The lowdown on hormonal balancing

Hormones have a bad rap when it comes to the human body – and rightfully so. Here’s more about the special chemical messengers that help regulate physiology, behaviour and ultimately, your mood.

Hormones are the chemicals that make our bodies work like a machine. For example, one hormone (hormone A) is responsible for the triggering and release of another hormone (hormone B) this in turns creates another hormone (hormone C), and so the chemical chain reaction occurs within the human body. These hormonal reactions have the express function of achieving the desired movement, response, mood or action.

What are happy hormones?

The most well-known hormones are “endorphins”, commonly referred to as the “happy hormones”. These hormones are triggered during exercise, releasing a chemical response equated to a drug ‘high’. This elevated sense of being results in exercise becoming addictive for those who seek the constant exhilaration. Endorphins which are released by the brain during exercise reduce pain and induce a sense of euphoria.

Endorphins, however, are not the only happy hormones! There is also Serotonin which is also a happiness hormone. Serotonin regulates the mood, prevents depression and makes you feel happy.

There is also Dopamine which helps you to feel mentally alert. These three hormones work together making you feel at your best.

Hormonal imbalances affect the entire body leaving you feeling off balance, depressed and ill.

Hormone levels in both men and women decline from age forty, with the lowest readings during menopause and andropause.

Is there a quick-fix way to boost hormones?

Healthcare providers offer alternative treatments in the form of Bio-Identical Hormone Replacement Therapy. The great appeal of bio-identical hormones is natural origins, the fact that they are more easily metabolised, and have minimal side effects.