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Stress and Hormones: Is It Me or My Hormones?

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Archived series ("Inactive feed" status)

When? This feed was archived on July 10, 2020 14:09 (3+ y ago). Last successful fetch was on April 17, 2019 04:38 (5y ago)

Why? Inactive feed status. Our servers were unable to retrieve a valid podcast feed for a sustained period.

What now? You might be able to find a more up-to-date version using the search function. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.

Manage episode 2174326 series 8709
Content provided by Women to Women. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Women to Women or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

Is stress making my hormones wacky? What a great question. Hi! Im Marcelle Pick, and I have some really exciting news, and I mean really exciting.

I have recently written a new book which is titled “Is It Me or My Hormones?” The title seems so natural, because over the years, many patients have asked me the very same question. I’m sure you can think of someone you know who experienced mood swings during her time of the month or someone else who had outrageous food cravings during certain times, or even those women who just feel like they’ve lost it, walking into a room and forgetting why you were there.

These women feel out of control, and just want to understand, are they out of control or is it really their hormones. Now we’ve come to understand that when cortisol is high for long periods of time, it can cause unbelievable dysregulation of the sex hormones, affecting not only the timing of a monthly cycle but the intensity and duration, and then the latter phases of a woman’s life, this dysregulation can cause hot flashes, irregular bleeding, sleepish, foggy thinking, weight gain, and the list goes on.

Stress can affect many, many of our hormones and our hormones are all connected and interrelated. So it makes sense that when one hormone is out of balance, it will, and I mean will, affects the others. I call it the hormonal cascade.

We can all identify with stress, especially everyday stress like being stopped by a police officer or getting a phone call that a loved one is ill. But, there are many, many different types of stress, both internal and external.

Now, our internal stressors can be complicated. Some are related to our own internal messaging. For instance, do we always feel a need to do everything perfectly? Do we continually focus on what we’re doing wrong or what other people think? These negative internal messages can cause cortisol production to increase, just as seeing flashing blue lights behind us can.

Other stressors might include injury, infection, or underlying inflammation, and all of these things will increase cortisol and can compromise the body’s ability to heal. Now, endocrine disruptors may also be keeping your hormones from staying balanced. Endocrine disruptors are man-made chemicals which actually mimic the action of our hormones when absorbed by the body, and we are exposed to hundreds of them every day.

Plastics, creams, lotions, dyes, pesticides, and nail polish, and on and on. And women who are experiencing wide variations in hormonal balance may want to read more about endocrine disruptors in my new book “Is It Me or My Hormones?” and learn some of the other secrets to help with hormonal balance.

Now there are some simple steps you can take to start to offset your stress and begin to bring your hormones back into balance.

Evaluate your diet. Now focus on good quality nutrition, which means, whole foods, organic when possible. Try eliminating gluten, sugar, and dairy from your diet. Remember, progress, not perfection.

When thinking about your plate, imagine it’s divided into sections. Fill one quarter of your plate with quality protein, one quarter of your plate with a complex carbohydrate, and one-half of your plate with colorful, and I mean colorful, vegetables, cooked or raw. Be sure to include foods which contain healthy fats, omega-3s, which are the really healthy ones.

Eat regularly throughout the day – breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, and dinner. Cortisol is released when your blood sugar is low. Eating regularly throughout the day will keep your blood sugar stable. Remember to have a protein at every meal and every snack.

Take a good quality multivitamin. It’s very difficult to get all the nutrients the body under stress needs from your diet. Fill in the gaps with a multi-nutrient multivitamin supplement.

Find a relaxation practice which works for you, and schedule it. As women, we excel at taking care of everyone else but ourselves, but now is the time to care of yourself. Think about what you find relaxing. Some people like meditation, some like a long walk. I found that ballroom dancing works for me. Others like yoga, some like journaling, what feels right for you. Take some time and find out, and make the commitment to regularly take time for self-care.

Now, if you want to learn all of the secrets to hormonal balance, get a copy of my new book, “Is It Me or My Hormones?” and go to my website www.womentowomen.com.

  continue reading

75 episodes

Artwork
iconShare
 

Archived series ("Inactive feed" status)

When? This feed was archived on July 10, 2020 14:09 (3+ y ago). Last successful fetch was on April 17, 2019 04:38 (5y ago)

Why? Inactive feed status. Our servers were unable to retrieve a valid podcast feed for a sustained period.

What now? You might be able to find a more up-to-date version using the search function. This series will no longer be checked for updates. If you believe this to be in error, please check if the publisher's feed link below is valid and contact support to request the feed be restored or if you have any other concerns about this.

Manage episode 2174326 series 8709
Content provided by Women to Women. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Women to Women or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://player.fm/legal.

Is stress making my hormones wacky? What a great question. Hi! Im Marcelle Pick, and I have some really exciting news, and I mean really exciting.

I have recently written a new book which is titled “Is It Me or My Hormones?” The title seems so natural, because over the years, many patients have asked me the very same question. I’m sure you can think of someone you know who experienced mood swings during her time of the month or someone else who had outrageous food cravings during certain times, or even those women who just feel like they’ve lost it, walking into a room and forgetting why you were there.

These women feel out of control, and just want to understand, are they out of control or is it really their hormones. Now we’ve come to understand that when cortisol is high for long periods of time, it can cause unbelievable dysregulation of the sex hormones, affecting not only the timing of a monthly cycle but the intensity and duration, and then the latter phases of a woman’s life, this dysregulation can cause hot flashes, irregular bleeding, sleepish, foggy thinking, weight gain, and the list goes on.

Stress can affect many, many of our hormones and our hormones are all connected and interrelated. So it makes sense that when one hormone is out of balance, it will, and I mean will, affects the others. I call it the hormonal cascade.

We can all identify with stress, especially everyday stress like being stopped by a police officer or getting a phone call that a loved one is ill. But, there are many, many different types of stress, both internal and external.

Now, our internal stressors can be complicated. Some are related to our own internal messaging. For instance, do we always feel a need to do everything perfectly? Do we continually focus on what we’re doing wrong or what other people think? These negative internal messages can cause cortisol production to increase, just as seeing flashing blue lights behind us can.

Other stressors might include injury, infection, or underlying inflammation, and all of these things will increase cortisol and can compromise the body’s ability to heal. Now, endocrine disruptors may also be keeping your hormones from staying balanced. Endocrine disruptors are man-made chemicals which actually mimic the action of our hormones when absorbed by the body, and we are exposed to hundreds of them every day.

Plastics, creams, lotions, dyes, pesticides, and nail polish, and on and on. And women who are experiencing wide variations in hormonal balance may want to read more about endocrine disruptors in my new book “Is It Me or My Hormones?” and learn some of the other secrets to help with hormonal balance.

Now there are some simple steps you can take to start to offset your stress and begin to bring your hormones back into balance.

Evaluate your diet. Now focus on good quality nutrition, which means, whole foods, organic when possible. Try eliminating gluten, sugar, and dairy from your diet. Remember, progress, not perfection.

When thinking about your plate, imagine it’s divided into sections. Fill one quarter of your plate with quality protein, one quarter of your plate with a complex carbohydrate, and one-half of your plate with colorful, and I mean colorful, vegetables, cooked or raw. Be sure to include foods which contain healthy fats, omega-3s, which are the really healthy ones.

Eat regularly throughout the day – breakfast, a mid-morning snack, lunch, a mid-afternoon snack, and dinner. Cortisol is released when your blood sugar is low. Eating regularly throughout the day will keep your blood sugar stable. Remember to have a protein at every meal and every snack.

Take a good quality multivitamin. It’s very difficult to get all the nutrients the body under stress needs from your diet. Fill in the gaps with a multi-nutrient multivitamin supplement.

Find a relaxation practice which works for you, and schedule it. As women, we excel at taking care of everyone else but ourselves, but now is the time to care of yourself. Think about what you find relaxing. Some people like meditation, some like a long walk. I found that ballroom dancing works for me. Others like yoga, some like journaling, what feels right for you. Take some time and find out, and make the commitment to regularly take time for self-care.

Now, if you want to learn all of the secrets to hormonal balance, get a copy of my new book, “Is It Me or My Hormones?” and go to my website www.womentowomen.com.

  continue reading

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