I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing 2 of the most amazing authorities on hormones over the last week: Dr Prudence Hall M.D. is such a beautiful spirit, and combos a medical approach (she’s an OB GYN), with an Eastern approach. Her new book, Radiant Again & Forever, has just come out. Candace Burch is a hormone educator, who spend over a decade working for a lab analyzing hormonal blood panels. So between the two of them, I’ve learned 7 things you absolutely need to know about balancing your hormones.
- Symptoms: The following symptoms are signs that your hormones might be out-of-whack: weight gain • belly fat • low energy • sugar cravings • foggy thinking • PMS • wrinkles • acne • mood swings • hot flashes • night sweats • fatigue • headaches • depression • anxiety • memory lapses • low libido • vaginal dryness • heavy periods • tender breasts • fibroids • fluid retention • sleep disturbances • heart palpitations • feeling cold all the time . rapid aging (as seen in the skin). Remember that hormones imbalances can start as early as your early thirties. Women tend to get low in progesterone in their early forties, and then by their late forties, all of the hormones begin to diminish. I’ve learned that you don’t have to suffer in silence.
- Get Tested: Getting your hormones back into balance isn’t as simple as popping a pill or slathering on an over-the-counter bio-identical hormone. You ideally need to get blood and/or saliva testing done. Dr. Hall does extensive blood work, whereas Candace Burch recommends saliva testing. Even if you have a blood panel done with your doc, he/she may not read the results in the same way as Prudence or Candace. You can easily get a brush-off of “everything looks okay”, and then you think you’re going crazy. It’s all about who reads the results. If you can’t get in to see Dr. Hall at the Hall Center, you can buy a test + consult with Candace (highly recommended).
- Bio-indenticals: Both Prudence and Candace recommend the use of BHRT (bio-identical hormone replacement therapy). Both believe that using BHRT can not only help with all the symptoms mentioned above, but can also play a significant role in disease prevention. It’s important that you understand the difference between a synthetic HRT, such as Premarin, and a bio-identical. The former has been linked to cancer, and is not recommended by either Prudence or Candace. Bio-identicals, on the other hand, are made from plants, and serve to exactly mimic your natural hormones.
- Adrenal fatigue: Almost every woman I know suffers from adrenal burnout to some degree. We can support our adrenal function by way of adaptogenic supplements. However, adrenal function is closely related to hormone imbalance – you really cannot separate the two. So if you are exhausted, the first line of approach would be to balance your hormones, and then support your adrenals.
- Functional Medicine: You need to try to find a good functional medicine doctor who can test your blood, saliva, and make sure that all your scans are up-to-date. A good functional medicine doctor should also be able to prescribe BHRT for you.
- Diet and exercise play a significant role in hormonal balance. I recommend a mostly plant-based diet for a myriad of reasons (at least 80%/20%). Giving up dairy products and refined flours and sugars would be first on my list. Exercising daily is imperative.
- Get rid of as many Xenoestrogens as you can! Xenoestrogens are synthetic chemicals in our environment which can seriously mess up your hormonal balance. I recommend eschewing: as much plastic as you can, synthetic fragrance in all beauty and cleaning supplies, and all home and garden pesticides. Try to use green beauty products, green cleaning products, and eat as much organic food as possible. Check out some of my beauty reviews here, and make sure you are signed up for my next Sophie’s Picks beauty box!
