Meet your hormones - your communication highway

Hormones. Everybody has them, yet many of us don’t really know or understand much about them. We are born into these exquisitely complex bodies but since we don’t come in with an owners manual, it can be challenging to understand how they operate in our bodies.  If you are a woman, the hormonal connections can really make you feel at times like you are losing your mind! ​

​The simplest definition of hormones is that they are messengers, chemical messengers specifically. They travel through our bodies, pinging between organs, glands and other body tissues.  They act as signals to “make some of this or do this now” or “stop making that stuff, stop doing that now”, I like to think of them as analogous to the accelerator and brake of a car and how you interact with both of those determines not only getting to your destination, but the quality of the ride.  When everything is running smoothly it is similar to a traffic free highway, but when they are running amok, is like a bumper to bumper jammed freeway, with blocked exits and detours making it really hard to get to your intended destination.

Hormones regulate our metabolism, hunger, weight, fertility, libido, growth, sleep, blood sugar, fat storage, bone formation, mood, and more.

The hormones of concern that I work with most frequently with the women in my practice fall into a common cluster. The women I work with are often struggling with weight regulation challenges (unwanted weight gain and weight-loss resistance); sleep problems; low energy and fatigue; and digestive health issues.

In upcoming articles we will take a closer look at the hormone cluster that profoundly affects the health and wellbeing of women, including these:

• ghrelin, leptin, cholecystokinin (related to food regulation)
• insulin and cortisol (related to fat storage, growth and energy regulation)
• thyroid (related to metabolism, temperature and energy regulation)
• estrogen, progesterone and testosterone (related to growth, reproduction and sexual health)
• melatonin (related to regulation of circadian rhythms, seasonal reproduction, body weight and energy balance)

 
I hope you’ll join me in learning more about how your body is influenced by these very powerful chemical messengers.  We will take a look at the influences of nutrition and lifestyle practices on how these hormones behave in your body.

When our hormones flow in harmony we have energy, we are clear-thinking, we feel “in-balance” which is an intangible but you know it when you feel it.  On the other hand, when our hormones are out of whack, we can feel like aliens in our bodies, out-of-control because the hormones are running the show.  By learning more about our hormone connections and how we can influence them, a sense of control, or at least understanding, can be restored.

We will also take a look at the role of the brain and the gut influence on hormones.

I admit, I just love to geek out on this stuff!  Stay tuned for more.

(photo by nick-fewings-589145-unsplash.jpg)