If you are a woman experiencing mood swings, irritability, sleep disturbances, and digestive problems, have you considered that your hormones might cause this? I am sure you have not! Let me tell you why. Female hormones are like a symphony. If one goes out of whack, the others will follow, wreaking havoc on your body's normal hormone-driven processes.
Most women do not understand the importance of hormones and neglect a possible hormonal imbalance that may be causing all these unwanted symptoms. If you don't want to be one of those women, please read on to learn more about hormones.

What are hormones?

Hormones are chemical substances produced in your body that greatly affect your mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. They serve as messengers carrying signals from one part of your body to another to regulate important bodily functions.
Hormone imbalance in women is normal during different phases of their life. You may also experience a change in your hormone levels during puberty, before and after menstruation, during pregnancy and during menopause. It is totally natural, except some specific health conditions or medications can also cause hormone imbalance which is why you need to visit your doctor when you experience symptoms of hormone imbalance.

What are the symptoms of hormone imbalance?

The symptoms of hormone imbalance are vast, and there is a lot to add to the bucket when enlisting these symptoms. Let us tell you the major signs which you might experience when your hormones are out of balance:

• Fatigue
• Irregular periods
• Mood swings
• Irritability
• Abdominal cramps
• Sudden weight change
• Sleep disturbances
• Acne
• Hirsutism
• Digestive problems
  

What are the major female sex hormones?

The entire system of sex and reproduction in females is controlled and regulated by hormones. The most important reproductive hormones in the female body are estrogen, progesterone, and androgens. They influence every sexual or reproductive change that occurs in your body from the start of puberty to menopause. Let's understand the role of each of these:

Estrogen: Besides its main function, i.e., regulation of the menstrual cycle, estrogen also maintains bone health by bone development and regulates several cardiac, urinary, and vascular functions in females.

Progesterone: Progesterone is the most important regulatory hormone for reproduction and pregnancy in your body. It is released by your ovaries mostly during the second half of your menstrual cycle, helps maintain your menstrual balance, and prepares your body for pregnancy. During the first trimester of pregnancy, it is released by the placenta to protect the fetus and fulfil its nutritional requirements. Progesterone also stimulates the development of mammary glands in breasts for milk production.

Androgens: Usually thought to be male-specific hormones, androgens are also produced in small amounts in females. They are produced by ovaries and adrenal glands and perform important reproductive functions. Testosterone is the most important androgen produced in the female body, the absence of which can cause acne, hirsutism, fatigue, loss of libido, weight gain, mood swings, irregular menstruation, and even infertility.

Why do hormones lose balance?

Generally, a lazy and sedentary lifestyle with a lack of physical activity and unhealthy eating habits can wreak havoc on a woman's normal hormone balance. Hormone imbalance can occur due to natural causes like menopause, breastfeeding, and pregnancy. In other cases, hormone imbalance can result from underlying diseases like diabetes, cancer, genetic disorders, or cardiovascular diseases. Other culprits of hormone imbalance include stress, trauma or injury, or the use of certain medications (birth control pills)
Let us discuss some major causes of unnatural hormone imbalance:

Stress: Unfortunately, stress is a stranger to no one. Every woman is likely to feel stressed in her life at one point or another. Staying under stress for prolonged periods can increase your body's stress hormones, i.e., cortisol and adrenaline, to an extent causing imbalance and affecting other hormones. This leads to insomnia, irregular menstruation, obesity, fertility issues, and reduced libido.

Diabetes: Diabetes and hormonal imbalance are linked both ways. Usually, diabetes develops as a result of hormone imbalance. When your body develops a resistance to insulin and the blood sugar levels begin to rise, the pancreas works hard to produce more insulin, but it can't keep up with the rising insulin resistance. As a result, high blood glucose levels lead to type II diabetes. However, diabetes also causes further hormone imbalances in your body.

Medications: Some medications, especially birth control pills, can cause havoc in your hormonal system. Birth control pills contain synthetic hormones. Normally, the natural estrogen and progesterone formed in your body bind to particular receptors specific to these hormones. However, taking synthetic progesterone as birth control pills can throw your body off balance. This is because synthetic hormones can also bind to other receptors, which can send inaccurate signals to your brain, causing unwanted physiological responses that can lead to many hormonal problems.

How do you balance hormones naturally?

You are mistaken if you believe you have to take a handful of medications to restore your hormone balance. To get your hormonal cycle back on track, the best approach is to adopt natural ways and incorporate healthy habits into your routine.

Here are some tips for natural hormone balance:

• Be more physically active, increase your daily step count and incorporate at least 10-20 minutes of exercise daily.
• Maintain a moderate weight with a normal Body Mass Index (BMI) to avoid weight-related hormonal issues.
• Ensure your gut is healthy by eating fibre and gut-friendly foods like oats, whole grains, fruits, and nuts.
• Maintain a healthy sleep routine. Go to bed early and wake up early. Ensure 8 hours of undisturbed sleep daily.
• Try to reduce your stress levels and adopt healthy habits which keep you stress-free, like spending time in nature and with your friends and family.
• Quit smoking and alcohol intake.
• Avoid eating sugary, processed foods. Replace unhealthy snacks with healthy choices like fruits and nuts.
• Consume more proteins, fibres, and healthy fats.
• Sync your menstrual cycle with diet and exercise to achieve the best possible hormone balance.
  

Conclusion

There is no denying that achieving a healthy hormone balance is not easy, but it is not impossible. Adopting healthy habits with good physical activity and dietary adjustments can set you on the track of natural hormone balance. We hope that this blog has helped ignite your thoughts on hormone imbalance and given insight into what has been causing those everyday mood swings and how you can help your body get rid of them. However, there is still much more to talk about hormone balance which is why we have developed a full-fledged book on female hormone balance which contains every little detail on the important female hormones, how they get out of balance, the causes and symptoms, and what you can do to restore the balance. It contains:

• 20 natural hormone-balancing herbs
• 12 diet and lifestyle tips
• foods you need to avoid
• 20 recipes and 12 exercises to sync with your menstrual cycle