Today, I am going to be letting you in on some secrets about hormone imbalance, one of the most common and most taxing disorders that women face.
You’re in the right place if you want to finally get your crazy hormones balanced and let go of that extra weight, get your mojo back, and live free from the symptoms of hormone imbalance.
In this blog post, I am going to discuss one major roadblock keeping you from feeling your best and reveal to you the one secret that your doctor probably isn’t telling you about: endocrine disruptors.
Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals
Did You Know?
The average woman is exposed to hundreds of chemicals every single day…and that's only within her own home.
Our makeup products, personal care products, and the cleaners that we use on our clothes and our countertops can all contain harmful endocrine disrupting chemicals that cause hormone imbalances in the body.
In fact, some sources have reported that we are exposed to over 500 synthetic chemicals every day in our homes.
These Chemicals Disturb Your Hormones
Endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDC) interfere with the production and interaction of hormones.
As a result, they disrupt the balance of the entire endocrine system (ovaries, thyroid, adrenals, etc.)
One specific type of EDC that can wreak havoc directly on female hormones (i.e., estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) are called xenoestrogens.
Hormonal imbalances caused by EDCs are linked to many health problems, such as cancer and autoimmune disease.
Xenoestrogens
Xenoestrogens mimic the estrogen hormone, and it's one of the ways that environmental toxins can lead to excess estrogen, or what's known as estrogen dominance.
Women naturally require more progesterone than estrogen, so when our bodies become estrogen-dominant, we start to see problems with our entire endocrine system, especially the reproductive system.
Because our environment is so filled with these chemicals (both inside and outside our home, and including the notorious BPA found in plastic), our bodies are inundated continuously with and exposed to xenoestrogens.
What Do Endocrine Disruptors Do, Exactly?
Reduce the production of hormones in the endocrine glands
Affect the release of hormones from the endocrine glands
Counteract the action of our own hormones
Disrupt hormone production and transport
Lock on to hormone receptors in the cell blocking our natural hormones
Speed up the metabolism of hormones thus reducing their action
How Am I Being Exposed?
Beauty Care products, personal care products, make-up, and hair colour.
The food you are eating. Especially if you eat GMO, non-organic, and processed foods.
Household cleaning products, pesticides, herbicides and other chemicals used in and around the home.
Signs of Endocrine Disruption
All of these symptoms below can be tied to endocrine disruption:
Low sex drive
Irregular periods
Painful periods
Heavy periods
Bloating
Breast swelling and tenderness
Fibrocystic breasts
PMS
PCOS
Endometriosis
Fibroids
Headaches
Migraine
Moodiness
Weight gain
Hair loss
Poor sleep
Energy issues
Slow metabolism
Thyroid dysfunction
Cold hands and feet
Brain fog
Immune imbalance
It’s Time for a Hormone Detox
Why You Need a Hormone Detox
Hormone detoxification is essential for helping your liver eliminate all of those nasty chemicals and toxins from your body.
Our bodies (and therefore, livers) are bombarded with hundreds of different environmental toxins every day which disrupt the hormonal balance that keeps us healthy and happy.
Although the liver does naturally eliminate many xenoestrogens and other endocrine disrupting chemicals, many still get lodged in the body (especially in fat) when the liver gets overworked.
A hormone detox is a safe and straightforward way to help our liver with a boost to get back on track.
Detox Your Diet
An excellent place to start, as with most detoxifications, is with your diet.
Eating organic costs, a little more, but at least during your detox, try your best to buy as organic as much you can afford.
There is a list of the “Dirty Dozen” conventionally-grown fruits and veggies that contain the highest levels of pesticides. This list provides a guideline of what produce is most important to purchase as organic when shopping for your produce. The list can be found here.
Pesticides are known to be estrogenic, meaning they increase levels of estrogen in the body, so they need to go.
Detox Power-Foods
Spirulina
Cilantro
Parsley
Cruciferous vegetables
Lemon
Blueberries
Beets
Garlic
Turmeric
Ginger
Green Tea
Medicinal Mushrooms
Flax Seeds
Detox Your Beauty Care
Most of the beauty and personal care products that we are accustomed to purchasing contain some endocrine disrupting chemicals.
Synthetic fragrances are some of the biggest offenders!
Choose EWG-verified, natural, and/or organic beauty brands instead of common drug store and department store brands. You can search your beauty products here.
You can even make some of your own homemade makeup products! It’s easier than you might think!
Safer Beauty Care Brands
OSEA
Juice Beauty
100% Pure
FitGlow
Graydon Skincare
Alima Pure
ILIA
Lily Lolo
Attitude
Carina Organics
Find everything you're looking for here.
Detox Your Cleaning Products
As we already established, chemicals in many household cleaning products are endocrine disruptors too! Be mindful of ….
Pesticides & herbicides
Oven cleaners
Mildew removers
Harsh surface sprays
Antibacterial sprays
Air fresheners
Dryer sheets (to name just a few!)
Safer Cleaning Products
Essential oils
Vinegar
Enzyme cleaners
Borax
Castile soap
Peroxide
Baking soda
Salt
Lemons
If you're looking to learn more about balancing your hormones naturally, check out my course here.
