How to Battle the Impact of Hormones Through the Ages

Hormones play a big part in your wellness, doing everything from helping you conceive to ensuring you get a good night’s sleep. However, when these hormones fluctuate, as they inevitably will as you age, they can be more of a health concern than a helping hand. Hormones affect your wellbeing in different ways at different stages of your life, but there are things you can do to manage these hormonal changes and feel good every step of the way:

 

Your 20s and 30s: According to Mary Jane Minkin, a clinical professor of obstetrics and gynaecology at the Yale University School of Medicine, ‘Hormone levels go through dramatic changes during your menstrual cycle,’ which is at its peak during your 20s and 30. You get a surge in estradiol (a form of estrogen) about 10 days after the onset of your period, which boosts your mood, while you can become irritable in the second half of your cycle due to an influx of progesterone.

 

If you use a hormonal contraceptive, like the Pill or a vaginal ring, watch out for a dip in your sex drive. Bat Sheva Marcus, the clinical director of the Medical Centre for Female Sexuality, in New York City, explains, ‘These [contraceptives] contain synthetic oestrogen, which blocks testosterone.’ To feel better, Eva Cwynar, an endocrinologist in Beverly Hills recommends eating cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower, as studies have shown this can help keep your oestrogen and progesterone levels at the proper ratio. You can also try flaxseed oil, and Minkin recommends taking 1,200 milligrams of calcium a day, divided into three doses, for your severe PMS crankiness.

 

Your 40s: Even though your periods are still regular, your ovaries have begun to produce less oestrogen and progesterone, and your testosterone decreases. This is a period (pardon the pun) known as perimenopause (or pre-menopause), and can last up to five years. Minkin warns, ‘It isn’t a smooth process,’ and she’s right; perimenopause can cause hot flashes, a lag in your sex drive, and vaginal dryness. Kent Holtorf, an endocrinologist in Los Angeles, adds that you produce fewer thyroid hormones during this time, and ‘Thyroid hormones are the key determinants of your metabolism,’ so you might notice weight gain.

 

Erika Schwartz, an internist and a hormone specialist in New York City, comments, ‘You may start waking in the middle of the night or have difficulty falling asleep. Before turning to a sleep aid like Ambien, get your hormone levels checked. You may need hormone supplementation.’ To combat hot flashes, a study from Tarbiat Modarres University, in Iran, found that taking 400 ‘international units of vitamin E daily can help alleviate them.

 

Your 50s and Beyond: The average age for menopause is 51; it’s official when you haven’t had a period in over a year. This probably means you have erratic testosterone levels, frequent hot flashes and a zigzagging sex drive. Minkin says, ‘Oestrogen is involved with mechanisms that keep skin moist,’ so you might need a richer cream and conditioner to combat dry skin and brittle hair and nails. Holtorf notes, ‘Both oestrogen and thyroid hormones are needed for optimal brain function. When they drop in menopause, those low levels result in minor memory problems and cognitive dysfunction.’ Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is considered the gold standard for relieving all those irksome symptoms, including memory loss. Minkin notes, ‘It drives me crazy when women say, “I’ll just deal with my symptoms, and eventually it will be over.” Symptoms of menopause should be a wake-up call to see your doctor.’

Categories: hormone, hormone levels, hormones, hot flashes, levels, Menopause, oestrogen, Periods, Sex Drive, thyroid hormones, york city

Can Breast Size Be Increased With A Better Diet?

For a number of reasons, women always seem to want bigger breasts – society has placed importance on having big breasts, and on larger breasts being associated with beauty. It’s no wonder that so many women feel insecure about their bodies. In fact, in 2011 alone, 300,000 women in the United States had breast implants in order to boost the size of their boobs, and these only seem to be rising as the years pass. But it seems as though you don’t need to resort to surgery to boost this area of your body – you could find the answer right in your local supermarket! Many of the foods we eat can help to improve not just our mental states and diseases but also our physical states. It’s really simple – oestrogen plays an important role in the female body, which kick-starts the menstrual cycle during puberty and is also responsible for creating a curvier body and bigger breasts. Sometimes, a hormonal imbalance can affect the size of a woman’s breasts – if your body produces too much testosterone, the male hormone, it could even impede breast growth. Plant-based foods which mimic oestrogen in the body with something referred to as Phyto-Oestrogen, and there are many foods which fall into this category, some which probably are already in your everyday diet without you noticing. In fact, there’s a belief that these foods could make your breasts increase in size by as much as one or two cup sizes! And all without any surgery or magic pills.

There are many foods you can include in your daily diet that can help you achieve the body you want. For example, you can try broccoli, cabbage, soybeans, blueberries, tofu, strawberries, peanuts, peas, kidney beans, peaches, kale, kiwis, grapefruits, cherries and tomatoes, to name just a small selection of the ingredients that you can add to your diet. Why not create a delicious fruit salad of oranges, mandarins, pears and raisins to kick-start your day and improve the size of your breasts at the same time? And it’s not just fruit and vegetables either – parsley, olive oil, licorice and alfafa sprouts all count towards this new diet plan. However, too much oestrogen can actually be linked to a higher breast cancer risk, so as with any diet, be sure to approach with moderation. There are even foods which are oestrogen-inhibiting as well, such as grapes, figs, citrus fruits, buckwheat and green beans. The benefit is that all of these foods are not only great for increasing the size of your breasts but also improving your health in general – the nutrients, fibre and low fat levels make them brilliant diet-friendly additions irrespective of the effect they have on your boobs. Why not try combining these ingredients to reap the rewards of them all at the same time? Here’s a recipe for a delicious smoothie with oestrogen-friendly foods:

• 1 cup of grapefruit juice


• 5 strawberries, washed and stem removed


• 1 orange, peeled and sliced


• 1 kiwi, skin removed and sliced


• ½ cucumber, sliced


• Half tablespoon of flaxseed powder


• Half a cup of yogurt, plain and low fat

 

Simply place all of the ingredients into a blender or a juicer, then add one cup of ice and blend until smooth. You should serve it chilled. As with any diet change, it’s advisable that you seek the approval of your GP before embarking on an oestrogen-rich diet, but for the most part this is a healthy way to improve your body shape and also increase your overall wellness.

Categories: body, Body image, breasts, diet, foods, oestrogen

Menopausal Women: Should You Have HRT or Not?

Hormone replacement therapy is one of the most controversial issues in the field of wellness and wellbeing. Many women are prescribed it to deal with the huge sexual and emotional changes that come as part of the menopause, but few can be sure that it is entirely safe.

 

Commonly referred to as HRT, women have been treated with replacement oestrogen and progesterone in this way for many years, as it provides a good relief for symptoms such as hot flashes and vaginal dryness, as well as reducing the patients chances of suffering from menopause-induced heart disease and other chronic illnesses.

 

Progesterone is found in both sexes, but predominantly in women. It is very important for health during pregnancy, and women who find themselves having difficulty carrying a pregnancy to term are often prescribed progesterone to help them get over a progesterone deficiency in early pregnancy. Progesterone helps to balance oestrogen in the female body.

 

As women get older, the progesterone levels naturally start to decrease (usually starting at around the age of 30). A cream form of progesterone is also sometimes used to help combat symptoms that come with falling levels of progesterone, and this is applied topically – such as to the head, for headaches. It is also sometimes used to help lessen the symptoms of PMS, such as cramping, bloating and irritability, and is used in pill form in certain cases to help combat problems sleeping that are associated with hormones.

 

The safety of progesterone replacement drugs has come to light because of studies that link cancer and heart disease to oestrogen and progesterone supplements, and so the tide of public opinion has steadily started to turn away from this type of treatment. A lot more research is needed, however, before we can be sure that hormone replacement therapy is actually unsafe, and so many women feel that the risks are minor and that the benefits of the treatment outweigh any potential issues.

Categories: heart disease, hormone, hormone replacement, hrt, nbsp, oestrogen, progesterone, replacement, replacement therapy, Women

Why Men Need the Right Balance of Testosterone and Oestrogen

You know the deal with sexual health hormones; it’s testosterone for men, and oestrogen for women, right? While, to a certain extent, that’s true, all men do have some oestrogen, and all women do need a small amount of testosterone. That said, there’s still a lot wellness experts don’t know about the effects of oestrogen in men, and more research needs to be done into this area. What we do know is, like all hormones, oestrogen needs to be kept in check, or else it could have a detrimental effect on male and female wellbeing. However, as a bloke, you’re more likely to experience chronic health conditions as a result of oestrogen levels becoming too high.

 

In your body, testosterone and oestrogen are actually very closely related, with very similar chemical structures. Yet, the impact these hormone have on your body are substantially different. As a man, testosterone affects nearly every cell in your body, working to improve your muscle mass, bone density, heart and blood vessel health and cognitive wellness. An enzyme called aromatase actually makes oestrogen from the circulating testosterone in your body and, as you age, your body starts making more oestrogen and less testosterone. While oestrogen can be made in your liver, muscle and brain, much of the concern lies in the oestrogen made in your fat cells. As obesity rates rise around the world, men will begin making increasing amounts of oestrogen and decreasing amounts of testosterone, which is a dangerous thing indeed.

 

The right balance of testosterone and oestrogen is a beautiful thing; with enough testosterone, men may be able to prevent heart and vascular disease, and have better moods, muscles and blood sugar levels. High rates of oestrogen, however, mess with this latter benefit, which is why you’ll find that diabetics tend to have higher rates of oestrogen. Low levels of testosterone have also been linked to a higher rate of depression, while too much oestrogen might make you more likely to have a heart attack or develop prostate cancer. For years, testosterone has been blamed as the cause of prostate cancer, but actually research is finding that an imbalance of oestrogens in your body is more important in preventing or causing the condition. When all is said and done, too little testosterone and too much oestrogen may play a role in nearly all chronic diseases in men.

 

Oestrogen isn’t necessarily bad for you, but you need to have it in balance. One study recently investigated the role of oestrogen in heart failure, and found that the men with the lowest AND highest amount of oestrogen had the greatest problems – indicating that a happy medium is key. Plus, another research showed that giving elderly men testosterone supplements increased their spatial memory and verbal memory. Seeing as testosterone supplementation also naturally increased the enzyme aromatase, oestrogen levels also rose which, in this case was a good thing. When the researchers blocked the aromatase – and, consequently, the oestrogen – the men did not find any improvement in their verbal memory. This implies that you need some oestrogen, just not too much.

 

So how do you find that happy balance of oestrogen and testosterone? As obesity is perhaps the greatest hindrance to maintaining a healthy hormone balance, getting trim and building muscle through exercise can give you extra insurance against hormonal imbalance and chronic disease. Increased use of alcohol can increase production of oestrogen in men, and so sticking to the recommended limits can help keep things in check. You should also limit your exposure to plastic chemicals, as these may also disrupt proper hormone function. This means avoiding microwaving plastic containers and preventing water bottles from getting too warm in the sun.

Categories: Balance, body, men, nbsp, oestrogen, oestrogen levels, prostate cancer, Testosterone, verbal memory

No Muscle, Energy or Sex Drive? He Must Have Low Oestrogen

As you get older, wellness experts are likely to blame your waning testosterone levels for your loss of muscle, energy and sex drive, but oestrogen might be getting off scot-free as a result. This is according to a new study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, which found that your decrease in oestrogen may play a bigger role in your age-related health concerns than previously thought.

 

The study found that declining levels of oestrogen can have a negative effect on your wellbeing, leading you to accumulate more body fat – which is something that we previously blamed testosterone for. Study researcher Dr. Joel Finkelstein, an endocrinologist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, commented, ‘The function of oestrogen in men has largely been ignored,’ as research has largely limited the study of the hormone in men to the role of oestrogen deficiency in bone loss. He added, ‘Men make oestrogen from testosterone, and women do, too,’ which is why your levels of both hormones naturally drop.

 

400 healthy men aged 20 to 50, all of whom had normal testosterone levels, took part in the study. These participants were injected with a drug that drastically lowered their normal production of the hormone, until the testosterone reached pre-puberty levels of production. 198 men were then given a 16-week supply of testosterone gel for their skin, in one of four dosage levels or a placebo. Similar doses of the gel were given to the other 202 volunteers, but these men also took a drug designed to block the conversion of testosterone into oestrogen over the 16-week study.

 

The divvying out of the gel and drug doses was arranged in such a way as to tell the researchers which symptoms – changes in body fat, muscle mass, strength and sexual function – were to do with reductions in testosterone, oestrogen or both. The researchers also arranged the study in this way to determine the level of testosterone at which these physiological effects occur. The results revealed that when oestrogen levels drop, men experience some of the same consequences that women do after menopause; increased bone loss, lowered libido, and more fat around the midsection.

 

While changes in strength and muscle mass and size were closely connected to lower testosterone levels, it was the decline of both testosterone and oestrogen that reduced the men’s sex drive and erectile function. Finkelstein noted, ‘We were surprised at the dramatic effects that low levels of oestrogen had on fat accumulation and sexual function in men. We knew that these effects were seen in studies on mice, and these results very accurately predicted what occurred in humans.’

 

According to Dr. Bradley Anawalt, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at the University of Washington Medical School in Seattle, who was not involved in the research, ‘This is a beautifully done study that allows physicians to get a little better handle on interpreting testosterone levels, but the real mind-blower of this study is the idea that oestrogen has an important role in male physiology.’ Anawalt went on to say that the study has very important implications for medical practice, as the results clearly show how testosterone has a differential effect on body organs, such as fat, muscle, the penis and the brain.

 

With the results of this study, your doctor will be better able to understand the threshold levels of testosterone in the blood associated with age-related complaints, and at what levels testosterone therapy may benefit you. However, Anawalt warned that the study is limited by the fact that it used the average “normal” level of testosterone in men (300 to 900 nanograms per decilitre) to measure treatment outcomes in the participants, so your doctor needs to be careful about applying these results to you as an individual.

Categories: age related, bone loss, men's health, muscle energy, muscle mass, oestrogen, Research, Sex Drive, sexual function, Testosterone, testosterone levels

Could Taking HRT Stop You From Getting Alzheimer’s?

Millions of women could be protecting their mental health by taking hormone replacement therapy (HRT) according to a recent report.

Studies have been carried out on 63 women in the post-menopausal stage of life, all of whom were taking HRT. Their mental wellness and wellbeing was carefully assessed, particularly in relation to a genetic variant called APOE-e4 and also telomere length, which can be an indicator of cell ageing.

The gene APOE-e4 gene is liked to an increased risk of the carrier developing Alzheimer’s disease in later life, and there have also been studies which have indicated a link between the telomere length, and the cognitive decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease.

A relationship between the female hormone oestrogen, which drops sharply during the menopause, and the length of telomeres has been proposed. This particular study seems to back up the theory that telomere shortening is somehow linked to the APOE-e4 gene.

Tests showed that the post-menopausal participants in the study who were carriers of the gene had a much higher chance of having shorter telomeres. The study then proved that these women has less chance of the telomere length reducing if they stayed on an extended course of HRT, which replaces hormones. Conversely, women who were not carriers of the gene actually showed less reduction in the length of their telomeres if they stopped taking HRT.

Whilst previous studies have seemed to indicate that taking hormone replacement therapy does not prevent patients from developing Alzheimer’s, what this new study may indicate is that the efficacy of HRT is dependent on whether or not the patient carries a specific gene variant. This research was carried out at the University of California in the United States and was published in the journal PLOS ONE.

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Could Taking HRT Stop You From Getting Alzheimer’s?

Categories: alzheimers, hrt, oestrogen

How Could You Turn Back the Clock on Heart Disease?

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) claim 17.3 million lives per year, which according to the World Health Organisation (WHO) represents 30% of all global deaths per year. Without comprehensive heart wellness education and disease prevention, it is estimated that 23.6 million people will die from CVDs by 2030.

CVDs are more likely to affect your wellbeing if you have an inadequate diet, you smoke, you’re obese and/or if you don’t get enough physical activity. This may lead to signs of your risk of the disease, such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, inflammation and elevated blood sugar levels, which cause problems because these risk factors affect the blood flow to your heart, brain and body, otherwise known as atherosclerosis. This phenomenon describes how your arteries may narrow and thicken for years without you even noticing, giving cardiovascular disease its nickname: the ‘silent killer’.

So if heart disease is a silent killer, how on earth are you supposed to stop it? Firstly, take a look at your diet. Every food choice you make will impact your health down the line, and diet plays a significant role in the prevention or production of cardiovascular disease. Therefore, say goodbye to artificial processed fats, cool things off with alcohol and make good friends with fresh vegetables and fruit. Your salt intake has to decrease too, as not only is it in processed foods, but salt is used to preserve meat and fish and can sneak into your diet without you knowing it. So go for foods with no added salt, all-natural food items such as fruits, vegetables, fish and lean meats, and prepare home-cooked meals with little or no salt.

Moreover, check your oestrogen levels! Over 80% of CDC-related deaths occur in people over the age of 60, but men have a greater risk of developing a heart attack earlier in life. This is because oestrogen raised your ‘good’ HDL cholesterol levels, and women have this hormone in large supplies until menopause. After this, their risk for heart disease increases but if you’re a woman with diabetes, elevated cholesterol or you’re overweight, you’ll catch up with the men all the sooner.

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How Could You Turn Back the Clock on Heart Disease?

Categories: diet, heart disease, oestrogen