It is estimated that as many as 90% of women are experiencing a hormonal disorder that affects them on a regular basis. I have met many women whose partners dread the monthly period, and I am not surprised there are so many women who find it necessary to have days off work due to challenging hormones.
Symptoms experienced are heavy, painful periods, irregular periods, fluid retention, breast tenderness, fatigue or lack of energy, sugar cravings and weight gain, mood swings and irritability, headaches, loss of libido, depression, PMS or mental fog.
Doctors generally don’t have too many answers for hormonal problems except some sort of an oral contraceptive pill or other synthetic hormones. This may reduce some of your symptoms temporarily but in the long run this opens another can of worms. The pill only masks rather than treats problems like endometriosis or polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS). Birth control pills, or any kind of hormonal birth control, suppress your own cycle, that’s both ovulation and menstruation, and supersedes it with a dose of synthetic hormones. The bleed you experience during the break is not physiologically a period but a “withdrawal bleed” that has little relation to menstruation, which is why it might be lighter, shorter, and less painful. From my clinical experience, I attribute a lot of fertility issues to the long term use of hormonal birth control. When women suppress their natural hormones for years it has to have an effect on their hormone balance. I have seen girls as young as 11 put on the pill for skin problems. After being on the pill for years, it can take them years to get a natural period, some women’s periods stop altogether.
Your hormones undoubtedly have a major influence on your life, however there is no need for you to be at the mercy of our hormones. Don’t become a slave to your hormones, take control of them.What can you do to balance your hormones?
Food plays a big part in balancing your hormones. Sugar is the main culprit. Women literally go on an emotional roller coaster, depending on whether their sugar ‘status’ is low or high, so are their emotions.
Many of my fertility patients tell me that they can get very angry and irritable, especially before their period. Once their hormones are balanced through diet and natural medicines, they feel better within themselves. This is usually the first thing women notice after starting the Natural Fertility Program. Not to mention their energy levels. Most people’s energy goes up and down depending on what they have eaten. That’s why they experience a slump in the afternoon. Sugar levels are down, the body is still trying to digest lunch, so they need a coffee or more sugar to pick them up. Just eliminating sugar from your diet will have a huge impact on your emotional wellbeing, your energy levels and your hormones. If you are trying to conceive it’s the first step to balancing your hormones.
