What can cause hormone imbalance? How do estrogenics mess up your hormones?
Anthony G. Jay writes that an estrogenic is a chemical that mimics estrogen—a hormone that your body naturally produces. Estrogenics come from a variety of sources. When you come into contact with them, they can affect your health in significant ways.
Here’s how estrogenics cause hormone imbalance.
Estrogenics Mimic Your Body’s Hormones
What can cause hormone imbalance? Jay explains that hormones are molecules that act as messengers, communicating between tissues and organs and regulating bodily functions like growth, appetite, and metabolism. Your body secretes hormones into your bloodstream, where they travel until they get picked up by matching receptors in cells located in various parts of your body. When the hormone latches onto a receptor, it triggers bodily processes crucial to your overall health and functioning.
Estrogen is a steroid hormone, which is a type of hormone derived from cholesterol. Estrogenics are harmful because they activate your body’s estrogen hormone response and disrupt your natural hormonal balance. Estrogenics are particularly dangerous because estrogen receptors are found all throughout your body—your brain, reproductive organs, muscles, and so on—which means estrogenics can affect nearly every part of your body. Consequently, they can lead to a wide range of health issues, including obesity, depression, hormone imbalance, immune system dysfunction, cancer, and infertility.
(Shortform note: Estrogen is a sex hormone, which means it regulates processes relating to the sexual and reproductive health for both men and women. However, it also serves nonreproductive functions as well—managing your cholesterol and blood sugar levels, bone and muscle mass, blood flow, collagen production, and brain functioning.)
| Your Endocrine System and Other Causes of Hormone Imbalance Estrogen is one of over 50 types of hormones the human body makes. These hormones are mainly produced by glands in the endocrine system, which includes the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, thyroid, and adrenal glands. However, other organs and tissues like fat tissue, kidneys, and the liver also contribute to hormone production. Hormones regulate essential bodily processes including your mood, sleep-wake cycle, sexual function, and growth and development. But what does it mean for your hormones to be out of balance? Experts explain that hormones are powerful signals, so even minor imbalances can have major repercussions on your health. Other than being exposed to chemicals like estrogenics, there are other ways your hormones can be thrown off balance—such as stress, medication use, steroid use, or being at a certain period of life like puberty or pregnancy. However, some serious causes may include tumors, damage to endocrine glands, and autoimmune conditions. |
