Today more and more women are suffering from symptoms of unhappy hormones. Whether it’s polycystic ovarian syndrome, infertility, or hot flushes, these problems all stem from the same culmination of stressors. In fact problems with adrenal stress, thyroid disorders, reproductive health and mental emotional health, all go hand in hand. There is no separation, the group of endocrine glands and neurotransmitters all function together in one beautiful orchestra.
When we learn to listen to our internal signals, we hear the call of our hormones. Weight gain, water retention, depression, mood swings, sleep problems, digestive problems, low energy levels, reactiveness, anxiety, low libido, skin problems, reproductive irregularities, slow metabolism, panic attacks, neurosis, thinning hair, PMS headaches, are all part of your early warming system. They are simply saying something needs to change…
A Pill Won’t Cure You
Our bodies have an innate intelligence far beyond our mental understanding. When a problem arises, it doesn’t happen because your body has the intention to make your life difficult, it is quite simply a cry for help. There was a time when we were taught by our elders to listen to our own bodies, today we are taught to take a pill and just keep going.
Hormones are extremely sensitive. Our endocrine system is a fine tuned orchestra, each hormone having a vitally important role. When this symphony is interfered with, for instance stopping ovulation and therefore stopping the main production of our vitality hormone progesterone, there is a cascade of impact upon our reproductive health, thyroid health, adrenal health, neurochemical health and many other aspects of our wellbeing. We are essentially halting the ability regenerate and to thrive.
Imbalances are cumulative, issues don’t just fall out of the sky, most imbalances build up over years or even decades. It takes an investment of self respect, time and consistency to reverse damage and rebuild our vital energy.
To clarify, the contraceptive pill and HRT are not made from hormones, they are made from synthetic chemicals, which is why a ‘progesterone’ based pill does not have any progesterone in it, it has a chemical known as progestin. No matter what medical diagnosis you have received most endocrine and neurochemical disorders are capable of reversing… but not by the power of allopathic drugs…
Evidence shows that synthetic hormones and halting ovulation are all detrimental to our health and wellbeing:
- Dr John R. Lee MD, on the Contraceptive Pill – “It is also well-known that 19-nor-testosterone progestins bind to estradiol receptors and thus have the potential to stimulate breast and endometrial cancer.”
- “Regardless of dose, birth control pills significantly raise your risk of deep vein thrombosis (blood clots) that can be deadly”. – Excerpted from the Hopkins Health Watch
- Gina Cushman, NMD, PhD in her article Primary Risks of Oral Contraceptives and HRT states – “Long-term use of oral contraceptives (OCs) and of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been linked to increased blood coagulation, with its increased risk of cardiovascular problems. Their long-term use also has been linked to altered immune and inflammatory factors, suggesting an increased risk of chronic immune disorders with an inflammatory component, including cancer.”
- Thrombophilic abnormalities, oral contraceptives, and risk of cerebral vein thrombosis: a meta-analysis – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0022980/
- Progestogen-only contraceptives and the risk of stroke: a meta-analysis – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0028173/
- Cervical cancer and use of hormonal contraceptives: a systematic review – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0020422/
- Oral contraceptive use as a risk factor for premenopausal breast cancer: a meta-analysis – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0023141/
- And the list goes on…
Your Innate Cycle of Life
Women have a rhythm that is intrinsically in line with the cycles of life. When we use synthetic hormones they disconnect us from the core of our being, from our essence. Separation is the greatest illness in the world today. Women are discovering the sense of upliftment that comes, when they support their innate internal flow. They are realizing the gifts of their cyclical nature, discovering a time to be creative, a time to share, a time for clearing and a time to be still, as their body moves through these four phases of being each month. Like the breath of life our hormones show us that there is a depth to our being, a tangible bounty of vivacity that may yet be undiscovered.
We are the only one responsible for our hormone health. When you find the tools that work for you, you can feel your body stepping aboard the path of regeneration and vibrancy.
Tools that can assist the reversal of synthetic hormone damage?
- Natural progesterone cream (increases essential progesterone levels).
- Chasteberry/ Agnus Castus (the one herb that assists in balancing our estrogen and progesterone levels).
Toxic Environment Toxic Hormones
In the time when humans lived in line with nature, hormone imbalances and other 21st century syndromes were rare. Even when they did occur, we held a deep wisdom of plant medicine and other healing elements of nature that helped the body rebalance with ease. Sadly most of this ancient knowledge was wiped out by the 1700’s.
Over the last while we moved away from working with nature in a great attempt to control it. But this idea clearly hasn’t worked. In fact we have left ourselves in a rather pitiful state of affairs.
One of the most destructive moves made so far started in 1938. As`Rachel Carson describes in her revolutionary book Silent Spring, nerve gasses such as Agent Orange that were created for World War II were also made into organophosphate insecticides, such as DDT. These chemicals were sold to farmers with the great promise of being the answer to all their pesty problems. In other words chemicals that were designed to kill humans, were sprayed onto human food. Of course that wasn’t going to cause a problem!?!
The distorted effects of chemicals on marine and river life, etc, has been documented for decades, but only now are researchers finally shouting loud enough for the clear body of evidence illuminating the dangers to humans to be released. The worst of it is these petrochemicals are not only used in our food and drinking water but they have become the bulk of all our body products, baby products, cleaning products, garden products, plastics, fabrics, paints, varnishes and so much more.
Today these chemicals are labelled as endocrine disruptors. They link into our hormone receptors and convey a distorted message, creating a broken telephone effect within our body’s sensitive communication networks. After a few generations of children being born with reproductive disorders, only now are the long-term results being entertained.
Strategies for cleaning up your environment and body:
- Firstly only by organic, or at least chemical and hormone free food, especially when it comes to animal products.
- Secondly grow your own food as much as possible.
- Thirdly take your body through a step by step detox process. I would suggest beginning with:
- Zeolite (binds and chelates toxins) – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11434724
- Probiotics and cultured foods (your intestinal flora is the foundation of health).
- Bring in digestive enzymes (this increases our ability to absorb nutrients and release toxins).
- Green juice (helps bind toxins and boosts ones essential protein, mineral and enzyme levels).
- Cutting out wheat, sugar, diary and processed foods.
Thankfully those who care have already discovered multiple ways we can reverse the damage within our own bodies and within the environment. Let the reversal begin!
Stressless
“It’s just stress”, how often do we hear this sentence? Our bodies are designed to cope with emergency state for 10% of our lives, yet we spend approx 80% of our days in a fight or flight state. There is no saber-toothed tiger chasing us, we are not in danger for our lives, so why do we act like we are?
Today society is placing demands on us that go far beyond our innate capacity. Stress comes when our tasks out way our time for simply living. We have a deeply ingrained belief structure that encourages us to run around pleasing others instead of fulfilling ourselves. Nobody is going to persecute you for having fun, laughing, being creative or being still, these are all human birth rites.
Stress damage is a very real problem. Whether you are experiencing stress from consistent pressure at work, relationship issues, fear, over exercise, competitiveness, toxic food, unresolved trauma, lack of sleep, or plain old worrying, the physical effects are the same.
Stress shifts the body out of the parasympathetic state of awareness, calmness, inspiration, enjoyment, clarity, digestion, absorption, detoxification and regeneration, into a state of sympathetic emergency. In sympathetic dominance we release high levels of cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones keep our blood pressure high, our mind on alert, our perception paranoid, our system acidic and our digestion on hold. We are unable to absorb nutrients or clear out toxins, there is no space for it, we are under attack! ‘Progesterone steal’ begins, where our precious progesterone supply is shunted away from nourishing our reproductive system, thyroid, serotonin and other neurotransmitters, to making lots of cortisol.
We are not machine’s, we are living breathing human beings. We often forget we are part of nature. She supplies our food, our housing, our clothing, our medicine, our oxygen, our fun and elements of life that cannot be synthesized in any way shape or form. Part of feeling fulfilled is finding a way of realigning with nature. As women, we hold the cycle of life within us, therefore it is important to plug into this life-force whenever possible.
In this high-speed world, it takes effort to set up clear boundaries and create time to engage with the things that are our true soul food, and it’s worth every moment. Life is for living, not just surviving.
Your Hormones are What You Eat
Food is our physical nourishment, it is the fuel to create and heals the tissue within every part of our body. Our hormones are made from proteins and essential fatty acids. Our endocrine glands need minerals to function, therefore we need to eat real food that contains these delicious nutrients. The highest quality nutrients today are found in organic whole foods.
In this consumer reality we have forgotten the incredible flavors and enjoyment that comes from homemade meals. Making and growing our own food really brings the gift of value and nourishment back into our lives.
- Keep your blood sugar level stable. Our endocrine systems prime directive is to keep the blood glucose supply to our brain consistent, it cannot change. Therefore each time our blood sugar/glucose level drops our body is sent back into emergency state, shunting our progesterone to make cortisol, to keep our blood glucose level balanced. Blood sugar stability is a vital key to hormone happiness. Eat high quality, nutrient dense food every few hours.
- Include at least 60% raw food in your eating style (especially dark green leaves and seaweeds to boost your mineral, phytonutrient and enzyme levels. Rich delicious tastes in food occur when a plant is saturated with high vitamin and mineral content: more nutrients, more flavour!
- Don’t hold back on your essential fats such as dark fish (grain-free trout, mackerel, etc) , chia, hemp, olives, seeds, avocado’s, olives, algae oil, and coconut oil. Omega 3 is key!
- The easiest absorbable proteins come from avocado’s, olives, seeds, nuts, sprouts, microgreens, dark green leaves and high quality eggs and fish.
- Healthy vegetable carbohydrates such as sweet potato, carrots, beetroot, squashes, etc, are helpful in creating a sustained blood sugar stability. Even though most people don’t need grains, in fact for many of us grains compromise the blood sugar level, too low carbohydrates, such as the ketogenic diet can eventually compromise adrenal and thyroid function. The glands need a slow sustained release of good quality carbohydrates to function.
- Green, greens, greens! The fibre in dark green leaves is essential for removing old oestrogens through your gut. It binds to redundant hormones and carries them out your body. This prevents them from being reabsorbed and causing hormone havoc in your system. Plus the nutrients in dark green leaves, such as magnesium, calcium, iron vitamin A, vitamin B6, vitamin C and vitamin K are all needed for healthy thriving hormones.
We are all unique
Every one of us has a unique face, a unique body, a unique personality and a unique way of processing the world. Nobody can ever understand your body the way you can, no matter how knowledgeable and skilled they are in their profession, in the end you are the only one who can listen to and heal your own body.
Unfortunately we have grown up in a society that teaches us quite the opposite. We are told that hormonal symptoms are normal, that it just comes with the curse of being a woman, that there is no way of healing or reversing our state of being. This is not the case, our body is designed to regenerate, it does it’s best every day, it’s up to us to support this process.
Our hormones are our internal guidance system. They are our little beacons that call to us when we need to get back on track. It is our birth-rite to thrive. For our hormones to be happy, we simply cannot surrender the flow of the mainstream.There is no lack, there is an abundance of resources. When we put in the effort we can navigate our way to our unique state of thriving.
References:
Endocrine Disruptors Affect Developmental Programming of HOX Gene Expression http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2495774/
Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals: Associated Disorders and Mechanisms of Action
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3443608/
Endocrine disruptors, Environmental Oxygen, Epigenetics and Pregnancy
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3050574/
Endocrine Disruptors as a Threat to Our Neurological Function
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3090512/
