During menopause, there is a large proliferation of doctors prescribing antidepressants instead of optimizing patient’s hormone levels. How can you get control of your hormones?
Start with your diet. Can you eat For Hormonal Balance?
You will know your diet is hormonally balanced when you are free of cravings, your energy is high, your mood is balanced and your body is running efficiently.
First, avoid these hormone hindering foods.
- Avoid foods that have chemicals such as hormones, antibiotics and pesticides. They tend to cause hormonal imbalances which lead to weight gain
- Avoid eating or drinking hot food from plastic containers or using oil stored in plastic bottles. The oil or hot food causes the chemicals to leech out and consuming these may lead to “estrogen dominance” which causes weight gain and can lead to estrogen-based cancers
- Avoid foods containing aspartame and other artificial sweeteners
- Avoid foods containing artificial coloring, preservatives, sulphites and nitrites
These Hormones, when properly balanced, can increase your mood and give you are better sense of well-being.
There are two ways to accumulate excess estrogen in the body: we either produce too much of it on our own or acquire it from our environment or diet. We’re constantly exposed to estrogen-like compounds in foods that contain toxic pesticides, herbicides and growth hormones. A premenopausal woman with estrogen dominance will likely have PMS, too much body fat around the hips and difficulty losing weight. Menopausal women and men may experience low libido, memory loss, poor motivation, depression, loss of muscle mass and increased belly fat.
Testosterone enhances libido, bone density, muscle mass, strength, motivation, memory, fat burning and skin tone in both men and women. When testosterone is low, an increase of body fat and loss of muscle may still happen – even with dieting and exercise.
Testosterone levels tend to taper off with age, increased obesity and stress, but today men are experiencing testosterone decline much earlier in life — an alarming finding, considering low testosterone has been linked to depression, obesity, osteoporosis, heart disease and even death.
Human Growth Hormone (HGH)
- It is essential for growth. This hormone controls everything from the proliferation of cells to the more complex metabolic reactions.
- It causes the actual increase in the size and number of cells by increasing mitotic division. It also causes specific differentiation of certain types of cells like bones and muscles .
- The growth hormone is also active in the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Protein metabolism: HGH causes increased amino acid uptake, increased protein synthesis and decreased oxidation of proteins.
- Fat metabolism: HGH enhances the utilization of fat — gives your body the ability to break down fat cells more efficiently.
- Carbohydrate metabolism: HGH is one of several hormones that maintain blood sugar within a normal range.
Source: http://www.medindia.net/patients/patientinfo/HumanGrowthHormone_Function.htm#ixzz2SF8EaJFD
Balance your hormones either with your diet or with Hormone Replacement Therapy for a great sense of well-being.