LEt’s Talk Hormones
One of the most common issues that I help clients work through is understanding their hormones and how our hormones impact many functions within the body
Birds of a feather… flock together.
Estrogen and Cortisol
When estrogen rises cortisol also rises and vice versa.
Acute stress activates increased production of cortisol which drives estrogen levels through the roof, creating a body that is estrogen dominant.
Estrogen can increase for many reasons such as
Toxins
Candida
Metals
Molds
Xenoestrogen sources (plastics, pesticides, chemicals etc)
Cortisol will increase right along with estrogen leading to high cortisol which creates a downward spiral in MANY body functions. Remember, the body can only heal when body, mind and spirit are working together in harmony and in balance.
If left unresolved, over time acute stress turns into chronic stress which creates
LOW estrogen
LOW cortisol
If estrogen isn’t functioning you can’t support a pregnancy and you will feel terrible.
Progesterone and Thyroid
When progesterone levels drop thyroid levels also drop and vice versa. If you have Hypothyroid (under active thyroid) there is a HIGH chance that you will also have LOW progesterone levels. If your have LOW progesterone, you will also pull the functionally of the Thyroid down.
The Thyroid produces hormones that activate mitochondria to all the cells in your body. If your mitochondria function drops your heart, brain, liver, muscle, gut and all other cells suffer. If your thyroid function drops by 10%… every other system in the body drops by 10%.
Did you know…
The Thyroid has to drop to 70% function or less to detect a problem on a blood test with actual Thyroid markers? However, the body gives us many clues before the 70% mark to tell us that we are in the early stages of Thyroid dysfunction.
Blood Sugar and Testosterone
The more metabolically unregulated you are the more insulin resistant you become. Insulin resistance is foundational issue behind nearly every illness (chronic or otherwise.) When your blood sugar is unregulated your adrenal hormones are converted into testosterone because testosterone increases your body’s response to insulin. This is a temporary fix!
Women to do not have the ability to produce testosterone the same way that men do, so a female will develop cysts that can produce testosterone, this is the body’s way of attempting to regulate blood sugar. This condition is referred to as PCOS.
For women, these cysts end up producing EXCESS testosterone which then must be converted back into estrogen through aromatase enzyme. This is why it is SO COMMON to see high estrogen paired with high androgen hormones (byproducts of testosterone)
The excess estrogen then LOWERS Thyroid function and RAISES cortisol.
Now lets talk inverse relationships…
Progesterone and Cortisol
When Cortisol rises Progesterone tanks. and vice versa.
Progesterone is a vital hormone for fertility. It is needed to get pregnant and STAY pregnant. Proper Progesterone levels also provide women a much easier and less painful menstrual cycle. If your adrenals become overloaded with stress they are unable to meet the demand for cortisol to keep the pace that is requested by the brain.
At which point the adrenals call in backup.
They send out an enzyme that converts progesterone into cortisol. Which pushes cortisol levels SKY HIGH.
Estrogen then rises right along with it (remember birds of a feather flock together) This puts the body in a state of chronic stress and estrogen dominance without any policemen (progesterone) to balance out the system. This expression leads to painful periods and infertility among many other nasty symptoms.
Estrogen and Thyroid
When Estrogen rises the Thyroid goes down. and vice versa. This is a BIG root cause driver behind Hypothyroidism.
NOTE: Estrogen can mimic and increase with metals and Candida. Parasites are a SPONGE for metals and metals can’t be detoxed without methylation, minerals, and proper vitamins. This is why blood work is SO IMPORTANT.
This pattern exacerbates mitochondrial dysfunction. Including metabolic rate. When I have female clients that are hardly eating and still gaining weight OR they are doing all the right things and can’t lose wait, it is typically because of this hormone pattern.
The Liver
All of these hormones any many others have to go through the liver, the liver is the body’s central hub. All of these hormones must be metabolized in the liver with the help of specific nutrients. When it comes to hormonal dysfunction the liver is a leading lady.
This is largely due to the fact that the vast majority of metabolic function of insulin happens in the liver. Insulin has the largest metabolic activity in the liver. (200,000 receptor sites)
If the liver is burdened we will see blood sugar issues, if there are blood sugar issues there will be an increased stress load AND liver issues and if there is stress and liver issues there will absolutely be hormonal issues and the stagnation of the body’s ability to detox.
SO What do we do? First we pull Blood Work!
We support the liver, we strengthen the body’s ability to detox, we address STRESS and blood sugar issues, we detox (if appropriate)
Reishi Spores for liver support
Schisandra for liver support, glutathione production and blood sugar
Golden Thread for blood sugar support
Clean up the diet (remove all processed foods and foods with added sugars)
Bathes with magnesium
Breathwork
Quantum Healing
Grounding
Red Light Therapy
Iodine and Selenium (for Thyroid support)
Meditation for stress management
Dedicated and consistent exercise routine
Hormone imbalances, PCOS, infertility, painful periods, loss of libido, acne, weight gain and so much more can be HEALED not managed but HEALED.
Blood work tells your story, you just need the proper lens to know how to read it. That is where I come in.
As always,
Be well and Live in Good Medicine.
-A
