Are Your Hormones Out of Whack?

Mention the word 'hormones' and it most likely conjures up the image of a woman who is out of sorts, possibly suffering with pre-menstrual syndrome or in the grip of menopause. However, women need not be the only focus here, as men can be affected too!

Both men and women have identical hormones (just in different amounts), and good health and ultimate wellness are dependent on the delicate balance of these chemical messengers. Think of hormones as musical instruments in an orchestra, each playing its own part in the creation of a perfect concert -that is, until one is out of tune and disrupts the entire melody, flipping your world upside down!

Unfortunately, once we enter our thirties, available testosterone levels in both men and women begin to diminish, and because the human body functions within a relatively narrow range of normal, there can be consequences that affect the body at a cellular, organ or systemic (body-wide) level when this occurs.

Until recently, the outward appearance of a typical middle-aged man or woman -with increased abdominal fat, sagging muscles, and the loss of wellbeing, sometimes manifesting as depression -was attributed to 'getting old', and we were expected to accept the fact that our bodies were entering into a long degenerative decline.

So what's changed?

A remarkable amount of data has been compiled indicating that many of the diseases that we begin experiencing in midlife are directly related to hormone imbalances. Such diseases include depression, fatigue, mood swings, weight gain, infertility, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, and prostate and heart disease. To our detriment though, conventional doctors are increasingly prescribing drugs to treat these and a host of other diseases that in fact are so easily corrected without all the harrowing side-effects of modern medicine, by the simple use of a dietary supplement and a few small lifestyle changes.

The Critical Twins - Oestrogen and Testosterone

The balancing ratio between oestrogen and testosterone is absolutely critical to good health and wellness, especially as we grow older.

However our modern lifestyles that include toxic diets, stress and polluted environmental factors are making it virtually impossible for our body's immune system to cope with the onslaught of synthetic chemical oestrogens that we are bombarded with every day of our lives.

Our modern world is filled with wonderful conveniences that most of us can't even begin to imagine being without. We relish the comfort of microwaving a meal, grabbing a bottle of water on the way to the gym and having an endless choice of products to select from supermarket shelves. But as time goes on, many of us are beginning to recognise the drawbacks that accompany life's many luxuries, especially those in the form of harmful chemicals. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals known as xeno-oestrogens offer a prime example.

These petroleum-based synthetic chemical oestrogens are present in our food, water supply and the air that we breathe. They compromise normal hormone function by mimicking the effects of oestrogen. Whilst oestrogen (like every other hormone produced naturally in the body) is needed to transport signals from one cell to another, these foreign chemicals, combined with the body's natural supply of oestrogen, together result in a disease-causing excess.

Research has shown that this testosterone deficiency-oestrogen dominance cycle is not only linked to high rates of breast cancer, but also contributes to endometriosis, miscarriages, thyroid disorders, behavioural problems in children, and girls entering puberty 5-7 years earlier than their grandparents did. In men the prognosis is no better, with reports of decreased sperm counts and an increase of prostate and testicular cancers.

The balancing act

While it may be impossible to avoid these endocrine-disrupting xeno-oestrogens altogether, there are ways to minimise your daily exposure and correct the imbalance for a more stable frame of mind and a healthier future. Simple steps can make a huge difference, and a good place to start is to examine exactly what it is you are eating.

Wherever possible:

• Choose organic foods and buy 'hormone-free' meat and dairy products. Non-organic foods are coated with pesticides and the animals are actually injected with xeno-oestrogens to make them gain weight faster.


• Avoid all dairy products. These are loaded with xeno-oestrogens and growth hormones, which nature intended for calf consumption, not human.


• Optimise hormonal levels and ratios with an aromatase inhibiting dietary supplement.


• Limit your exposure to chlorine by drinking and bathing in filtered water.


• Reduce the use of plastics, and never microwave food in plastic containers.


• Minimise your exposure to nail polish and nail polish removers.


• Avoid creams and cosmetics that contain toxic chemicals and oestrogenic ingredients such as parabens and stearalkonium chloride.