YOUR LIFESTYLE AND YOUR HORMONES

March 07, 2019 / Ashley Romanchuk

This is mostly for the women out there, but men, you are not so different.

It just seems to be that the women really start to notice each month when their menses get different, men really only start to notice after a while and it just seems that men are a bit more resilient than their more feminine counterparts. Women, we are complicated beings, we have hormonal changes every day, we change with the change of the moon. Men, you are relatively stable, your testosterone levels stay about the same every day however, whichever sex you are: your lifestyle affects on your hormones.

The top of the cycle of hormones in the body is created by your sleep-wake cycle, called The Circadian Rhythm. We are meant, just like any other animal on this planet to follow the cycles of the Sun and Moon. Traditionally, we would sleep as dark comes into the night and a very special hormone called Melatonin is released. The next day, when we wake, our Serotonin, happy hormones gets released (which is made from the Melatonin).

Beginning here, most of North American culture firstly does not get enough sleep, and secondly does not fall asleep when they should thanks to TV’s, computers and bright lights that are turned on when the house gets dark. Also, most of this culture does not have regular sleep patterns, MAYBE during the week but then the weekend comes around and it’s a different story.

This is one of the first and very crucial parts of your lifestyle that affects your hormones. Sleep is so important, and a consistent regular >>sleep schedule<< is very important as well. Hormones are released like clockwork and therefore having that clock in the body needs you to go to bed at the same time and wake up at the same time every single night and day. Not four days on, three days off, with sleep deprivation on almost all of those days.

Then, let’s think about diet, about caffeine and alcohol intake and smoking, and lets talk about the levels of stress most people in North America are under every single day. These all have huge implications, especially to the women on how our progesterone and estrogen levels will be throughout the month.

For the females, hormonal changes and problems are started to be noticed quickly with fatigue, moodiness, perhaps some weight gain and sugar cravings. You may start to notice PMS symptoms (beginning or worsening), your menses might get heavier and might have clots, you may have a change in your skin (more breakouts). These all mean your female hormones are under stress.

MEN AND WOMEN: a very important issue is when you start noticing you are having trouble getting out of bed, if you find you are tired all day and awake all night, I would highly suggest you come talk. This is most likely your cortisol (the hormone that allows you to respond to stress) really starting to burn out and this is a critical point on the stress cycle.

Long term hormonal issues lead to hormonal depletion often. For the women, this means you could develop thyroid problems and even something called “Hirsutism”, you take on male traits as your female hormones change into more male hormones (yes, woman produce testosterone) and this is not so pretty. Hormones have a huge effect on your overall health, your energy levels, your reproductive capacity, your happiness levels and your general well being (and how you look) also...your sex drive. Estrogen and Progesterone affect your lungs, skin, hair, nails and bones. For the men, your hormones affect your manly traits, your capacity to build muscles, to have a deep voice, and your sex drive as well. When these deplete, you will notice your energy levels do too, you might start loosing your body muscle capacity, your depth of voice, even your hair. Both men and women are affected, it is just that woman can really notice a very prominent month to month change in their menses.

Change your life before it’s too late. No woman wants traits of male characteristics (ex. chin hair and shrinking breasts) also with fatigue and weight gain, not such pretty skin and a moody attitude. While no man wants a loss of his muscle mass and fatigue. There are lots of support that Naturopathic Doctors are trained in for this, additionally and probably, a change in lifestyle is most likely the biggest prescription and we can also help with those guidelines and how to achieve them :)

Blessings.

PS. For education on this, please see my article called The Pathophysiology of Chronic Hyperactivity of the HPA axis

JUNE 27, 2016

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