The number one cause of hormonal imbalance is stress.
Not age, not genetics, not a bad roll of the dice.
Stress – mental, emotional, and physical – can dramatically shift your hormone levels independent of all those other factors.
It all comes down to something which we, in functional medicine, call ‘the cortisol steal’
In reality, cortisol doesn’t ‘steal’ anything.
It’s simply a way of describing how the body prioritises making cortisol over other important hormones like oestrogen, testosterone and progesterone when you are going through a stressful time.
This has disastrous consequences for anyone dealing with a hormone-related issue such as menopause, PMS or anxiety.
The worst part is that when you get the ‘diagnosis’ of menopause, PMS etc. you probably immediately start googling ways to deal with your issue.
But you kind of forget to factor in the stress.
Maybe because stress has become such an integral part of your life that you start to see it as part of your personality?
If you ever describe yourself as ‘stressy’, a ‘worrier’ or an ‘over-thinker’, you have got a problem.
You weren’t born that way.
Instead, you have developed a range of unhealthy habits and behaviours that result in high levels of everyday stress.
Your focus should be on changing your lifestyle and behaviours in order to reduce the amount of cortisol being produced by your adrenal glands.
This gives your body a chance to produce adequate levels of the other hormones needed for a healthy balance.
I explain it all in this week’s video 👇
And if you need help putting together your own personal stress management plan and FINALLY achieve the ideal work/life balance, well….. you know where to find me.
(Duration 3:28 min. Hit CC for subtitles)
