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Hormones help us regulate everything from blood pressure to blood sugar to fat metabolism to sleep and sex. Chronic conditions: diabetes, thyroid disease, infertility, insomnia, mental illness, dementia, cancer. 

 

— CHALLENGES

Too many environmental endocrine disruptors, including herbicides, pesticides and plasticizers such as bisphenol A and phthalates, are in our environment. Radioactive Iodine 131 from nuclear technology accumulates in our thyroid. Chronic mineral deficiencies and low-fat diets deplete our endocrine glands, and environmental toxins bioaccumulate in the fatty tissues of mammary glands, uterus, ovaries, testicles and prostate.

 

— PREVENTION

Love your hormones with the minerals your glands need to function optimally. The thyroid needs iodine. The pineal gland needs calcium (not fluoride). The prostate gland needs zinc. The adrenal glands need magnesium. And the pituitary gland (regulator of the love hormone oxytocin) needs magnesium and manganese. And all of our endocrine glands need healthy good fats, because our hormones travel around our body attached to fat molecules. 

 

— OVERVIEW

Feeling moody? Burned out? Hair falling out? Cold feet. Lost your sex drive? Those are your hormones talking to you!

We can't be healthy without healthy hormone balance. Our hormones regulate blood sugar, blood pressure, blood platelet production, hunger, thirst, sexuality, fertility, pregnancy, breast milk, stress response, metabolism, feelings of attraction, ability to feel love and make bonds, and even our ability to sleep, intuit and envision a future. Sadly, our fatty endocrine glands are bioaccumulation sites for environmental toxins such as pesticides and herbicides that mimic estrogen, radioactive Iodine 131 from nuclear technology, and endocrine disrupting petrochemicals.

Our hormones also help us feel emotions in order to respond in an adaptive way to our environment. When our hormones are out of balance, we feel out of whack and out of sync. We're out of balance emotionally. We're also at a higher risk of cancer, diabetes, obesity, dementia, arthritis, osteoporosis and autoimmune disease.

Our liver regulates multiple hormones, including vasopressin, angiotensin, insulin, estrogen, testosterone, and Vitamin D (a hormone we make with sunlight and magnesium). If you want healthy balanced hormones, you’ll need a clean, well-functioning liver. That’s why nutritional fasts and liver detoxes are good for natural hormone balance.

Chronic dehydration and nutrient deficiencies cause our endocrine glands to suffer, especially deficiencies of good fats and minerals. Low fat diets can harm your hormone health. So can trans-fats and margarines that make you feel like you're eating fats when you're not.

Given the challenges of poor nutrition in modern processed-foods, mineral depletion of agricultural soils, and widespread environmental toxins, some people may want the help of a doctor who specializes in bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. A simple blood analysis will reveal where your hormone levels are. Don't be surprised if you're severely Vitamin D deficient. Most urbanites are, because they spend their days indoors, and because they lack magnesium—the most common nutrient deficiency in the modernized world.

But beware of conventional doctors offering pharmaceutical synthetic hormones. Synthetic hormones have a history of increasing cancer risk. Know the difference between synthetic estrogen in drugs like Premarin and bio-identical estrodial or progesterone compounded from plants. Your body will certainly know the difference.

Our hormones can change quickly, adapting to changes in our environment. Chronic stress can override our natural balance with too much cortisol and adrenaline, leaving us feeling anxious, reactive and lost. Learn to turn it down a notch for better hormone health.

 

— FURTHER READING