Hormones are chemicals present in everyone’s system, but not everyone has the same levels. Between your close friend or your sibling, have you felt like they have got their life together and have so much energy but you feel like sleeping all day or not sleeping at all and just sitting doom scrolling, having no energy? It’s probably because their hormone levels are balanced while yours are in either excess or deficiency. Balancing hormones are important to get ourselves ready for the day, keep our energy intact and sufficient.
InfiHeal has a primary aim to keep your mental health good and this blog will help you achieve that. Let’s get down to it.
What are hormones?
Well, in very simple terms hormones are chemicals produced by the endocrine system that aids in the optimal functioning of our body. Hormones can help in metabolism, reproductive system, growth, and sexual functioning. These chemicals help various cells in our body to communicate with each other. Every different hormone has a different function and different consequences for its excessive availability or deficiency.
Small changes in the hormonal system can have a big impact. When there is an imbalance in the availability of these hormones, many different symptoms show up. Analyzing these seemingly masquerading symptoms for hormonal imbalances can provide an effective solution for their treatment.
A group of endocrine glands secrete various types of hormones. These glands are found throughout the body namely the pituitary gland, thymus, pineal gland, thyroid gland, pancreas, adrenal glands, ovaries, and testes.
All of these glands have their respective functions (like the VPs of various departments), but they need to work together to keep the body functioning optimally. These glands are connected to the hypothalamus and pituitary glands which can be considered the CEO and COO of the company that is our body factory.
All the glands and hormones are interconnected. Let’s take a look into the primary hormones:
What are the Primary hormones?
- Dopamine
- Serotonin
- Oxytocin
- Melatonin
- Endorphins
- Adrenaline
- Norepinephrine
- Estrogen
- Testosterone
- Progesterone
- DHEA Thyroid
Dopamine
Dopamine is the hormone mostly associated with pleasure and reward. You know that fuzzy, warm feeling you get after handing in your last exam? That feeling of accomplishment and achievement is produced by the release of dopamine. If you’re craving chocolates, you’re probably craving dopamine.
Dopamine helps you stay motivated to achieve all your goals in life. With high dopamine, you feel energized to take on the day. Especially for people with ADHD, dopamine can prove to be a great way to keep yourself motivated and concentrated on one task.
So to keep dopamine levels balanced naturally, it’s important to include fish, chicken, eggs, nuts, beans and cheese in your diet. Even taking a short walk, doing yoga, enjoying small wins and hyping yourself could boost your dopamine levels.
Serotonin
Serotonin is the happiness hormone but also plays an important role in digestive health. A good level of serotonin can be estimated through high self-esteem, healthy appetite, generally good mood, increased sexual desire, and memorizing everything easily.
Serotonin helps in multitasking so if you’re finding yourself distracted again and again, you might want to check on serotonin levels. It also works with melatonin (which we’ll discuss later) to regulate your sleep and waking up.
To balance your serotonin levels, it’s imperative that your body take more carbohydrates and include bananas and yogurt in your diet. It’s also important to go out in the sun to get some Vitamin D.
Oxytocin
Oxytocin is the hormone we all crave- the love hormone. It is produced whenever you touch someone near and dear, no matter whether they are your friend, lover or relative. This is the hormone that makes people happy in relationships.
The release of oxytocin also builds love and trust, which is very important in building the foundations of relationships.
Low levels of oxytocin can make you feel lonely, stressed, tired and unworthy. During such times, people tend to stay home, avoid communication and never have the energy to meet up with others or keep a conversation. This reclusive lifestyle makes them unhappy. So if you might be feeling like this, maybe it’s time to get a massage (well who doesn’t like the relaxation it brings?). But it also has other benefits. The prolonged physical contact will release oxytocin in your body, making you feel better.
Even hugging your friend or family member, or even cuddling with your pet would help you balance your oxytocin levels (and we know we wouldn’t mind cuddling up with a pet).
Melatonin
Melatonin primarily regulates the body clock and sets its pace, letting it know the time of the day or even the time of the year. So basically it takes the role of a calender in the body.
The pineal gland secretes melatonin as soon as the sun sets. This is the reason you start feeling sleepy when it gets dark. The light receptors present in the brain trigger this secretion process (which is why people who are blind have difficulty sleeping and have to take supplements). The amount of melatonin in our body reaches its peak at 2 or 3 am.
Melatonin helps to fight stress, works as an antioxidant and helps you sleep (which is loved by most people). Deficiency in melatonin can lead to obesity, diabetes and even cancer, which makes it very serious to maintain melatonin levels.
Melatonin can be maintained by keeping devices away at night time (for the millionth time). Getting blackout windows or shades can also give the illusion of nighttime, and even getting a cute sleep mask (because who doesn’t love a good beauty sleep). Eating cherries can also be beneficial as they are rich in melatonin. Try not to wear anything too tight while sleeping as constricting clothing can reduce melatonin production by 60%.
Endorphins
ndorphins are natural painkillers and help deal with pain caused by both internal and external factors. They don’t necessarily get rid of the pain, but definitely reduce its intensity and give you a feeling of euphoria.
Endorphins help improve performance in extreme conditions such as life-threatening situations, which were faced by our ancestors, they managed to survive in such hostile environments because endorphins blocked the pain giving them time to escape.
Low levels of endorphins can lead to one feeling too emotionally sensitive, having extremely low pain tolerance, craving comfort foods and even feeling depressed.
Endorphins can be boosted by food rich in good fat such as avocados, olives, and coconut. Going out in the sun, listening to your favourite music, exercising regularly, laughing more and eating some dark chocolate can also aid in increasing endorphin levels.
Adrenaline i.e epinephrine
Kidneys produce adrenaline when you find yourself in tense situations and prepare you for fight-or-flight mode. Adrenaline makes you prioritize and concentrate on more urgent tasks so you won’t concentrate on physical pain. It doesn’t lessen the pain but it just takes your mind off it. For example, when stuck in a burning building, running away from it would be a priority rather than focusing on a scraped knee.
Adrenaline levels can be regulated through daily exercise, meditation, limited caffeine or alcohol intake and progressive muscle relaxation.
Norepinephrine
Norepinephrine, produced in the central nervous system and adrenal glands, helps the body cope with high-stress situations. Norepinephrine is a hormone that is only produced when needed and disappears from the system after the threat is gone.
Deficiency in norepinephrine can lead to depression, anxiety, eating disorders, brain fog, lack of interest in life and lethargy. So if you’re feeling these symptoms, you should check your norepinephrine levels.
Norepinephrine can be balanced through foods like bananas, beans, chocolate, cheese, eggs, chicken, meat, fish, seafood, and oatmeal. Exercising, jumping into cold water and sweating in a sauna also helps increase norepinephrine by two or three times.
Estrogen
Estrogen performs very similar functions as testosterone does in men.
High levels of estrogen can lead to an increase in obesity, which can increase the risk of developing breast cancer, which is hormone-dependent. Keeping a healthy weight and exercising regularly, along with taking a full night’s sleep and keeping stress at bay can help regulate estrogen levels.
Testosterone
Testosterone regulates sex drive, libido, and fat distribution, increases bone and muscle mass, improves insulin response, is anti-inflammatory, and helps with the strength and production of red blood cells and sperm. A small amount of testosterone is also converted to estrogen as it helps regulate certain functions such as enhanced cognition and higher levels of dopamine, serotonin, and GABA.
estosterone and estrogen are decreased by adrenaline. This is because, during stressful situations, our body prioritizes survival over reproduction.
Some foods to increase levels of testosterone are garlic, tuna, egg yolks and oysters.
Progesterone
Progesterone increases in response to stress and cortisol (as opposed to estrogen and testosterone). It is the precursor to cortisol.
When there is stress, progesterone is released so it can be converted to cortisol. Under chronic stress, cortisol and progesterone decrease because the body becomes resistant to stress and stops responding. As a result, estrogen becomes dominant.
Estrogen dominance can lead to mood swings, increased anxiety, weight gain, hair loss, sleep deprivation, memory and cognitive disruption.
Progesterone also has anxiolytic properties which reduce anxiety, which is ironic considering it is the precursor to a stress response.
DHEA (Dehydroepiandrosterone)
Produced in the adrenal gland, DHEA regulates the gonadal hormones. It aids in the synthesis of estrogen and androgen. The production of DHEA is reduced with age.
If stress or cortisol increases, DHEA reduces, which in turn leads to less production of testosterone and estrogen and a low libido.
DHEA elevation can exaggerate glucocorticoid dysfunction, which involves the body becoming resistant to the effects of cortisol and adapting to ongoing stress.
Conclusion
Now to sum it all up, let’s talk about which hormone to look at depending on the symptoms you might be facing:
- Depressive symptoms may be caused by low levels of dopamine, serotonin, norepinephrine, estrogen or DHEA (impacting the production of mood-regulating hormones like testosterone and estrogen).
- Anxiety or panic attacks may be caused by low levels of serotonin, norepinephrine, progesterone or estrogen dominance.
- Stress may be caused by the overproduction of adrenaline, high levels of norepinephrine, cortisol, or progesterone or a decrease in DHEA.
- Mood swings may be caused by dopamine imbalance, high levels of estrogen, low levels of progesterone or imbalances in serotonin.
- Low motivation and energy may be due to low levels of dopamine, testosterone or deficiency in norepinephrine.
- Sleep disorders may be caused by a deficiency in melatonin, serotonin or high levels of cortisol.
- Low libido and sexual dysfunction may stem from low levels of testosterone, imbalances in estrogen or low levels of oxytocin or DHEA.
- Low levels of endorphins can cause emotional sensitivity and lower pain tolerance.
- Cognitive issues such as issues in memory or focus may be caused by low levels of dopamine, imbalances in estrogen, and low levels of norepinephrine or serotonin.
- Low levels of oxytocin can lead to feelings of loneliness and social withdrawal.
- Obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors may be caused by low levels of serotonin.
After identifying the issues faced, you should work on balancing the level of hormones that may be causing such imbalances. Additionally, it’s always best to consult a doctor to gain comprehensive insights into which hormonal imbalances are present. You can also talk to our very own AI mental health chatbot- Healo at https://healo.infiheal.com/ . He always has pretty insightful things to say :))
