How to get back into the healthy flow of life
A healthy balancing act
Is your exercise regime affecting your hormones? DR NAT KRINGOUDIS helps you get back into the flow.
Missing menstrual cycles seem to be on the rise and, naturally, I’m always keen to help others understand why. There can be a plethora of causes but there are generally a few standout reasons as to why many women’s periods are going AWOL. Every symptom your body reveals to you is a special clue to the puzzle. While it might all seem a little overwhelming, enlisting an expert will help you reveal exactly what your body is trying to show you. As you’re about to learn, our bodies really are quite clever.
Vigorous workouts are rapidly becoming the norm and incidental exercise is becoming extinct. We work out with machines (think women spending hours on the treadmill), we monitor heart rates and we have been conditioned to believe that unless we’re sweating, we’re not working out. Being fit and looking fit has become, for some, an obsession. Fit is the new ‘thin’ and while it’s positive that we are looking after our bodies, sadly we aren’t necessarily designed to be put through gruelling fitness regimes all the time.
We are also living at a time where hormone imbalance is on the rise. This is apparent by a bucket-load of symptoms, one of the most common being weight gain. Our innate reaction is to exercise more, since we’ve been conditioned to believe that weight and exercise are dependent on one another. While this is true to a degree, when our hormones are at play, it can be a disaster.
Food also plays a vital role in the puzzle. Ensuring we are fuelling our bodies correctly to support hormone health is the game changer.
Your stress hormones and sex hormones strongly influence each other. That is, if your stress hormones are heightened, your sex hormones primarily take the brunt and will be suppressed. This is why in times of high stress, our libido is more deflated than a flat car tyre. However, our sex hormones are responsible for much more than just our sex drive. They influence our moods, help us feel good and, for women, they regulate our menstrual cycles. Your thyroid also needs the input of your sex hormones so it can continue to facilitate each and every cell in your body. All of a sudden, it isn’t just about ovulation, but about cellular function on every level.
Combining a weak constitution with high stress can see our hormones influenced in a way that flicks our body into survival mode, meaning our menstrual cycles can go walkabout purely as a coping mechanism. Sure, it’s frustrating when our periods suddenly stop, but that is exactly how our bodies are designed to adjust under these circumstances. Just like in times of famine or high pressure, our sex hormones are taken offline. When we regularly subject ourselves to high-intensity regimes (be they emotional, activity, work or life related), we keep the body in a suspended state of stress. Our bodies don’t know the difference between a looming deadline, poor food choices or gruelling exercise routines – it just knows that extra pressure equates to stress.
Feeling stressed and overwhelmed? Check out Nat Kringoudis' stress management tips.
