The Happy Hormone Guide

by Shannon Leparski

  HOW DO TOXINS AND CHEMICALS AFFECT HORMONE BALANCE?

  Endocrine-disrupting chemicals (also known as EDC’s) interfere with hormone action. They can mimic certain hormones to trick your system into over-producing some while under-producing others. They interfere with the proper elimination of estrogen in your body, which increases your risk for estrogen-dominant hormonal conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis. Some EDC’s imitate estrogen—these are known as xenoestrogens. Xenoestrogens include bisphenol-a (BPA), parabens, phthalates, pesticides, and herbicides, to name a few.

  If this feels overwhelming and alarming, it’s because it is. It may sound like EDC’s are unavoidable, but you can control a lot more than you think. It starts with the food and products you purchase. This isn’t about being perfect but rather being aware and making the switch to non-toxic products and organic food whenever possible. The good news is, many companies and brands are catching on, listening to consumers and changing their formulas to become more “green” by including cleaner and safer ingredients.

  Natural Beauty and Skincare Products

  I’m a total beauty junkie and love experimenting with new products, but the following are my go-to brands ranging from skincare, makeup, haircare, and deodorant to nail polish, self-tanner, and sunscreen.

  SKINCARE: OSEA, Eminence Organics, Drunk Elephant, Herbivore Botanicals, Tata Harper, Marie Veronique, Pacifica, Acure, Juice Beauty

  MAKEUP: Lily Lolo (especially the big lash mascara), ILIA, Vapour, RMS, W3ll People, 100% Pure, Tarte, Fitglow Beauty, Cover FX

  SHAMPOO & CONDITIONER: Innersense, Acure, 100% Pure, Avalon Organics, Rahua

  DRY SHAMPOO: Kaia Naturals, Acure

  BODY WASH: Dr. Bronner’s, Raw Sugar, or Shea Moisture

  SUNSCREEN: Supergoop!, Suntegrity 5-in-1 Tinted Moisturizing Sunscreen (for face)

  DEODORANT: Schmidt’s, Native, Primal Pit Paste, Crystal deodorant

  TOOTHPASTE: Desert Essence, Tom’s of Maine, Dr. Bronner’s, Jason Natural

  NAIL POLISH: Zoya, Ella + Mila, Deborah Lippmann, Pacifica, JINSoon

  NAIL POLISH REMOVER: Zoya, Ella + Mila

  SELF TANNER: Vita Liberata, Eco Tan Face Tan Water, Tropic Sun Drops Gradual Tanning Serum, Chocolate Sun

  SYSTEMS OF DETOXIFICATION AND ELIMINATION

  Your body was designed to naturally detox through major elimination pathways including the liver, large intestine, kidneys, skin, and lymphatic system. Detoxification is your body’s way of eliminating toxic waste. When these systems are working efficiently, you should feel great. But when your detoxification pathways are blocked, you end up with toxic buildup and a variety of unwanted symptoms. Luckily, there are plenty of things you can do to support your body’s natural detox process, but first, let’s go over how each system functions.

  LIVER, LARGE INTESTINE, AND KIDNEYS

  This two-phase process starts in the liver, where used-up hormones, digested food, medications, caffeine, toxins, and chemicals are filtered and metabolized. Your liver breaks down these substances from fat-soluble molecules into smaller, water-soluble molecules. One thing you must know is that this process is highly dependent on specific nutrients from the foods you eat. These nutrients include vitamins B and C, glutathione, selenium, and amino acids, which are stored in your liver for this very reason. If you aren’t getting enough of these nutrients from your diet, your liver function will be impaired.

  The second detoxification phase is crucial. As these substances are broken down into water-soluble molecules, they become free radicals making them more toxic than before. Therefore, they need to be moved out of the body as quickly as possible. These substances move through your gallbladder to combine with bile and move through the large intestine. This is where fiber comes into play. Ample amounts of fiber from your diet will bind to the waste in the large intestine to ensure a quick exit via a bowel movement. Now, if you are constipated, you run the risk of these toxic free radicals reabsorbing into the bloodstream through the large intestine, which is why adequate fiber and regular bowel movements are crucial.

  Your kidneys are responsible for managing the volume and composition of fluids in the body, like regulating electrolyte balance (sodium, potassium, and calcium), maintaining balanced pH levels (acid-alkaline balance) and filtering blood. Located below your ribcage near the middle of your back, they also help regulate blood pressure, eliminate bacterial waste, and flush out extra water, which excretes from the bladder via urine.

  See the Detox And Nourish Your Liver section and the recommended Herbs and Supplements.

  THE GUT-HORMONE CONNECTION

  The synergistic connection between your gut microbiome and hormone health is incredible. The gut microbiome is made up of a complex community of bacteria, viruses, and microbes that do the work of digesting your food and synthesizing nutrients. In healthy adults, upwards of 100 trillion microbial cells are living in the gut, weighing in at approximately five pounds. The quality and diversity of their ecosystem dictate your health through brain function, digestion, metabolism, and hormone balance, and influence how you feel physically, mentally, and emotionally. It’s not surprising that poor microbiome health is linked to depression, anxiety, cancer, blood sugar imbalances, and diabetes.

  When hormonal symptoms are present, treating digestive health is crucial. Specifically, your microbiome affects hormone regulation and estrogen metabolism. In your gut lies a specific group of a bacteria called the estrobolome that produce an enzyme for metabolizing and clearing out used up estrogen. This means that poor gut health can result in estrogen-dominance with symptoms of heavy periods, bloating, acne, moodiness, painful cramps, low libido, infertility, PCOS, fibroids, and cysts. A continuous overload of estrogen can increase your risk for female cancers, hypertension, diabetes, and dementia.

  Work on gut health and hormone health will follow. This means keeping your microbiome balanced by:

  □Cutting out inflammatory foods like dairy, wheat, gluten, alcohol, sugar, processed foods, and vegetable oils (like canola, soybean, and corn oil)

  □Providing it with plenty of micronutrients and ample fiber from fruits and vegetables

  □Managing stress and cortisol levels

  □Limiting caffeine

  □Building up your good bacteria with probiotics

  Happy Hormone Tip

  Aim to chew each bite of food thoroughly before swallowing. This is an important part of the digestive process because it increases saliva production and signals to your stomach which enzymes to produce, while proactively helping to break down your food before it reaches your stomach. This takes practice, as most of us are in the habit of inhaling our food, which creates a lot of work for your digestive system and can cause bloating and abdominal pain. So, eat more slowly, chew your food, and take a moment to enjoy your meal.

  YOUR SKIN

  The next pathway of elimination is the largest organ of your body: your skin. Through sweating, your skin expels anything the liver and large intestine couldn’t dispose of that’s been stored in your tissues. Since your skin is the last stop for waste removal, many people experience skin symptoms when other elimination pathways aren’t functioning properly, and there’s a build up of toxins. These symptoms may include acne, eczema, rosacea, rashes, itching, and body odor. This is why you want to make sure what you are putting on your skin isn’t making things even worse by clogging your pores or containing EDC’s since your skin absorbs everything you apply on it.

  THE LYMPHATIC SYSTEM

  The primary function of your very complex lymphatic system is to transport lymph fluid made of infection-fighting white blood cells through a network of lymph nodes (you have about 600 of them), organs, and vessels. Think of it as a garbage truck driving along picking up waste, toxins, and excess fluid tucked away in your tissues and cells. The only problem is, no
thing automatically pumps or moves the lymphatic system for you—it only pumps when you use your muscles. You’ll notice a sluggish lymphatic system when you feel puffy (accumulation of extra fluid throughout the body and face) and have swollen feet or ankles. To prevent this, you want to make sure to incorporate regular activity and exercise into your lifestyle.

  Your lymphatic system intricately connects to your immune system, so when lymph fluid is congested and stagnant, fluid can pool with the infectious bacteria, putting you at risk of getting sick, allergies, or sinus infections, and autoimmune conditions like lupus or rheumatoid arthritis. It’s important to keep the lymph fluid flowing because some of your lymph nodes sit near sensitive areas by your ovaries and breast tissue. Have you ever felt or noticed enlarged lymph nodes on your throat (tonsils), underarms, or groin area? These are your lymph nodes fighting off an infection or virus.

  The only way to get lymph fluid flowing is through an activity like jumping or any vigorous movement. You can feel the lymph fluid draining in the back of your throat, which may make you want to swallow (don’t worry, you can’t taste it).

  When the lymphatic system is regularly flowing, you are eliminating bacteria and getting rid of waste more quickly, which means you’ll feel healthy and will be less likely to get sick.

  LYMPHATIC DRAINAGE SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES

  □Sweating to release toxins via exercise, infrared sauna, or steam room.

  □Dry brushing to slough away dead skin cells and stimulate the movement of lymph fluid. Dry brushing supports your immune system and encourages natural detoxification (do it first thing in the morning to wake up, as it is super energizing).

  □Alternating the water at the end of a shower from hot to cold a few times, to flush extra fluids and toxins from your skin cells as they contract and expand

  □Take Epsom salt baths

  □Get a lymphatic massage

  □Rebounding (jumping on a mini trampoline)

  □Avoiding antiperspirant deodorant with aluminum

  Natural Oral Hygiene Essentials

  Oral health deserves more attention than it receives. Prioritizing oral care supports detoxification, encourages digestive power, strengthens immunity, enhances your sense of taste, and ensures that your teeth and gums remain intact and healthy. Aside from these reasons, I make time for my oral care routine because it makes me feel cleaner and healthier and prevents bad breath. Here are a few of my favorite natural techniques.

  OIL PULLING: The concept of oil pulling is an Ayurvedic tradition used for thousands of years to clean and detoxify the teeth and gums. It’s the act of swishing around oil in the mouth for 10-20 minutes (before drinking water or brushing your teeth) to improve gum health, with the added effect of whitening. Since oil is “sticky,” it navigates around your mouth, up into pockets and tiny areas where a toothbrush can’t reach. Think of it as a natural antimicrobial mouthwash, where it dissolves bacteria and pulls out toxins and food remnants. Coconut oil is my favorite for this, but any vegetable-based oil will work (sesame, sunflower, or olive). Just make sure they are raw, organic, and unrefined. Spit the oil, in the garbage, then floss and brush for a dazzling white smile and super fresh breath.

  TONGUE SCRAPING: Did you know bad breath often stems from bacteria left on your tongue? I started this Ayurvedic practice of tongue scraping because it cleans toxins and bacteria from the tongue, removes the excess coating, enhances your sense of taste, and gently stimulates your internal organs. A coating on the tongue indicates the presence of toxins which interrupt proper digestion, and we know how that affects our hormones. There are many different kinds of tongue scrapers. I opt for a surgical-grade stainless steel version.

  WHILE THE BIRTH CONTROL PILL HAS BEEN revolutionary in providing women with the freedom of choice to prevent pregnancy, the reality is that most women are unaware of how the pill works, what systems it affects in the body, and the numerous risks and side effects that come along with it. While nearly 12 million women in the U.S. take birth control, the conversation about whether the risks outweigh the benefits remains a controversial one.

  Hormonal birth control is not the path for me, but I won’t judge. Some women prefer it. I believe women should have the freedom to decide for themselves—but only after knowing how hormonal birth control works, how it puts a band-aid on hormonal symptoms, the extensive side effects, as well as options for alternative methods. The issue is that most of this information is not conveyed to women before the pill is prescribed. I feel it’s important to share what I’ve learned about birth control so that you can come to your decision from an informed place.

  Please note that if you are on some form of hormonal birth control, then you will not experience the full benefits of the Happy Hormone Method because your natural hormonal fluctuations are turned off.

  The early marketing ploys behind the birth control pill are unsettling. After it launched in the 1960s, women initially felt uneasy about taking the pill because at first, it made their periods disappear altogether. To combat their discontent, manufacturers of the pill added in a week of placebo sugar pills, so women would experience a pharmaceutically-induced bleed every 28 days and still feel like they were having a “natural” period (even though it’s not a real period at all, just breakthrough bleeding).

  This idea may sound harmless, but in reality, it is very misleading. The result is that the majority of women on the pill believe they are functioning naturally because they bleed every 28 days like clockwork when in actuality, their monthly bleed is pharmaceutically-controlled. The introduction of sugar pills resulted in women asking fewer questions and feeling less concerned about taking the pill, which instantly increased the pill’s appeal and popularity—and revenue.

  The pill works by disrupting the normal function of your endocrine system. By providing low doses of estrogen and progestin/progesterone, it interferes with communication between your brain and ovaries. This disrupts the HPA-axis and prevents ovulation (the release of an egg), thereby preventing pregnancy. The pill also prevents your body from producing fertile-quality cervical fluid which, as you will learn, is a healthy sign of fertility. Sperm can’t live inside your vagina or travel anywhere near your egg without fertile mucus, so this also prevents pregnancy. Lastly, the pill stops your uterine lining (the lining that either houses an embryo or ends up being shed during menstruation) from fully developing. So, if an egg were to get fertilized somehow, it would have nowhere to implant, and you would not get pregnant. But all of these disruptions come at a cost.

  Taking hormonal birth control shuts off ovulation, which in turn shuts off menstruation. As you will later learn, the event of ovulation is the only way your body can make progesterone, and adequate levels of progesterone are the only way to have a normal period. All of these components build on each other, which means ovulation is the most important part of your menstrual cycle. So, these beneficial hormones that naturally fluctuate through your body suppress when you take the pill. I know what you may be thinking: you don’t want to get pregnant right now so who cares about ovulation or a real period? I get it because, at one point, I felt the same way. But the Happy Hormone Method is about optimizing each phase of your cycle to feel your best throughout the entire month—whether you want to get pregnant or not. To do that, you must fluctuate naturally through the four phases to truly harmonize your body.

  Despite feeling disconnected from my body and not like myself, I stayed on the pill for ten years. In those ten years, not one medical professional relayed how the pill stops ovulation, menstruation, and natural cyclical changes. They failed to mention that it can deplete the body of key micronutrients (like vitamins B6 and B12, magnesium, folate, zinc, selenium, and vitamin E), which are essential to keep hormones in balance in the first place, or how it can alter and disturb your highly sensitive microbiome, which means taking a daily probiotic is necessary.

  I was young and didn
’t care to know how the pill worked, but I also trusted that my doctor, who was filling my prescriptions month after month, would fill me in on necessary steps to improve my quality of life. Looking back, they all scooted me out the door as quickly as possible. If I ever brought up a negative side effect, they would recommend trying a different brand instead of getting to the root of my problem or symptom. They mentioned how the pill would “balance my hormones” (how ironic), clear up my skin (due to the synthetic estrogen stopping skin oil and sebum production), and eliminate cramps, which brings me to my next point.

  SIDE EFFECTS OF HORMONAL BIRTH CONTROL

  Oral contraception has evolved into this miracle cure for all the period symptoms we don’t want to deal with because they admittedly suck. From acne to painful cramps, heavy periods to mood swings we hear, “just take this pill, and your symptoms will disappear.” Often, the pill is used as a treatment to “normalize” periods more so than its intended purpose of contraception. Doctors love to prescribe the pill because it’s an easy one-and-done prescription that acts as a temporary band-aid for period problems. This sends the message early on that the pill can control and regulate your cycle with hormones which are superior to your own, because you are imbalanced, and something is wrong with your body.

  But what about the side effects of hormonal birth control? Did you know 63% of women go off the pill within the first year due to unwanted side effects? Not all women have bad experiences on the pill but the majority experience adverse side effects, sometimes without even realizing it for years until they stop and the “veil lifts.”