Female Hormones part 2

Why are your hormones out of balance?

Today more than ever many women are seeking medical help to get relief for issues to do with their hormones. Women have to live, they have to work and they have to take care of their families but hormones can really get in their way and turn a pleasant woman into a drama queen who is always edgy.

Migraines, hot flashes, weight gain, poor memory and being irritable are not things that make any woman happy thus many of them are desperate to get a quick solution to solve the issue.

When it comes to dealing with hormonal imbalance, many women have been made to believe that the best way of dealing with the issue is closing down all the functions of the ovary but actually this could only be dealing with the symptoms and not the root cause. There is something deeper.

Hormones can really go out of control/ PHOTO/handheldhumanrights.org/

The possible causes of hormonal imbalance

When a hormone leaves a gland, it does so to send a message to the rest of the body. Now you do know that at times a messenger may not deliver the correct message and a breakdown in the communication might occur.

Well if the gland responsible for releasing a certain hormone does not produce the hormone in its right levels then the hormone will not send the correct message.

At times there is one hormone that is produced in very large quantities and when it reaches the body cells then there are the unintended effects that occur.

Hormonal imbalance does not just happen from the blue. There are several factors that can cause it for instance poor eating habits, physical activities, not having enough sleep or being exposed to toxic substances. The situation can also be as a result of being overweight, use of pills or using non organic products.

Now that I have mentioned food, the saying you are what you eat really makes sense here and that is why I want us to look at the foods that could be causing you to go all gaga. What am trying to say is that as humans we do a lot of eating thus food is the main culprit in hormonal imbalance.

Foods that can trigger hormonal imbalance

 Processed foods

Processed foods are basically foods made in in the factory and therefore they do contain chemicals that could bring about cell damage in the body. The chemicals in these foods have already been linked to hormonal changes in the body. They come in form of artificial sweeteners, flavor enhancers, additives and synthetic hormones.  The foods taste better with the chemicals and they also trick the brain into wanting more of that food.

Do yourself a favor darling and avoid all processed foods. You already have enough chemicals in your body so why cause a chemical warfare?

The Dirty Dozen list

There are foods that even though grown in healthy fertile soils, have been exposed to high levels of pesticides. How do you know which produce to avoid? You can have a look at the dirty dozen lists where a list of such produce have been put down by environmental bodies.

Too much exposure to chemicals could result in very many negative things, hormonal imbalance included.

High amounts of Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fat

The body makes good use of polyunsaturated fat but the quantity taken in should be watched. For cells to be rebuilt, the ration of Omega 3 to Omega 6 is supposed to be 1:1.

There are some oils such as soybean and cotton cooking oil that have high concentration of Omega 6 as compared to Omega 3. If the 1:1 ration is interfered with then hormonal imbalance can occur.

It is therefore important to work with cooking oils with a healthier ratio for instance coconut oil and avocado oil. You can take chia seeds for a healthier supply of Omega 3.

Sugar

Every time you consume lots of sugar, your body produces insulin, adrenaline and cortisol so as to bring back the sugar levels to normal. Sugar also affects hormonal functions since when taken in large amounts it affects how the body absorbs and utilizes vitamins and minerals which hormones use in their bodily functions.

If you consume food that has high levels of sugar for a long time, then your body eventually develops resistance to insulin. This means that your body cells will no longer be able to get blood sugar needed for energy.

Caffeine drinks

There are conflicting reports on whether caffeine is good for the body or not. But research has shown that only minimal amounts are good since they give our brains a boost but too much of it can interfere raise the levels of cortisol, lower thyroid hormone amounts and work the adrenal glands to death.

Too much caffeine causes acute stress on the endocrine system. If you add your everyday stresses on top of that and you have a disaster in your hands. I am not saying that you should not take your favorite cup of coffee but you should minimize the amount you take.

Alcohol

The brain controls all the functions of the body including those of the endocrine system. When you take alcohol, you are impairing the way your brain works; it also interferes with how the body responds to too much glucose in the blood. Alcohol will also increase cortisol levels in the body and negating the production of growth hormones.

Hormones also interact with each other and when they do, we can accidently handle them the wrong way. For instance if you are stressed the cortisol hormone is produced from the adrenal gland which might give you sleeping problems. If the stress continues then the cortisol stays longer and makes you have lots of fat in your belly.

When you have lots of belly fat or stubborn weight that just won’t go then the thyroid hormone is responsible. High levels of fat simply mean that the hormone is not quite active.

Research also shows that due to industrialization in our societies, a lot of chemical substances are being released into our environment and they might also result into hormone like effects since they interfere with the processes in our bodies which are usually conducted by our hormones.