What You Need to Know About Hormones and Aging
Aging is a fact of life. It’s not good, it’s not bad, it’s just something we all do with time. As we age, our bodies change. One thing that starts to change within our bodies as we age, is our hormones. They can get out of balance, and as a result, we experience undesirable effects mentally, physically, and even emotionally.
Today, we’ll cover three hormones that have a direct impact on your body that you may not realize that you actually have the power to control. Those three hormones are insulin, cortisol, and vitamin D. Insulin is affected by the foods you eat. For example, people who consume a lot of sugar, carbohydrates and processed foods are more likely to have high levels of insulin. These high levels can lead to being pre-diabetic, or having type one or type two diabetes.
Cortisol is related to stress. When we are stressed, our body produces it to protect us. The problem is our body doesn’t know if the reason we are stressed is not about survival. We could be overproducing the hormone as a result of stress due to divorce, financial issues, or a whole host of other problems.
Finally, there’s vitamin D which many people think is a vitamin. It’s actually a hormone, and when our levels of it are low, it can cause us to have symptoms and feelings of depression. Your pineal gland and pituitary gland, your thyroid and adrenals secrete these and other hormones (such as testosterone, estrogen, and human growth hormone) into your body.
The Impact Of Hormonal Imbalance On Your Body
The hormones are linked together, so when you’re affecting one, the impact can eventually filter to the other hormones. And, these hormones are linked to every function and system in your body. That’s why having a hormone imbalance isn’t a good thing. It can lead to chronic illness and other complications such as the diagnoses of depression and diabetes that we mentioned earlier.
The question then, is if aging already has the possibility of naturally putting our hormones out of balance, is there anything we can do about it? For some people, they jump to the conclusion that they should try hormone therapy. The problem with this idea, however, is that while in the first days of trying hormone therapy you may start to feel better, over time it can actually make your body worse.
For example, if you start taking testosterone, your body stops producing it because it perceives that your body already has enough of it. Now, you may be able to afford it, but hormone therapy can get expensive, and if your body stops producing a hormone you may need to take it for the rest of your life. To make matters worse though, you may never heal what’s actually wrong with you because you are not addressing the root cause of your hormone imbalance. To put it another way, by taking synthetic hormones, you’re merely putting a band-aid on something that needs surgery.
The Better Way to Handle a Hormonal Imbalance
What should you do then? The better way is to change your diet and exercise regime. Nutrition is incredibly powerful, and what we put in our bodies can have a significant impact on our hormone levels.
Cutting out sugar and carbs can lower your insulin levels for instance. Working out and de-stressing your mind can regulate your cortisol levels. Getting out into the sun can improve your vitamin D levels. We’ve seen diabetes be reversed, cortisol levels level out, and vitamin D deficiencies corrected.
While every case may be different, the bottom line is this: you can’t expect your body to be healed by implementing “quick fixes.” You can age gracefully, and keep your hormones balanced. It may not be fast, but correcting imbalances the right way will yield far better results over time, and we can help you do it both naturally and in the best way for your body.