IS IT YOU? OR IS IT HORMONES?

Your body is a hormone making machine! Endocrine glands such as the thyroid, pancreas and even your kidneys pump out hormones that can influence everything from your mood, sleep patterns and energy levels to your hunger – ‘hangry’ is a real thing! We’ve created a list of some of the more interesting hormones and what they actually do in your body, and how you might know if they’re out of whack!

Oestrogen:  Oestrogen should be known as the mood hormone. When your oestrogen levels fluctuate (like when you’re menstruating), it also changes the levels of feel good substances like serotonin and dopamine in the brain, which can leave you feeling low and irritable. Oestrogen causes puberty in girls, influences your cholesterol levels and even protects your bones. As you age and begin to go through menopause your levels of oestrogen naturally begin to fall. With this fall you start to lose the protection against heart disease that oestrogen provided when you were younger.

Insulin: When you eat food that contains carbohydrates it causes a spike in insulin. Insulin is the hormone that allows sugar (glucose) in your blood to enter your muscles, liver and fat stores. Any excess sugar that you don’t use for energy will eventually be stored as fat. People that are overweight, or who have a strong family history of diabetes, can become quite resistant to the effects of insulin, which causes the level of sugar in the blood to get too high leading to the onset of diabetes.

Thyroxine: Thyroxine is secreted from the thyroid gland and controls a whole range of bodily functions such as digestion, heart beat regulation and even brain development. It is however most famous for controlling your metabolism! One in 20 people will suffer from thyroid dysfunction and it is generally more common in women. When your thyroid is under-active you don’t produce enough thyroxine and this causes your metabolism to slow down, which results in weight gain. If you have noticed unusual and unexplained weight gain see your doctor and ask them to check that your thyroid is working properly.

Testosterone: Testosterone is more commonly thought of as the ‘man hormone’ as men have much higher levels of testosterone than women. Not enough testosterone can cause low mood and loss of hair, whereas too much can cause irritability and infertility. In woman too much testosterone can also result in acne and facial hair and can be a sign of polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

So there you have it; hormones control nearly every function in your body! If you’re feeling odd, it may be due to your hormones so get them checked! A healthy lifestyle can help keep all your hormones balanced and your body working harmoniously!