Age reverse – hormones

Your endocrine system consists of several glands that secrete hormones.  These are the pituitary gland, the thyroid, the thymus, the pancreas, the ovaries and testes and adrenals.  Like an orchestra where the various sections contribute to beautiful music, your endocrine glands work in sync to produce wellness.  Any problem with one endocrine gland will affect the others.  This is why stress, affecting the adrenal glands and causing an overproduction of adenalin, cortisol and noradrenaline can cause your monthly periods to stop.  Similarly stress can affect immunity.  Your 40 plus years can be a stressful time as you try to juggle career, children, and look after aging parents.  Relationship break up are common in this age group too and these can be especially stressful.  It is really important to take some time for yourself each day to do something you enjoy and relax.  Trust me, you will be in a better position to help others if you are relaxed and feel well.  On the yoga blog there is a yoga practice which will help balance hormones 'Youth boost yoga-Happy hormones'.

You might also find the following blog post helpful:-

Love your hormones

and the following yoga videos on my 'sister' blog, Flexiladiesyoga's YouTube Channel:-

Balancing hormones for youthful skin and hair-Part 1-Anti-aging series
Balancing hormones for youthful skin and hair-Part 2-Anti-aging series
How yoga boosts health-hormone health

The main change to your hormones that ladies will notice as they get older is the drop in oestrogen and progesterone that happens at menopause.  This happens at an average age of 51 and the effects such as hot flushes, etc are caused by the pituitary gland trying to make up for the fall by producing more luteinising hormone.  Fortunately there is a great deal of natural ways to help yourself ‘sail’ through this difficult time and my top recommendation would be to practice some yoga, make time each day to relax or meditate and take soya isoflavones (a plant source of oestrogen known as phyto-oestrogen).

You might also find the following yoga videos helpful on my 'sister' blog, Flexiladiesyoga's YouTube Channel:-

Yoga for Women-Yoga for the Menopause
Yoga for Women-Yoga for the Menopause-2

On this blog you will find the 'M'-word series:-

The 'M'-Word Part 1-Diet to help ease your way through the menopause
The 'M' word Part 2 - coping with 'brain fog', and memory impairment 
The 'M' word Part 3-Avoiding weight gain in the menopause
The 'M' word Part 4-Pelvic floor
The 'M' word Part 5-should I take soya isoflavones?

Not quite so noticeable, men too may experience an andropause between the ages of 60-80 caused by a drop in testosterone.  However this does not occur in all men. 

As we age, the thyroid gland’s output of thyroxine may lessen resulting in hypothyroidism.  Symptoms include feeling cold, weight gain, hair loss etc which are often taken as signs of aging.  If you have these symptoms see your doctor for a blood test.  Treatment involves replacing the hormone deficit. Nourish your thyroid with foods that are a source of selenium such as brazil nuts and iodine in sea vegetables, cruciferous vegetables and soy milk.  Yoga inversions such as Shoulder Stand and Shoulder Bridge are good to practice as they stimulate the thyroid gland. 

The pancreas produce insulin which stabilises blood sugar but as we age changes such as unresponsiveness to insulin can put us more at risk of diabetes.  To help prevent this limit your intake of sugar and processed food.

You may also find the following blog post on diabetes helpful 

'In the news-Diabetes cases soar by 60% in the last decade'

The thymus gland produces the white blood cells which fight invaders such as bacteria and viruses.  As we age the thymus may become slower to respond so that we take longer to heal.  The immune system’s ability to detect faults when cells divide and correct those mistakes also becomes impaired, increasing the risk of cancer.  A good diet, restful, adequate sleep and natural daylight to keep your vitamin D levels topped up are all key to maintaining a healthy immune system. If you are stressed take steps to reduce this – yoga, meditation and herbs such as ashwagandha as stress can impair immunity. Also do not smoke as this impairs immunity. Sometimes as we age our immune system attacks our own cells resulting in autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.  The immune system may also over-react resulting in chronic inflammation which is the root cause of many degenerative diseases in the body.  My advice is to take serrapeptase which is an anti-inflammatory enzyme. 

You might also find the following helpful

Beating inflamation with serrapeptase

Hope this helps keep your hormones happy through your 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond. 

You may also like the other blog posts in this series:-

Age reverse-Stay sharp
Age reverse-Eyes, health and beauty 
Age reverse-heart
Age reverse-Hearing loss
Age reverse- Hair

Please note-always seek advice from your medical practitioner before taking any of the supplements or practicing any of the yoga recommended in these blog posts. 

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