Hormones are like little messengers that tell your body when to make more of a particular hormone and when to turn off production. Many things in life can cause your hormones to become out of balance, but luckily there are also ways you can keep them from getting too mischievous.
It can hurt your health when your hormones go haywire due to traumatic events, medication and synthetic drugs, lack of sleep or exercise, poor diet choices, and various other triggers. Here are some of the common triggers of hormone imbalance. Here are some of the most common things that can trigger hormone imbalance in our bodies:
1. Stress
Stress is one of the most common hormone-disrupting triggers. It directly impacts appetite, digestion, metabolism, mood, and immunity. Stress comes in many forms, including emotional stress, which is often the hardest to deal with. Illness, relationship difficulties, work pressures, and financial issues can all cause high levels of physical stress resulting in irritability, fatigue, sleeplessness, and a loss of motivation.
2. Medications
Medications are also one of the most common causes of hormone imbalance. Over-the-counter or prescription medications can cause hormonal problems and loss of energy, as well as muscle or bone pain. Some medications are known to interfere with the body’s ability to maintain its natural balanced levels of hormones, including birth control pills and antidepressants.
3. Insufficient Sleep
Sleep deprivation can lead to compromised adrenal and thyroid function, among others. Most people don’t get enough sleep because they’re up late watching television, surfing the internet, or chatting on the phone.
Lack of sleep causes hormonal imbalances by impacting the production of adrenal hormones and reducing the body’s ability to continue producing growth hormones. This is a hormone that helps maintain lean muscle mass and burn fat. Even being in bed for less than seven hours can negatively affect your energy levels, cognitive performance, metabolism, and immune system.
4. Poor Diet
Diet plays a huge role in hormone balance and overall health. A diet high in sugar, processed and hydrogenated fats, dairy, gluten, and soy can trigger a hormonal imbalance by mimicking estrogen in the body. This mimicry can cause high levels of estrogen to be released into the bloodstream causing PMS symptoms or even imbalances that lead to cancer due to the production of excess estrogen throughout the body.
You can achieve good hormone balance by eating organic and locally grown foods, avoiding processed foods, and keeping your blood sugar levels steady throughout the day.
5. Cancer Treatments
Chemotherapy, radiation therapy, and hormonal therapy can derange your body’s hormone balance by affecting the gonads and adrenal glands. This can cause a deficiency of hormones such as estrogen, testosterone, dihydrotestosterone, cortisol, DHEA, DHEAS, and other hormones. These treatments can also produce secondary symptoms, including fatigue, anemia, weight loss, hair loss, depression, and dry skin.
6. Trauma or Injury
Trauma to the brain, spinal cord, and major organs can cause hormonal imbalances. The brain controls hormones, and if it’s injured, hormones may be affected. Trauma can also lead to loss of balance and poor coordination, leading to falls and other injuries that can impact hormone health.
7. Hormone Therapy
If you’re going to be undergoing hormone therapy, it’s important to understand the side effects of various pharmaceuticals and hormone replacements to make the most informed decision. Hormone therapy can have numerous side effects, including weight gain, nausea, bloating, fatigue, headaches, hot flashes or night sweats, depression, or mood swings that cause emotional imbalances.
Many oral contraceptives can also lead to estrogen dominance which is an imbalance of estrogen in the body, which can lead to many health issues. You can test your hormone levels at home with a simple saliva test kit, which analyzes the levels of hormones in your body.
Conclusion
The key to hormone balance is a healthy lifestyle. You can achieve hormone balance by avoiding the triggers listed above and by practicing good habits such as eating organic foods, getting plenty of rest, drinking clean water, and doing deep breathing exercises.
Remember that staying healthy means maintaining proper hormone balance. Identifying the symptoms of hormone imbalance will help you take control and get the body you want.