We talk about hormones, throwing that word around, but what is a hormone?? Certain glands/organs in your body (the endocrine system) can produce hormones. Your body produces a lot of different hormones and they all carry a different message. It is an intricate system. Hormones are kind of like your own personal postal system. When one part of your body needs to send a message to another part of your body, hormones are one way to do this.
Each hormone has its own specific receptor (on/in the cell) that it needs to bind to in order to get the intended message across. It is kind of like a lock and key system. When the hormone (the key) binds to its receptor (the lock) it creates a specific response. Then your body gets the result it wants.
For example, estrogen is a hormone that has many messages, for example estrogen gives the message to get the female body to develop breasts, grow uterine lining,etc and the male body to have proper sperm maturation.
Balancing your hormones involves proper diet (your body needs the proper building blocks), good sleep, stress management, minimizing toxins, the right supplements, and sometimes bioidentical hormones.