Spotlight on Hormone Imbalances

Ladies, this blog post is for you! Hormonal imbalances are one of the most common health struggles that we hear about. With so many of us having spent years on synthetic hormones and consuming dairy products, it’s small wonder that this is an issue for many.
In this blog post we’ll cover the major hormones and what they are responsible for, then we’ll look at the causal factors behind hormonal imbalances. After that, we’ll discuss the symptoms of an imbalance and then detail some proactive steps you can take to improve your hormonal health.

What Do Hormones Do?

Hormones are responsible for most of the body’s daily functions like hunger and sleep as well as larger life processes like puberty and menopause. Hormones are produced and controlled by the endocrine glands. Here is a brief overview of some of the most ‘important’ hormones and what they do.

• Cortisol is produced in the adrenal glands, and is largely responsible for the body’s stress response.
• In women, estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are produced in the ovaries. These are the sex hormones that control fertility, menstruation and breast health.
• Leptin is produced in the body’s fat cells and influences your body’s weight by regulating fat storage and sending the brain (specifically the hypothalamus), the signal that satiety has been reached.
• Melatonin is produced in the pineal gland and serotonin is produced in the GI tract, these hormones help to regulate the body’s sleep cycle.
• Thyroxine is produced in the thyroid and helps to control your metabolism.
• Insulin is produced in the pancreas and its main role is to allow the body’s cells to take in glucose and convert it to energy.

What Causes A Hormonal Imbalance?

Our hormones naturally fluctuate, especially during puberty and menopause. However, toxins and an unhealthy diet often leads to a chronic imbalance of the body’s natural chemistry. A number of factors contribute to our hormonal health, diet and exercise are especially significant, as are sleep and stress. An under-active thyroid can also contribute by not producing enough thyroxine.

Diet of course, plays a huge role in your hormonal health. Dairy products and soy are particularly impactful. This is because dairy naturally contains over 60 different hormones, which nature intended for a calf, not for the human body.
Soy can also exacerbate a hormone imbalance because of its high phyto-estrogen content. The issue is that plant estrogen (phyto-estrogen) can block our estrogen receptors, and since they are many times weaker than our human estrogen, this can worsen an imbalance. One of the best things you can add to your diet for hormonal health is berries. By eating plenty of berries, you will support the glands of your endocrine system, which is where many hormones are made.

How you exercise also impacts your hormonal health, because exercise triggers the generation and release of different hormones in response to your physical activity. You can read about the impact exercise has on your hormones in this article. I won’t go through it here because it is not directly related to the purpose of this post, but I still wanted to mention it, as it is quite interesting.

Long periods of stress is toxic to hormonal health. This is because of how it impacts your adrenal glands, as they produce the hormone cortisol, which is deeply connected to the body’s stress response.

Obviously, the contraceptive pill has a significant impact on your hormonal health because it contains man-made estrogen and progestin that inhibit your body’s natural cycle. These synthetic hormones seriously affect your health and can lead to depression, anxiety, increased risk of breast cancer, gut issues, which can lead to nutritional deficiencies and lowered immunity. Many women have been taking birth control for years and found that repairing the damage done from that can be very difficult. If you would like assistance in this, you can book a consultation from one of our qualified practitioners.

What Are The Symptoms of a Hormonal Imbalance?

Even a small imbalance can have a significant impact on your overall health and well being. Here are some of the most common signs and symptoms:

• Trouble sleeping
• Excess or little sweating
• Mood swings, anxiety and depression
• Chronic acne
• Memory issues and brain fog
• Belly fat and difficulty in losing weight
• Fatigue
• Hot flushes

How Can I Re-balance My Hormones?

It’s unlikely that your hormones will balance out quickly, but you absolutely can achieve it over time with a consistent healthy lifestyle with plenty of sleep, adequate exercise, stress management and a healthy diet focused on wholefoods (don’t forget to eat plenty of berries!). We thoroughly recommend using Dr Morse’s herbal formulas to support your body’s natural functions. True healing comes from systemic healing, so in order to achieve optimal hormonal health you also need to heal your gut and get your lymphatic system moving.

If you are looking to heal your hormonal imbalance, we recommend focusing on these four formulas.

• The Female Reproductive Tonic, which has pituitary balancing herbs and is specifically designed to bring hormones and steroids into balance.
• The Endocrine Balance Tonic, this is a great overall regenerating formula for the endocrine system.
• Our Licorice Root Extract is a very healing, restorative tonic. It helps to balance hormones and supports the adrenal glands.
• Our Wild Ocean Kelp Capsules, is a great choice due to its high iodine content, which helps to regulate the thyroid hormones.

In summary, achieving optimal health means achieving a state of balance. By investing some time and money in balancing out your hormones, you can go a very long way to achieving great health and wellness.