Supplements & Herbs for Balancing Hormones

Supplements & Herbs for Balancing Hormones : Part 3

This blog will focus on one of the most important factors in hormonal health & healing which is dietary supplements and herbs. In general, everyone should be supplementing their diet with the basics including multivitamins, trace minerals, omegas, and probiotics. Even if we consume a nearly perfect diet, our soil is lacking in the nutrients that we need for optimal health and immunity. So, these are the core vitamins that I recommend to most of my patients, including kids. I started each of my children on these supplements at 2 years old and along with a healthy diet and chiropractic care, and they have never been on an antibiotic or to the hospital due to any type of illness. Yes, they do still get sick from time to time, but by continuing these practices, their bodies are able to heal from their own innate ability within. Now, with that said, taking quality supplements is a factor. The world of vitamins can be very overwhelming due to lack of knowledge and claims that every company makes that they are the best. There are many good companies out there but there are more that are not so good. A good recommendation from a reliable source along with doing your own research on the product and the company is crucial before putting anything into your body. Every supplement should be a high-quality product that breaks down well and is absorbable by the body to use for healing & energy. If you don’t feel a difference when taking your vitamins, then chances are, it is not a quality product. There is no sense in spending your time & money on taking any pills if they are not going to benefit you.

There are 4 major categories that I believe are essential in hormonal health & healing. The first is antioxidants which neutralize damaging free radical molecules inside the adrenal glands and elsewhere in the body. Free radicals can do physical damage to the body and antioxidants help to strengthen the immune system to fight them off. Vitamin C is probably the most important of all the vitamins and minerals involved in adrenal metabolism. The adrenal glands require Vitamin C to produce stress hormones and maintain their balance. When you are under chronic stress, Vitamin C can become depleted. The higher the stress level the more vitamin C is needed.

 My next recommendation is a Vitamin B complex which protects the heart, supports the nervous and digestive system, improves mood and is essential for energy production. Most Adrenal fatigue patients struggle in those areas, so a B complex is essential.

Next, let’s talk about herbal remedies and adaptogens.  Adaptogens are a class of herbs that help your body adapt to stress. The goal with herbs is to help get your adrenal cycle back to normal, so that your cortisol levels go back up during the day to help push all your functions, and then calm down during the night to allow for sleep, maintenance, and digestion. One of my favorites and most well-known adaptogens is Ashwagandha which prompts a state of calm in the mind. Ashwagandha helps support the body’s inflammatory response, and it’s used to optimize blood pressure. It is the only adaptogen that supports enhanced thyroid function and the production of both T3 and T4. And its immune-boosting effects may also help optimize your body’s pain response to conditions such as rheumatoid and osteoarthritis. Ashwagandha is also used to balance stress hormones and enhance energy levels with adrenal fatigue. Some of my other favorite adaptogenic herbs for are Ginseng, Rhodiola, Maca and Eleuthero, which you can find together in blends as well. Last and certainly not least I want to mention licorice, an anti-stress herb known to increase energy, endurance, and vitality. It is used to stimulate the hormones as an anti-inflammatory action, as well as naturally fortify cortisone levels. And although being a popular remedy for adrenal fatigue, it needs to be used with caution as with any other herb. Licorice is not to be used in every circumstance with adrenal insufficiency and is advised not to be used with patients with high blood pressure or kidney problems. This again, is where knowing someone’s health history and having lab work done to know your levels, is crucial for healing, repair, and safety.

This next category I want to touch on is glandular supplements or photomorphogens which can act as building blocks to the glands. These products come from hormone-producing organs in animals. Essentially, these animal tissues are dried and ground up for use in supplements and medications. With the discovery of "glandular therapy," they found that the glands or tissues from healthy animals could provide the body with nutrients, enzymes, and energy for repair and maintenance.

This "like supports like" strategy is based on the concept that when another human or animal consumes the gland or organ tissue concentrates, these healthy, intact components can supply their organs and glands with the building blocks they may need. It’s important to know the source and quality of these types of supplements. They should be made with organically raised animals and the company should guarantee the quality and purity of the ingredients.

Lastly, let’s talk about Bioidentical Hormones. Bioidentical hormones are almost identical, at a molecular level, to the hormones that we produce. Using these types of hormones enables us to replicate the action of our own hormones. Progesterone and pregnenolone are hormones that are manufactured from the adrenals, as well as in the ovaries and testicles, before they are metabolized into DHEA. In the adrenal cascade, pregnenolone is the first hormone to be made from cholesterol and progesterone is the second. Both can be converted into several other adrenal hormones including DHEA and the sex hormones aldosterone and cortisol. With adrenal fatigue, the sex hormone levels often fall because the adrenal glands are not able to manufacture adequate levels of hormones. So, the lower the sex hormones, the more damage there is to tissues, especially when the patient is under stress. This oxidative damage is one of the key factors in rapid aging. Pregnenolone or progesterone along with DHEA can better be used to raise the hormonal levels in both men and women and decrease some aspects of adrenal fatigue.

There are a variety of different blends when it comes to hormonal supplements. Many times, you can get your Vitamin C, B Complex and a few key adaptogenic herbs all in one. I prefer blends as opposed to opening a number of different pill bottles each time you need to take them. But again, choosing a quality source for your blend is crucial.

If you are wondering about dosages, I didn’t get into that because dosing is specific to each individual. There are other factors that come into play when it comes to the proper dosing. This is one of the main reasons that I offer lab testing with my patients, so that along with finding out their health history and current symptoms, we get an accurate picture of what their levels look like so that we can choose the best supplement protocol and dosing.

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