I’m sure you’ve heard. Our hormones are a pretty big deal.

They’re like the Queen Bee in the our internal planetary system coordinating what the other systems do and working hard to maintain harmony and balance.

Any interference in our normal hormonal flow can lead to unpleasant symptoms many of us are experiencing today. 

I know a few things about out of whack hormones. I went through a pretty rough phase myself which I’ll share a bit of that with you in a bit.

What I ask is that make sure you read to the end to get the full picture of what may be causing your hormonal woes and how to get in harmony and recharge your feminine vibrance. I also have a FREE gift and special offer for you at the end!

by Ebele Belle founder ‘CHIOMA LadiesBalance’
Chartered Herbalist, Nutritional Consultant and Holistic Esthetician 

What’s happening inside your body says a lot about how you feel

To begin, I would like for us to do a quick exercise. Don’t worry, it’s easy.

Exercise #1

I’m going to ask you 2 simple questions and I would like for you to make a note of the responses.

• 1) In a couple words describe how do you feel most mornings when you wake up? Example terms: Refreshed, Groggy, Tired, Sleepy, Excited, Energetic.
• 2) Do you get bowel movements first thing in the morning or can you set your watch your bowel movements?

Pretty simple right?

Here’s why it’s important. Your responses to these basic questions may give some pretty important clues to the current state of digestive and adrenal health which controls stress hormones.

These systems can often tell a big tale of what may be causing our internal hormonal dilemma. In a minute we’ll break down each one so keep reading to learn more.

You’ve got your responses right? Good, save them for now and we’ll touch back on them a little later.

But first lets explore the different stages that generally characterizes our lives as women and how lifestyle factors in each stage may be impacting our endocrine health. 

There are three basic stages and I life to refer to them as Developing Woman, Active Woman and Wise Woman. We’ll go through each one in more detail. 

Exercise #2

The next simple exercise is to read through the list below and make a note of where you fall.

Developing Woman, Active Woman, Wise Woman.

The developing stage is when the body undergoes, puberty typically occurs between the ages of 12-24. In this stage, hormones are surging especially estrogen as the body develops female characteristics. Hormones can be categorized as raging and out of control. Issues such as hormonal acne are very common.

The Active Woman stage is typically the most involved stage and can range from ages 25-55. There can be so much happening from career to family planning.

The delicate art of finding balance between career, personal and family life is no easy feat and the task alone can lead to stress level overdrive.

The Active Woman Stage is usually characterized  by busy lifestyle accompanied by high stress. Hormone imbalance is very common and symptoms can range widely. Imbalance in this stage are typically stress and nutrition induced as there may be less time to eat quality meals.

The Wise Woman stage occurs later in life usually starting in mid to late 50s. The body is transitioning or beginning to transition into menopause where estrogen levels begin to diminish.

Generally women in this stage are working towards retirement and usually the kids are grown. Hormone imbalance experienced during the stage are typically from declining hormones and nutrient deficiencies.

Understanding the different life stages we go through as women gives us a greater view of what type of imbalances might be occurring in the body and how to address them.

Now that we’ve covered that, let me share my story with you.

No Period for 6 Months But Not Pregnant?!: How I Ended the DrySpell.

My teen years were tough times filled with bouts of hormonal struggles that years later, I can now look back and make sense of it all. After a visit to the gynecologist, I was diagnosed with PCOS. As with most young women, I was prescribed birth control pills as a solution for all my problems.

I never felt settled taking the drug everyday and didn’t want to spend the rest of my life on medication.

Several months after I discontinued the pill, my cycle went haywire. I would months without having my period. Sometimes it would last as long as 6 months.

Months passed and the trend continued. My skin problems also reappeared and my face was once again covered in giant pimples. In addition, I began to notice patches of missing hair.

I decided it was time to pay the gynecologist a visit to make sure these issues weren’t serious.

During the visit I performed a few tests and once the results came back, the gynecologist informed me that all was fine. What I was going through was normal and overtime it would correct itself.

She gave me a little pink pill which she said was progesterone and would help stimulate my period.

I left feeling calmed but a little uneasy. I worried about what the long term use of birth control could have done to my body and if I would ever be the same.

The feeling never went away and the inconsistent cycle got worse as months turned to years went. 

I went from a month or two in between periods to four and six months. Inside I was panicking and I would browse blogs and forums reading similar experiences from other women.

Years later, I was in the corporate world grinding out long hours and eating quick easy meals. My energy levels were terrible. I was always tired and it severely affected my performance at work.

My acne still remained no matter how many expensive skin regimen I tried, med spa treatments and visit to the dermatologist. This severely affected my self confidence and inhibited me from living my life and pursuing the things I wanted.

My hair continued to get thinner and I had more visible patches all over my head.

I visited a couple other doctors, and their recommendations were all the same. I was tired of fighting a never ending battle, and decided it was time to take action. 

I decided it was time to explore a different alternative, a natural alternative.

After spending hours and hours conducting research and reading books and publications to understand my body and how to take control of my condition, I was able to finally understand what I was doing wrong and what I needed to do to get my symptoms under control.

Here’s what I’ve learned are the top common reasons for hormone imbalance in women during their Active Years and read on because I’ll share with you natural methods have been effective for me in overcoming the imbalance.

TOP 3 Reasons why your hormones are out of balance.

1. Poor nutrition and digestive health
2. Stress
3. Progesterone imbalance

Keep reading and I will explain why these 3 factors are very crucial in hormonal health and why you need to start managing them as soon as possible.

Here’s Why Processed and Junk Foods Are the Enemy

There’s a popular adage that goes “it all begins in the gut”. That phrase is absolutely the key to understanding how diseases might be manifesting in the body.

A healthy and well functioning digestive system is essential to the maintaining good health. Our body is in a constant state of cleansing to eliminate what’s left of digested food, free radicals, old hormones and other toxins that may be harmful to the body.

Toxins 

We are regularly exposed to toxic produce and ingredients in foods, personal care products and environments that put our hormones at RISK everyday. Much of what we eat today are chemically altered, animal hormones, GMOs and other endocrine disruptive ingredients. 

Many of the food, cosmetics or plastic derivatives that we are exposed today contain large traces of chemicals with xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens are chemicals that mimic human estrogen but in a negative way.

This type of estrogen is very harmful to the body and can lead to increased risk of female health issues from mild to severe.

These materials if left in the body for too long can harm healthy cells in the body and lead to all types of illnesses. That is why a regular bowel movement is essential good health.

According to a sleep study done by the Mayo Clinic and Medical University of Lublin, cleansing and regenerations peaks at nighttime when we are at sleep. During this period, the body reorganizes and recharges itself removing toxic waste byproducts which we have accumulated throughout the day.

“When we do not get enough sleep, the active process of the glymphatic system does not have time to perform that function, so toxins can build up, and the effects will become apparent in cognitive abilities, behavior, and judgment.

From this, it can be concluded that the fundamental purpose of sleep is to act like a garbage disposal for the brain.”

And the brain houses the ‘hypothalamus gland’, the mother center of hormone production. There are new studies now pointing to hormone disorders such as PCOS originating in the brain versus the ovaries.

All of this to say that sleep is a very essential part of the detoxification process. For many women in the Active Stage working late and sleeping less. This is terrible for your hormones. SO STOP IT NOW.

That’s often why we hear to get at least 8hrs of sleep and to be in bed before 10pm. Not getting enough sleep on a regular basis can potentially mean carrying harmful materials in the body longer than intended.

Due to the regeneration that happens when we sleep, usually at night time, it is said that the urge for bowel movement should hit first thing in the morning. Not getting this urge could mean that your body may be in a state of constipation.

Think back to your first exercise and how often you get the urge. Is it usually first thing in the morning?Are you regular? If the opposite is true then it may be time to look at nutritional and even sleep factors that could be disrupting your digestive system.

You are what you eat..

Proper nutrition play a key role in promoting digestive health. Problem arises when there is an excess build up of toxins and free radicals in the body that puts the body into overdrive and eventually wears it down or when we don’t get the proper nutrients that help to support the systems of elimination.

Foods rich in fiber such as leafy vegetables, warming herbs or spices such as ginger support digestive health to help food break down waste and carry it out of the body.

Junk, excessively fatty and processed foods have the opposite effect and weigh down the body’s digestion and defenses. They are also terrible for your hormones so STOP them now.

Why is the case you may ask? One word, insulin. When you have a meal, your body creates insulin which breaks down carbohydrate and sugars. Insulin itself is a very important hormone secreted by the pancreas and functions to breakdown carbohydrates and sugars to make it easy for our bodies to digest. Essentially, our bodies need insulin to get rid of excess sugars in the body. Without enough insulin, there could be excess amounts of sugars in our system creating a high risk factor for diabetes.

However, due to the modern day diet of too much processed foods, it can lead to a condition where your body is overproducing this insulin hormone and that is where the problem begin. This can lead to a situation known as insulin resistance and hypothyroidism.

So what’s the big deal anyway?

Insulin resistance takes when the body cells “resist” the action of insulin to transfer glucose into the cells of the body for energy production. Excess stress and lack of exercise together with simple sugars and carbohydrates make the body to manufacture excess insulin while trying to regulate the levels of blood sugar. This gives rise to extra levels of insulin in the blood. Insulin resistance is connected to obesity, enhanced risk for Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Studies have shown that insulin leads to androgen production. Androgens are male hormones which are also found in a woman’s body. Too much of these male hormones in a woman’s body can lead to problems such as PCOS, excessive hair growth, oily skin, acne, increase risk for heart disease, mood problems and it can also have a masculinizing effect on a woman’s body.

In summary your digestive health should be one of the starting points when tackling hormonal issues because poor digestive health is often the root for many common health problems.

Healthy eating habits and getting sufficient amounts of sleep are two necessary components to keeping the body cleansed and refreshed.

Here’s Why Stress Can Lead to Hormonal Imbalance

Stress has been cited to be the leading cause of many common ailments in our society today. Women of today’s generation are under more stress than ever due to the multiple roles we undertake. This stress may be more noticeable with women in the Active Stage of their life. 

Increased stress levels, in my opinion, has a direct correlation with the increasing reports of endocrine related disorders in many women today. The numbers are out of control.

20 million women in the USA alone suffer from endometriosis, fibroids or severe ovarian cysts. According to the US department of health, every year fibroids leads to more than 200,000 hysterectomies.

Education and preventative health is the key to fighting these illnesses. It’s time to make hormone health a priority.

In prior generations, women’s roles predominantly limited to work at home. In today’s world, there are increased number of single mothers and far higher numbers of women in the workforce grinding out long hours at work. 

When we look at the combination of work place stress, family life, increasing cost of living and increased divorce rates we can see why living in modern times can be stressful.

In addition, many of us are sleeping less. Studies have shown that the average adult of our era gets less than 5 hours a day of rest. 

So how does all this stress impact our health and more specifically hormonal health?

When we stress, our body releases a hormone known as cortisol. Cortisol plays a very important role in helping us to manage stress. When released, it increases adrenaline levels that sends blood flowing away from the heart and into our muscles.

Although humans have come a long way from our archaic days and evolved to very intelligent and innovative beings, we still have many of our primordial instincts. During the caveman days when humans lived in close midst with other wild animals. Cortisol was a very important hormone, because it kept us alert and able to react quickly in the face of imminent danger.

However in today’s times when we are fortunate to not have to deal with such dangerous situations. However our sources of stress has changed and we are constantly bombarded with stressful events. This leads to increased cortisol which can be toxic to the body.

Think back to the first exercise that we did.

Do describe yourself as waking up feeling groggy, lethargic or uninspired. Do you find that you get tired rather quickly.

Your adrenals may be exhausted from excess cortisol production which may be the trigger for your imbalance.

This is not to say that we cannot be ambitious women and pursue our dreams and aspirations. Quite the contrary. 

It just means that we have to be conscious of how we care for our bodies and our health. A high stress lifestyle is one of the biggest contributions to issues concerning the reproductive systems especially for women who are prone to endocrine issues.

High stress levels also have an impact on a majorly important hormone in the female body, Progesterone. 

Progesterone Imbalance and your out of whack hormones

Progesterone is a critical hormone in the female body. Why?

Because it regulates estrogen, the queen of all female hormones. While we love our estrogen because she gives us our bountiful female characteristics. Too much estrogen in the system can lead to problems galore and in fact it might be dangerous to your health.

Excess estrogen can lead to increased risk of breast cancer, cysts and fibroids. It can also lead to shutdown of FSH and LH hormones which can negatively impact fertility.

Progesterone controls excess estrogen because they have an inverse relationship. As progesterone rises estrogen falls.

When we are stressed, our body produces cortisol with the help of progesterone. This phenomenon is known as progesterone steal where the body takes progesterone away from performing its normal function of regulating estrogen.

This is where I hope the dots begin to connect. When we stress, we potentially increase our insulin levels while reducing the progesterone levels we need to regulate estrogen. The aftermath is loads of estrogen floating the system.

Plus One: Here’s Why Genetics may be causing your Hormonal Imbalance

“I get it from my mama!”

Our bodies are hardwired and engineered to behave a certain way and some of these behaviors are passed down from our parents, grandparents and great grand parents. If you’re constantly facing the struggle of hormonal imbalance, unfortunately there is something hard coded in your DNA that puts you at higher susceptible risk. Don’t you just want to thank your family.

Have you ever heard the phrase, “you are what you’re mom ate?” There have been studies conducted that show that our food palate is shaped by what our mother’s ate during pregnancy. This shows how much we are impacted by our parents lifestyle, habits and even environments.

Understanding your family history, healthy and dietary background is an invaluable tool to understanding how your body works. And this is also why it is important that we are doing what we can now to live healthy lifestyles now so that we are not passing on poor health conditions to our children.

The good news is that even if your genetics puts you at higher risks for hormonal problems, it is not the end of the world. It can still be managed and corrected. It simply means you have to pay special attention to your diet, level of physical exercise and stress levels.

Now that we’ve covered the 3 top reasons, what do we do about it?

Is it possible to naturally fight the imbalance, get your energy back, feel energetic and vibrant?

Yes, Yes and Yes! You can reclaim your vitality and there are natural products that can support you on that journey.

It starts with making a commitment to put our health and wellbeing as a priority. Too often as women we spend so much of our time caring for others that we lose ourselves in the shuffle.

Making healthy lifestyle choices, eating nutritious foods, making time for self care, to exercise, cutting back on stress and giving our bodies the rest it so needs are some very important steps.

At LadiesBalance, our goal is to support you on that daily journey with products that deeply nourish the body with healing nutrients. All of our products have been blended with function in mind. We want you to see results!