We all know how hormones play such an integral part in our daily lives. They regulate everything from a person’s blood pressure to how well they sleep at night. Hormones affect how we feel, our appetite, metabolism, fertility, reproduction, and even the regulation of pain. These chemical messengers are produced throughout the body. Through their communication with our organs and with one another, they help maintain a balance designed to keep us happy and healthy. The delicate balance of hormones can be disrupted in both men and women of any age, though it is most commonly seen in adults beyond middle age.
How do you know you might be out of balance? Some common symptoms include anxiety, insomnia, loss of appetite, and poor concentration. This may be familiar to a lot of you – irritability and mood swings. Our emotional health is so tied in to our hormones that once that balance is disrupted, we find ourselves unhappy, disgruntled, frustrated, and angry all the time, which in turn creates relationship problems. Some physical indicators of possible hormonal imbalance include sudden weight gain, acne, hair loss, night sweats, and reduced libido. Women may experience intense premenstrual symptoms, vaginal dryness, yeast infections, and hot flashes. Some women also suffer from unusually heavy, irregular, or painful periods. Others can even suffer from infertility as a result of hormonal imbalance. As for men, hormone imbalance for you brings on symptoms of anxiety, fatigue, weakness, depression, sexual dysfunction and irritation.
Common causes of hormonal imbalance
- Stress is a major culprit! Stress raises the levels of cortisol (the main stress hormone) in the body, which in turn makes the body produce excess amounts of other hormones to cancel out the cortisol. This is a common cause of the memory issues associated with hormonal imbalance.
- Diet is another cause of hormonal imbalance. Eating too much of the wrong foods can affect the way your body produces hormones. Animals slaughtered for our food chain are fed estrogenic steroids to fatten them up. These estrogens go directly into our blood stream causing a further rise in estrogen levels.
- The birth control pill is another reason why our hormones are out of whack. Composed mainly of synthetic estrogen, progestins and progestogens, these synthetic, manmade compounds have an altered chemical structure that is not recognized fully by our bodies. These compounds are often confused with progesterone. They are nowhere near the same! These progestins and progestogens are highly toxic to the body, resulting in some known side effects: miscarriages, migraines, heart disease, high blood pressure, cancer, and depression not to mention low progesterone levels. In addition, HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy) for menopausal women can throw hormonal balance off. There are women still taking estrogen alone for their menopausal symptoms; unopposed estrogen therapy without progesterone leads to estrogen dominance, which in turn leads to increased risks of heart disease and breast cancer.
- Environmental poisons contribute significantly to hormone imbalance. Chemicals like pesticides mimic the hormone estrogen. Fifty-one chemicals have now been identified as hormone disruptors. Approximately two billion tons of pesticides are used all over the world annually. In underdeveloped countries the use of pesticides is still largely unchecked. Where do you think we get most of our food supplies from? Other chemicals that wreak havoc are DDT, dioxin, and PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls). Dioxin is the by-product of the manufacture of chemicals using chlorine and includes disinfectants, dry cleaning fluids, pesticides, drugs, and plastics (polystyrene and clingwrap in particular). PCBs are used in lubricants, plastics, paints, varnishes, and inks. These petrochemicals contain high levels of xeno-estrogens (they mimic estrogen in the body). They fill up all the estrogen receptor sites in your body which means even the good estrogen can’t get through to perform its role properly causing hormone imbalance!
- Bad habits can do you in hormonally as well. Men who consistently smoke and drink alcohol run the risk of having lowered testosterone levels. Nicotine found in cigarettes releases enzymes that deactivate testosterone and other hormones. When alcohol is consumed in large quantities, estrogen levels become elevated while testosterone levels are lowered.
If you or someone you know suspect hormonal imbalance, please get tested. It could mean the survival of the family unit. Saliva testing is a convenient, non-invasive, and accurate way to test for a true picture of bioavailable levels of your hormones. A blood test is like a snapshot in time and only shows what the levels happen to be at the exact time of testing. Many factors such as stress, diet, time of month, time of day, and lifestyle choices can affect the constantly fluctuating hormone levels. For more information on saliva testing and hormone imbalance talk to your doctor or pharmacist specializing in BHRT (Bio-identical Hormone Replacement Therapy). Don’t let hormone imbalance control your life. Find out what your levels are and get help today!
