What Functions Does Estrogen Play in the Body?
If you’ve taken a high school health class, you probably know the basics of what estrogen is. It’s the female sex hormone, the counterpart to testosterone, the male sex hormone. All human bodies produce some level of estrogen, so men do make estrogen in the same way that women make testosterone, but if you’re biologically female, estrogen is the main chemical that your body will use to keep your reproductive system on track. But what does this hormone actually do in the literal sense? What will happen in your body if your estrogen levels are healthy, and what will happen if they aren’t? To answer that question, let’s take a look at some of the functions of estrogen.
Ovaries
When it comes to the ovaries, the biggest job of estrogen is to stimulate the production of eggs. MIdway between the start of a woman’s period and the start of her next period is ovulation, and this is the time when estrogen levels in the body are highest. The ovaries produce estrogen and use it to stimulate the egg follicles, which are small, fluid-filled sacs inside the ovaries. One (or sometimes more than one) will release an egg to either be fertilized or be released from the body during the period. After ovulation, estrogen levels in the body begin to drop again.
Uterus
Just as estrogen plays a role in helping the ovaries to release an egg during ovulation, it also helps the uterus prepare for the potential fertilization of that egg. The uterine lining, or endometrium, is the tissue that becomes the placenta if a pregnancy occurs and that is shed as blood during a period if a pregnancy doesn’t occur. Estrogen helps to enhance the endometrium during the leadup to ovulation.
Estrogen also has an effect on cervical mucus, a substance produced by the cervix that changes over the course of the menstrual cycle. Estrogen makes the cervical mucus take on a slippery texture similar to egg whites when a woman is most fertile in order to encourage sperm to find their way towards an egg. Many hormonal birth control methods, like the pill or the IUD, use progestin, an artificial form of progesterone, to do the opposite of what estrogen would do and thicken the cervical mucus in order to make it harder for sperm to enter the uterus.
Vagina
Estrogen’s effects are not only noticeable on the internal organs. In the vagina, estrogen helps to maintain the thickness of the vaginal wall and also encourages lubrication. This is a place that many women will start to feel the effects of falling estrogen levels during menopause. Vaginal dryness, thinning, inflammation, or a loss of elasticity are fairly common things for women to experience later in life, but they can be uncomfortable, unpleasant, and have a damaging effect on a woman’s sex life. Hormone treatments can help to alleviate these symptoms!
Breasts
Estrogen is one of the main hormones affecting changes in the breasts. (This is one of the reasons that if you’ve ever taken the birth control pill, you might’ve noticed a change in your cup size.) Estrogen works together with the growth hormone during puberty to encourage breasts to grow, and the rising and falling levels of estrogen during the menstrual cycle can lead to small changes in breast size and increased tenderness or soreness, depending on the person. When nursing a baby, estrogen also steps in to help stop the flow of milk after the baby is weaned.
As you can see, estrogen is a hormone with many purposes in the body, and that means that in order to be healthy and functioning optimally, your body needs to be producing estrogen in the right levels. If you’re experiencing symptoms such as vaginal dryness, breast tenderness, hot flashes, headaches, and irregular periods, an estrogen imbalance may be the culprit. If this is the case, hormone replacement therapy from Renewed Vitality may be able to help you! Contact us here to learn more about what this revolutionary treatment can do for you.
It’s no secret that as you age, sex can start to look different from how it did when you were younger. This is a combination of many different factors, from the shifting mental, emotional, and social influences on your life to physical and chemical changes in your body. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing– it’s natural for your sex drive to change and slow down as you get older, and you can still have a healthy sex life no matter your age. It’s good to know what changes to expect, however, and that if you’re struggling with changes to your sex drive as you age, there are routes you can take to help combat the less-than-enjoyable effects. Here’s a quick breakdown of what the evolution of an adult’s sex drive typically looks like. Remember, everyone is different, so these are not hard and fast milestones so much as generalizations.
20s and 30s
You might assume that both men and women have their highest libidos around the same age, but that’s surprisingly not true! In men, testosterone is high in the 20s, and sex drive is usually high along with it.
For women, libido is a little lower during the 20s but tends to go up in the 30s. Sex drive is a very complicated subject, and scientists haven’t conclusively proven why this happens, but it’s generally assumed that there’s a correlation between the increase of sex drive and the decrease in fertility that happens in the late 20s to 30s. High fertility in your 20s might lead to an evolutionary instinct to be more selective about sex.
Pregnancy
Most women who have children do so sometime in their 20s and 30s, and this has some serious effects of sex drive, not just during the pregnancy, but afterwards as well. It’s common to experience a boost in libido during the second trimester and be disinterested in sex at other times, but this isn’t the case for everyone. Some women experience an unusually high sex drive during pregnancy, or an unusually low one, or they might be anxious about whether it’s safe (the answer is typically yes, but double check with your doctor if you’re nervous). The stress of raising children can also lead to a decrease in sex drive after the baby arrives.
40s
Around the age of 35, testosterone levels in men start to drop, which can cause a decrease in sex drive as well. These changing hormone levels continue into the 40s, and the decrease might be fairly gradual for some men or faster for others.
Women, on the other hand, tend to have fairly high sex drives and active sex lives in their 40s. Some studies indicate that women around this age are more likely to have sex more often and earlier on in a relationship, as well as having more intense fantasies.
50s
For men, sex drive around this age is usually significantly lower than it was earlier in life, although there’s no reason for this to get in the way of a healthy sex life. Erectile dysfunction does become more common in men as they get older, but this actually has less to do with age and more to do with other health problems that become common with age, like obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and high cholesterol. Medications for these conditions and others can also lead to erectile dysfunction, and you should discuss it with your doctor if it’s becoming a problem.
For women, lowered stress levels from environmental factors like the kids moving out or less worry around getting pregnant might lead to an increased interest in sex, but the onset of menopause can throw a bit of a wrench in the works with hormonoal changes leading to things like vaginal dryness, lowered libido, and mood changes or sleep problems. These are also things you should discuss with your doctor.
What Can I Do?
If you’re struggling with the effects of aging on your sex life, hormone replacement therapy might be a great option for you! At Renewed Vitality, our bioidentical hormones are more efficient and have less adverse effects than synthetic hormones, and giving yourself a boost of testosterone or estrogen as needed can help to get you feeling more normal and get your sex life back on track. If you’re interested in this treatment, please contact us here to learn more!
Mental wellness and sex are a lot more closely connected than they might seem at first glance. Although they’re incredibly different from person to person, everyone needs to have balance between these two factors. Whether they engage in intimacy with one person, multiple people, or individually, good mental health is tied to a healthy sex life, and a healthy sex life is tied to good mental health. With age, it can be common for sex drive to decrease, which can have unexpected results on a person’s mental wellbeing, so making an effort to keep your sex life active later in life can be very helpful! Here are some of the benefits of a healthy sex life on your mental wellness.
Relationship Benefits
If you’re in a relationship, keeping up with your sex life can do a lot of good things for you and your partner. Physical intimacy encourages communication and bonding between partners, boosts self esteem and self image, and can help lower relational anxiety, or anxiousness around relating to or bonding with other people. Overall, it helps to bring you closer together and make your relationship stronger and happier, which is never a bad thing!
Lowered Stress
Sex offers all the same benefits of exercise, so it has the added side bonus of lowering your stress levels by releasing your body’s feel-good hormones, endorphins and oxytocin. Overall they help you to feel more relaxed and stave off feelings of anxiety and depression.
Improved Mood
Just like your daily mental health walk helps you to feel happier, so does sex! The same hormones that are associated with lowered stress levels, endorphins and oxytocin, as well as serotonin, can help you to feel happier and put some more pep in your step throughout the day.
Better Sleep
A healthy and active sex life will be a big help to your sleep patterns. The brain chemicals released during sex help you to feel relaxed and sleepy, which can help you get a better night’s shut-eye. Poor sleep can be extremely detrimental to your mental health, even just one night and especially if it becomes a chronic problem, so by helping you to sleep better, sex can also better equip you to handle your mental wellness.
Between changes in your sex drive as you age, increased stress, and a busy lifestyle, keeping your sex life active and healthy can start to feel like an afterthought, but the benefits you can get from making it a priority in your life are worth the effort it takes to make time for it. Whether you’re in a committed or casual relationship or you’re single, you can still enjoy all the mental health benefits, not to mention the physical health benefits!
If you’re struggling with sexual issues like low libido, speaking to a professional can make a huge difference. Renewed Vitality in Berks County is the area’s premier facility for hormone replacement therapy (HRT), which can be exceptionally helpful in terms of improving your sex life, especially as you age. We have both male and female patients, and we offer safe, effective treatments to help with hormone imbalances and restore your quality of life. Contact us to learn more about what this treatment can do for you!
Every woman knows to expect menopause as she ages. The average age to experience it is 51 for women in the United States, but any time between ages 45 to 55 is considered within the normal range. Menopause before age 45 is considered early, and before age 40 is premature.
So, how do you know if you’re in premature menopause? For starters, there is a difference between menopause and perimenopause, which is the process of heading into menopause itself. When you’ve gone more than twelve months without a period, you’ve entered menopause, but prior to this as your ovulation slows, you’ll be in perimenopause and begin experiencing the symptoms that you always hear people talking about– hot flashes and chills, mood changes, sleep problems, and of course, irregular periods. A changing period is the main sign of menopause, and while there are many reasons to have irregular or missing periods, you should always discuss it with your doctor. If you’re presenting other symptoms and not within the typical age range, they may diagnose you with premature menopause. There are many reasons that this might happen to you, and they will help you to determine the cause and cope with the changes. Here are some of the reasons you might begin menopause prematurely.
Previous Illnesses
If you’ve undergone chemotherapy, had your ovaries removed, or had any other treatment or procedure that would damage your estrogen production, it may lead to premature menopause. However, damaged or missing ovaries are not the only potential cause, and you can still experience premature menopause if your ovaries are intact.
Genetics
It is likely that there is a genetic component to when you will naturally begin menopause. If other explanations don’t fit, this may be what it comes down to. If your mother experienced menopause early or prematurely, it’s possible that you will as well.
Lifestyle
There are some habits that you might’ve had (or might still have) in previous years that can affect your reproductive health, with smoking being a major one. Long-term or regular smoking has been proven to have a correlation to earlier menopause than that seen in women who don’t smoke. Other lifestyle choices that may contribute are vegetarianism, lack of exercise, lack of sun exposure, and low BMI.
Chromosomal Defects
There are several chromosomal abnormalities that can lead to premature menopause. Most of them do this by affecting the function of the ovaries. Turner syndrome, pure gonadal dysgenesis, and Fragile X syndrome are all possible causes. If you or any family members have premature menopause and you suspect that one of these conditions might be the cause, it’s important to discuss genetic testing with your doctor.
Autoimmune Disease
Autoimmune diseases can cause a whole host of health issues, including premature menopause. When inflammation caused by these diseases affects the ovaries, their function is altered or stopped. Rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid problems are potential autoimmune diseases that may be the cause of your premature menopause.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy can sometimes cause the ovaries to fail prematurely, and resultantly lead to early or premature menopause in about 14% of women with the disease.
Depending on the cause of your premature menopause, hormone therapy might be a good treatment option for you to help lessen the symptoms. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, like the kind offered at Renewed Vitality, can improve your quality of life during perimenopause and menopause. Most of the adverse symptoms of menopause stem from a change in your body’s estrogen levels, and by adding in estrogen that is no longer being produced, some of those symptoms can be eased. Bioidentical hormones are exactly what they sound like– they’re biologically identical to the ones naturally produced in your body. Renewed Vitality’s bioidentical estrogen is 100% natural, created using a plant-based source. Their exact chemical structure matches the kind made by the human body, and their natural makeup allows them to be more easily processed than artificial varieties.
If you are suffering from premature menopause, or if the symptoms of menopause and perimenopause in general are causing you distress, contact Renewed Vitality to ask about our bioidentical hormone replacement therapy. It may be able to help you feel a bit more like yourself again.
Estrogen is a very important hormone that plays huge roles in the bodies functions — in women and men. Maintaining balanced levels of estrogen is key to creating a healthy lifestyle, and once you start your hormone therapy it is super beneficial to pair it with a diet that boosts your body’s estrogen! This doesn’t mean a complete change in your eating habits, but adding these foods here and there could make all the difference.
If you’re not sure if you have a hormone imbalance, check out this post about the 6 signs of a hormone imbalance.
The foods below contain phytoestrogens which are dietary estrogens that naturally occur in some foods. They aren’t bioidentical hormones like those that you will receive during hormone therapy, but they can be beneficial regardless.
Dried Fruit
Dried fruits like apricots, prunes, and dates contain much higher levels of phytoestrogens than their fresh varieties. These delicious dried fruits are a great snack, keep them in on your desk at work, in your bag, in the glove box, or pretty much anywhere ready for you to much on them. That’s the beauty of dried fruits, they can last for up to six months after you open the package!
Garlic
Garlic is used in cooking around the world, and with 603 micrograms of phytoestrogens per 100 grams, it should definitely be used in your kitchen. Garlic is easy to add to almost anything and will give any recipe that kick it needs.
Flax Seeds
Flax seeds, or linseeds, contain lignans which are a type of phytoestrogen. Flax seeds can easily be added to a smoothie in the morning, your sandwich and salad at lunch, and sprinkled over rice or any other side at dinner. This estrogen boosting ingredient is super versatile, so there’s no reason not to include it in your diet.
Try adding it to yogurt with granola for a parfait like no other!
Hummus
We all know how delicious hummus is for dipping with veggies, pita, and pretty much any other snack, but did you know that hummus actually contains an average of 993 micrograms of phytoestrogens per 100 grams! Don’t feel guilty about finishing the whole tub, just attribute it to your new balanced hormone lifestyle.
Cruciferous Veggies
Broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and kale are all great sources of lignans. And, with so much variety you can eat these vegetables for pretty much any occasion. Snack on raw broccoli, make a coleslaw with the cabbage, roast the brussels sprouts with some garlic, and make kale chips for the ultimate crunchy snack. Cruciferous vegetables might not sound like the most inviting things, but with their nearly bottomless health benefits and their estrogen boosting qualities, you have to include them in your diet!
Tofu
Tofu is made from soy milk which is naturally high in phytoestrogens, specifically isoflavones which can protect from a myriad of age-related illnesses like heart disease and even cancer. Tofu is an awesome ingredient because of its versatility. I use it in stir frys, breakfast burritos, and soups, but the sky’s truly the limit with tofu!
While all of these foods are certainly a great way to help boost your estrogen levels, there is nothing quite like hormone therapy. It’s important to remember that only a trained profession can help alleviate all the symptoms of hormone imbalance, but that a healthy diet is just one part of the process.
Before making any major changes to your diet please consult your healthcare provider.
For more foody tips check out this post about foods to avoid and healthy alternatives!
Many people experience headaches, and there are a number of reasons for this: stress, diet, physical strain. But did you know that hormone imbalances can cause intense headaches and migraines as well? When your body is used to a certain level of a hormone, too much or too little can result in an adverse reaction.
How do you know?
How can you identify when a headache or migraine is caused by a hormone imbalance? Usually, hormonally induced migraines and pain are found in conjunction with other symptoms. When you notice any number of these symptoms coinciding with frequent headaches, it could be possible that they are hormonally based:
- Difficulty concentrating
- Increased or persistent acne
- Joint pain unrelated to exercise
- Sudden cravings for alcohol, chocolate, or salty foods
- Difficulty coordinating movement
- Lower than average urination
- Constipation
Which Hormones Cause This?
These headaches affect both men and women and thought to be most strongly linked to lowered sex hormones (estrogen for women and testosterone for men). It is possible that other hormones like those produced by the thyroid are also involved in the reactions that result in migraines and headaches.
Because these hormones control blood flow, muscle tension and growth, and the release of chemicals in the brain, it’s easy to see how them being out of balance can lead to pain in the brain.
What Triggers These Migraines And Headaches?
Though hormones can be largely to blame for these episodes, other factors are usually involved as well. Here are some of the most common triggers for these kinds of migraines:
- Flashing lights, or other overstimulation of the senses
- Changes in atmospheric pressure, such as changing seasons or severe weather
- Alcoholic beverages especially those that contain tannins, like red wine
- Drinking too much caffeine or suffering from caffeine withdrawal.
- Simple stress
- Irregular sleep schedules, either too much or too little sleep
- Significant changes in diet and exercise routines
- Excessive salt and intense seasonings
- Extra processed foods such as packaged sausage and deli meat
- Artificial sweeteners like aspartame
What Can You Do?
The common thread between most of these factors is a disruption of the body’s homeostasis, or natural balance. If you find yourself prone to these kinds of headaches, it may be a good idea to look at your own schedule and habits. Most experts recommend drinking plenty of water and attempting to calm yourself to reduce stress and lessen the severity of the migraine or headache. Talking to a doctor is always a good idea when it comes to making a significant change in your lifestyle as it relates to your health.
Hormone replacement therapy could also be effective in curbing migraine headaches. Talk to your doctor or hormone expert to determine if hormone replacement therapy is right for you and your symptoms. It’s important to remember that every person is different, and what might be a normal level of a hormone might not be the same for another person. A doctor or hormone expert can help you identify where your baseline is.
If you suffer from hormone induced migraines or headaches, the experts at Renewed Vitality can help. Contact us today to schedule a consultation.
Hormones dictate so much of our lives that sometimes, it’s hard to realize what kind of effect they can have on our day to day. They control everything, including our emotions and moods.
If hormones fall into imbalance, then our moods can fluctuate wildly and make day to day functions difficult. It’s important to understand which hormones affect our moods most so that we can address issues when they arise.
Serotonin and Dopamine
Some hormones are directly responsible for regulating moods: serotonin and dopamine. When these hormones are being produced in proper amounts, it’s easier to control moods and regulate thought processes. These are the primary hormones responsible with preventing depression and similar emotional and mood disorders.
Testosterone
Testosterone is also a key hormone when it comes to mood regulation. When your body is lower on testosterone, you can feel physically sluggish, muscle mass and tone diminish, and sex drive lessens.
However, the effects of lowered testosterone go beyond the physical, but also result in emotional issues. These physical effects can also result in anxiety about physical performance, depression as a result of lowered energy, and mood swings.
Estrogen
Estrogen is another hormone that controls and stabilizes moods. When estrogen is out of normal balance, either as a result of having too much or too little, mood swings can occur. These mood swings can vary between active irritability or aggressiveness and sluggish depression. At other times this imbalance results in high levels of anxiety as well.
Though many think of testosterone as primarily male and estrogen as an exclusively female hormone, everyone needs both in varying amounts in order to have healthy and balanced physical and mental functions.
Thyroid Hormones
Thyroid hormones are also key to keeping energy levels high as well as regulating mood. By keeping cells in the brain energized and functioning efficiently, your mood will be positively affected. When these levels are lower, mood will be lower as well.
Looking For Help?
When attempting to track down the exact source of a mood shift, it’s important to remember that no hormones act without interacting with many different parts of the body alongside many other hormones.
Seeking a diagnosis and discussing your concerns with a professional hormone therapist or doctor are both valid avenues to follow when seeking a solution. In many cases hormone therapy can address and reverse these negative effects of hormone imbalance.
If you are looking to talk to someone about a possible hormone imbalance, the experts at Renewed Vitality are here to help!
What Do Hormones Do?
Hormones are chemicals naturally produced to send signals throughout the body. When hormones are working in balance, hormones allow our bodies to function effectively and efficiently. Hormones regulate body temperature, muscle growth, and metabolism among other things.
What Happens When They Aren’t Balanced?
A hormonal imbalance happens when these chemicals are not in proper proportion. When you experience a hormonal imbalance, you may have a variety of different bodily reactions depending on which hormones are out of harmony.
These effects are often closely connected and influence each other. This kind of snowball effect can lump many minor signs and symptoms into one big problem. That’s why it’s important to constantly monitor your own personal health.
Who Else Experiences This?
Countless people experience hormone imbalances at different times in their lives for the same number of reasons. While every situation is unique, that does not mean anyone who experiences an imbalance is alone. Many others are having the same or similar problems, so don’t fret!
Here are some signs and symptoms that might indicate a hormone imbalance. This list is not exhaustive, but can go a long way to helping you identify what your particular concerns may be
The Telltale Signs of Hormone Imbalance
Hot Flashes and Night Sweats
This usually occurs with women experiencing menopause, but can affect women of any age. When signals that are supposed to regulate your body get crossed, it can get quite uncomfortable.
Breast Tenderness
Throughout the menstrual cycle, fluctuating hormones can lead to soreness or tenderness of the breasts.
Increased Hair Growth on Face, Neck, Chest, or Back
When some hormones are not being properly distributed, this can lead to hair loss or even hair growth.
Weight Gain
As stated before, hormones help regulate metabolism as well as other bodily functions. When these regulatory hormones are in short supply or at least are being overpowered by other factors, fluctuations in weight can be the result.
Fatigue
When you find yourself more tired than normal, but unable to get restful sleep, you could be experiencing a hormone imbalance.
Mood Swings
Some hormones are regulators of mood. When combined with other issues usually associated with hormone imbalances can lead to anger, irritability, and feeling of hopelessness.
Monitor Yourself!
As every person functions differently, these can vary from body to body in terms of occurrence and severity. If you notice something that feels out of the ordinary, talk with your doctor about your concerns. Never forget, you are not alone in your situation, and there are treatments available to get your hormones back in order!
