The Women's Guide to Hormonal Harmony: How to Rebalance Your Hormones, Master Your Metabolism, and Become the Boss of Your Own Body. By Lacey Dunn
Part 1: Hormones
Remember these truths: Your diagnosis is not your destiny. Your body is not your identity. Your worth is defined by you, and you alone- not by others.
What are hormones? Hormones are chemical messengers that play crucial roles in regulating your metabolism, appetite, stress response, emotions, mood, immune system, and so much more. For example, estrogen is not just in charge of helping regulate your menstrual cycle, it is also in charge of helping regulate your mood, bone health, memory, and cardiovascular function. Estrogen plays essential roles in female reproduction, cardiovascular health, metabolism, memory, maintenance of lean muscle tissues, bone health, and body temperature, Progesterone is required for a healthy menstrual cycle and pregnancy by regulating the uterine lining, stabilizes mood, enhances sleep; the calming and relaxing hormone Testosterone is responsible for the growth and maintenance of muscle tissue, motivation, libido, and energy levels and is produced from DHEA. Pregnenolone serves as a precursor to your sex hormones as the “mother hormone” and can be converted into progesterone or DHEA and is created mostly by dietary fat and cholesterol. DHEA is a precursor to testosterone that is produced by your adrenal glands and impacted by the stress response and is considered the “anti-aging hormone”. Insulin regulates the use of fuel from your food and directs your body in how to use and store it. It is produced by the pancreas in response to glucose levels in the blood and acts as a “key” that allows glucose to enter your cells to be used for energy. Ghrelin is the hunger hormone produced to increase your appetite and hunger levels. Leptin is a hormone produced by your fat cells as a marker of energy availability and affects your metabolic thermostat to manage body fat and body weight, and regulates your appetite. Thyroid hormone controls your metabolism, heart rate, body temperature, digestion, and cognition (really affects every cell of your body!). Cortisol largely controls your fight-or-flight stress response, as well as your blood sugar, blood pressure, immune function, and anxiety. Oxytocin provides the “love” or “feel good” hormone and helps to facilitate bonding and also stimulates contractions to induce childbirth. Vitamin D serves as a precursor to your hormones and impacts your immune system, bone health, inflammation, & insulin sensitivity; is made from sunlight or dietary cholesterol. If you want hormonal harmony, you have to assess and treat each hormonal system, including your adrenal, thyroid, and sex hormones. Not only that, but you need to optimize what influences each system, including your gut, lifestyle habits, and mindset. So if holistic health refers to the whole body, what does functional health and functional medicine mean? Functional medicine refers to a systems biology-based approach that focuses on treating the whole person, not just the disease. It involves more than just band-aiding symptoms (such as birth control for PMS or an antidepressant for depression), but aims to identify and address the root cause of symptoms in order to promote and achieve health and well being.
The following tests are what the author uses in practice along with this questionnaire to identify and diagnose hormonal conditions. DUTCH Complete (hormones only) or DUTCH Plus (if suspected adrenal/cortisol issues). Blood lab markers (you may order through your primary care doctor or self-order through Ulta Labs, MyMedlab, Direct Labs, or Any Lab Test Now). General labs suggested: CMP, TSH, Free T4, Free T3, TPO antibodies, TgAB antibodies, sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG), Estradiol, Progesterone, Free Testosterone, Ferritin, Serum Iron, % Iron Saturation, TIBC, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12, Iodine, RBC Zinc, RBC Magnesium, Serum Copper, GI-Map stool test for assessing intestinal permeability, dysbiosis, infections, overgrowths, and parasites, Hydrogen/ Methane breathe test for SIBO. If thyroid labs are normal but you still have symptoms or suspect cortisol issues, add: Reverse T3, 4 Point Salivary Cortisol, homocysteine, and CRP.
DISCLAIMER: Please work with a health care professional when ordering these tests. I personally recommend the Stram Center (they are functional medicine doctors).
***Next week we dive into our cycles and what they mean for us!
