A balanced body is a healthy body – that’s a fact. But what happens when your hormones go crazy and create a hot mess in your organism, without you even being aware of it? Stay with us and keep on reading to find out how can hormonal changes affect you and your body, and how to successfully deal with them.
What are hormones exactly?
Basically, hormones can be described as messengers between your body systems designed to regulate your physiology and behavior, like digestion, sleep, metabolism, reproduction, mood, stress, etc. Your nervous system is responsible for measuring your temperature, inflammatory levels, blood pressure and glucose levels, and the measured data is then being sent to your hormones which alarm your body whenever you’re moody, hungry or stressed out. They also work the other way around, by telling you when you need to calm down, stop eating or take a break. Apart from the sex hormones – estrogen, progesterone and testosterone – there’s a wide range of other hormones like insulin, cortisol, melatonin, leptin, etc. that have a major role in your body and everything that’s going on within it.
Signs and symptoms of hormonal imbalance
There are many ways you can detect and recognize hormonal imbalance. However, you should know that each imbalance comes with its own signs and symptoms. For example, estrogen dominance features both external and internal bodily symptoms. External ones include weight gain, acne breakouts, increased body and facial hair, puffy eyes, brittle hair and/or nails and belly fat. On the other hand, hot flashes, night sweats, water retention, sugar/carb cravings, sore breasts, migraines and many more are in the group of internal bodily symptoms. Low testosterone is another frequent case of hormonal imbalance, characterized by muscle mass loss, fat gain in abdomen and chest, hair loss, a decrease in strength and bone mass, and even infertility. It often results in low libido, sleeping problems, lack of energy and an overall feeling of depression.
Why are your hormones out of balance?
Truth be told, there are so many reasons and factors that can lead to hormonal imbalance, and the fact is that you aren’t even aware of most of them. Our lives are really hectic these days, filled with processed foods, chronic stress, chemical exposure, and spending way too much time in front of the monitor. All of these largely affect our bodies in many ways, one of which is hormonal imbalance. Apart from these external factors, there’s one internal factor that can mess up your hormone balance and it’s called ageing. Both testosterone and estrogen levels tend to decline in men, whereas estrogen drops at a much slower pace. That inevitably causes an uneven ratio, which can be prevented by strength training and proper diet. On the other hand, both estrogen and progesterone will decline in women, while progesterone tends to drop much faster and can even get to zero. That results in estrogen dominance and can kick you straight into menopause.
How to treat hormonal imbalance?
Hormonal imbalance is often treated with hormonal replacement therapy (HRT), which is unlikely to solve the underlying problem. In fact, this kind of therapy can cause other problems and conditions like melasma. This condition causes patches of discoloration on your skin, it typically occurs on your face and is symmetrical. Q-switched laser is probably the most efficient melasma treatment, so don’t be afraid to try it out if you’re suffering from this condition. In order to avoid such an issue, make sure to address your diet and lifestyle first, before you turn to medicine. A proper diet and healthy lifestyle habits will definitely help you fix your hormones and feel great again.
As you can see, hormonal imbalance can affect you and your body in more ways than you’re aware of, so be sure to do everything you can to prevent it. Once you do that, you can be sure that you have everything under control.
