Many of us face hormonal imbalances in our bodies. Some realise it, some don’t. Signs of hormonal imbalance are mood swings, change in sleep pattern, fatigue, headache, memory fog or digestive issues. Before we proceed further, let’s understand what hormones are. They are chemical messengers that are secreted directly into the blood. The chemicals are then carried to the organs and tissues of the body for their respective functions.

From regulating sleep to the reproductive cycle to metabolism, hormones have several functions. There are 8 common signs of hormonal imbalance.

-Insomnia

-Persistent acne/

-Mood swings or depression

-Loss of muslce mass

-Memory fog

-Constant fatigue

-Digestive problems

Headache

Talking about the hormonal imbalance, Tim Gray, a psychologist specialist, said: “Whilst it’s important that we observe our bodies, it’s often hard to understand what’s causing what?. A key issue for hormone imbalance is that the more inflammation you have, the more hormonal issues you need to overcome.”

“Also when cortisol is chronically elevated (through ongoing stress from work, excess gym sessions, stressful relationships, poor sleep, poor nutrition etc) together with higher insulin levels (from eating processed sugar and crappy processed foods) you get huge amounts of inflammation in the gut,” Gray added in his Instagram post.

The psychologist specialist said that inflammation causes more cortisol, which in turn, hurts the immune system.

According to Gray, this is how one can reduce inflammation.

– Organic and healthy eating.

– Improving sleep cycle.

– Proper diet and exercise cycle

– Blocking blue light after sunset helps in producing melatonin that reduces inflammation.

– Meditation

– Keep yourself hydrated

Hormonal imbalance symptoms specific to females:

– Heavy or irregular periods

– Hirsutism, or excessive hair on the face, chin

– Hair loss

– Darkening of the skin, especially along neck creases

– Skin tags

Hormonal imbalance symptoms specific to males:

– Gynecomastia, or the development of breast tissue

– Erectile dysfunction (ED)

– Decrease in beard growth and body hair growth

– Osteoporosis

– Lack of concentration

– Hot flashes