9 Things Negatively Impacting Your Hormones You Might Not Know
***NOT MEDICAL ADVICE***
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It’s easy to assume that we’re living perfectly healthy lives because we are consistently meal prepping and hitting the gym regularly, but there’s quite a bit more to hormone health than just exercising and eating right.
Hormone health can be impacted by everything from the air we breathe to the relationships we maintain and invest in. In fact, almost everything and everyone we come into contact with can impact our hormones in some way or another.
This is why it’s good to be fully aware of all of the aspects in life that can throw our hormones out of whack so we can re-center and even remove some of the things that might be causing an imbalance for us.
In this post, I will be sharing the 9 things that might be negatively impacting your hormones that you might not even be aware of. I will cover:
- Why it’s important to look at hormone health holistically
- The 9 things that may be negatively impacting your hormones and how you can remedy them
So, if you’ve been feeling like you’ve been doing all of the right things to increase energy, lose weight, sleep better, reduce anxiety and fatigue, have easier periods, eliminate headaches, etc., and you’re not seeing the results you expected, keep reading! You might be surprised at some of the simple changes you can make to reach your goals.
Why it’s important to look at hormone health holistically
Your hormones are like a symphony and they all play off of each other and take cues from one another. If one hormone gets a little imbalanced it can impact several other hormones as a result. For example, high cortisol, which is your stress hormone, can cause a whole host of other imbalances like estrogen dominance, low testosterone, low progesterone, the list goes on. So, something like stress and an unregulated nervous system can actually cause chaos for your endocrine system as a whole. This is why it’s important to look at the body and hormones holistically, as a system, rather than piece by piece like most conventional medicine practitioners tend to do. Once you understand that your health and hormones should be addressed holistically, you will begin to be able to make changes and actually see results for your efforts! Sounds nice right? Let’s get to it.
The 9 things that may be negatively impacting your hormones
#1: EMF’s-or electro-magnetic frequency is the radiation emitted from your phone that can throw off your circadian rhythm (your sleep/wake cycle) and your neurotransmitters involved with sleep. When sleep is disrupted, hormones often become unregulated and elevated cortisol, fatigue, and inflammation are just a few things that can occur. It’s also a probable carcinogen which is another word for cancer-causing. To limit EMF exposure, try to reduce your screen time, don’t carry your phone in your pocket, put it in another room when you sleep, and consider purchasing an EMF blocker like Wave Block.
#2: Blue light- is emitted from TV screens, smart phones and laptops and it also can disrupt your circadian rhythm causing sleep issues and hormonal imbalances. The blue light signals to your brain that’s it actually mid-day which keeps your body pumping cortisol instead of reducing it allowing you to wind down and prepare for restful sleep. To avoid blue light, you can wear blue light blocking glasses like these. You can also opt for reading a book or enjoy a game night with your family and try to avoid screens more often.
#3: Fragrance- artificial fragrance is a serious endocrine disruptor. They typically contain chemicals that can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled from candles and plug-ins that cause hormonal chaos like estrogen dominance, unregulated cortisol levels, and more. Fragrance, also known as Perfume, is also suspected to be a probable carcinogen so steer clear of anything containing the word Fragrance or Perfume and opt for naturally scented candles, simmer pots, or even unscented personal care and laundry products.
#4: Plastics- Plastic food storage containers, water bottles, zip lock bags, and even straws can wreak havoc on your hormones. Plastics, especially when heated, can leach into your food and beverages, eventually to be consumed by you and overburdening your liver with toxins. If you’re trying to rebalance hormones, removing plastics and opting for glass storage containers, stainless steel water bottles, and silicon food storage bags is going to be a huge help.
#5: Lack of sunlight- Natural sunlight is SUPER important not only for vitamin D, but also for mood and sleep support. The vitamin D we get from the sun can help boost our immune system, balance other hormones, reduce stress, and promote gut health. Additionally, it signals to our brain that it’s daytime which helps regulate our sleep/wake cycle so we can sleep more soundly. Try to get 10-15 minutes of daily sunlight, without sunglasses, directly on your face to get the full benefits of the sun.
#6: Water- Our water quality standards are incredibly outdated and the pollutants in our water supply are astounding. Chemicals like glyphosate (Roundup weed killer), pharmaceuticals, hormones, heavy metals, and mycotoxins (mold toxins) are present in our tap water. Most fridge filters and conventional filters only remove foul colors and odors and fail to filter out the truly harmful contaminants making your liver work overtime to process the toxins and lead to imbalanced hormones. Invest in a high-quality water filter like this one.
#7: Stress- Stress can be a huge endocrine disruptor. When your body is stressed, it works extra hard to produce adrenaline and cortisol to keep you moving through your fight or flight response. In order to keep up with the demand of the stress hormones, it steals resources from the adrenal glands to produce these hormones and robs the adrenals of the other necessary hormones your body needs to stay in balance and thrive. This is called the Cortisol Steal. Addressing stress in your life is very important in balancing hormones. Try meditation, yoga, daily walks in nature, deep breathing exercises, time with family and friends, prayer, and caring for a pet to reduce stress levels.
#8: Air quality- Indoor air is some of the dirtiest air we breathe and most of us spend the majority of our time indoors working, going to school, etc. Mold toxins, bacteria, fecal matter, pet hair, urine particles, and pesticides are commonly tracked into homes via shoes and pets, leaving us with very poor air quality. These can all be burdensome on our livers causing hormonal imbalances among other issues. To clean up indoor air quality, invest in a high-quality air filter, open windows and doors more often to allow for better circulation, and take your shoes off at the door.
#9: Relationships- toxic relationships can also have an impact on your hormone health. Friendships and family relationships that leave us feeling drained, degraded, frustrated, or overwhelmed can increase cortisol and throw other hormones out of whack. Take a close look at relationships in your life and remove any draining people that you can. If you cannot remove toxic relationships, try to distance yourself from them and fill more of your time with people who nourish you, give you joy, and make you laugh. Your circle really does matter.
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