A Guide to Natural Hormone Balancing for Women
by James Occhiogrosso, N.D.
The human body is an amazingly complex mechanism. The more one studies it, the more one realizes how complex it is. Yet, all this complexity is - for the most part - controlled seamlessly with little conscious effort. Much of this control is due to the actions of minute amounts of substances called hormones.
Hormones are the chemical messengers of the body. They circulate through the body in the bloodstream producing powerful effects on virtually every organ they encounter. Their effects are profound and range from regulating body temperature and blood chemistry to generating sexual desire. Thus, hormones control virtually every aspect of your existence. This article focuses on a group of hormones called the “sex steroid hormones” and their effects on a woman’s body. The main pathways for synthesizing these hormones are shown in the diagram. While most are created from their parents, some are synthesized by the body bi-directionally. For example, estradiol can be converted to estrone and visa-versa. This is indicated in the diagram by double-arrows.
Menopause, Premenopause, Perimenopause and Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
As we all know, hormone levels change as a woman ages. Most women think of this as menopause and expect it around the age of fifty. But hormone levels also vary due to influences aside from aging. What many women do not know is that nutrition and overall health play an important role - and poor nutrition can accelerate hormonal imbalances and the onset of menopause. Aside from normal aging, which is beyond our control, lifestyle issues also cause hormone imbalances. For example, since fat tissue produces and stores estrogens, a sedentary or overweight woman can have excessive estrogen and low testosterone, resulting in PMS symptoms and low sexual drive. Alcohol consumption, smoking, and other environmental factors can also exacerbate age-related hormone imbalances.
Contrary to the message conveyed by the mass media, menopause really begins somewhere in a woman’s thirties as her hormone levels begin to decline. When her levels are low enough, symptoms appear, and she is said to be pre-menopausal or peri-menopausal. Typically, around the age of fifty, her menstrual period ceases, and she is said to be in menopause. The important thing to understand here is that menopause is not something that comes on like an attack of the flu, but a process that begins in a woman’s thirties, continues throughout life, and is marked by a visible physical change - the cessation of the menstrual flow - at around fifty years old. Many women, from their late twenties on, should monitor their hormone levels and correct imbalances long before they reach their fifties and menopause. This allows them to benefit from long-term hormone balance, which can help reduce the physical effects of aging.
Many women start to feel hormonal problems in their thirties, and sometimes even in their late twenties. These problems usually occur around a woman’s menstrual period. They can cause irritability, nervousness, excessive anxiety, or headaches just before or after the menstrual flow, and sometimes are associated with severe menstrual cramps or bleeding. Such symptoms are typically known as PMS. As a woman’s age nears fifty, symptoms typically become more pronounced, and may include any of those mentioned above, as well as hot flashes, night sweats, and sleep disturbances. The latter ones mentioned are usually associated with the onset of menopause.
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