It's Not Your Head But… It Could Be Your Hormones

While there are external factors that can impact the way you feel, think, or act, there is a major component that is often overlooked. That is hormones.

The control center in the brain, known as the hypothalamus, is an area that is heavily influenced by your hormones, causing both good and bad mood patterns. That is why by regulating your hormones you can improve and stabilize your emotional health and resolve mood disorders. However, the processes to do so can very different from woman to man.

Women who have a menstrual cycle naturally have a fluctuation of the hormones estrogen and progesterone, which have a notable impact on moods. On the contrary, post-menopausal women experience these mood changes often, due to the hormonal shifts a woman undergoes during that time. Overall, balanced hormones result in good, healthy moods, while imbalances can cause emotional disruption.

Having too much estrogen than progesterone in the body is known as a condition called estrogen dominance. Symptoms usually include irregular periods, lowered libido, bloating, swellings, water retention, and you guessed it, mood swings. If this is the case, a strategy for balancing both estrogen and progesterone can help stabilize your emotional health and improve your overall lifestyle.

On the other hand, the approach to addressing this concern in men is completely different. This is because testosterone is one of the major male sex hormones that play a critical role in a man's emotional well-being. Although testosterone levels in both males and females increase during puberty, men have a natural shift as they age. Testosterone naturally decreases in men after the age of 30, and by the age of 50 testosterone levels are significantly less.

Low levels of testosterone in men have been shown to have lower energy levels, higher chances of being depressed, and mood swings. A solution to combating this is by increasing your testosterone back to a healthy level that is why you can increase your energy, vitality, and libido, and improve your mood.

Now, there is an angle to this that impacts the emotional well-being of both males and females and that is thyroid health. Thyroid hormones are vital to healthy moods and influence the natural flow of many other hormones as well. Thyroid hormones stimulate cell function in all body cells including the brain. This gives the cells all over your body energy to do their jobs. That is why when someone has reportedly low thyroid hormones they are more susceptible to depression and low energy.

In general, there are many moving parts of the hormonal system that work together for you to obtain an overall healthy mood and well-being. The best way to address your emotional health is by looking at where your hormone levels are. Which is what we do here at The Lifestyle Clinic. Through a comprehensive lab panel, we are able to identify the root cause of your concerns and create a personalized plan of action specifically for you. To learn more about our no-nonsense approach to health, click here!