Top reasons for hormonal imbalance

'These days I feel like I have constant PMT - like it's always the week before my period'

Hi love

One of my clients said this to me, she constantly felt heavy and bloated, her stomach was crampy and she was irritable and exhausted. We can feel when our hormones are 'off' and this can happen very easily as hormone levels are very sensitive to changes happening in your body. There are lots of different causes for hormone imbalance. Here are some to look out for

1. Excessive fasting - I intermittent fast a couple of times a week for overall health and weight management but I never do much more than this as intense fasting can be counterproductive. This is especially true for women, as it can cause your body to stop your periods and even trigger early menopause. Women with PCOS also need to be careful to only practice fasting gently
2. Thyroid issues - if your thyroid is underactive or overactive this will cause imbalances in your thyroid hormone levels, so definitely it's worth getting your thyroid checked by your GP
3. Birth control - Many types of birth control are hormone altering, and then when you stop taking it this in itself will affect your hormones as there will be a period of adjustment whilst your body rebalances itself
4. Perimenopause - whereas men tend to experience lower testosterone levels from the age of about 30, women start to experience perimenopause from about 35 onwards. Progesterone, the hormone that controls estrogen, declines and even though estrogen declines as well, because progesterone declines faster our bodies experience an estrogen dominance which leads to the symptoms that my client was complaining of

• Fasting too intensely
• Thyroid issues
• Birth control
• Perimenopause