As you’ve aged, it is more than likely – like most Americans – that you have felt your body slow down. Your spirit may be vital and strong, but you may want your body to run optimally. Imagine moving around and being able to do the things that you love to do without aches and pains ruining it. You may feel tired at work, fatigued doing daily chores, or feel you’ve passed your peak. Men and women can feel this way, and it is not how you have to age.
With modern sanitation, medicine, and abundant food, we are living longer lives. Unfortunately, with those longer lives, we are seeing a marked increase in the number of chronic illnesses and the number of years that an individual is alive but in a deteriorating state. We can’t avoid dying, but we can increase the number of years that we live healthily. No one should have to go through a slow deterioration into death. Your vitality can persist throughout old age, and you can leave this world feeling as amazing as you did when you were young. All you need is to support your body’s natural functions, the most important of which are hormones.
One of the most important factors affecting how well you feel is hormones. These chemicals are vital for your body’s function, from appetite control to sleeping and mood. There have been 50 hormones discovered in the human body, and each of them is just as important as the last. As you grow older, your hormone production will naturally decline. However, this decline can go too quickly, causing many side effects that negatively impact your health.
Declining hormones, along with poor lifestyle choices, are largely responsible for the slow deterioration we see all around us. The good news is that we have the capability to prevent this slow deterioration and even reverse some of it. This gives us the ability to live long and vital lives, not long lives where we suffer.
Decreased levels of testosterone, thyroid, estrogen (women only), progesterone, and growth hormone are often experienced for years before a person seeks medical attention. The decline can be subtle, especially for men, and is frequently misdiagnosed as depression, anxiety, the normal aging process, or written off as nothing is wrong. The problem is that most doctors are not specially trained in detecting hormone imbalances. Instead, they are taught to look at the average values for hormone levels at that age, and they rarely get enough time to know you and your unique needs. Let’s face it–– you do not want to be average; you want to be above average. The “normal” values may be average but aren’t optimal.
Symptoms of declining hormones can include the following:
There are a few other symptoms that you can experience, but it’s more than likely that doctors passed off some of these symptoms as “getting old.” Because of the variety of hormones in your body, it can be difficult to diagnose which is specifically out of balance, especially without a professional to guide you on your journey. With the help of a hormone specialist, you can pinpoint which hormones in your body are out-of-whack and take action to get them back on track.
There is a wide variety of ways your body can receive hormone supplements. Pellets, capsules, creams, and gels are different ways, and each has its pros and cons. Which form you use depends on the hormone(s) you need and your personal preference. There are also multiple different options for supplements, including bio-identical and synthetic.
Replacing your declining hormones with bioidentical hormones is the best form of hormone replacement because it supports your body with chemicals that match those found in the human body. This means your body sees these replacement hormones as if it made them on its own. This differs from man-made “synthetic” hormones, which have chemical differences from naturally occurring hormones created by your body.
The differences are made to “synthetic” hormone supplements so they can be patented. The changes made can result in them being overly effective, leading to harmful side effects. Doesn’t it make sense to replace your hormones with bioidentical hormones that are the same chemically as the ones that your body naturally makes?
Taking bioidentical hormones is an essential piece of the optimal wellness pie; it is also important to make lifestyle changes that enable your body to function optimally. A healthy, organic, whole food-based diet that is low in sugar, devoid of gluten (as much as possible), and with no (or very little) processed food is also essential. Regular exercise and regular sleep are two other vital pieces. If you want to learn more about how you can get the most out of your hormone treatments, check out our blog on the subject!
Living a full and vital life is within your reach. You first have to decide that you wish to go down that path and then obtain the personalized guidance that you require. With the right guidance from the hormone specialists at An Optimal You, you can reach your goals one step at a time. Our team of experts offers a wide variety of services, including hormone-balancing therapy, that will help you on your holistic health journey. Call our office today to set up your appointment!