What Role Do Hormones Play in Your Overall Wellness?

Your hormones are messengers that regulate the majority of your body’s physical and mental functions. Balanced hormones are crucial to your overall wellness. That’s why our team at The Well for Health in Davidson, North Carolina, is passionate about identifying hormone imbalance and reversing it with customized therapies. 

To understand the critical role hormones play in your overall wellness, our founder, Diane Parks, NP, outlines a few interesting facts about hormones for you to consider.

Hormones impact your sleep

A good night’s sleep, which the Sleep Foundation describes as 7-9 hours for adults, replenishes these essential hormones: 

• Growth hormone
• Antidiuretic hormone
• Oxytocin
• Melatonin
• Prolactin

Not only does sleep impact your hormones, but hormones impact your sleep as well. They are the reason you feel sleepy and the reason you wake up each morning.

Hormones affect your mood

Your thyroid gland produces hormones that impact your health in many ways. When its production is low, you can experience irritability and disturbances in your mood. When its production is high, you can feel anxious and depressed.

Hormones influence your sexual function

The sex hormones are testosterone and estrogen. Reduction in estrogen results in decreased lubrication and loss of sensation in women, as well as a lowered sex drive. For men, testosterone fluctuations can lead to difficulty with erections, decreased semen production, and a diminished interest in sex.

Hormones regulate your growth and development

Your endocrine system calls on hormones to regulate many of your body’s processes, including growth and development. The main gland responsible for growth is your pituitary gland.

Hormones are involved in weight management

If you’re carrying extra weight and you can’t seem to get it off no matter how strict your diet is or how diligent you are to exercise, hormone fluctuations are likely the culprit. There are three main hormones that impact weight:

• Insulin: regulates fat storage
• Estrogen: causes abdominal fat during menopause
• Cortisol: influences your stress response, which is linked to fat around internal organs

When your hormones are in balance, you feel alert, vibrant, and happy. If you suspect your hormones are out of whack, turn to our team for a confidential and comprehensive evaluation. We offer a range of treatment options to help bring your hormones back into balance to improve your overall wellness. Some of the ways we can help include:

• Bioidentical hormone therapy
• Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
• Thyroid and adrenal optimization
• Lifestyle review and modifications

To improve your overall health, balancing your hormones should be step one. Call to learn more about how we can help support your hormone function or request an appointment online.