Raise your hand if you are on some sort of hormone therapy (the pill, estrogen replacement, progesterone replacement, etc)?
{sees lots of invisible hands}
I think there is a HUGE misconception when it comes to hormones and hormone replacement. It’s important to understand the WHY behind inadequate hormone production, before making the decision to take hormones to alter your levels artificially. Here is why:
1) Your body needs certain raw materials + conditions to make hormones, namely:
- Cholesterol, from animal foods, but also manufactured in the body
- Adequate thyroid hormone (t3), that you get from having a health liver function and a healthy metabolism (a healthy metabolism is instrumental and controls the rate at which your body MAKES hormones via T3 -thyroid hormone).
- Good liver health from a healthy gut and detoxification system
2) In addition, there are certain dietary and lifestyle factors that can promote this hormonal conversion and certain things that block this conversion, such as:
Conversion promoters (get MORE of these):
- Low toxin food (i..e low in plant toxins)
- Sunlight/light therapy
- Vitamin E
Conversion blockers (get LESS of these):
- PUFA fats
- Excess iron
- Excess estrogen
- X-Rays/ultraviolet light
Now I’m not saying that there is NEVER a reason for hormone replacement therapy, because I’m not a doctor and not an expert by any means, but I do think it’s important to make sure that you’re doing all that’s needed to back up hormonal production through diet and lifestyle first. Just like you can’t bake a cake without the right ingredients and the right oven temperature, your body can’t make hormones without the right raw materials and the right conditions!
Recommended reading to learn more about:
Birth control pills
Excess estrogen
References:
Peat, Ray. Nutrition for Women. 1993.
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