Are you a woman?
Do you suffer with irregular cycles?
Do you have to get rid of unsightly facial and/or body hair?
Do you have thinning hair?
Do you struggle to lose weight despite a healthy diet and exercise?
If you answered 'Yes' to any of these questions, even just the first one without any of the others, then you may have hormonal imbalance.
It is incredibly common in women, often left undiagnosed as women are made to feel really crap about going to the GP with women's ishoos. I'm here to tell you that you are not alone. You do not have to suffer. There IS a better way.
What are Hormones ?
Hormones are messengers in the body that generally travel through the bloodstream to convey a message that regulates various body functions, such as: growth, reproduction, immune response, emotions, hunger, metabolism and tissue regeneration. Different hormones control different things and illicit different reactions. These reactions can be positive or negative. For example, I have PolyCystic Ovarian Syndrome, this affects each sufferer differently, but tests have shown that mine creates an abnormally high level of Testosterone (the male hormone). Testosterone controls things like muscle and hair growth, so I have a tash, a treasure trail line and a great set of 'mum-guns' !
I say 'have' but it should really read 'had'. As with lots of things, treating the symptoms of something, whether that be obesity or PCOS, does nothing to help to the root cause. If we focus on the root cause, then the symptoms disappear. So, instead of dealing with heart disease (for the obese person), let's look at why they are obese and sort that. For me, addressing the imbalance of hormones has regulated my cycles, given me healthy nails and a full head of hair, amongst many other things.
So, What Can You Do About It?
The honest answer, lots. So much so it can be overwhelming. I have compiled the ten best ways to re-Balance hormones in my eBook - leave your email here to receive your copy
However, we'll go through a few things here too:
1. Reduce Stress
Although stress is a natural mechanism, to help keep us prepared for 'normal' challenges, most modern lifestyles add more daily stress than our bodies were made to handle. In fact, studies have shown that modern, everyday stresses, if left unchecked, can negatively impact our health; chronic stress uses the progesterone needed to balance oestrogen and converts it to adrenalin and cortisol (the death hormone), which can lead to oestrogen dominance.
I know that it is not always possible to eliminate stress (heck ,did you read my bio - I had three kids under three y'all !), even little changes can have a massive impact.
Mindfulness, meditation and Yoga are things that I have found helpful, not necessarily to get rid of the daily stress but to be less stressed about it.
The website name gives this next bit away, but I can't write a post about balancing hormones without talking about the big player in my wellness toolkit - essential oils.
Now, you're probably thinking, "oh yeah ! I smell something nice (or not so nice) and voila all my problems disappear". But i'm here to tell you that they are so much than scents - Google "essential oils blood-brain barrier".
I'm not going to go in to how the oils work in this post. Just trust me when I say they do and if that's not enough, try them for yourself !
- Roman Chamomile essential oil - has calming and relaxing properties.
- Royal Hawaiian™ Sandalwood essential oil - encourages deeper meditation.
- Neroli essential oil - encourages confidence, hopefulness, and peace.
- Lavender Essential Oil - calms the mind and body.
- Cedarwood Essential Oil - promotes relaxation, balance, and increased mental focus.
- Valerian Essential Oil - was historically regarded for its calming properties.
- Ylang Ylang Essential Oil - relaxes the mind and uplifts emotions.
- Peace & Calming II essential oil blend - contains a mix of oils all renowned for their calming effects
- Stress-Away essential oils blend - this just does what it says on the tin !
There are SO many more, but these are some of my favourites. Find one that works for you and USE it.
2. Eliminate Toxins
The sad truth is that we live in a toxic world. Everything from the food we eat to the things we clean with are toxic.
Our endocrine system is delicate; the littlest things upset it and yet it is VITAL to keep it at its best.
So, what can we do about it?
Well, first things first remember that whatever you put on your skin goes in to your body. I set myself a goal at the beginning of the year that I wouldn't put anything on my body that I couldn't eat. Bold move, Ally ! We're now in September I can say there is only one occasion when I slipped - I was away at a conference and forgot my normal hair washing products and i didn't have the ingredients to make a dry shampoo to hand, so I had to buy something. Now, I purchased something natural and organic. Was it still full of crap ? Almost definitely. But hey, if that's my only slip up, i'm happy. My body is thanking me.
This may sound like a drastic step, but is it really ?
The amount of chemicals in our homes in scary. On average, it is said that women come in to contact with approximately 168 chemicals and men 83 in any one day. Eurgh ! I hate that figure.
I am proud that we are now a chemical free home. We'll talk about that in a later post.
My best tip for eliminating toxins is to start with area. It may be personal care products or cleaning green, it may be switching to organic foods - which I promise makes a huge difference ! Whatever your first area is choose one product to switch out. Start small. It may be that you switch your deodorant for Purification essential oil or change the bleach to Thieves household cleaner. Whatever it is, change that one thing, get used to it. See what happens and then change another. It doesn't have to be overwhelming, it can take you as long as you need, just please, start somewhere !
3. Support Progesterone Production
We've spoken about reducing stress and eliminating toxins already. By doing 1. and 2. you're already aiding in 3. Because as we've already noted, toxins and stress use up much needed progesterone.
- Eat more anti-oxidants. The very best thing for this is to eat more fruit and veg. I know, you hear this all the time and it's proffered as the miracle cure for almost everything these days, but organic fruit and veg is the very best way to maintain a healthy body.
- Use Progessence Plus. This is a serum derived from wild Yams. I read a study many moons ago about a tribe in Africa that had the highest rate of twin pregnancies in the world. Anthropologists and scientists studies this tribe and the only thing they could find in their lifestyle that was different to any where else was the high percentage of Yam in their diets. Yams contain natural progesterone, which aids ovulation. Amazing !
- Frankincense essential oil - this oil is amazing for reducing stress particularly in meditation so kill two birds by adding this in to your daily regime. Apply to the inner ankles (female reproductive vita flex point) to help balance the endocrine system.
- Thyme essential oil - thought to help the body absorb progesterone better
There are so many other things that I could write about here, but I don't want to pummel you with more information than you can take in !
So, if you remember nothing about what I've written just integrate the following tips into your daily routines for better hormonal balance and whole body wellness:
- Eat Organic
- Drink more water
- Avoid plastic or coated cookware
- Relax more
- Get hold of my eBook
- Find support
I am not an expert on hormone therapy, just somebody who has been there, trying to help others along the way.
I hope and pray that this helps you take steps to Whole Body Wellness, whether they be big or small.
