Hormonal Imbalance and Stress

A healthy woman needs an ratio of estrogens, progesterone, and testosterone throughout life

Fluctuations in estrogen can have dramatic effects on how we feel, think, and function. Even tiny changes in estrogen levels can cause symptoms.

Although for women estrogen plays a role in stress response, it’s  important to understand this isn’t evidence that women can’t handle stress

I sometimes feel sorry for estrogen. It gets a bad rap for so many things. Women hear that too much estrogen causes breast disease, and too little causes everything from hot flashes to hair loss.

• Unwanted hair growth
• Irritability
• Water retention
• Weight gain
• Cyclical migraines
• Headaches
• Mood swings
• Skin outbreaks
• Digestive imbalance
• Fuzzy thinking
• Uterine fibroids
• PMS
• Breast/gynecological cancers
• Lupus

Keep in mind that your hormones are continually changing — even on a moment-to-moment basis. Diet and lifestyle have a tremendous effect upon your entire body. So do your genes, which influence not just how your body produces hormones, but how it responds to them.

Dietary and lifestyle changes. Lifestyle is a critical factor in the production and storage of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone to support hormonal balance. Here are four simple elements to start with today.

• Limit exposure to synthetic foods. Choose organic foods when possible
•  Eat a natural, plant-based diet. Eating lots of vegetables provides fiber, which feeds the beneficial flora in your intestines, which help you metabolize your hormones the way Mother Nature intended. Plant foods also provide your body with phytoestrogens, which protect your body from damaging effects of synthetic foods. Good choices include legumes, licorice, yams, and anything in the broccoli/cabbage family. Foods to avoid include those made with refined flours, sugars, partially hydrogenated fats, and artificial ingredients.
• Restore balance with supplements. High-quality daily nutritional supplements to help restore a woman’s hormonal balance, such as B-vitamins and omega-3 fatty acids can help increase your body’s ability to balance its hormone ratios.
• Manage stress levels.  Chronic stress fuels high levels of adrenaline and cortisol, stress hormones, one common effect of excessive cortisol is excess belly fat.    known to alter the feedback loops regulating our sex hormones.