What role does hormonal health play in a woman’s overall health and well-being?
Hormonal health plays a huge role in a woman’s life. We are not biochemical creatures like humans. Due to hormonal fluctuations, we are not even the same creatures every day. We are hormonally different every day.
For men, testosterone is secreted every 15 minutes over a 24-hour period, which is the same every day. For a woman, her three main sex hormones – estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone – rise and fall each month. These change daily and affect your mood, stress tolerance, metabolism, insulin sensitivity, productivity…the list goes on. .
Let’s take estrogen as an example. Estrogen comes in three forms, and estradiol is the primary and most potent form of estrogen that enters a woman’s body from the day she gets her first period. There are receptor sites for estradiol in all major organs of the body, including the skin, bones, teeth, hair, kidneys, heart, lungs, and brain. Estradiol is responsible for activating all these processes in the body. When estrogen starts to decline during perimenopause, this hormone that was helping every system in your body is suddenly gone, and every system can start to suffer. This is why supporting the natural production of hormones as much as possible through nutrition and lifestyle is so important to our overall health and well-being.
How do I know if my hormones are out of balance? Does this vary by age and life stage?
Surprisingly, almost 80% of women will suffer from hormonal imbalances at some point in their lives. This means that the delicate balance of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone in the menstrual cycle is disrupted. When the hormone balance is disrupted, the following symptoms appear:
- PMS or PMDD
- weight gain
- mood swings
- irritation
- strong craving
- very painful menstrual pain
- Irregular menstruation
- hormonal acne
- anxiety
- overwhelm
- Bloating or other intestinal problems
- energy crash
- Malaise
When a woman enters perimenopause (starting at age 35, but often in her 40s), sex hormones begin to decline over a period of about 10 years. Therefore, due to the decrease in these hormones, perimenopausal symptoms begin to appear. Symptoms of perimenopause include all of the above, plus:
- dry skin
- itchy skin
- hair removal
- Weight gain, especially belly fat
- forgetfulness
- can not sleep
- Hot flashes and night sweats
- mood changes
- anxiety and depression
- muscle aches and pains
- frozen shoulder
- intestinal problems
