The Happy Hormone Guide

by Shannon Leparski

  It takes time to wrap your head around hormone health and education. Learning is ongoing. But now I can look back and see how far I’ve come, the immense body knowledge I’ve gained and how connected I feel, and that is the ultimate gift that I wish to give you.

  Depending on your relationship with your cycle, you may feel most comfortable starting small and familiarizing yourself with the phases in chapters 9 through 12 before doing a complete lifestyle overhaul. You can incorporate as much or as little of this program into your life as you desire. Start slowly by changing or adding one thing per month, or dive in head first. There are no rules and adjusting your mindset to focus on the long-term benefit will take off the pressure and relieve any overwhelming feelings. There is no harm in following only one part, some parts or all parts of this program because only good can come from it. But keep in mind, the sooner you incorporate aspects of the Happy Hormone Method the quicker you will see results and feel better.

  It’s worth mentioning that sometimes I fall off the wagon and eat out more than I should, or drink too much on a weekend and find myself in a slump. Life happens, vacations happen, celebrations happen, and stress happens. Don’t be hard on yourself. Get right back on track when you can with the next meal, workout, or meditation. It’s such a comfort to know that living with happy hormones is always within reach.

  THE FIRST STEP TOWARD HAPPY HORMONES IS to develop a basic comprehension of what your endocrine system is, how it works, what disrupts it and how it strives for balance by using its natural intelligence. Having some understanding of hormone function is imperative for knowing your fluctuations and how to leverage them. This will help you optimize your endocrine system as a whole, through daily choices.

  Your endocrine system is beautifully complex and strong. It’s made up of glands that communicate with each other. Each gland secretes hormones to regulate specific bodily functions and behavior. The glands are either triggered by internal events such as ovulation or menstruation, external events like running from danger, extremely stressful situations, or other things like medication, toxins, or poor diet. The system is comprised of the pituitary gland, pineal gland, thyroid gland, parathyroid glands, adrenal glands, pancreas, ovaries (females), and testicles (males).

  Hormones are chemical messengers that are constantly striving to keep balance in your body by helping regulate growth and development, metabolism, appetite, digestion, sleep cycles, reproductive functions, stress response, and mood. They have endless responsibilities. Without hormones, you wouldn’t grow to reach the stages of life such as puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, or menopause. You wouldn’t be able to produce breast milk for your newborn or metabolize food for energy. Hormones influence your hunger levels, heart rate, temperature, weight, skin, hair growth, brain function, mood, libido, energy levels, stress levels, sleep quality, immunity, ovulation, and menstruation.

  As you will learn throughout this book, your hormones aren’t only dictating your period— they’re running the show.

  Common Signs and Symptoms of Hormone Imbalance

  SKIN, HAIR AND BODY: acne, oily skin, dry skin, dullness, eczema, skin rashes, hair loss, thinning hair, extra hair on upper lip or chin, dandruff, brittle or breaking nails, excessive sweating, sweaty palms, night sweats, hot flashes, changes in sensitivity to heat and cold, blurred vision, vaginal dryness, early or late puberty

  DIGESTION AND ELIMINATION PATHWAYS: bloating, constipation, diarrhea, loose stools, irritable bowel syndrome, water retention, weight gain, going to the bathroom more or less than usual, inflammation, body odor, puffiness

  PMS AND MENSTRUAL CYCLE: cramps, breast tenderness/swelling, fibrocystic breasts, premenstrual spotting, irregular periods, painful periods, heavy periods, missing periods, late periods, anovulation, mood swings, irritability, depression, cyclical migraines, unexplained infertility, fatigue, mental fog, weepiness, fibroids, ovarian cysts, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, endometriosis

  STRESS AND METABOLISM: hypothyroidism, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, cravings (carbs, sugar, and chocolate), weight gain, caffeine dependency, insomnia, waking up in the middle of the night, anxiety, low libido

  HOW PMS SYMPTOMS START

  Your endocrine system is strong yet sensitive, so being exposed to daily endocrine-disrupting toxins (which you’ll learn about in chapter 2), a poor diet, poor gut health, blood sugar imbalances, and the stress of day-to-day life can throw off hormone ratios. Hormones thrive on teamwork to keep your ratios within optimal ranges. If one hormone is out of range, the other hormones are affected too, thus creating symptoms like cramps, bloating, hormonal acne, cyclical depression, sadness for no reason, breast tenderness, mood swings, and fatigue. These are your body’s attempt to alert you to this lack of balance, but we often write our symptoms off as expected or normal. It’s okay to experience mild symptoms occasionally, but if they appear every month and remain unresolved for an extended period, they can lead to severe depression or a chronic hormonal condition like PCOS, endometriosis, or hypothyroidism. You may get to this point and suddenly feel like your body has failed you, but the reality is, you’ve had many clues (symptoms) over time, and you didn’t know how to address them. This is likely because a) you weren’t taught how or b) you’ve been given incorrect information and led to believe medication is the only way these symptoms can be fixed.

  PMS-related symptoms do not reflect healthy menstrual cycles and should not be expected every month. They are a cry for help as your body tries to restore balance. Depending on your lifestyle, genetic factors and how long these conditions go unanswered, they can lead to obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancers, premature aging, infertility, hysterectomies, and other conditions. This is why I focus on tracking your symptoms throughout your cycle and to understand the long-term impact of daily choices.

  Did you know…

  In 2016, the U.S. fertility rate fell to the lowest reproduction numbers since the CDC started keeping records back in 1909. An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease, and up to 60 percent of them are unaware of their condition. In the U.S., Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) affects one in every ten women of childbearing age, fibroids occur in three out of every ten women, and one in ten women has endometriosis. An estimated 12 million American women experience clinical depression each year. For U.S. women of reproductive age, hysterectomies are the second most frequently performed surgical procedure—after cesarean sections.

  While I’m not trying to scare you, I share these statistics to show that women’s bodies are crying for help. We must look for alternative ways to bring them back into balance, which is what The Happy Hormone Guide is all about.

  THE HPA AXIS

  The HPA axis (also known as the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis) is a complex communication network between the hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands that intertwine the endocrine and central nervous systems. These three glands work together to govern your stress response (fight or flight) as well as your emotions, metabolism, digestion, energy levels, libido, and immunity, ultimately connecting the mind and body.

  It all starts in the brain, with your hypothalamus. Think of your hypothalamus as the hormone control center: it gets input from everyone and decides when to release hormones (from the pituitary gland). Its job is to regulate emotional responses, sleep, body temperature, hunger, and thirst. The hypothalamus can decide to stop or delay ovulation or menstruation temporarily due to stress, gut problems, lack of sleep, excessive caffeine, trauma, exposure to toxins, and more. Your hypothalamus thrives when you make healthy daily choices.

  HOW STRESS AFFECTS YOUR BODY

  During a stressful or threatening situation, the hypothalamus triggers an initial adrenaline rush resulting in a faster heartbeat, increased blood pressure and heightened alertness. Then, it signals your pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which prompts the adr
enal glands to produce cortisol, your main fight-or-flight steroid hormone. Cortisol has a handful of jobs, but its main job is to manage blood sugar levels by increasing glucose (energy) and delivering it to your brain and muscles during threatening situations or exercise. It also acts as a natural alarm system to help your body wake up in the morning, fights off infection, and promotes tissue breakdown. Anytime there is an inflammatory response in the body, a release of cortisol can be expected. This means it’s important to reduce or eliminate inflammatory foods like gluten, dairy, and refined sugar (more on this in chapter 4).

  Cortisol levels should be highest in the morning around 8 a.m. and taper off throughout the day so you can sleep soundly at night. We need cortisol in acute amounts, but not in the chronically high amounts that are often triggered by our modern, stressful world. Continuously high levels of cortisol can lead to weight gain (specifically, belly fat), depression, heart disease, digestive issues, sleep issues, anxiety, headaches, and impaired brain and memory function. Alternatively, you can wake up with low cortisol in the morning and feel depressed or extremely tired during the day, and then experience a cortisol surge at night, causing sleep troubles. Having low cortisol levels is your brain’s way of removing inflammation by down-regulating hormone production to make you feel tired in the hopes that you will rest and give your body a chance to heal.

  ADRENAL FUNCTION AND HPA AXIS DYSREGULATION

  No bigger than the size of walnuts, your adrenal glands sit atop each kidney and depend on signals from the pituitary gland to keep your sympathetic nervous system switched “on.” As long as the brain continues to perceive something as dangerous or stressful, the adrenals are continuously signaled to produce cortisol and adrenaline. Whether these stressors are life-threatening or not, the adrenal glands are signaled to respond the same, no matter what the circumstance.

  This brings us to adrenal fatigue. The modern, medically-accepted term for adrenal fatigue is HPA Axis Dysregulation, and it refers to changes in cortisol levels—either having too much or too little. This can wreak havoc on the HPA axis and related hormones, eventually leading to an altered stress response as the body becomes desensitized to the constant release of stress hormones, which can lead to total burnout or system breakdown (as well as excessive bone or muscle loss, high blood sugar, and insulin resistance). When any one part in the HPA axis is not running smoothly, it affects the next series of reactions and so on. For example, if you have chronically elevated cortisol levels, your hypothalamus may decide it’s not the best time to reproduce because you are too stressed out. This means it can temporarily stop ovulation which inherently affects progesterone levels, and then affects your period by causing it to temporarily disappear or become irregular, not to mention the addition of PMS symptoms that come with low progesterone and/or anovulation (lack of ovulation).

  Dysregulation is essentially a communication break down or halt between all parts of the HPA Axis due to chronic activation of the stress response. It is your body’s way of protecting you, in the hopes that you will slow down and rest. In turn, your brain dials back on the stimulation it sends from the pituitary to the adrenals, causing the adrenal glands to slow the production of cortisol and adrenaline. This is how the term “adrenal fatigue” came to be. The term is still used (it is used throughout this book) but can be a bit misleading because adrenal glands do not retire, get “fatigued,” or give out the way the ovaries can. Thus, “adrenal fatigue” is not recognized in conventional medicine as a medical condition (unless you have Addison’s Disease or Cushing’s Disease, which relate to adrenal gland dysfunction).

  The symptoms of HPA Axis Dysregulation are real and often accompanied by extremely low energy (no matter how much sleep you get), severe brain fog, depression, anxiety, little motivation, poor immunity, and dependence on caffeine. It’s as if you are constantly functioning with a low battery. HPA Axis Dysregulation is a strong message to take stress-reducing protocols seriously. Otherwise, the body will never have a chance to repair so you can feel better and have natural energy again.

  Your body functions by switching between the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight) and parasympathetic nervous system (rest and digest). Internal healing and repair are done in the parasympathetic nervous system, which focuses on a “rest and digest” response to calm your body down after stress or trauma has subsided. As you can imagine, always hovering in “on” mode and unable to find any sense of peace or security can majorly affect the body as it pushes non-essential tasks like digestion, reproduction (ovulation), and immunity to the side. It does this thinking they can be dealt with at a later, less stressful time but unfortunately, that time doesn’t come if you are constantly triggering cortisol.

  How you respond to stress is unique to you and based on past experiences, genetics, and how well you care for your body. All you can do to bring the HPA Axis back into balance is alter your stress and relaxation approach, balance your blood sugar with each meal, tweak your diet and supplement regimen, and give the body time to heal (which can take 3-12 months, depending on the severity of the dysregulation). We will cover all of these things in future chapters. What’s important to know now is that it’s imperative to begin practicing a stress-reducing self-care routine. There are a variety of relaxation exercises that can help regulate cortisol levels and HPA Axis communication and switch your body into the parasympathetic “healing” mode.

  HPA-AXIS HEALING ACTIVITIES

  □Meditation and mindfulness

  □Vagal exercises (look them up) to turn on the “rest and digest” response

  □Neurofeedback

  □Acupuncture

  □Massage

  □Reading

  □Spending time in nature

  □Spending time with people you love

  □Brisk walking or light exercise to get the blood flowing

  □Yoga inversion poses

  □Bodyweight training

  □Journaling

  □Practicing gratitude

  □Epsom salt baths

  □Relaxing when you’re tired instead of pushing through

  □Positive self-talk

  □Seeking counsel for emotional trauma or past experiences

  □Deep breathing exercises

  □Regular orgasms (!)

  □Laughing

  □Doing more of what you love

  □Reducing caffeine and alcohol

  □Eliminating sugar and processed foods

  □Establishing regular meal times

  □Having a regular sleep routine

  □Focusing on the joys of life

  Note: Refer to my supplement recommendations and treatment options for Stress and HPA Axis Healing as well as Brain Support.

  SLEEP FOR HORMONE BALANCE

  We know that proper sleep and rest is critical. We hear this constantly, so why don’t we listen? Some of us get so caught up in the daily grind that we miss out on quality sleep and don’t think much about the consequences. Sleep when you die, right? In our culture, it’s almost as if adequate sleep is looked down upon as a waste of time. You may receive praise for sleeping less and achieving more, but that mindset is very backward and troubling for hormone balance and will most definitely catch up with you. Sleep deprivation can cause depressive-like effects, anxiety, and increased stress because it’s more difficult to be productive when you don’t get a good night’s sleep, not to mention the cravings for sugar and carbs due to a lack of energy. None of this supports hormonal balance.

  Sleep does wonders for your body. While sleeping, your body is actively repairing and recovering from the day. Cortisol levels and HPA-axis stabilize, energy levels are restored, tissue growth and repair occurs, appetite hormones are regulated, melatonin—a very potent antioxidant and sleep hormone that reduces inflammation—is released, human growth hormone (which deep cleans your cells while you sleep) is released, and
insulin sensitivity is improved. If your sleep is cut short, you miss out on all of these amazing restorative activities that help you feel refreshed and energized in the morning. Consider proper sleep as one of the most important elements in balancing your hormones.

  I’m not the biggest fan of saying you must get a certain number of hours of sleep, but the optimal amount is generally considered to be 7-8 hours of continuous, restorative sleep, and you wake up feeling well-rested. Also, know that sleep quality can vary throughout your cycle—for instance, you may experience PMS-related insomnia during your luteal phase due to the fluctuations of estrogen in relation to progesterone, especially if the ratio is not optimal. This is why a sleep routine is highly beneficial.

  YOUR SLEEP ROUTINE

  What do you watch before bed? Does it make your heart race? Does it trigger cortisol? Does it give you anxiety or nightmares? Do you consume caffeine too late in the day, or sugary, late-night snacks? Do you rely on alcohol to unwind? Does a bright light shine through your window at night, or does a light from your alarm clock or cable box interrupt your shut-eye? Every single one of these factors can affect your sleep quality.

  Consider relaxing activities before bed like taking an Epsom salt bath, reading, essential oils, drinking herbal tea or taking herbs to help with sleep. Also, I can’t recommend magnesium glycinate enough, especially before bed, because it calms the nervous system, reduces anxiety, and primes your body for sleep. Since a cool, dark room creates an ideal environment for sleep, consider sleeping with an eye mask or using blackout shades. I put my phone on airplane mode every night to suspend interruptions and radio-frequency signals. I know in different stages of life sleep can seem downright impossible, especially if you are a new parent, but all you can do is try to rest as much as possible.