Did you know that our bodies have many, many hormones that carry out processes that range from digestion to sleep?
While I was at NTA, our founder – Gray Graham – gave a great analogy. The endocrine system is like an orchestra. All the instruments must play in harmony or they start to throw each other off.
I’m not very musical – okay, I’m about as musical as a water buffalo -, but I get that you can’t follow the music if the tuba next to you is playing at a different tempo or in the wrong key.
To continue the metaphor, the conductor of this symphony is a part of the brain called the hypothalamus, and the pituitary gland is the first violinist.
Together, they command the entire orchestra to play a particular song, while simultaneously receiving feedback from the instruments to set the right pitch and tone. If the gland is the instrument and the hormone is the sound it produces, just one gland being out of tune will cause disharmony in the entire orchestra. (source )
What Do Hormones Do?
Hormones tell our bodies what to do and keep it in homeostasis. They are the chemical messengers that say when to make more thyroid-stimulating hormones (TSH), how much melatonin to create, and even when to stimulate labor.
If some of the hormones are out of balance for long periods of time, chronic illness results. It’s often a result of dysfunctional master glands – hypothalamus and pituitary – that struggle to keep up.
In my practice, I see people every day who have struggled to heal by following various gut protocols without complete success, not because they are doing anything wrong, but because they aren’t learning to address their issues whole -listically.
I find that testing any of the hormones can clue you into endocrine dysfunction. Testing the male and female reproductive hormones is my favorite way to do it.
But there are other symptoms that you might not attribute to an estrogen or progesterone imbalance. For example, foggy thinking. Normally, estrogen helps to regulate cortisol, which affects the function of neurotransmitters in your brain.
But a decline in estrogen levels means cortisol levels aren’t properly controlled, which results in a malfunction in the neurotransmitters. (source )
At-Home Hormone Panel Lab Test
I am super excited about this giveaway. Nobody can appreciate a giveaway of lab tests quite like a nutrition nerd. 😉
A few of my favorite bloggers and I have partnered up with Pure Prescriptions to offer you an 8-Panel Hormone Lab Test (worth $350) PLUS a $250 gift card for Pure Prescriptions supplements or further lab tests .
The other great bloggers joining me —
This is a paid giveaway and contains affiliate links (disclosure ).
I know how expensive it can be to pursue your health. I take on pro bono cases when I can and try to offer free information here through this blog, but it never feels like enough.
Every bit more that I can do could be a huge step in the right direction for one more person, one more family, one more child. Make this your day and enter the giveaway.
Pure Prescriptions $600 Giveaway
Here are the rules —
Be sure to enter through the Rafflecoptor giveaway widget below.
Only U.S. residents eligible to win.
Giveaway runs from 5/1/14-6/10/14. Winner will be chosen randomly and announced by 6/12/14.
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