It’s Not Me, It’s MY Hormones

Okay, ladies.  This is for you.

Is it just me, or do your hormones get the blame for just about everything?

Hungry?  It’s my hormones.

Angry? It’s my hormones.

Not in “the mood”? It’s my hormones.

Feeling extra bloated? It’s my hormones.

I need ice cream.  It’s my hormones.

And while there is a bit of validity to those excuses, the reality is that the nature of our day to day life is making our hormones work against us instead of with us.   Hormones really do run the show, though.  That’s what they are designed to do.  In fact, women go through more hormonal changes throughout the course of one month than men do over their lifetime (Okay, I may have the exactness of that statistic wrong, but it sure does feel like that sometimes!). Female hormones make us infertile, then fertile, then infertile again all within 28 days.  And with those fluctuating hormones comes a barrage of emotional and physical symptoms that may not manifest in the most pleasant of ways.  The female menstrual cycle is a delicate dance of hormonal communication that is incredibly sensitive to any misstep. 

I am sure I am not the only one whose parents’ “Birds and the Bees” talk was pretty G-rated.  Not to mention the school Sex-Ed that was pretty conservative as well.  Talking “periods”, hormones, emotions, “girl stuff” was and is pretty taboo.  Having PMS was to be expected.  Severe cramping that keeps you home from work is just part of the beauty and pain of being female. Acne after graduating high school is just the new normal.  What is this discharge that is coming out? Is that supposed to be there?  Why is it changing colors? Should I just accept that fact that I’m getting older and gaining weight? Why am I so tired all the time? Ugh, sex again…?

Well, ladies.  I would like to set the record straight.  There is only so much blame we can place on our hormones for the way we feel and act.  You have a little bit of leeway there, I’ll give you that.  But, it’s time we take control of how we are treating our body so that we can regain empowerment over our lives and not succumb to the side effects of when hormones go array.

The most common complaints I hear from clients are:

• Weight Gain
• Lack of Libido
• Irregular Periods

When I hear these, I automatically scream in my head, “Hormonal Imbalances!”.

So, let’s start with an introduction to 3 basic hormones of the female body so that we can set the foundation of providing you with the knowledge you need to stake claim to your hormonal bliss:

Estrogen:

• The hormone that defines you as a woman
• Hormone that causes the development of hips, breasts, and fatty deposits (Yes, in both women and MEN!)
• Responsible for the first half of your period, building of the lining of your uterus to protect a (potentially) developing fetus.
• Stimulates the lining of the uterus to grow.
• If too high, causes weight gain, cysts on the ovaries, breast tenderness, reproductive cancers

Progesterone:

• Stops growth of uterine lining, stabilizes it, and then induces either pregnancy or menstruation
• Prevents cysts from developing
• Acts as a natural diuretic
• Think “Pro-Gestation”= Pregnancy

Testosterone:

• Increases sexual desire and response to sex
• Stimulates development of lean muscle mass
• Provides energy, focus, and sense of well-being
• If too high, causes facial hair, acne, male pattern baldness, clitoral growth, and male stature

So, here are THREE things you can do to support natural hormone patterns to regain your femininity!

1.  Calm the ‘Eff Down.

Seriously. We women are so hard on ourselves about everything.  I’m certainly guilty of this.  And I’ll probably go and feel guilty about being guilty of this crime.

Women are created with a built in safety net when it comes to the ability to reproduce, unlike men who are fertile all the dang time. When humans were living on the tundra and faced the possibility of famine, the female body protected itself by halting ovulation and signaling to the body to shut down the ability to get pregnant.  Thank goodness for this, but it seems we have abused the system a little. Nowadays, stress looks a bit different, but we continue to have that natural anti-reproduction mechanism. When we consciously or subconsciously feel that there is looming danger, whether that’s an approaching work deadline, a stressful morning commute, eating crappy foods, arguing with your spouse, taking all the kids to soccer practice, etc., our hormones go all over the place.

One of the first things to go is sex drive.  In women, 90% of our testosterone is produced in the adrenal glands.  Adrenal glands also produce stress hormones. Testosterone creates sexual desire.  This doesn’t mix well. The adrenals aren’t so great at being over-worked, so if it comes down to having sex or running away from a tiger, the body will chose running away from the tiger every single time.  That’s great for surviving, but not so great for your sex life.

2.  Eat in a Pro-Hormonal Way.

Hormones are made up of fatty acids.  Bottom line.  If you aren’t eating fat, you’re never going to optimize your hormonal health.  Beyond that, sex hormones are created from cholesterol. Yep, cholesterol.  The same stuff we have been scared into avoiding for the past few decades.  Our bodies are designed to crave and enjoy the flavor of fatty foods because it vital to our health.

To the surprise of many, most cholesterol in the blood is produced endogenously, or within the body, from the liver.  Between 70 and 80% of cholesterol floating around the body is generated by the liver because it is necessary in so many bodily functions. This natural protective mechanism can actually be a cause of elevations in laboratory values of cholesterol, the reason why low-fat diets don’t work long-term.  We all eventually “cheat” on sugary, fatty foods when our body senses famine or starvation of fat, which when paired with the overdrive of liver produced cholesterol, brings up cholesterol levels in the blood even higher!

Now, this doesn’t mean have a hay-day on Twinkies.  It does mean, however, to start eating more things like avocados, coconut, grass-fed butter and ghee, nuts and seeds, and even fatty cuts of meat (as long as they’ve been raised in a good environment on their biologically correct food).  So, put away your fat-free cookies and throw some butter into your coffee.

3.  Enhance your Liver Detoxification

Okay, this is a huge topic, but I’ll keep it brief.  Simply put, we are exposed to estrogen-like hormones in more ways that you’ll probably ever realize.  Between plastic containers, hormone injected meats, pesticides on produce, synthetics in cosmetics, etc., estrogen is everywhere.  Estrogen gives us butt, hips, boobs, which is great, but too much can wreak havoc in the body.  (See above).  Excess hormones normally get flushed out of the body via natural detoxification pathways, but since we are bombarded with toxins all day, every day, sometimes things get a little bit lax.

Now, this doesn’t mean go on a juice cleanse bender.  This is actually the worst thing you can do.  (More on this later)

How You Can Reduce Exposure:

• Reduce your consumption of canned foods.  If eating canned foods, opt for BPA free can liners.
• Switch up your cookware to glass, stainless steel, and ceramic
• Avoid microwaving plastic or Styrofoam containers
• Opt for organic meat, dairy, and produce when possible

How to Enhance Detox Pathways:

Diet

• Reduce refined carbohydrates (white bread, sugar, etc.)
• Reduce alcohol consumption
• Reduce caffeine (to help control cortisol levels)
• Eat more pasture-raised meat and dairy; avoid conventionally raised products with higher hormone levels
• Get 35-45 grams of fiber per day to help eliminate hormone excesses
• Consider taking DIM (Di-indolemethane) 200mg/day
  • Helps to lower excess estrogens
  • Occurs naturally in Brassica, or cruciferous, vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and cauliflower
  • Try out seaweed
• Increase antioxidants
  • Fruits, vegetables, turmeric, garlic, ginger, cilantro, basil, rosemary, dandelion, milk thistle,

Exercise regularly

• Aim for at least 30 minutes of activity per day
• Incorporate a few days per week of strength training, interval training, and stretching/mobility days
• Don’t stress about having to run a marathon or do an hour on the elliptical every day.  More isn’t always better.  Be efficient with your workouts.

Sleep

• Go to bed at a decent hour. Before 10 or 11 o’clock would be ideal
• Dim the lights as the sun starts to set to re-calibrate you sleep-wake cycle
• Expose your eyes to sunshine in the morning and early hours
• Sleep in a cool, completely dark room
• Aim for 7-9 hours per night

I am so excited to dive more into talking about nutrition and lifestyle with you!  Thanks for stopping by!

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