If you were to ask most people how many hormones we humans have, the answer might be that we have too many: the weepy hormones, the cranky ones, etc.
Hormones get blamed for every unwanted emotion that comes on.
But they are an important part of the whole orchestra that runs our bodies, and if one part of the orchestra is out of tune it throws everything out of balance.
Hormone imbalance is a very real problem and quite a lot of work is being done on how to help regulate this issue.
But what really are hormones? They are regulatory biochemical that are produced by the glands and transported by the circulatory system to coordinate physiological behavior.
They regulate digestion, respiration, metabolism, sensory perception, sleep, stress, movement and mood, just to name a few.
They form a major form of communicating between our organs and tissues.
And just a little bit of this powerful biochemical go a long way to getting the job done.
We can see how they could easily get out of whack.
When hormones become deficient the effects can depend on the hormone in question.
DHEA deficiency as an example can lead to premature aging and could lower our ability to handle stress, both physical and mental.
What we have in the past thought of as age-related cognitive decline due to atrophy may really be caused by this hormone deficiency.
Because we have almost doubled our life expectancy in the last one hundred years, those soft tissue glands that create hormones have to produce them over a longer lifespan.
Add in our lack of nutrition, insufficient exercise and stress that we encounter every day and hormone deficiency is becoming a greater problem now than ever before.
Much work is being done in the lab on hormonal replacement, and but science at this point is having a very difficult time deciding how best to proceed on this complex subject.
In some individual cases adding hormones into our system may be the only answer, but pumping hormones into our bodies should be seen as a last resort.
A safer and more natural way to avoid hormonal imbalance is through diet and exercise.
First is what to avoid: processed foods.
Refined carbohydrates, processed fats such as Tran's fats along with sugars that go into processed foods can throw hormones out of balance.
Here are some recommendations that dieticians have recommended to keep hormone levels at a healthy level: 1.
Low fructose fruit.
The fiber and nutrients in fruit are great, but all the fructose can block hormone secretion.
Not all fruit is equal in sugar content, so choose the fruit you eat wisely.
2.
Organic vegetables.
Fresh vegetables that are clean of toxins add so much to our health on so many levels.
If they are fermented they are even more beneficial.
3.
Proteins.
High-quality proteins like chicken, healthy fish and red meat help keep hormones in balance, but they are better when cooked at lower temperatures.
4.
Vitamin D.
Foods high in this vitamin are vital for gene regulation and top health.