Making Friends with Your Hormones (Banishing Belly Fat, Brain Fog, and Burnout)

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People holding hands in a circle, promoting optimal health.

sign-friendship-loveWhen I say hormone balance, you, like most people, probably start thinking about  menopause, PMS, loss of libido,  and other female issues.  Yet there is so much more, and often these “female” hormone imbalances are caused by imbalances in what I call the “survival hormones.”

I never really thought of myself as a hormone specialist because I don't concentrate on female issues.  Sure, I see my fair share of menopausal women and help them balance their hormones.

I specialize in helping people restore their energy, overcome fatigue and thyroid imbalance, and get their blood sugars in balance.

And, because of my own personal success with cleansing and detoxification, I am really successful with using detoxification with all my patients and clients.

Then one day, it hit me.  I DO specialize in balancing hormones.

HINT: Only it's not limited to the sex hormones!

Making Friends with your Survival Hormones

When I'm working with someone who is fat, foggy, and fatigued, and has symptoms of female hormone imbalance, I often start with what I  have come to term the “survival” hormones. They are the hormones that are vital to our day-to-day functions and have daily rhythms. Not to say I don't deal with the sex hormones, which tend to have a monthly cycle. Those are vital, too. And they are intimately related to the day-to-day hormones.

 I've observed that there's a huge misconception when it comes to hormones – what they are and what they do. And there's especially a lot of confusion about how to bring them into balance.

SO, I have planned a series of FREE webinars called SHINE (Secrets to Happy Hormones, Invigorating Nutrition, and Energy, valued at over $300) to educate you about your hormones and empower you to nurture them and love them into balance.

In each section of the webinar you'll get a “Hormone 101” look at a main individual hormone – its function, what can go wrong, how to test it, and a few tips on how to bring it into balance.

The how to bring it into balance part is a lot more complex than I can can cover fully in a short blog post, so I'll point you in the direction of where you can find out more – a book, a recording, an in-depth article, or a coaching program.

Hormones mentioned in this information-packed webinar series

  • insulin – blood sugar balance
  • adrenaline – quick burst of energy in fight/flight situations
  • cortisol – sustained support of fight/flight situations
  • DHEA – growth and repair, immune system support, and recovery from illness
  • pregnenalone – precursor for all other steroid hormones
  • thyroid – metabolic rate
  • leptin – appetite and fat burning
  • ghrelin – appetite
  • growth hormone – stimulates fat burning and lean muscle growth, repair
  • melatonin – promotes deep sleep
  • progesterone – promotes growth of uterine lining in reparation for pregnancy, inhibits tumor growth
  • testosterone – promotes male features – muscle strength, facial and body hair
  • estrogen – promotes female features, supports ovulation and regulation of female cycle


These are just one-liners on the function of each hormone. They are oversimplifications and generalizations, just to give you a idea of how they work together.

My goal is not to turn you into an endocrinologist, but to put you in charge of your own body so you understand how your day-to-day choices effect how you feel and how your hormones dance with each other.

A few highlights on what the SHINE series covered:

  • How, when you're stressed, your adrenals secrete the hormone cortisol, it goes up and DHEA goes down, leading to increased insulin production and fat accumulation around your waist
  • How very low calorie diets inhibit the enzyme that converts the thyroid hormone T4 to the active form, T3, thus decreasing your metabolism and causing you to gain weight rather than lose it.
  • As men age, the hormone testosterone  decreases, and more of their testosterone gets converted to estrogen, which naturally slows fat burning ,
  • How estrogen slows fat burning, and increases fat storage as a part of facilitating fat storage in preparation for fertility, birth, and lactation.
  • How high levels of insulin, released when you eat sugar and many high carbohydrate foods,  suppresses growth hormone and leads to increased fat storage.
  • How eating close to bedtime suppresses your natural growth hormone surge at night, leading to increased fat storage.

There are lots more gems to be shared, including information about leptin and ghrelin, gluten intolerance, and autoimmune diseases, and their effect on your hormones.

Children's feet are heated in the fireplacePlease don't worry if you missed the recent blockbuster hit SHINE series! You can still get access to all of them below.

And, as of this posting, you can still get in on a rare intimate Fireside Chat, where you can ask your most burning health questions! 

Sign up Now (time sensitive for Fireside Chat): SHINE Series with bonus Fireside Chat

Please Post a Comment Below and let me know what question you would most like to have answered on the Fireside Chat or in general.

Love, Health and Joy,

Dr. Ritamarie Loscalzo

Dr. Ritamarie

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7 Comments

  1. Matthew

    royal jelly is a real storehouse of all kinds of useful substances: growth hormones, progesterone, estradiol, amylase, invertase, catalase, protease, testosterone, cholinesterase, vitamins A, B, C, D, acid phosphatase and folic acid

    Reply
    • Lynn Johnson

      Hi, Matthew, royal jelly, a food of infant bees and the sole food of the queen bee, is made by nurse bees who chew pollen and mix it with secretions from glands in their head tops. Like bee pollen, royal jelly is an energy and nutritive tonic, but to a far greater degree. It is useful in all of the same applications as bee pollen but has a stronger effect on the glandular system, and is considered strengthening for the reproductive systems of both men and women. Royal jelly has also been used effectively in the treatment of malnutrition in children, arthritis, leukemia, severe deficiencies, and wasting diseases. It is available in many forms, including capsules, freeze-dried powder, and preserved in honey. Because of its potency, a normal dosage is just 100-400 milligrams daily.

      Pollen and royal jelly may also be taken by those in need of rich animal nutrition who prefer to not eat meat.

      It is wise to be aware of the tremendous energy expended by bees in making pollen grains and royal jelly, and to use these nutritional elixirs mindfully.

      Reply
      • Matthew

        thanks for the additional info, Lynn!

        In my experience, the best form of royal jelly is being preserved in honey. It preserves its power and can be in an active form almost forever.

        As for the dosages, I agree, be careful in order not to overdo.

        Reply
  2. emily@amchara

    Do you recommend any blood testing to get hormones levels checked?

    Reply
    • Marcia Patrice

      Hi Emily, Yes, for some tests, such as thyroid, Vitamin D (yes, it’s a hormone), etc. Recently we have been using the DUTCH Complete test for hormone levels. It is a urine test.
      https://dutchtest.com/

      Reply
  3. Kristine Lackey

    So what if… as I age (I am 52) I am not gaining weight at all but leaning out? My biggest issue is MASSIVE hair loss. I had a lot of stress a couple of years ago, to which we blamed it upon, but it just hasn’t stopped. I’ve had loads of blood tests, am using a progesterone cream, am on a load of supplements and still… the trail of hair where ever I go continues. Is this something you have ever worked with?

    Reply
    • Lynn Johnson

      Hi, Kris,

      Hair problems can be extremely frustrating and tough to deal with! Although healthy individuals can lose up to 100 hairs a day on top of their heads, hair loss, graying, and changing hair signs may be a cause for concern. Understanding the signs that manifest in the hair on your head can help you understand if you have an underlying health problem.

      The issues with your hair may be one isolated problem, but most commonly are a combination of related issues.

      Some of the issues could be:
      * Lack of protein
      * Lack of vitamins and minerals
      * Iron deficiency
      * Dehydration
      * Lack of quality fats
      * Stress
      * Menopause
      * Thyroid issues
      * Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
      * Poor sleep
      * Aging
      * Autoimmune disorders
      * Low stomach acid and leaky gut

      So as you can see, there are a number of factors to consider for you as a whole person. We would love to learn more about you and possible ways we can be of help to you as you balance your body and have the health you are seeking.

      Schedule a time for a 30-minute session that is at no cost to you here: http://www.drritamarie.com/faq/nutrition

      Reply

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