hormone reset: what’s really disrupting your balance and how to fix it
6 minute read
you don't need a miracle pill or powder for detoxification. it's the "boring" stuff like eating whole foods and exercising that help your body best.
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this article was produced by the healthing editorial team with the support of a grant from aquaomega. while aquaomega made the production of this article possible, they did not have any editorial influence or control over the content, including review prior to publication.
hormonal health is having a moment, especially on social media. and with that are droves of online health influencers pushing the “hormonal detox,” which is essentially detoxing your body for optimal hormone production. but do you actually need any of the products being pushed to detox your body of hormone-disrupting toxins? it’s not likely.
if you are experiencing a hormonal imbalance, there can be many causes, but buying a miracle pill or powder isn’t going to fix it. you must first look at what’s behind hormonal disruption, how your body naturally deals with it and what you can do to foster a better physiological environment for optimal hormonal health.
unavoidable toxin exposure
toxins can be found in many everyday products and in your environment. environmentally, pesticides can be ingested through the food you eat or simply by being around golf courses or farm fields.
other toxins found in everyday products, such as phthalates, polychlorinated biphenyls (pcbs) and bisphenol a (bpa), are hormone-disrupting substances at high exposure levels.
“those kinds of things are typically found in any body care, so it could be shampoo, lotions, soaps, all that kind of stuff,” said dr. christine cho-d’souza, naturopathic doctor with the pain and wellness centre in vaughan, ontario.
these toxins, particularly bpa, are also found in plastic food containers and some canned goods, while teflon, a known toxin, is another everyday product people need to watch out for. cleaning products, laundry detergent, carpets, paints and even menstrual products may all contain these toxins.
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“for some people, it could be very overwhelming because you’re kind of like, ‘okay, everything that i touch or everything that is in my house, i have to switch out,’” said dr. cho-d’souza.
with that said, though, using products with these toxins doesn’t necessarily mean your hormones will be disrupted. it’s all about how much exposure you experience, or your overall toxin load, as well as how functional your body is at excreting the harmful substances through its own detox methods.
how toxins affect hormones and what your body does about it
these toxins are often referred to as hormone disruptors because, when they build up in the body, they can mimic the actions of certain hormones, confusing the system. when that happens, the body is unaware that the hormones these toxins mimic aren’t actually hormones and begins responding to the overabundance with symptoms that affect various bodily systems.
“the increase in estrogen, for example, [caused by xenoestrogen toxins] can lead to menstrual irregularities, heavy bleeding and sometimes menstrual migraines can be associated with higher levels of estrogen and then estrogen-sensitive conditions like uterine fibroids or endometriosis can sometimes be affected,” said dr. cho-d’souza.
the toxin buildup won’t be the “only cause for these things,” but it doesn’t help when added to the mix of other issues in the body that may cause someone to experience hormone imbalance-related symptoms and conditions.
other hormones can be affected as well, not just estrogen, such as androgens, thyroid hormones, insulin and cortisol. these all play roles in overall health, and when they are disrupted by excessive toxin exposure, the body doesn’t know the difference and begins causing problems.
but just because you’re surrounded by these toxins on a daily basis doesn’t mean they’re accumulating in your body. there is an entire detoxification system that works to keep you protected from hormonal imbalances caused by outside interference.
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“your body essentially detoxifies or metabolizes all these different things that enter your body,” said dr. cho-d’souza. “normally, your main detox organs, the liver, skin, bowels, all those things do a pretty good job at just the low-level regular things.”
sometimes, though, if exposure becomes too great and the body isn’t getting what it needs for those detoxification organs to do their job, that’s when problems arise.
fostering better hormonal health through detoxification
supporting your body’s detoxification process means acknowledging exposure, limiting it where possible, and focusing on different ways to encourage the body’s natural process.
when it comes to exposure, you can look at certain things in your life that may increase it, such as using plastic containers, and switch to glass or look for beauty products that do not contain phthalates or other harmful additives. once you have figured out what you can eliminate from your life to avoid toxin overload, you can focus on helping your body detox more effectively.
dr. cho-d’souza notes that there are several phases of your body’s detoxification and that working with them, rather than against them, is key.
this means looking at the ways your body detoxifies, through the skin, through sweat, through bowel movements and proper gut health, and through liver health, and prioritizing a healthy environment in which they can function adequately.
“one of these phases requires certain nutrients, like b vitamins and magnesium,” she said. “whereas others will require making sure that you have adequate fibre so that your gut microbiome is in good shape and so that you can eliminate these things through your bowel movements effectively.”
essentially, you want to ensure that your diet is “whole foods-based,” while considering foods that may increase your exposure at the same time.
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for example, fruits such as berries are eaten whole; if they were sprayed with pesticides, you’re getting the toxins every time you eat them. however, other foods with their own protective shells that aren’t eaten will lower your exposure because the toxins are not as accumulated in those types of foods.
there is also the option of organic, which are produced without the use of pesticides. they often come with a heftier price tag, but you don’t have to eat all organically. you can do it strategically.
“things like bananas are fine to have non-organic. oranges, fine to have non-organic,” said dr. cho-d’souza, noting that for foods that you consume in their entirety, such as berries, organic is a better way to go.
food is vital because the vitamins, antioxidants and fibre are all needed for the body to detox in various ways.
it doesn’t just stop at food, though. you should also be “looking at other ways to excrete things out of your body.”
“sweating, whether it’s exercise [which is] obviously a great way to open up the sweat glands to release things there, your skin being the biggest detox organ, and then you can also incorporate things like sauna or [alternating hot and cold] contrast showers, things like that that kind of help just to increase circulation as well.”
using detoxification products or supplements should also be approached strategically, with whole-body health in mind: “if something is marketed as detox, what it’s going to focus on is really acting more like a laxative, so people end up eliminating more, but it doesn’t actually leave you all the time in a net better place.”
essentially, heavily marketed detox products aren’t actually designed to help you detox. they’re used to sell products to consumers when all that really needs to be focused on is “boring things, like eating a well-balanced, whole foods diet and exercising.”
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if you are looking for natural health products to aid in detoxification, you want to stay on the same track.
“for example, if you’re not getting enough fibre in your diet, using a fibre supplement, whether it’s psyllium husk or something like a multi-fibre glucomannan, those kinds of things,” said dr. cho-d’souza. “you can use different herbs that might work on the liver’s function a little bit. there are also nutrients that are involved, or that can benefit the liver detox phases …. certain b vitamins, glutathione, magnesium, those kinds of things can be helpful in getting the liver to work optimally.”
viewing your body as a machine and controlling what goes in and what comes out as effectively as possible to support the natural detoxification process is the best way to address hormonal health. that said, you have to know the cause of the problem before you can solve it, and that requires “taking a really balanced approach” and working with a care provider who can help you find the answers behind your symptoms.
“you have to be able to see someone, whether it’s a naturopath or another provider who can kind of help interpret what they see going on in both the blood work as well as clinically from a symptom perspective and what your lifestyle looks like to them,” said dr. cho-d’souza.
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