Most Western doctors will tell you that endocrinology – or the study of hormones in your body – is too complicated to fully understand or to treat. We disagree.
Holistic healing practices such as Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine for millennia have been helping people to balance their hormones through diet, lifestyle and stress management techniques. We don’t need a slew of lab tests or to wait for an actual hormonal disease to arise to know whether your hormones need balancing. In fact, if you wait for positive results or a “diagnosis” from a Western doctor, it may already be too late.
Early Signals
Even before an actual hormonal imbalance arises, your body is constantly sending you signals to tell you that your hormones are being challenged, depleted or imbalanced. In Ayurvedic medicine this means that your “prana”, or vital life force energy, is in jeopardy.
Some of these early signals include: depletion, fatigue, insomnia, fatigue & insomnia occurring together, anxiety, depression, overwhelm, panic attacks, mood swings, unexplained weight loss, unexplained weight gain, digestive issues, skin conditions, painful menstrual periods, irregular periods, painful ovulation, PMS, infertility, allergies, headaches, bloating and irregular elimination (constipation, diarrhea).
If these early signals aren’t addressed, they can become advanced conditions: chronic insomnia, hot flashes, heart palpitations, accelerated heartbeat, adrenal insufficiency, thyroid disorders, low immunity, infertility, heart disease, osteoporosis, psoriasis, cancer, diabetes, adrenal burnout, endocrine disorders, among others.
Stress & Hormones
Perhaps one of the most pervasive health crises of the 21st century is stress and its effects on your hormones. Everyone is subjected to different degrees of stress and has different levels of resiliency. Some will be more affected by seemingly “lower levels” of stress while others will be incredibly resilient to seemingly “higher levels”. How you approach stress has a big impact on your general wellbeing, your hormonal balance and your mortality risk.
In fact, stress is perhaps the greatest silent killer of our time because it’s so easy to ignore, push through or even champion as an ideal state for success. Most people think they are managing stress well but, in fact, they are probably ignoring the early signals from their body that stress is overwhelming their system.
If you think of your endocrine system like a gas tank, every time fuel is burned, it depletes the tank. You need to refill that tank – in this case, with new energy derived only from stress reduction, recovery or rest, and adaptogenic support – in order for your engine to keep running. The hormonal fuel supply isn’t endless.
Many people, however, keep their hormones running on fumes until there is nothing left, then are surprised to learn they have a thyroid disorder, adrenal insufficiency, systemic inflammation, infertility or other chronic disease. Our Yoga Nidra – Healing Energy meditation is an effective stress recovery practice that can help you get started on your path.
Holistic health not only helps you to understand your hormonal imbalances, it also teaches you to listen to and identify the early signals of hormonal imbalance in your body so you can stave off chronic disease.
External Factors
When it comes to hormonal health, there are some important external factors to be aware of: exposure to endocrine disruptors, poor diet, birth control and hormonal replacement therapy (HRT).
Endocrine Disruptors
Below is a list of external endocrine disruptors – chemicals that disrupt hormone signaling and lead to adverse effects on development, reproduction, and the neurological and immune systems – that you can start eliminating from your life now.
- PVC and PFA products (including most non-stick cookware and water, stain, and heat-resistant materials)
- BPA – plastics
- Phthalates and Dioxins
- Heavy metals (in some food, water and many personal care products – see this list of safer products)
- Toxic cleaning chemicals (see this list of non-toxic cleaners to consider)
- Pesticides (including non-organic foods)
- Chemically-activated lotions, skin and hair products (if you wouldn’t put it in your mouth, don’t put it on your skin. See this list of safer products.)
Our favorite apps to help identify if a product is toxic or considered an endocrine disruptor are Yuka or EWG Healthy Living App. In addition to all of the research-based links in the list above, you can also download the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Guide to Endocrine Disruptors here.
Nutrition Matters
There are foods that help boost natural hormone production and foods that help your body to process its hormones better. Unfortunately, there is no “magic food” that will completely fix your hormonal imbalance and you need to understand your constitution in order to know which foods will help bring you, specifically, back into balance.
There are, however, dietary adjustments you can make now to help alleviate dietary stressors on your hormones while exploring how to get back on track:
- Cut out highly processed and fast foods – most contain trans fats which are known precursors to a host of chronic diseases and hormonal imbalances.
- Use high quality organic cooking oils that are heat tolerant such as coconut oil, ghee and avocado oil. Add high quality extra-virgin olive oil after cooking as some forms of olive oil can be less heat tolerant.
- Reduce alcohol consumption.
- Cut out sugary sodas.
- Eliminate foods treated with pesticides or chemicals.
- Introduce high-quality organic adaptogens – natural substances that help to regulate stress in the body by adapting to the body’s needs (calming or energizing) in a way that makes sense for you. Get a custom-designed adaptogenic formula that is best for your constitution as part of your consultation package with Path Wellbeing.
- You might try our hormone-balancing Quinoa, Mushroom and Kale Soup – a savory dietary addition that boosts fiber intake, helps balance blood sugar levels, provides adaptogenic support and can help clear excess estrogen from your system.
HRT & Birth Control
Most prescription drugs that alter hormonal function in one area are likely to reduce or distort it in others. So, while you’re trying to fix one problem, you may be creating another, potentially worse problem, in another part of your body.
Perhaps the best example of this is hormone replacement therapy (HRT). For more than three decades, our healthcare system (hospitals, doctors, pharmaceutical companies), pushed HRT to women in menopause to help them deal with related symptoms such as hot flashes, skin issues and emotional imbalances.
Today, we know that HRT, which floods your body with high levels of estrogen and progesterone (meant to decline in menopause), is associated with a significantly increased risk of breast cancer, as well as heart attacks, stroke, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. Even so, you can still get HRT from your doctor today.*
These synthetic hormones are also used in birth control pills, implants, injections, IUDs and vaginal rings. As any woman who has used birth control knows, it changes your body and even alters your emotions. These are hormonal changes induced by synthetic substances, which can sometimes feel good in the moment or provide a sense of security but – more often than not – over time will create a depletion or hormonal imbalance in another area of your body.
In 2005, the International Agency for Research on Cancer reclassified the “Pill” from “possibly carcinogenic” to “carcinogenic to humans” because it increases the risk of breast and cervical cancer, not to mention the long-term effects on cardiovascular function, bone health and cellular function.
The good news is that holistic healing provides alternatives to HRT that are safe, effective and have no side effects other than you feeling better and your hormones staying in balance. These remedies need to be tailored specifically to you in order to be effective, so we don’t recommend any proclaimed holistic “magic pill” hormonal remedies on the market.
The Reality
Sadly, the traditional medical community isn’t making us aware of how pervasive the effects of endocrine imbalance are because the early stages of these imbalances generally don’t show up on tests (blood, urine, X-rays, ultrasounds, MRIs, etc.). In holistic health, tests are important but how you are feeling and your entire health portfolio – from conception to present moment – matters far more than any figure or number.
It can be hard for Western doctors to give you answers as to why you’re feeling so crummy. And, in many cases, they’ll tell you to come back once things get worse so they can write you a script (most likely for a synthetic hormone).
From our perspective, this is dangerous. You are in a crucial moment in which you could actually feel better faster and reverse the root cause of a potentially pervasive chronic disease or long-term imbalance. Don’t wait for things to get worse, take control of your health and wellbeing today.
*Stay tuned to our newsletter for an article later this month dedicated to perimenopause and menopause, managing it naturally and preventing uncomfortable side effects of imbalanced menopause, experienced by nearly 75% of women. For the best results, we recommend effective custom-designed support.
The information contained within this article is for educational purposes only and should not replace the direct advice of a doctor or other qualified healthcare professional. Always consult a medical or other professional healthcare provider when considering a new health regime.
