Hormone Health
As some of you know, I love to workout and I have a routine where I lift weights Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and do cardio Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Sundays are usually a day of rest as I like to follow God’s instructions. With that said, I have been going to my local YMCA and have a workout group that has been together for over 15 years.
A year ago, I started noticing a new face at the Y - let’s call him “Ron.” When Ron first appeared, he was a bowling ball who was barely getting through his workout. Unfortunately, he was overweight and had little stamina or strength; however, I had to give him credit for trying and continuing to show up.
One day while working out, I was wearing my Optimal Bio (a bioidentical hormone replacement therapy practice) t-shirt, and Ron introduced himself and mentioned he recently became a patient. He began to tell me how he had no energy, was overweight, and decided to take control of his life.
After doing research, he decided to have labs done and see where his hormone levels were. As February is “Hormones” month at 50Cups, Ron was right in having his labs done. Did you know that in the past 30 years our hormone levels have become much lower than they should be due to plastics, pesticides, and processed foods? As Ron is a 50-year-old male, his Testosterone level 30 years ago would have been close to 1000. Today it is 248.
As we have seen an explosion obesity, autoimmune diseases, cancers, and overall poor mental health, Ron and others have begun to seek alternative treatment to get their body’s back in balance. Hormones are an essential part of maintaining a healthy cell structure that regulates your body through our endocrine system. They influence many aspects of our body’s functioning, including regulating our moods and emotions.
The main goal of the endocrine system is to maintain a balanced state of homeostasis. When this is lost, the endocrine glands will work hard to restore it. When your hormones are imbalanced, the body undergoes many changes, which can lead to physical and mental stress that eventually compromises the immune system and leads to illness.
Fast forward to today - Ron is cruising through his workouts and has lost over 50lbs, changed his diet from the traditional diet to high protein/low carb, and feels great. The moral of the story is everyone must take control of their health and view personal health care in a team approach mindset where we seek nontraditional care along with traditional care to determine the best course of action. You need to pay attention to what the environment is doing to your body and begin to think of food as a healing agent, not something consumed to alleviate hunger.
There’s only so much we can do about PVC piping, plastics, and pesticides. We have to recognize the importance of hormone balance and take action in order to get our bodies back to where our grandparents and their parents’ hormone levels were. So, be like Ron, take control of your health, and research hormones . Until next time, drink tea and take control of your health!