Hormones are the most powerful molecules in our bodies, controlling the function, growth reproduction, metabolism, and repair of every cell. Our bodies require optimal hormone levels, just as they require optimal levels of essential vital nutrients: vitamins, fats, amino acids, and minerals.

Hormone levels are generally optimal in our early twenties but begin to decline at a rate of 2% per year after the age of 30. Hormone levels decline because our glands and the parts of our brain that control our glands deteriorate with age. This age-related hormone loss is natural, but it is not adaptive; it is destructive. It is one of the mechanisms of aging.  It is Mother Nature’s way of canceling us out by deterioration and death.

Hormone loss has been shown to contribute to many of the disorders and diseases that we suffer as we age – diabetes, atherosclerosis, high blood pressure, fatigue, loss of muscle strength, osteoporosis, autoimmune diseases, cognitive decline, increased cholesterol levels, loss of libido, depression, and some cancers. Many have additional non-age-related hormone insufficiencies or imbalances due to hypothalamic-pituitary dysfunction, endocrine gland failure, hormone resistance, and metabolic disorders.

Women are more so affected by hormonal disorders because their complex hormonal system is adapted to produce and feed babies; not to optimize their vitality as it is in men. Women lose vital sex hormones in perimenopause and menopause, and they have a much higher incidence of thyroid insufficiency and cortisol insufficiency (fatigue, aches, anxiety, depression, allergies, and autoimmune diseases).

Progesterone, estrogen, and testosterone are three sex hormones whose names are known by women and are extremely important when considering hormone optimization.  There are also further hormone optimization considerations. 

Each day nearly 200 hormones and hormone-like substances course silently through your body, acting as chemical messengers secreted by nine major endocrine glands (adrenals, thyroid, parathyroid, ovaries, hypothalamus, pancreas, thymus, pituitary, pineal) and other organs.  These hormones affect every cell in your body, helping to determine whether you’re hot or cold, hungry or full, calm or stressed, alert or sleepy, and naughty or nice.  Whether you’re asleep or awake, hormones also build bone, regulate your menstrual cycles, and direct myriad other essential functions. 

So keeping your hormones in balance, in an optimized state, is vital for day-to-day good health.

Is your thyroid making you fat? Why is it so hard for people with an underactive thyroid to lose weight? When you're hypothyroid, the slowed metabolism and changes to your endocrine system can make losing weight seem like a losing proposition.

Thyroid function is intimately connected with your metabolism — thyroid hormones basically regulate calorie consumption. But a healthy thyroid also depends on the proper functioning of other body mechanisms, including your neurotransmitters, your reproductive hormones and your adrenal glands.

Because patients with an underactive thyroid tend to have a very low basal metabolic rate, one of the most noticeable symptoms of hypothyroidism is weight gain and difficulty losing extra weight. Often the “metabolic burn” continues to fall as calories are reduced when dieting. That’s why some with low thyroid can have weight gain even when they severely restrict calories. In order to fix your metabolism, you have to understand your entire health picture, not just your thyroid.

More women than men suffer from hypothyroidism, and many more women than men with thyroid issues have problems with weight gain. Most thyroid problems occur within the gland itself and often don’t reveal themselves until a broader pattern of hormonal imbalance develops. That’s why thyroid issues, menopause, andropause and weight gain often appear together.

The first thing to do if you are experiencing stubborn weight gain is have a thyroid test or measure TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone). Many people who test within the “normal” range of traditional medical standards still need thyroid support because the thyroid is not working optimally. Their TSH may be only slightly elevated, but enough so that it influences their metabolism and causes weight gain.

Supplemental nutrients such as selenium and iodine, combined with a meal plan that balances a proper ratio of protein to carbohydrates increases their metabolic functioning will begin the weight loss process. Nutraceutical-grade multivitamin/mineral to give your body ample nutritional support and a low-dose thyroid replacement hormone is also needed.

Weight gain is not sufficient evidence to conclude that someone has a thyroid abnormality, but it is one part of the picture. Efforts to lose weight without addressing related thyroid issues are doomed to fail. Likewise, thyroid treatments are usually not as effective without addressing the underlying hormonal imbalance. The greatest success is found through a holistic approach that considers thyroid function as an integral part of your overall hormonal balance.