Hormone imbalances are extremely common and they can make you look and feel years older than your actual age. Unfortunately, many doctors fail to identify hormone imbalances, which causes many people to needlessly suffer with troublesome symptoms. Read on to discover the 3 most common hormone imbalances in adults aged 30+, and to learn how to reverse them. Following our recommendations below can have you feeling ten years younger in as little as 12 weeks!
#1 Too Much or Too Little Cortisol
Cortisol Basics
Cortisol is a steroid hormone that’s made in the adrenal glands. It plays an essential role in stress regulation — anytime you experience fear or stress your adrenal glands respond by releasing cortisol. Unfortunately, stress is unavoidable, which can lead to chronically high cortisol levels. If left unaddressed, the opposite problem — a cortisol deficiency can result.
What Causes It
Most people experience stress on an ongoing basis. Meeting deadlines, dealing with traffic, finding parking, paying bills, constant connectivity, the news, an overpacked schedule, and worrying about the safety of your loved ones, are all examples of everyday stressors that elevate cortisol levels. Stimulants such as caffeine and sugar, processed packaged foods, and sleep deprivation, can also cause an excess of cortisol.
Constantly having to release cortisol exhausts the adrenal glands, and makes them less efficient at producing it, which can cause a cortisol deficiency. A deficiency can also be caused by inadequate secretion of ACTH by the pituitary gland.
Symptoms
When your cortisol is too high, it can stimulate your appetite, cause intense food cravings and lead to rapid weight gain. It can also cause a flushed, round face, high blood pressure, skin changes (stretch marks and bruises), acne, excessive hair growth, bone loss, headaches, sexual dysfunction, infertility, mood swings, anxiety, depression, emotional outbursts, and increased thirst.
When there is a cortisol deficiency, it can cause relentless fatigue, dizziness, clumsiness, weight loss, diarrhea, low blood pressure, allergies, muscle weakness, mood changes, anxiety, depression, cravings for salty foods, menstrual irregularity, loss of libido, and infertility.
Recommendations
The best way to reduce cortisol levels is to get at least 8 hours of sleep a night and to incorporate stress-reduction techniques into your daily life. Proper planning and time management are also important, and the complete elimination of sugar, processed foods, and caffeine are highly recommended.
The above recommendations are also important if you have low cortisol because they will help to nourish your adrenal glands back to health. Low cortisol sufferers will also benefit from adaptogenic herbs and adrenal cortex glandular supplements. Adrenal DMG is a clinically proven supplement for adrenal fatigue. It contains a blend of adaptogens and adrenal cortex and provides an estimated 3 mg of cortisol per capsule.
#2 Estrogen Dominance
Estrogen Dominance Basics
Many people think of estrogen as a female-only hormone and assume that menopause causes a deficiency of this hormone. In truth, both males and females require a delicate balance of estrogen, and too much estrogen (estrogen dominance) is far more common in both genders than too little.
What Causes It
Estrogen dominance is often caused by excess body fat because fat cells convert testosterone into estrogen. Exposure to environmental estrogen-like compounds (xenoestrogens) is another major cause. Unfortunately, xenoestrogens are unavoidable, they are in pesticides, herbicides, and the foods that are grown with them; they are also in plastics, and the linings of canned foods; in our water, in our cleaning products, and in many of our personal care products. Two additional causes of estrogen dominance include the consumption of animal products and the use of birth control pills.
Symptoms
Estrogen dominance can cause fibrocystic breasts, breast swelling and tenderness, PMS and irregular menstrual periods in a woman. In men, it can cause an inability to get an erection or to achieve orgasm, reduced sperm count, and breast enlargement (man boobs). In both men and women, it can cause fatigue, an inability to concentrate, depression, acne, hair loss, headaches, bloating, sluggish metabolism, stubborn weight gain, and insomnia. Estrogen dominance also increases the risk for uterine and breast cancer in women; benign prostatic hyperplasia, and prostate cancer in men; and allergies, bone loss, and autoimmune disorders in both genders.
Recommendations
Consume a wholefood, plant-based diet, that is high in fiber (at least 60 g/day). Use organic cleaning products and cosmetics, detoxify regularly with far infrared saunas, lose weight, and decrease stress. For added support take Estro Block. It contains clinically effective doses of DIM and IC3 which promote a more efficient metabolism of estrogen and an ideal ratio of estrogen metabolites. Bioidentical progesterone cream can also help because progesterone helps to offset the negative effects of too much estrogen.
#3 Testosterone Deficiency
Testosterone Deficiency Basics
Maintaining testosterone levels in the optimal range is vital for the health of both males and females. Unfortunately, the production of testosterone declines per year in males beginning at age 30, and females start to produce less in the pre-menopausal stage (they produce half as much in their 40’s than they do in their 20’s).
What Causes It
As mentioned above there is a natural decline of testosterone that occurs with age, but that’s not the only cause. Obesity, excess body weight and insulin resistance (metabolic syndrome or diabetes) can cause a testosterone deficiency. Additional causes include adrenal fatigue, injury to the testicles, ovarian failure, liver or kidney disease, alcohol, chemotherapy, pituitary disorders, HIV, mumps in childhood, severe emotional stress, any type of ongoing illness, opiate and corticosteroid drugs, and chronic inflammation.
Symptoms
It can cause fatigue, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, memory problems, irritability, and depression. It can also cause loss of libido, an inability to maintain an erection or low sperm count in men, and lack of vaginal lubrication, and sex drive in women. Additional symptoms include muscle loss and weakness, a loss of body and facial hair, and an increased risk for osteoporosis and heart disease.
Recommendations
Contrary to popular belief, consuming a plant-based diet can help to boost testosterone, so eliminate or vastly reduce your intake of meat and dairy products. Also, eliminate alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and processed foods, and increase your intake of zinc-rich foods such as oysters, shellfish, cocoa, black beans, chickpeas, pumpkin seeds, and spinach. High intensity and strength training exercises, as well as having more sex, can also help to boost your testosterone levels. For a more pronounced effect, consider taking a testosterone boosting supplements such as Testro Vida. Finally, if the above recommendations do not produce dramatic enough results for you, talk to your physician about bioidentical testosterone pellets.
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