Typically, when most people think about hormone imbalance, they think primarily that women are affected. But although this may be the stereotype, it is not just women who are struggling. And if you do struggle with hormone imbalance you don’t have to be “stuck” with it, and you don’t have to continue to “live with it” either!
Here are some of the symptoms of hormone imbalance.
Women
- Weight Gain
- Fatigue
- Cravings
- Depression, anxiety
- Irritability, tearful
- Poor sleep
- Belly fat
- Muscle loss
- Low libido
- Brain fog, poor memory
- Headaches
- Osteoporosis
- Night sweats
- Hot flashes
- And more…
Men
- Burned out/Fatigue
- Belly fat
- Decreased strength
- Decreased stamina
- Poor sleep
- Irritability
- Depression
- Decreased urine flow
- Increased urinary urge
- ED
- Brain fog, decreased clarity
- Low libido
- Night sweats
- Hot flashes
- And more…
Do you relate to many of these symptoms? Then you may be dealing with a hormone imbalance.
What are hormones?
Hormones are chemical messengers. It may first appear like they have a small function but if they are disrupted in the least, major impacts can be seen in many areas of the body. So what messages do they carry? They are sent out from endocrine glands via the blood to talk to other glands and tell them what is happening in another part of the body so that the gland will know how to respond. Hormones are responsible for growth, metabolism, reproduction, cognitive function, mood and body temperature.
The major glands in the body that manage these hormonal messengers are:
- Adrenal Gland
- Ovaries
- Pancreas
- Pineal Gland
- Pituitary Gland
- Testes
- Thymus
- Thyroid
The amount of hormone needed for communication is very small. The slightest deviation in the amount of the hormone, whether in excess or deficiency, can highly influence how the work is done in the body as well as if it is even performed at all.
What can cause hormone imbalance?
Our modern world presents many challenges when it comes to our hormones. Stress, whether mental/emotional, or physical, such as injury or disease, plays a large part in causing imbalance in all of our bodies systems, including hormones.
Our diets, lifestyle and environment all play a large role also. Hormones are like keys that fit into locks called receptors on your cells. These “keys” turn certain functions of a particular cell on or off. There are many substances that mimic our natural hormones and are able to activate or deactivate cell capabilities that otherwise would not have been activated/deactivated.
These substances, known as endocrine disruptors can be found in everything from certain foods (such as soy), to some everyday household products and medications, even in our water.
Disease
When you hear of someone who has an under or over active thyroid or who has insulin resistance, remember it is the hormone’s ability or inability to deliver their messages that is the true problem. Many times the gland itself is functioning properly but the hormone is not able to connect at its destination and deliver the message. Insulin resistance is a good example. When the blood sugar elevates it is up to insulin to come out and escort glucose to the proper places. In insulin resistance, the cells are tired of hearing from insulin, as it is circulating quite frequently in the body, so they become resistant to insulin. Is the insulin not functioning properly? No, it is ready and able to do its job but it is NOT able to complete the delivery.
Test, Don’t Guess
At FDN, our functional health coaches don’t assume anything when it comes to what’s going on in your body. We know that by testing, we gain insight into dysfunction and are able to use solid health principles to bring a balanced state back to the body. Using functional laboratory testing allows you to stop guessing and clarifies if a hormone imbalance is really contributing to your health issues.
Hormone imbalance impacts so many different areas. Blood, urine and saliva testing are able to tell us the levels of the hormones and help us to figure out if they are high or low and also give us clues into what is affecting their imbalance.
