What are hormones?
Hormones are substances the body produces to communicate with body cells and they are very important in controlling many things in your body.
The main glands of the endocrine system are the pituitary, hypothalamus, thyroid, parathyroid glands, the islets of Langerhans in the pancreas, stomach, adipose tissue, adrenal glands, testicles and ovaries. The hormones are produced in these organs and then released into the bloodstream to exert their influence elsewhere. This is how hormones such as adrenaline, insulin, serotonin, estrogen, oxytocin and testosterone control our bodies.
What do hormones regulate?
The hormones really regulate everything: blood pressure, growth, sugar level, appetite, sleep, libido, aging and everything that follows, the reaction to stress, resulting in changes in your appetite, your mood, abdominal pain, reduction of your immune system. When all hormones are in balance, you feel good and you have enough energy.
Hormones work together in a very precise way and often this gets out of balance.
In Europe more than 60 million are diabetes patients and almost 60% of adults are overweight or obese. For example, in the Netherlands there are half a million patients with an underactive thyroid and all of these people have many hormones out of balance.
The menopause for woman is a natural part of ageing; the periods stop and the ovaries lose their reproductive function, all due to changes in the production of hormones. In men, the testosterone level will decline when aging.
What to do if you have symptoms related to your hormones?
Most people think that a deficiency of a certain hormone can be cured with a pill. But this is usually not the case because all hormones influence each other. For example, if you have a deficiency of thyroxine, the thyroid hormone, you often also have complaints of your intestines, menstrual problems and psychological complaints. This is because the thyroid hormone, the sex hormones and the stress hormone cortisol influence each other. Therefore, it is generally difficult to treat hormone diseases.
Hormones are also not released evenly and are influenced by all kinds of processes in the body, by day and night rhythm and by seasons.
The influence of harmful substances from the environment is also important, such as the amount of hormones in our food, the use of pesticides and softeners in plastics.
It has also recently been established that the influence of the microbiome, the bacteria in our intestines, is very important for a good balance of hormone production.
There are a number of things we can do ourselves, explains Max Nieuwdorp in his book: exercise daily, get enough sleep, eat healthy and reduce stress. An unhealthy lifestyle aggravates your symptoms.
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