Hormonal health is a HUGE topic. Everything from monthly moods swings, to unwanted hairs on the face or chest, to fertility concerns or hot flashes. Men definitely have their own hormonal challenges, but fortunately for them (and unfortunately for us) it is just way less complicated. Let’s face it, as women, we just function differently!
One of the biggest ways we can support our hormones is by minimizing cortisol (our stress hormone) output. I know everyone talks about stress and to a certain degree it’s inevitable! But seriously taking a look at what your adrenals glands (where our cortisol comes from) are required to pump out everyday, can make a big difference. Cortisol does a variety of things to our body from shifting our metabolism to fat storage, changing our blood sugar regulation, increasing our heart rate, and promoting irregular menses.
Personally, I find the picture below really helpful with my patients. As you can see, cholesterol is used to make a number of different hormones in our body, cortisol being one of them. But hopefully you can appreciate that if the cortisol pathway gets ‘greedy’, that can take precious cholesterol away from making our other sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone.
A healthy ratio of estrogens and progesterone is key for happy hormones. Progesterone helps the body ovulate each month and doing so routinely minimizes mood swings and PMS symptoms. Estrogens are so important for protecting our bones and brain. Balanced estrogen keeps us level-headed and sleeping at night, among other things.
So what can you do?
There’s lots of ways to keep our cortisol in check, the hardest part is finding something that works for you. So ask yourself; what makes you happy? What do you do to relax?
Reading, writing, art, medication, yoga, exercise, socializing, sleeping, deep breathing, and snuggling are just a few ways to lower cortisol. Limiting excess stimulation is another biggie, and when I use the word “stimulation”, think of all types of stimulation: caffeine, long work hours, TV, environmental toxins etc. This can feel like a huge task at times, but just start with the small stuff such as one less TV show before bed and spending those extra 20 minutes in bed, sleeping.
Add-ins such as acupuncture or massage, and just general TLC, are other great ways to bringing that cortisol down and helping the body balance. Biweekly or monthly acupuncture can be a great maintenance plan for many of my patients seeking better balance in their lives.
To happy hormones!
Dr Chanel Cressman, ND
[…] lastly, working on sleep and stress are always key. If you haven’t read my blog on The Dreaded Adrenals, check it out for ideas on balancing that […]