Irregular Reproductive Cycles & Sexual Dysfunction
If you are wondering what are the signs of hormonal imbalance, then this is it. One of the most well-known signs of a hormonal imbalance is sexual dysfunction.
This may include:
- Inability to become aroused
At the same time, irregular menstruation in women is also a major indicator that a hormonal imbalance is present.
These dysfunctions and irregularities are caused by wavering levels of sex hormones. As men and women age, it is normal to see a drop off in testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone. This commonly leads to menopause for women and andropause for men.
When seen in younger men and women, sex hormone imbalances are sometimes traced back to genetics, diseases , and high levels of stress.
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Can Acanthosis Nigricans Be Prevented
If obesity is causing AN, you can help prevent the condition through weight management. A diet that helps you keep your blood sugar levels in check can also help prevent AN.
Other preventive steps include:
- Managing medical conditions related to AN, such as thyroid problems and diabetes.
- Avoiding medications, such as birth control pills, that can cause or worsen AN.
Impressive Herbs That Help Balance Your Hormones
Herbs are a group of plants whose leaves, flowers, roots, and seeds are used for various purposes.
If you love to cook, you may be most familiar with using herbs as cooking ingredients. Interestingly, humans have also used them for healthcare, spiritual rituals, and more for thousands of years .
Traditionally, some herbs have even been used to balance hormone levels. Although rigorous research on the topic is limited, some evidence suggests that certain herbs could influence hormone levels in your body, as well as other related functions of the endocrine system.
Still, it can be hard to separate fact from fiction when it comes to using herbs for medical or health reasons.
Thats why weve sifted through the science and put together this list of 5 herbs, all of which have evidence to support some of their hormone-balancing claims.
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Beware Of Medications And Birth Control
Are you aware of your medications side effects? Some can disrupt your hormone balance, leading to side effects like fatigue, appetite changes, altered sleeping patterns, low libido, sadness and even depression.
Some medications that can mess with your hormone balance include corticosteroids, stimulants, statins, dopamine agonists, rexinoids and glucocorticoids. Beware of your medications, talk to your doctor about the side effects and research natural alternatives whenever possible.
Birth control is another medication that alters hormone levels. The pill is a type of hormone therapy that raises estrogen levels to levels that can cause many complications.
Studies show that the health risks of taking them, especially long term, may include issues like:
- Breakthrough bleeding between cycles
- Increased risk of uterine bleeding, blood clotting, heart attack and stroke
- Breast tenderness
Salmon And Albacore Tuna
Fat and cholesterol are the building blocks of hormones. You need enough cholesterol to make sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone. The key is to choose fats high in omega-3s and to limit saturated fats . Salmon, canned albacore tuna, walnuts, flaxseed, olive oil, avocados and chia seeds are high in omega-3 fatty acids.
“Salmon also stabilizes your hunger hormones and is high in vitamin D, which helps regulate female testosterone levels,” says Carrie Gabriel M.S., RDN, a dietitian and owner of Steps2Nutrition. “The good fats in fish improve overall hormonal communication. The endocrine system uses hormones to communicate with the brain, which in turn boosts our mood and gives us better cognitive skills.”
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Unfortunately The 24/7 World You Live In Makes It Harder And Harder To Keep Your Hormones Balanced So Its Become Almost Normal For Women To Experience Any Number Of The Following Symptoms
Acne Premenstrual moodiness, irritability, anger, teariness Period pain Miscarriages Infertility
And the solutions conventional medicine has for hormone imbalance problems are really not what youd call solutions at all. Their solutions are the oral contraceptive pill , implant or Mirena IUD.
And despite what they tell you these options dont actually rebalance your hormones. These options might relieve your symptoms but they dont fix the hormonal imbalance. Once you stop the treatment your symptoms will return and possibly worse than before.
Youre Tired All The Time
Relying on caffeine to get you through your morning? And often during the afternoon, too? Of course, things like stress, and a demanding lifestyle influence energy levels, but fatigue that never lifts can be a big sign of hormonal imbalance. Ongoing fatigue may be a sign that youre not making enough thyroid hormone, or that your thyroid gland isnt responding to signals to produce sufficient amounts. Other symptoms of a low thyroid include weight gain, hair loss, and cold hands & feet.
Nearly 12% of people will develop a thyroid condition in their lifetime, but up to 60% of people are totally unaware they have a problem. An underactive thyroid Women are also 5 to 8 times more likely to develop a thyroid condition than men .
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The Quickest Ways To Balance Your Hormones Fast
To regain balanced hormone levels, youll want to start with the two most important pillars: nutrition and lifestyle.
First, youll want to begin by tracking your cycle, and evaluating the feedback your body provides. Then, you can begin eating and making lifestyle changes in a way that better aligns with your hormones.
Factors That Influence Your Hormone Levels
Stress, in particular, is a big health disrupter. Increased amounts of the stress hormone cortisol can raise your blood pressure and blood sugar. Problems with sleep, difficult PMS symptoms, frequent digestive upsets, and even headaches can also hint at a problem with your hormones.
After all, the human body is a big interconnected system. The thyroid, which secretes various hormones in its regulation of many vital body functions, works with the reproductive organs, which work with the brain and digestive organs to keep you humming along.
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Why Avocados Are A Great Option For Getting Magnesium And Balanced Hormones
Avocados are also beneficial for your hormones. Not only do they give you magnesium, but these natural supplements are full of B vitamins, vitamin K, and potassium.
Whats more, if youre trying to fight the weight gain that often accompanies hormonal fluctuations, avocados are proven to help you feel full, as a study published in Nutrition Journal shows.
What Is An Endocrine System
The endocrine system coordinates the interactions between different organs and hormones. Hormones are produced by various endocrine glands and organs. These may be your thyroid, adrenals, pituitary, ovaries, and pancreas.
When one or more imbalances are found it can cause widespread health conditions. These can affect your metabolic health, your growth hormone, sex hormones, your natural circadian rhythm, body temperature and how many menopausal symptoms you suffer from.
The body has two groups of hormones. Hormones and adrenaline. These send messages to the brain. Hormone receptors process them and signal body what to do in response.
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Hormones And Your Health
Hormones are chemical messengers that help your cells communicate and trigger various actions. Theyre the bedrock of your bodys endocrine system, which regulates growth, reproduction, metabolism, temperature, and even your mood.
Hormones and the endocrine system keep your body in a balanced state of homeostasis. Therefore, having a hormonal imbalance too little or too much of a certain hormone can have harmful side effects.
Oxidative stress, infertility, and endocrine disorders like thyroid disease are just a few conditions that can result from hormonal imbalances (
13 ).
Whats more, Nigella sativa extract exhibits estrogenic activity, meaning it acts similarly to the hormone estrogen in your body .
In fact, some studies in rats are exploring whether nigella seed extracts could be an alternative to hormone replacement therapy during menopause, a time when the body typically produces less estrogen than it used to .
Concentrated Nigella sativa supplements are becoming increasingly popular and sometimes marketed as black seed or black cumin seed. Whole nigella seeds have an herby aroma and are easy to add to bread, salads, and other dishes .
Still, keep in mind that most studies on nigella seeds and hormones were conducted in animals and used concentrated extracts or isolated thymoquinone. Thus, while using whole seeds in cooking can be healthy and delicious, it may not confer the same benefits.
Use Gelatin To Improve Hormone Balance
Gelatin and collagen hydrolysate, available here, contain a unique profile of healthful amino acids that help balance hormones by complimenting the amino acids we obtain from meat. Ive discussed the health benefits of gelatin in-depth here, but heres a quick overview.
Dr. Ray Peat, a hormonal researcher in the field of nutrition and metabolism, describes why muscle meats when consumed without gelatin throw the metabolism out of balance:
When only the muscle meats are eaten, the amino acid balance entering our blood stream is the same as that produced by extreme stress, when cortisol excess causes our muscles to be broken down to provide energy and material for repair. The formation of serotonin is increased by the excess tryptophan in muscle, and serotonin stimulates the formation of more cortisol, while the tryptophan itself, along with the excess muscle-derived cysteine, suppresses the thyroid function.
If a person eats a large serving of meat, its probably helpful to have 5 or 10 grams of gelatin at approximately the same time, so that the amino acids enter the blood stream in balance.
By helping to balance the tryptophan, gelatin supports healthy thyroid function and adequate thyroid hormones. Thyroid hormones work synergistically with all other hormones in the body by supporting our thyroid, we support balanced hormones in general.
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The Naturopaths Approach To Balancing Female Hormones
The endocrine system consists of glands that produce hormones. Hormones are chemical messengers that send instructions to the various organ systems in order to regulate vital bodily functions. A high stress lifestyle combined with poor eating habits can wreak havoc on a womens delicately balanced hormonal function. Even healthy women with a good diet can end up with hormones unbalanced.
Symptoms of hormonal imbalance may include PMS, uterine fibroids, osteoporosis, reduced sex drive, allergies,weight gain, changes in the skin, fatigue, water retention, hair loss, facial hair growth and sometimes anxiety and depression.
A naturopath takes time to review a patients medical history in detail and tailor a herbal mix and provide dietary and lifestyle advice specific to the patient. Below are some suggested tips and a selection of herbs for treating hormonal imbalances.
Whats The Best Way To Start A New Exercise Routine
If youâre experiencing hormonal imbalance, it may be extra hard to get motivated. Hormone issues can zap your energy and make working out feel like a chore and this can lead to a frustrating cycle of weight gain and energy loss. Conditions that involve hormonal imbalance are also often linked to inflammation, which can make working out even harder. In this case, its important to find ways to make exercise fit into your life as smoothly and with as little difficultly as possible.
Physical Activity and Insulin Sensitivity:
Effects of 8-week Pilates exercise program on menopausal symptoms and lumbar strength and flexibility in postmenopausal women:
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What Causes Hormonal Imbalance
Just as there are many types of hormones with many functions, a hormonal imbalance has many causes. Certain medications, stress, mental disorders, injuries, or even tumors can lead to hormonal imbalance. Unfortunately, because the body depends on a precise balance of hormones to function properly, certain hormonal imbalance conditions, like diabetes and hyperthyroidism, can throw off the balance of other hormones as well.
How To Include Turmeric In Your Diet To Support Hormone Balance:
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Start with 1tsp per day added into smoothies, curries, turmeric lattes, warm drinks, stir-fries
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Try sprinkling it over eggs or toast
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Try my Warming Golden Milk Recipe: download my 7 Day Hormone Reset Program to gain access to this recipe
So there you have it, you have taken amazing steps in 7 days that will have you on the road to achieving balanced hormones naturally. Adding these habits into our daily routine can have such positive affects on our overall hormonal health and balance our hormones. Remember, if our hormones are balanced the way they are meant to be, you can avoid asking yourself the questions such as Is this normal to be in this much pain during my period? Why am I so irritable? Why am I constantly breaking out?.
Most importantly, now you should be able to answer the question: How can I reset my hormones in just 7 days?
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Hormone Harmony: What Harms What Heals
The most notorious hormone wreckers are sugar and sugar substitutes, refined carbohydrates, trans fats, caffeine, pesticide-laden foods, alcohol, dehydration, lack of sleep, stress, emotional upsets, chemicals in commercial personal care products, and lack of exercise. In addition to compromising your hormonal health, these saboteurs can also accelerate the aging process.
A hormone-harmonizing program includes organically grown whole foods healthful fats filtered water regular meals seven to eight hours of sleep relaxation staying hydrated and regular exercise.
Hormones also act as sensitive barometers underlying physiological symptoms. For instance, a toxic liver, overworked adrenal glands, or a yeast infection can quickly throw hormones out of whack.
Try Stress Reduction Techniques
Stress harms your hormones in several ways.
The hormone cortisol is known as the stress hormone because it helps your body cope with long-term stress.
Your bodys response to stress activates a cascade of events that leads to cortisol production. Once the stressor has passed, the response ends. However, chronic stress impairs the feedback mechanisms that return your hormonal systems to normal .
Therefore, chronic stress causes cortisol levels to remain elevated, which stimulates appetite and increases your intake of sugary and high fat foods. In turn, this may lead to excessive calorie intake and obesity (
50 ).
In a review of 21 studies in 2,250 people, those assigned to a short sleep group showed higher ghrelin levels than those who got the recommended amount of sleep .
Plus, your brain needs uninterrupted sleep to go through all five stages of each sleep cycle. This is especially important for the release of growth hormone, which occurs mainly at night during deep sleep .
To maintain optimal hormonal balance, aim for at least 7 hours of high quality sleep per night.
Summary
Poor sleep has been shown to decrease fullness hormones, increase hunger and stress hormones, and increase insulin resistance.
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Avoid Falling For Sugar Cravings
That donut may look like it has your name on it, but the research shows that insulin resistance â a common side effect of diets high in sugar- is directly related to hot flashes and other menopause symptoms.
Our Tip: Find a low-sugar alternative to satisfy your sweet tooth, like fresh strawberries or bananas.
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Double Down On Smoothies
If you do nothing else from this list, at least do this one things: drink 2 smoothies a day. One with your usual breakfast and the other as your afternoon snack . No need to make any other changes to your diet.
So, why two smoothies?
Well, back in the summer of 2019 I ran several 5-day smoothie challenges with women of various ages and backgrounds. And they all followed the exact same suggestion Ive shared above.
Within those 5 days some reported feeling more energetic, sleeping better and having healthier-looking skin. Others reported that the smoothies helped them overcome the dreaded 3pm slump .
Now, for this to work, your smoothies must meet a few criteria:
- Contain whole fruits and/or vegetables .
- If you want protein in the smoothie, it must come from a whole food sources like nuts and seeds . No protein powders.
- No processed sugar or processed sweeteners.
- Use water or plant-based milk .
- No special powders like maca or ashwagandha .
It can be a green smoothie or an all-fruit smoothie whatever you like. Just make sure to stick to the above guidelines and give it a go for 7 days.
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What Else Should I Ask My Provider
When you talk to your healthcare provider, ask:
- What is causing the amenorrhea?
- What are my treatment options, and what are the risks and benefits to each?
- Do I need to see an endocrinologist for hormonal treatments?
- Can I still get pregnant if I have amenorrhea?
- Once my period returns, can I get amenorrhea again?
A note from Cleveland Clinic
If youre an older teenager who hasnt gotten a period yet, or youve had a normal menstrual cycle but now youre missing periods, talk to your healthcare provider. Amenorrhea is usually the sign of a treatable condition. Once your provider figures out whats causing missed periods, you can get care to regulate your cycle. You may need lifestyle changes or hormonal treatment to help resume normal menstrual cycles.
How Hormone Imbalances Occur
As the chemical messengers of the body, hormones can impact the way your mind thinks and your body functions. Your endocrine system is responsible for producing these chemicals.
Cortisol, estrogen, testosterone, adrenaline, insulin, glucagon, and thyroid hormones are examples of hormones. They can control your appetite, energy levels, blood sugar, emotions, fertility, as well as other body functions.
Hormones have a complex relationship with your body that even a small imbalance can significantly impact your health and wellness.
The common symptoms of hormonal imbalances are the following:
- Skin conditions
- Reliance on caffeine, sugar, or carbohydrate to get through the day
- Poor memory or concentration
- Appetite changes
- Enlarged or tender breasts
- Aches and pains
So, how can you balance your hormones? Start by getting the right nutrition and vitamins. Keep reading!
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