Sex hormones, what are you?
If you were like me, I didn’t know who, what, when, where about my feminine parts and how they orchestrate me.
Hormones are messenger molecules.
Hormones circulate internally to, in between cells, and then at distance via blood in the body. It is part of how the body orchestrates and coordinates action in order to help us thrive in the environment in which we are currently exposed to.
They vary levels over minutes, within a day, over a week, over a month basis , in order to modulate the body’s response to its environment. Levels are shifting all the time and they could be a way in which people end up with hormone imbalance - because we’re not necessarily able to give the body the flexibility that it needs to modulate hormones rapidly and effectively.
What’s affected? Weight, energy, mood, mental health, libido, and more.
Menstrual cycles are a “normal” 28 days – but varies for each person – and a normal menstrual cycle varies from 28-33 days... too long or too short of a cycle can indicate hormonal imbalance where 1 or more stages in the hormone cycle may be working sub-optimally.
Your menstrual cycle is a cycle (it’s not just your period) and it has 4 phases:
(I) Menstruation: the day you begin to bleed, it’s typically around 4-7 days long but the phase itself is 1-7 days.
Then it’s (2) Follicular: which starts day 8 and lasts for 7-13 days
Then (3) Ovulation; which lasts about 3-4 days, and happens between day 11-day 21 before your period
(4) Luteal is right after ovulation and is anywhere from 10-14 days. Then the cycle starts all over.
Who’s at play?
Estrogen, Progesterone, some testosterone.
Estrogen helps control the menstrual cycle and is important for childbearing. The ovaries, which produce a woman’s eggs, are the main source of estrogen from your body. Your adrenal glands, located at the top of each kidney, which also produce cortisol, also make small amounts of this hormone, so does fat tissue.
Estrogen moves throughout your body affecting nearly every tissue, including your brain, bones, heart, skin, and more. Estrogen is higher during days 1-14 of your cycle. Day 1 of your period is day 1 of your cycle.
Progesterone is known as the more “calming” hormone of the two. Progesterone “counters” the effects of estrogen in the body, reduces anxiety, increases sleepiness and promotes appetite among other things. It’s very common that women produce too little progesterone, – this is when PMS drops and it's harsh, insomnia hits, you get anxious and you lack libido. When this happens to too little progesterone, it leads to estrogen dominance. Plus, low progesterone can cause thyroid issues. Progesterone ramps up and is higher during days 15-28 of your cycle.
Testosterone: Your body naturally produces testosterone and, just like other hormones, it is all about the balance between them all. Testosterone is good for women and is important for our health because it builds bones, supports your brain health, increases energy and libido, helps with weight loss and keeps depression away!
For many reasons, a hormone can get thrown out of whack from things like stress and diet, which can throw off the rest of your hormones – it’s a very delicate dance. Like I mentioned before, if not enough progesterone is produced then there’ll be more estrogen and possibly testosterone.
And it’s very common that your body takes in too much estrogen, such as through birth control pills, estrogen replacement therapy, have high xenoestrogenic load, or have poor estrogen clearance from your liver and digestion.
We can go deeper into your unique body 1X1 to create optimal changes to achieve hormone balance. And we can help balance your hormones with food, herbs, and supplementation.
Want a 5 day meal planner with recipes included? Click here for my Hormone Balancing Starter Kit”.
