You think your diet is on point, you exercise every day, and you take supplements, so why are you still dealing with the same symptoms day in day out? The answer often lies in your hormones. Sex hormones are sneaky buggers and there are so many contributing factors that cause imbalances. That is why treating the hormonal imbalances with supplements is just a band-aid solution by simply covering up your symptoms and not getting to the root cause. The root cause could be anything from gut issues (#1 contributor to hormone imbalances) or sluggish liver (resulting in a backup of toxic material in your body). It can also be driven by an improper diet and exercise regimen that isn’t specific to you.
However, your hormonal imbalances don’t have to hinder your progress. I for many years thought that it was impossible to lose weight and feel good because my hormones were imbalanced. I threw my hands up in the air and said impossible! However, I have since learned that your hormones aren’t the be-all-and-end-all and there were things that I didn’t realize I was doing that delayed my health journey. When you fix the way you look at your lifestyle, you balance your hormones naturally allowing you to lose weight and get rid of the lousy symptoms. And the best part? You can do this without having to take 100 supplements or hormone replacement therapy so that you can start living your best life!
So Why Can’t I Lose Weight & Still Feel Lousy?
1. You could be eating ALL the healthy foods but…
🍃you’re not eating enough protein – protein is the building block for our cells and is required to synthesize the enzymes required to produce your hormones. For example, researchers from the University of Massachusetts Medical School found that low protein diets were found to increase sex hormone-binding globulin in older men, which sticks to testosterone, making it unavailable for use by the body.
🍃you’re eating foods you’re sensitive to - an inflamed gut is the #1 cause of hormonal imbalances and food sensitivities are a major contributor because they cause inflammation. Studies have also shown that histamine production (produced in the body with food sensitivities) increases estrogen production, leading to estrogen dominance.
🍃you’re not eating enough and/or you’re not eating enough carbohydrates - when you are not nourishing your body appropriately it responds by holding onto adipose tissue and estrogen loves adipose tissue. Eating too few carbs can also suppress your leptin levels, the hormone that tells you that you are full, which interferes with leptin’s ability to regulate your sex hormones.
🍃you aren’t eating for your Metabolic Type – everyone metabolizes their fuel (ie. food) differently which is why there is no one-size-fits-all diet for everyone. Depending on how you metabolize fuel it has huge implications on the ratio of macronutrients you should eat (macronutrients = carbohydrates, proteins & fat). You can read more about Metabolic Typing in another BLOG found here
2. So, what about exercise…I exercise every day, and nothing is working?
🍃your intensity is too high - when you exercise, your body gets stressed out and produces cortisol. However, when this stress becomes chronic you no longer produce cortisol at appropriate levels and therefore it becomes less responsive, leaving your body in an exhaustive state & taxing out your adrenals. At this point our body first uses up any cortisol that is available and then begins to steal sex hormones, especially progesterone to produce it. When progesterone levels fall, the ratio between estrogen and progesterone gets thrown off balance and estrogen dominance occurs.
🍃you’re focused only on cardio and are not doing resistance training – cardio is important for your cardiovascular health, however resistance training has shown to have a multitude of benefits to your hormones and overall health. Studies have shown that resistance training improves testosterone levels in both males and females.
🍃you’re not prioritizing rest and specifically sleep - When the body becomes stressed because of sleep difficulties, the brain suppresses the production of sex hormones like estrogen and testosterone in favor of stress hormones like cortisol. This shift in hormone levels can lead to decreased sex drive, infertility, or erectile dysfunction.
3. The other thing to consider is that you could be doing everything perfectly but…
🍃you have pathogens or a parasite that you’re completely unaware of and it’s stealing your nutrients. When you are nutrient deficient, you lack the building blocks required to create your hormones. Many people with pathogens or parasites don’t have physical symptoms so it often becomes an unknown root cause of your hormone imbalances.
🍃you aren’t managing your stress – stress raises your cortisol levels as we already discussed and that has major impact to your sex hormones
🍃your liver is sluggish – the liver is responsible for many functions in the body including regulating metabolism, storing vitamins, minerals & nutrients, glycogen storage and conversion for energy, cholesterol production (needed as the precursor for hormone production), parasite protection and detoxification of toxins. Detoxification happens in two phases. In Phase I the liver uses oxygen and enzymes to break down toxins (oxidation) to make them more soluble in water to be excreted. These by-products are actually more toxic than the original toxins! To remove these by-products, the liver goes through Phase II detoxification to conjugate the toxic by-products so that they can be excreted through urine or stool. If there is a “backlog” in this process it can cause the highly toxic by-products including excess hormones such as estrogen to recirculate through the bloodstream resulting in elevated levels of these hormones.
Why is it so important to get to get your hormones back into balance naturally?
Unfortunately, we all think we are invincible until we get sick. It’s at this point that our health journey gets kickstarted and unfortunately sometimes it’s too late. Weight loss is one thing, but imbalanced hormones, if left unchecked, can result in some serious diseases including autoimmunity, cancer, kidney disease and diabetes.
When I was diagnosed with hormonal breast cancer, I had no idea my hormones were out of whack, but I knew I didn’t feel right. I just didn’t act on it and after uncovering how estrogen dominant I was, no medical professional could tell me why! This pushed me to talk to a Functional Practitioner who did testing to uncover the root causes and provided me with an individualized plan for me.
So why not start digging into your hormones now? Before the aches and pains…Before the onset of disease…so that you can age gracefully. What is that worth to you? It doesn’t have to be just about weight loss. Unfortunately, we need to take charge of our own health in today’s world. It’s time to take charge now! Book a Discovery Call with me for FREE here.
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