar can increase insulin levels and blood pressure as well as cause chronic inflammation in the body.
Endocrine disruptors
Endocrine disruptors are environmental toxins/chemicals that alter the normal function of hormones. These toxins/chemicals have been linked with developmental, reproductive, brain, immune, and other problems.
One of the biggest endocrine disruptors is synthetic or natural chemical compounds that imitate estrogen, called xenoestrogens. Both males and females produce the estrogen hormone naturally. However, exposure to products with xenoestrogens can increase the amount of estrogen in the body, far exceeding what it needs to function optimally and create estrogen dominance.
Products that may include xenoestrogens include the following:
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- Weedkiller
- Skincare
- Sunscreen lotions
- Food preservatives
- Plastic bottles
- Food dyes
- Insecticide
- Oral contraceptive pill
- Detergents
- Lubricants, adhesives, and paints
Helpful Tips
Hormonal balance is essential to the optimal functioning of the body’s organs and systems. While many things we do each day can disrupt the body’s natural hormonal balance, it is within our control to minimize or eliminate many of the causes of these disruptions.
If I could give younger women one piece of advice, it would be to listen to their gut instinct. If you feel something is not right with your health, and your doctor is dismissing your symptoms or you feel they are not truly listening, find another doctor. Women in their 20s and 30s should educate themselves on hormones, understanding each and what their purpose/function is in the body. Gain a better understanding of vitamins and minerals necessary for optimal hormonal health. Having this knowledge early in life can help quickly identify issues in the future.
Learning to be mindful of the products we consume and are exposed to is a first step. Often, we do things out of habit without thinking about what we are doing. We get stuck in our routines. Begin to read the labels of food products and personal care items and take note of your stress levels during the day and your activity level. Once you are more aware of what you are actually consuming, and your activity, you can begin to slowly make small incremental changes to your routines helping you live a more balanced and healthier lifestyle.
Source:
Organic Excellence (2013, October 14). Xenoestrogens and How to Minimize Your Exposure. Retrieved January 17, 2023.
Medical Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only. It is not intended to replace the advice of a licensed medical doctor.