Metabolic and Mental Health
Hormonal Intelligence: Sharpen It to Achieve Optimal Health
Maintain hormonal balance with six lifestyle habits for a healthier and happier life
Understand Hormones Using Metaphors.
Hormones are just like typical humans in their behavior and actions. Serving as messengers, they know much about what is happening in the body and love chatting in a unique vernacular all day long and night.
Metaphorically speaking, hormones can gossip, influence, manipulate, or even backstab us if we ignore them. Yet they can also nurture and protect if we take them to our side.
With their unique intelligence, hormones want their needs to be met like humans. They don’t enjoy being ignored, neglected, or mistreated. Thus, they appear to operate on fairness principles.
By understanding the language of hormones and talking to them in the proper manner and tone, we can influence them to get on our side.
Conversely, if we mistreat them, they will react with destructive behavior and action. They can be sneaky and might take revenge without caring about the body’s survival.
Hormones talk to our brain and nervous system in the language of feelings. They influence our thoughts and affect our choices. They might also have an impact on our relationships.
However, if we observe our emotions, we can hear the whisper of hormones and understand their important messages aiming to maintain the balance of the body (homeostasis).
Furthermore, hormones are so clever that they can even talk to our genes proficiently. They can not only speak with cells but can turn on and off the genes. Thus, hormones can create an epigenetic effect.
The epigenetic effects of hormones are critical for our survival and prosperity. They determine our health and lifespan. In simple terms, hormones can make us healthy or sick. They can shorten or prolong our lives.
I write a lot about hormones as they run the bodily show with unique intelligence. Their cleverness is different than the intelligence of mind, emotion, and soul, yet it shows similarity.
This is an introductory and educative story to increase our hormonal intelligence. As hormones and the endocrine system is highly complex, I use plain and straightforward language to convey my key messages without going into scientific and technical details.
I have been studying the effects of hormones on human intelligence and health for decades. I write a lot about hormones related to health and well-being topics as they run the bodily show with unique brilliance.
Some subscribers showed interest in understanding the fundamentals of hormones and inspired me to pen this piece.
Sharpen Hormonal Intelligence to Obtain Optimal Health Results.
What do I mean by hormonal intelligence?
My approach to hormonal intelligence is from three angles.
1 — The first prong of hormonal intelligence is awareness. Understanding hormones’ role, specific functions, and effects can be invaluable.
2 — The second prong is to monitor hormonal effects objectively and subjectively.
3 — The third prong is taking corrective action with support from experts.
I attempt to unfold hormonal intelligence under subsequent subsections.
First, let’s under what a hormone is.
Let’s meet our hormones!
Welcome to the human endocrine system, where juicy gossip and manipulation never end.
Hormones in the body and brain can create as exciting sensations as celebrities like Lady Gaga, Kim Kardashian, Jack Ma, Bill Gates, or Elon Musk do on social media.
A hormone is a chemical messenger managed by a specific part of the brain residing in our bloodstream and communicating with cells, tissues, and organs via receptors.
Hormones partake vital functions in the body and brain. For example, they can contribute to the growth of cells, management of metabolism, reproduction, and even psychological aspects like our feelings and mood.
Many hormones swim in the human bloodstream. So far, scientists have identified around 50 hormones.
But my gut feelings reveal that there will be more as we learn the intricacies of the human body and brain.
My feelings come from the mysteries of life as we know so little about our body and brain so far. There are many facets of our lives that we still cannot explain.
I introduced some of the critical metabolic hormones in an article titled Lose Visceral Fat by Understanding the Intricacies of Six Critical Hormones.
Various endocrine glands create known hormones as part of the endocrine system.
Some well-known secretors are the pancreas, thyroid, adrenal, pituitary, pineal, thymus, and gonads (testes or ovaries).
The critical part of the brain managing hormones is called the hypothalamus. This part of the brain is vital because it connects the nervous and endocrine systems.
The pituitary gland is the second most important part of the brain within the hormonal context.
The pituitary gland takes instructions from the hypothalamus. One part of the pituitary gland distributes the hormones produced by the hypothalamus. The other part creates its own hormones.
Another important anatomical construct is HPA (the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) axis.
I mention this intricate neuroendocrine structure because it regulates physiological processes, like immune responses, metabolic activities, and the autonomic nervous system messages.
Hormones talk with the cells using cell receptors. They give instructions to cells in their language to turn on and off the required genes. So, hormones closely communicate with our genes, causing epigenetic effects.
Hormones need to be balanced for the body and brain to function. But, like anything else in the body, too little or too much can cause health issues.
Fortunately, science shed light on checking hormones in our bodies. Blood, saliva, and urine samples can capture the desired test results.
Medical practitioners such as endocrinologists can order tests, pathologists can analyze them, and hormone specialists take corrective actions.
Understanding the mystical language of hormones.
Learning the language of hormones can be invaluable. However, we don’t need to understand every word in the hormonal dictionary unless we want to become hormone specialists.
In technical terms, hormones communicate with cells using receptors. But unless we want to become an endocrinologist or hormone pathologist, we don’t need to know the details.
However, understanding the fundamental language of hormones is necessary for everyone. Therefore, hormonal intelligence requires the capability to understand a few key points that I explain briefly.
You may wonder how we can communicate with hormones intelligently.
At the individual level, hormones talk to us using emotions. Our feelings can indicate how hormones work in the body. Thus, tuning into our senses can give us valuable insights.
In addition, hormones can change our mood. Balanced hormones can make us feel good. Imbalanced hormones give us unpleasant feelings.
In short, pain and pleasure are the high levels of indicators of hormones. If something goes wrong in the body, we feel pain. Conversely, if something goes right, we feel pleasure.
Hormones and neurotransmitters create these feelings. I plan to cover neurotransmitters in another article as they are also comprehensive and highly complex.
Medical scientists, specialists, and practitioners better understand the language of hormones. As a result, they can have an objective view of their language.
For example, endocrinologists (hormone specialists) study for years to understand many known hormones documented in the body of knowledge.
They use various methods to make sense of the messages of hormones. Endocrinologists can interpret their messages in simple language by observing their effect on bodily fluids like blood, saliva, and urine.
These hormone specialists can give us guidance to deal with them effectively. Therefore, we need to obtain their support. Our family doctors can refer us to endocrinologists when we have hormonal issues.
Balancing hormones is crucial for health.
Hormones act like family members in the body. They have different roles, but they all work for the same goal. The mission is to keep the homeostasis (balance) of the body for survival.
So the key term we need to understand is balance. Too much or too little of the hormone can create different adverse effects in the body.
Here are some examples of hormonal imbalance consequences.
1 — Too much secretion of insulin hormone in the body causes metabolic diseases such as type II diabetes.
2 — Too much cortisol can intoxicate the body and even lead to obesity and mental disorders.
3 — Too little testosterone in men can cause sexual dysfunction.
4 — Too little or too much estrogen in women causes serious diseases.
5 — Too little growth hormone in kids prevents their growth.
How to Enhance Hormonal Intelligence to Get the Best out of Them
In this section, I highlight the importance of healthy lifestyle habits with examples and seek help when needed.
1 — Customize nutrition based on bodily needs.
Macronutrients (protein, fat, and carbohydrates) play a critical role in hormonal balance. Micronutrients (minerals and vitamins) are also necessary for adequate amounts for hormonal balance.
However, sugar and fat play a crucial role in balancing hormones. Sugar metabolism is controlled by a hormone called insulin.
This master hormone is so critical that when the body creates resistance against it, we might face severe health problems leading to type II diabetes, fatty liver disease, heart disease, strokes, some cancers, and neurodegenerative diseases.
Since insulin is a vital hormone, I provided three tips to make our body more insulin sensitive to shrink the waistline and reduce the risks of metabolic diseases.
As sugar is critical for the human body and brain, I explained the sugar paradox in simple terms in an article titled Sugar Paradox: Key to Solve Metabolic and Mental Health Disorders.
Some hormones need fat molecules to function properly, especially cholesterol. As this topic is so controversial and confusing to the public, I explained the cholesterol paradox in an article.
For example, when I used to have fat-phobia, I refrained from cholesterol-containing food like saturated fats. The less cholesterol I ate, the more the body created it.
However, this juvenile behavior caused me to lower my testosterone, a critical hormone for vitality and reproduction.
When I customized my diet (e.g., eating 200g of healthy fats), my testosterone levels improved. In addition, as hormones are interrelated, my growth hormone increased, elevated cortisol decreased, and my body became more insulin sensitive.
Since we are all individuals, something working for one might not work for another. Thus, we need to customize our diets to balance our hormones.
Good cholesterol is not only for men’s sex hormones. It is also essential for women. For example, women need cholesterol for the creation of steroid hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and vitamin D.
Ironically when estrogen levels go down after menopause, cholesterol significantly increases. As this article from Harvard Medical School highlights, “Going through menopause often results in lipid and cholesterol changes for the worse.”
Some old-school health gurus still ask women to stop eating cholesterol-containing foods like egg yolks and beef liver ignoring the fact that dietary cholesterol has minimal effect on blood cholesterol as the body creates it for cells and hormonal needs even if we don’t eat a gram of it.
2 — Personalize workouts.
Like diet, workouts are also individual matters.
In addition, exercise depends on many factors, such as age, sex, fitness level, and health conditions.
For example, the exercise requirements for teenagers and the elderly are entirely different. Likewise, the requirements differ among men and women. Similarly, the needs of an Olympic athlete and an office worker, a healthy person, or a diseased person vary.
Hormones love people exercising. They tend to balance when people move. Exercise can affect numerous hormones.
For example, excessive workouts such as cardio can significantly increase stress and hence elevate cortisol levels. Intense and short-burst workouts can increase growth hormone and testosterone.
3 — Create a rock-solid sleep regimen.
Sleep is essential for hormonal balance. In fact, sleep is controlled by hormones such as melatonin and cortisol.
Sleep deprivation can lead to chronic stress and inflammation. A stressed and inflamed body might cause hormonal imbalance.
For example, our cortisol can skyrocket after a night of no sleep, and our growth hormones can shrink, putting the body in a stressful situation.
Thus, improving sleep can be an excellent investment in improving hormonal balance.
4 — Be mindful and meditate daily.
Mindfulness practices and meditation can balance hormones as they are critical in managing stress.
Studies indicate that after mindful activities and meditation sessions, cortisol levels significantly diminish. In addition, elevated cortisol also affects insulin, growth hormone, and sex hormones adversely.
So, by acting mindfully and meditating daily, we can contribute to the balance of our major hormones.
5 — Have meaningful connections.
Our relationships also affect hormones and neurotransmitters.
Emotional stress can adversely impact hormones and cause imbalances. For example, suppressed emotions can disrupt the activities of some hormones and cause DNA damage which I will cover in another article soon.
Improving our emotional intelligence can also contribute to our hormonal intelligence. When we connect with others meaningfully, we feel pleasant emotions, and our mood enhances.
Rather than wasting our precious time on celebrity news, and social media gossip, investing that time in meaningful connections with loved ones, we can contribute to balancing our hormones.
6 — Get hormones checked regularly.
I left this to the end. If the previous points do not work, we must understand the reasons.
The only empirical way to know the hormonal issues is to get them checked via blood, urine, or saliva tests.
Many medical tests for various hormones are available to the public. Our family doctors can directly order some generic ones. However, some granular ones require input from endocrinologists.
If we feel discomfort, pain, emotional disturbance, and mood fluctuations, most likely, our hormones are imbalanced. Thus, seeking support from qualified healthcare professionals is vital.
Conclusions and Takeaways
Hormones play a vital role in our health, fitness, and well-being.
Therefore, we need to understand the importance of hormones, watch their effect, and take corrective actions with support from qualified healthcare professionals to balance them.
For educative purposes, I coined “hormonal intelligence” as a metaphor for balancing hormones with healthy lifestyle habits and seeking help when they get imbalanced.
Since I have been studying the effects of hormones on the body and brain for so long, I feel obliged to pass along my knowledge and experience. I am not a hormone specialist, but I know their impact on our lives.
By understanding the role of hormones, primarily cortisol, insulin, leptin, CCK, ghrelin, glucagon testosterone, and growth hormone, I reversed my metabolic disorders, such as prediabetes, and gained excellent health.
When I was naively counting calories by eating less and moving more, my body did not get a chance to tap into fat stores and stupidly used the muscles as energy. In desperation, I had to re-engineer my life to balance critical hormones.
One of the tools in the re-engineering process was the introduction of ketosis. This tool was critical to enhancing my hormonal intelligence as ketones are signaling molecules that can communicate with hormones and neurotransmitters.
I highlighted the importance of ketosis in an article and elaborated on the importance of BDNF empowered by ketones, intense exercise, and restorative sleep.
Some tactical tools also increased my hormonal balance.
For example, by stopping calorie counting and instead focussing on balancing metabolic hormones, I made my body fat-adapted and got rid of undesirable visceral fat, maintained lean muscles, strengthened mitochondria, and toughened bones.
As I pointed out before, fat loss has nothing to do with calories, as hormones determine the outcome.
Regarding fat loss or gain, hormones do not care about calorie counting. They are so intelligent, collaborative with each other, and powerful that they can talk to our genes and manipulate the body as they need.
We know that insulin, cortisol, leptin, vitamin D, sex hormones, and growth hormones are good friends.
These hormones run the metabolic show in harmony as they desire. But they also fight when they get imbalanced, making the body miserable.
So we must make these crucial hormones happy by balancing them with healthy lifestyle habits if we want good metabolic and mental health.
We also need to protect our bodies from toxins like polluted air, water, burned food, cigarette smoke, and excessive alcohol to keep our hormones healthy.
A viable approach is to sharpen hormonal intelligence to obtain optimal health outcomes.
Here is an article adding more information about the sources of our hormones and endocrine glands.
Here is an introduction to a less-known yet critical hormone.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
As a new reader, please check my holistic health and well-being stories reflecting my reviews, observations, and decades of experiments optimizing my hormones and neurotransmitters. I write about health as it matters. I believe health is all about homeostasis.
ALS, Metabolic Syndrome, Type II Diabetes, Fatty Liver Disease, Heart Disease, Strokes, Obesity, Liver Cancer, Autoimmune Disorders, Homocysteine, Lungs Health, Pancreas Health, Kidneys Health, NCDs, Infectious Diseases, Brain Health, Dementia, Depression, Brain Atrophy, Neonatal Disorders, Skin Health, Dental Health, Bone Health, Leaky Gut, Leaky Brain, Brain Fog, Chronic Inflammation, Insulin Resistance, Elevated Cortisol, Leptin Resistance, Anabolic Resistance, Cholesterol, High Triglycerides, Metabolic Disorders, Gastrointestinal Disorders, Thyroid Disorders, Anemia, Dysautonomia, cardiac output, and urinary track disorders.
I also wrote about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Lutein/Zeaxanthin, Phosphatidylserine, Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, zinc, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, N-Acetyl L-Tyrosine, and other nutrients.
Disclaimer: My posts do not include professional or health advice. I only document my reviews, observations, experience, and perspectives to provide information and create awareness.
As part of my creative non-fiction writing goals, I’d like to share a few stories that might warm our hearts with a bit of humor into weighty topics.
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