Tag: Hormonal Balance

Oxytocin has shown to improve the quality of life, leaving you healthier and happier. It enhances mother-child bonding and helps in breastfeeding and childbirth. It boosts sex drive, loyalty, and intimacy between lovers, making it ideal for couple therapy. It makes you more social, while discouraging drug and alcohol addiction. It fosters trust and calms your nerves.

Gamma linolenic acid (GLA) is good news for women. Adding GLA to your diet can help ease hormone-related symptoms like water retention, breast tenderness, cramps, and irritability. Its anti-inflammatory properties help renew the skin. It boosts immunity, reduces cholesterol, and relieves arthritis. It activates brown fat that burns calories and keeps you on the leaner side.

Avocados are rich in nutrients, fatty acids, and plant sterols. They contain healthy fats, making them good for weight management. The plant sterols promote the production of estrogen in women and testosterone in men and also maintain the right progesterone balance in women. They also inhibit both synthesis and release of insulin, keeping it within healthy limits.

Hormonal changes affect EVERYONE from birth to death. Hormonal balance is vital to a healthy, cancer-free mind and body, but can be disrupted in...

Fat can sometimes be difficult to budge, despite eating healthy and working out daily. Excess estrogen and low progesterone can lead to a vicious "fat deposition - estrogen increase" cycle. Increase in levels of harmful bacteria in the gut can lead to fat gain. Lack of sleep and anti-depressants tend to increase food cravings. Your genes could be to blame too!

Hormonal fluctuations during perimenopause and menopause can get in the way of a good night's sleep. Avoid physical and emotional stimulants - caffeine, TV, arguments. Avoid high-carbs and alcohol. Keep your bedroom well-ventilated, cool and quiet. Maintain a consistent bed-time. Inhale or apply Lavender essential oil and have a cup of Passion Flower or Valerian tea to induce a calming effect.

When under stress, your body goes into preservation mode, storing fat instead of burning it. Stress hormone - Adrenalin spikes blood sugar levels triggering insulin production that leads to fat storage. Constant stress keeps you always in 'fight or flight' mode and blocks the 'rest and digest' system functions. Negative emotions cause unmindful binging, leading to obesity.

Organic foods have more vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and micro-nutrients and taste better. They are free from toxic chemical residue and GMO risks. Organic eggs, dairy and other animal products, don't contain antibiotics, drugs and growth hormones. Organic farming promotes agricultural diversity, keeps farmland healthy and helps preserve the ecosystem.

Excessive, unexplained tiredness as increased cortisol levels keep the body in a continued alert state. Excessive sugar/salt cravings due to lowered blood sugar and increased elimination of salts in urine. Heightened energy in the evenings due to high cortisol levels. Difficulty in handling stress. More prone to infections due to lowered immunity. Imbalanced hormones.

Low-fat diets are often high in carbs. High fructose corn syrup, simple sugars and additives in processed foods, trigger food cravings. Food allergies, gluten sensitivity and bacterial infections hamper digestion. Chronic stress impairs thyroid and adrenal function and increases levels of insulin and cortisol. Any or all of these could lead to weight gain.

Holy basil is an adaptogenic herb that brings the endocrine and hormone system back to balance. People with a high caffeine intake, who are always anxious and stressed out, have trouble shutting off their brain at night, have insomnia or keep waking up often throughout the night should take Holy Basil supplements. It brings down cortisol levels and reverses adrenal fatigue.

Morning blues signify a poor sleep-wake cycle, throwing some key hormones off balance. Waking up early, going to bed on time and practicing yoga regularly can help. Keep the room naturally lit, reduce caffeine intake towards the evenings, have a light dinner and switch off all electronics before bedtime. Waking up to a pleasant view can also help.

Melatonin supplements help the body adjust to new surroundings. Take 0.5 mg tablet once a day for three nights, an hour before bedtime. Adjust your sleeping patterns to the destination time before travelling. Try homeopathic remedies like No Jet Lag which works for anxiety and sleep. Also Valerian herb helps prevent morning grogginess and is not addictive.

Hair loss may indicate lack of nutrients like iron, calcium, zinc, folate and protein. Anemia can lower hemoglobin levels that impact hair growth, color and texture. Metabolic disorders (diabetes, liver dysfunction), hormonal imbalances (endocrine disorders, thyroid), stress and unhealthy lifestyle choices lead to premature thinning of hair, graying and hairfall.

You should exercise mainly for the health benefits rather than for being skinny or chasing a dress size. Your minds forces you to quit when your workout regimen becomes a punishment. Exercise helps you in neurogenesis, boosting natural 'feel good' hormones, creativity, reducing stress and in establishing new connections between brain cells.