In health news. It’s not you; it’s your hormones that make you fat, cranky, and age faster.
There you go. I was able to say it all in just one sentence. Now for some details:
Our hormones change all the time. You have changing levels of estrogen, insulin, thyroid, leptin, and cortisol to deal with. People always think that once we pass puberty, with its hormone turmoil, we are good till menopause.
Wrong! Other hormonal changes start in your late 20s, and then really pick up in your 30s and especially your 40s. Yes, peri-menopausal changes start happening in your 30s.
One example of changing hormones is becoming “estrogen dominant” which approximately 70-80% of women over age 35 experience. It is characterized by these symptoms:
- irritability
- crankiness
- bloating
- mood swings
- irregular periods
- ovarian cysts
- fibroids
- breast tenderness
- endometriosis
One way to go solve this problem is to bring your estrogen-progesterone into balance. The first thing to pay attention to is hormonal disruptors: dietary, chemical, and environmental. I know it is not easy to get rid of them, because we are surrounded by xenoestrogens (1). One way to reduce estrogen, is to reduce exposure to these xenoestrogens and increase fiber in your diet to 40 grams per day.
“Muffin top” or increased fat around the belly = insulin resistance
Another example I often hear women mention is: “I got this muffin top and can’t get rid of it, even by eating the right foods”. With too much estrogen and not enough progesterone, you will be on the path to making too much belly fat and having other symptoms.
Estrogen and insulin are like “evil twins”. Elevated estrogen can cause problems with insulin resistance (when your cells become numb to insulin) (2) which leads to insulin levels climbing and consequently, blood sugar levels to climb. It becomes a vicious cycle.
How to manage it?
Start by changing your diet to slow burning “smart” carbohydrates, increasing protein and fiber, minimizing alcohol consumption. Alcohol can increase bad estrogen levels and cortisol and rob you of deep sleep which is important to as a “reset button” in our busy lives.
To your health, ~ Vilma B
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