Hormones.
We hear about them all the time.
“My hormones are all over the place.”
“It must be my hormones.”
“My hormones have changed since I hit my 40s.”
But what actually are hormones? And perhaps more importantly, what can we do to support them?
Let’s keep it simple.
Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers
Hormones are chemical messengers produced by glands and tissues around the body. They travel through the bloodstream, carrying messages that help different parts of the body know what to do and when to do it.
And they’re involved in a lot.
Your hormones play a role in things like your:
sleep
mood
appetite
metabolism
stress response
menstrual cycle
reproductive health
blood sugar regulation
energy levels
Some hormones you may already have heard of include oestrogen, progesterone, cortisol, insulin, thyroid hormones and melatonin.
They all have different jobs, but they don’t work in isolation. Our hormones are part of a much bigger, interconnected system.
Think of hormones as messages
One of the simplest ways to think about hormones is as messages being sent around your body.
For example, after you eat, insulin helps communicate that glucose is available and helps your cells take it up from the blood.
Melatonin helps communicate that it’s getting dark and supports your natural sleep-wake cycle.
Cortisol is involved in your body’s response to stress and helps regulate things such as energy availability and alertness.
These messages are happening behind the scenes all day, every day.
And rather than feeling as though we need to somehow “control” or “balance” every individual hormone, I think there’s a much more useful question we can ask:
What kind of environment are we creating for our hormones to work within?
Creating a supportive environment
Our bodies are incredibly complex, and there isn’t one food, supplement, workout or wellness hack that will magically “fix” your hormones.
But the everyday foundations of our health matter.
Think about:
Sleep
Are you regularly getting enough rest and giving your body the opportunity to recover?
Nutrition
Are you eating regular, balanced meals with good sources of protein, fibre, healthy fats and a variety of whole foods?
Blood sugar
Are your meals helping to provide steady energy, rather than leaving you constantly swinging between hunger, cravings and energy dips?
Movement
Are you moving your body regularly in ways that support your health, strength and wellbeing?
Stress
Are you constantly rushing, worrying and doing or are there moments in your day where your nervous system gets the opportunity to slow down?
Rest and recovery
Are you treating rest as an important part of your health, rather than something you have to earn?
None of these things need to be perfect.
And that’s really the point.
You don’t need to hyper focus over your hormones
Particularly as women move through their 40s and beyond, it can feel like hormones suddenly become the explanation for everything.
And yes, hormonal changes through perimenopause and menopause can have a very real impact on how we feel.
But that doesn’t mean we’re powerless.
Rather than trying to micromanage individual hormones, we can come back to the foundations.
How am I sleeping?
How am I eating?
Am I moving my body?
How am I managing stress?
Am I giving myself enough time to recover?
What does my body need more - or perhaps less - of right now?
Small improvements across these areas can help create a supportive environment for your body to do what it is designed to do.
Start with the foundations
Your hormones are constantly communicating and responding to what is happening within your body and the world around you.
You don’t need to understand every pathway or know the name of every hormone to start supporting your health.
Start with the basics.
Eat well. Move regularly. Prioritise sleep. Build strength. Manage stress. Get outside. Rest. And pay attention to what your body is telling you.
Because instead of constantly asking:
“How do I fix my hormones?”
Perhaps a better question is:
“How can I create the best possible environment for my body - and my hormones - to work within?”
And that is something we can begin working on today.
If you feel like your health has shifted and you’re not quite sure where to start, health coaching can help you step back, look at the bigger picture and identify realistic changes that work for you and your life.
