When it comes to your health, many times the cause and effect relationship is abundantly clear.

Cut your finger as you’re slicing vegetables?  You can count on seeing blood (maybe even stitches).

Come into contact with something you’re allergic to?  You’ll be sneezing and your eyes will water in no time.

Fall down the stairs?  Hopefully bumps and bruises are the only things you have to worry about!

But there are other issues where it isn’t so easy to decipher what’s going on!  Things like weight gain, fatigue, a depressed mood, insomnia and headaches can be caused by a plethora of different factors.

And here is one that frequently gets overlooked…

Hormonal imbalances!

Here’s why hormones can make or break you in terms of health and how you can help ensure your levels are where they should be!

Hormones—I’m not just talking menopause!

When people hear the word hormones, images of menopausal women with hot flashes come to mind.

But that’s just a drop in the hormone bucket!

There have been over 200 hormones identified so far, and they control pretty much ALL of your body’s processes—for both men and women alike.

So it’s no wonder that having too much or too little of any particular hormone will have serious health consequences! 

Here are some examples:

• Too much estrogen (estrogen dominance) can cause panic attacks, anxiety and migraines.
• Low thyroid hormone (hypothyroidsim) can cause weight gain, exhaustion, hair loss and dry skin.
• Insomnia can be caused by your pineal gland not producing enough melatonin.
• Insufficient insulin from your pancreas can lead to Type 2 diabetes.
• High cortisol levels (due to stress) can cause depression, weakened immune function and digestive problems.
• Low testosterone can cause fatigue, low libido, decreased muscle and bone mass and increased body fat.

 

So why are our hormones so messed up?

Now more than any other time in our existence, people are suffering from hormonal imbalances, and at younger ages too.  Instead of affecting people in their 50s and 60s we’re seeing them in our 20s and 30s.

There are several factors that can cause hormonal imbalances including:

• Chemicals like BPAs, BHC, PCBs, etc. that are abundant in our environment
• Hormones injected into the animals raised for our food supply, which in turn make their way into your body
• Low-fat diets—because your body needs fats to make hormones
• Prescription drugs—especially antibiotics, birth control pills and statins
• Liver problems—because the liver is responsible for clearing old worn-out hormones from your body, as well as manufacturing cholesterol to make new hormones

But two of the most prevalent causes of hormonal problems are also things that are VERY common in our society today…

Poor digestion and stress!

Here’s the scoop:

1- Poor digestion and hormones

When your digestion isn’t going along so well, your system’s ability to absorb nutrients from your foods is greatly reduced.  Since your body needs nutrients to make hormones, bad digestion puts you behind the 8-ball and can cause hormonal imbalances!

In addition, poor digestion can result in chronic constipation, which in turn can mean that old hormones your body is trying to eliminate with your BMs can instead be reabsorbed into circulation through the intestinal wall, creating imbalances and hyperstimulation.  This can eventually even increase your risk of hormone dependent cancers like breast cancer!

But the good news is, it’s not difficult to create better digestion.  You just need to make your meals easier to break down, ensure you have enough enzymes for the job, and support a healthy gut microbiome to keep your BMs regular!

Here’s how:

Your meals

The Great Taste No Pain system can help you with the meal planning part here.

Great Taste No Pain spells out what foods your should put together in your meals to make your system’s job much easier.  When your body can tackle what you’ve eaten efficiently, that sets the stage for SMOOTH, comfortable digestion!

And here’s an added bonus—the dishes in the recipe section are positively luscious and insanely easy to prepare!

Enzymes

Enzyme shortages are also a growing concern.  People who have highly processed and fast food diets (i.e.: their 4 food groups are McDonalds, Taco Bell, Papa John’s and Hot Pockets) have expended WAY more enzymes than Nature ever intended them to, and can be running short as a result. 

Plus the elderly and people who have had gastric or gallbladder surgery are very prone to deficiencies. 

If you think you may be running low in enzymes, then a complete enzyme formula like Digestizol Max can be the answer to your prayers!

Digestizol Max’s 15 plant-derived enzymes work right alongside your body’s own enzymes to completely and thoroughly break down everythign you eat, and leave you comfortable and pain-free after eating!

Gut microbiome

Your gut microbiome plays a huge role in your digestion of certain carbs and fibers, it helps with nutrient absorption and it paves the way for more regular BMs (and less gas and bloating!).

The best way to ensure your gut microbiome is in a health-supporting balance is regular probiotic supplementation with a top-quality formula like Super Shield!

Super Shield’s 13-strain, full-spectrum probiotic blend contains strains from both the Lactobacillus species (for the small intestine) and Bifidobacterium (for the colon)—which means that your ENTIRE gut is well-supported with robust, feisty, well-studied species of friendly, helpful bacteria!

2- Stress—the pregnenolone “hog”

Pregnenolone is your body’s “molding clay” for all of your hormones, and your body divvies it up as it’s needed to make the various types of hormones.

EXCEPT when you are stressed!

Stress hormones trump ALL other types of hormones in your body.  So if you’re under chronic stress, your adrenals “hog” all of your pregnenolone to make the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol…

Leaving little or none for your other hormonal needs!

If stress is a regular thing for you, it’s time to find ways to chill out.  (Keep in mind regular exercise is a great stress reducer and encourages ALL of your systems to function at their best!) 

Get help from a counselor or therapist if you need it.

Also try prayer, meditation, deep breathing, aromatherapy (our lavender essential oil is great), yoga and massage.

Other hints for healthy hormones

Your doctor can do a complete hormone panel to see where you stand.  Since hormones control literally everything about you, a hormone panel should be as basic as a CBC or lipid panel in assessing your health at this point!  If your doctor doesn’t offer it, ask about it.

If you find you need some hormonal “assistance” consider bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.  Your body has a much easier time assimilating bioidentical hormones versus synthetic hormones because they are natural and molecularly identical to hormones created by your body.

Get enough healthy fats!  Your body’s ability to produce hormones is dependent on having enough fats for “raw materials.”  Healthy fats include real butter (never, ever margarine), olive oil, coconut oil, nuts, eggs, avocado, wild caught fish, poultry and beef.    

Also consider acupuncture!  Acupuncture can help balance the energy flows within your body and get your hormones back on track.  It’s also a great way to reduce stress. 

Help support your body’s healthy hormone levels and see how much better you can feel!

To your health,

Sherry Brescia