Understanding Hormones

I had just finished a talk when, as usual, folks were milling around looking to get some questions answered. A woman named Nancy steps out of the crowd. She's in her early 50’s with a whole slew of symptoms I’ve heard many times before: Hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, and anxiety. Her moods are swinging like a cheap screen door in a winter storm and loss of libido may end her marriage. She’s carrying an extra 30 pounds of body weight. No matter how she changes her diet, she can’t seem to drop them.

She, of course, knows it’s her hormones. At least that’s what she tells me. But when I ask her what exactly she means by "hormones", she really can’t come up with much of an answer. That’s because she has little understanding of what is meant by this catch-all term “hormones”. Nancy isn’t alone. Women like Nancy come up to me after every presentation I do. I receive letters, take phone calls, answer texts and messages on this subject many times a week.

Modern scientific understanding of hormones is over a hundred years old. However if you do a random survey amongst your non-medical friends, not many people could really explain what a hormone is and/or what it does. How can we really understand how to address hormone related health issues without having a basic grasp of what these things are and how they work?

In order to understand hormones, we have to understand cells, which are best thought of as little extraordinary animals. Each one of these creepy-crawly blobs of goo, so tiny it takes 1000 to make an inch, is studded with hundreds of thousands of sub-microscopic switches called receptors. When these switches are activated, stuff happens.

A hormone is nothing more than a chemical that activates those switches. It’s a bit more complicated in the sense that there are different hormones for different switches and because combinations of hormonal switches get activated simultaneously, but, in essence, it’s just a question of the switches and thechemicals, i.e. the hormones that activate them.

Because the body’s functions all result from the activities of cells, if it’s happening in the body, it’s happening because of hormones. Hormones can be thought of as messages. The very word “hormone” is Latin for: “I arouse to activity”. That means that we are healthy (or not) because of hormones. In fact, from a physical perspective, we are everything we are because of hormones. To say you have a hormone problem when you are sick is like saying you have a money problem when you’re broke. Or like saying you have a mechanical problem if your car breaks down. Of course, it’s true, but it’s tautological (saying the same thing twice in different words) and not helpful for taking care of the problem.

We have two major types of hormones. One type is fast-acting and rapidly broken down. These are substances that activate quick biochemical functions such as nerve firings, muscle contractions, and various secretions in response to food or some kind of irritant. These quick acting hormones have names like “prostaglandins” and “leukotrienes”. They live fast and die young. They allow cells to respond to their environment in a speedy fashion and they’re quickly broken down. In the brain, these hormone chemicals are called neurotransmitters and they’re associated with various moods and brain functions.

When most people talk about hormones and hormone problems, most of the time we’re referring to the second type, the more long acting hormone substances called steroids. Typically it's the so-called male hormone "testosterone" and the so-called female hormone "estrogen". I say “so-called” because it’s somewhat of a misunderstanding to refer to these hormones in this sex-specific fashion, as both genders produce both substances. Nonetheless, despite the fact that there are dozens upon dozens of various hormone substances in the body, when women blame their hormones, they’re usually referring to estrogen. Likewise, when males talk about their hormones, they typically mean testosterone.

So, if you’re a guy or a gal and you want to work on your hormones (testosterone or estrogen), what can you do? Well, probably the most important step you can take to return these two steroid substances back to their appropriate levels and potency is pay attention to intake of fatty foods and fat absorption. Steroid hormones are all derived from cholesterol, which is a major component of fat-dense foods (like eggs, dairy and organ meats). So making sure you’re getting enough of these types of foods can be helpful. You, of course, want to make sure that you’re absorbing these substances in the intestine as well. That means after you eat your omelet, cheese, or liver, use digestive enzymes, (like lecithin and apple cider vinegar) all of which can improve the body’s ability to absorb and utilize their cholesterol content.

Nutrients can help too. Below are 13 nutritional supplements that can help improve steroid hormone health: