Healthy Living; Balancing Hormones

What Is a Hormonal Imbalance?

Hormones are chemicals in your body that are produced by the endocrine glands. Hormones move through your bloodstream to reach the organs and tissues in your body, and regulate functions like:

1. Appetite and metabolism
2. Sleep cycles
3. Heart rate
4. Sexual and reproductive functions
5. Overall growth and development
6. Mood and stress levels
7. Body temperature

A hormonal imbalance occurs when your body produces too much or too little of the important hormones in your bloodstream. Although an occasional irregularity is not harmful, a major imbalance can have severe consequences on your health.

For women in their 40s or 50s, that’s likely a sign their body is transitioning to menopause.

It’s common for those entering this natural stage of life to gain weight and belly fat (sometimes called “menopause belly”) and experience other bothersome symptoms — sleep-interrupting night sweats, hot flashes, vaginal dryness that causes pain during sex, urinary tract infections, irregular periods, depression, thinning hair, mood swings, weight gain and more.

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Are you getting enough sleep?

It may be that you aren’t getting enough oxygen in your sleep space. Studies show that when you open up your windows or get more plants in your room, you can improve your sleep and increase growth hormone levels.

How’s your Gut Biome?

Maintaining a healthy gut microbiome is essential for overall well-being and involves adopting lifestyle habits that support the diversity and balance of beneficial bacteria in your digestive tract. We covered a lot about gut health in our Perfect Poo episode.

https://atomic-temporary-176290586.wpcomstaging.com/2024/01/26/healthy-living-perfect-poo

Digestive enzymes play a key role in breaking down the food you eat. These proteins speed up chemical reactions that turn nutrients into substances that your digestive tract can absorb.

In an ideal world, we would eat enough raw, unprocessed food to supply ample enzymes in addition to those that naturally occur in our bodies. The reality is, our bodies only produce so many enzymes, which also need time to replenish in between meals.

Our article on digestive enzymes delved deeper into the enzymes that support your digestion and your gut microbiome as a whole.

https://atomic-temporary-176290586.wpcomstaging.com/2022/08/12/healthy-living-digestive-enzymes

Best Habits for a Happy Gut

• Eat more plants
• Eat a wide variety of foods
• Eat fermented foods
• Find healthy ways to lower stress
• Commit to regular aerobic exercise
• Log plenty of sleep
• Hydrate all day long
• Don’t take antibiotics unless you really need to

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Take Care of Your Liver

Your liver is one of the largest organs in your body and its primary function is to filter the system by converting toxins to waste products, cleansing your blood and process various nutrients. While a healthy lifestyle without any over indulgences is the key to a healthy liver, certain foods can help cleanse your liver. A list.

1. Leafy greens
2. Cruciferous Vegetables (broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower)
3. Fatty fish (Omega-3 fatty acids)
4. Infusions (coffee, green tea, rosemary)
5. Garlic (full of antibacterial agents and selenuim)
6. Nuts
7. Spices (Turmeric w/curcumin is a favorite as well as ginger)
8. Olive Oil
9. Fruits & berries (especially grapefruit, apples, avocados and all citrus fruits)
10. Alternative grains (oatmeal, brown rice, millet and barley)

These foods help cleanse the liver. However, the key to any diet is to eat with moderation and follow a strict and systematic exercise schedule.

Signs of ill liver:

• Digestive issues: Bloating, indigestion, and constipation.
• Fatigue and weakness: Feeling tired and lethargic.
• Jaundice: Yellowing of the skin and eyes.
• Weight gain: Difficulty in managing weight.
• Skin problems: Acne, eczema, and rashes.
• Hormonal imbalances: Irregular menstrual cycles and mood swings.
• Elevated cholesterol levels: Increased risk of heart disease.
  •Nutrient deficiencies: Poor absorption of vitamins and minerals.
  •Weak immune system: Increased susceptibility to infections.
• Cognitive problems: Poor concentration and memory issues.

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Avoid High Estrogen foods

High estrogen foods can be really harmful to your health by destroying your hormone balance. A lot of these foods with too much estrogen today can lead to health issues like hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease, chronic fatigue, and ovarian cancer. So, eliminate the following foods from your diet, and add more fruits and vegetables to naturally decrease estrogen in your body. Foods to avoid:

1. Soy
2. Sugar
3. Conventional meat
4. Conventional dairy
5. BPA plastic and Teflon Pans

We discussed the detriment of plastics in our Becoming Ken and Barbie episode.

https://atomic-temporary-176290586.wpcomstaging.com/2023/11/03/becoming-barbie-and-ken

If you want to start detoxing your body of estrogen, consume more cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens, and brussels sprouts. Milk thistle and dandelion supplements are great to support your body in the detox from estrogen, as well.

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Hormone imbalance in men

Testosterone is considered the primary male hormone, along with other hormones like cortisol, insulin, and thyroid hormones. Imbalance in any of these hormones may result in any of the 4 main types of hormonal imbalance in men.

1. Andropause: Low testosterone levels can cause andropause, which is popularly known as ‘male menopause’.
2. Adrenal fatigue: Low levels of cortisol, your stress hormone, can cause adrenal fatigue, often resulting from long exposures to stress.
3. Hypothyroidism: Underactive thyroid gland leading to low production of thyroid hormones, can cause hypothyroidism.
4. Hyperthyroidism: An overactive thyroid gland can increase your metabolism and produce high levels of thyroid hormone.

After the age of 30, many men’s testosterone levels start to drop. If this drop continues for too long, a man can find himself tired all the time, losing muscle mass, and losing interest in things he once loved. This unfortunate condition can be greatly improved for free by following these 7 natural ways to raise testosterone levels. You don’t have to spend lots of time or money to raise your T level by several hundred points.

• Eat enough good animal fats (cholestrol is the main building block of testosterone)
• Reduce the amount of sugar, starch and simple carbohydrates (higher insulin leads to lower testosterone)
• Decrease the stress in your life (not good motivational stress, but chronic bad stress. Higher cortisol leads to lower testosterone)
• High Intensity Interval Training (increases testosterone and human growth hormone levels)
• Take supplements
  • Zinc
  • Magnesium
  • Vitamin D
• Intermittent fasting (increases testosterone and human growth hormone levels) 18-24 hr fasting is called the Warrior Diet
• Loose some weight if you are overweight
• Remove all xenoestrogens from your diet (plastics, teflon, etc) Use glass, ceramic or stainless steel.

For more on Intermittent fasting, check out our episode on fasting.

https://atomic-temporary-176290586.wpcomstaging.com/2023/10/20/healthy-living-benefits-of-fasting

Low testosterone is not only an energy and motivation problem, it can also be a medical problem. More research is showing an elevation in the risk of heart disease in men with low T. Don’t fall victim to low T when you can fix it with these tips.