Quick Fix - Hormonal Imbalances

A series of short, to-the-point chats with the industries best. No intro, no small talk, no wasting your time, just the answers you want & need to ensure you feel, be & look your best.

With Science-Backed Naturopath & Nutritionist, Madison Dohnt.

EC. Can you help us identify some of the most common signs & symptoms that may indicate a hormonal imbalance?

MD. When we think hormonal imbalance, we’re quick to think about the reproductive hormones like our menstrual cycle, oestrogen, testosterone and progesterone but we have a whole endocrine system. We have cortisol (the stress hormone), insulin, adrenaline and melatonin (the sleep hormone). What's important to know is that they all work in and amongst each other and can all affect one another.

A lot of symptoms don't have to be period-related to be hormonal imbalance symptoms. You may get headaches or anxiety around different times of your period despite these symptoms not being directly related to your uterus. Cyclic symptoms come at particular times during your cycle and of course, the most obvious symptoms like a lack of period or irregular periods. When your unhealthy internally or your environment isn’t safe externally, your body will not waste energy therefore it's not going to waste an egg by ovulating. This means you won’t get a period or your period will be late. It all has a carry on effect - one symptom could be the cause of many other things which can often be really confusing.

EC. Given it can be so confusing, where do you tell a lot of your clients to start?

MD. Being a Naturopath, I take a root cause approach. Prior to being a Naturopath, I studied a science degree, so I wasn't always into natural medicine. It was only when I started struggling with severe acne and PCOS myself that I began to research the way forward long-term, rather than continue with band-aid solutions. Women are often recommended the pill or antibiotics to cover-up symptoms and yes, those can work but what I’ve found from my experience (and with a lot of my clients) is that symptoms come back worse because they were never fixed in the first place, just covered up.

The very first thing I do with my clients and what I would recommend for everybody is to find the root cause of why the hormonal imbalance is happening in the first place - what caused it but also what is allowing it to continue?

EC. In terms of physical symptoms, I’m assuming bloating, headaches and missed/ irregular periods are 3 of the most common. What about skin flare-ups?

MD. Acne is actually the most common however that’s likely because I post this kind of content so my clients are usually suffering with this the most. Severe cystic acne was my biggest symptom. It’s the symptom I’ve researched the most and so I guess I attract people searching for those answers. I must also preface this and say that I was really hesitant to call my breakouts “acne” for such a long time. I want women to know that any kind of pimples are a form of acne. So when I say acne, I refer to anybody who's breaking out. Acne is also one of the biggest motivators because it’s visual and everyone can see it whereas anxiety and low moods - people can witness this if they're around you, but it's a little easier to hide or pretend it's not there.

EC. What about cold hands & feet? Can this indicate a hormonal imbalance?

MD. Yes, intolerances to the cold can be a sign of a hormonal imbalance. Not always though. Some people, myself included, have low sensitivity to the cold but don't have any other symptoms related to the thyroid. If you have extreme intolerances, then it can be worth looking into the thyroid hormones.

There are so many different factors that affect our health so I always advise to seek professional help. Professionals have been trained on how to interpret all of this. What happens so often though, is that someone may feel tired and Google what may be the root cause. Google doesn’t see the full picture, so it's a lot harder to interpret and pinpoint the root cause which can actually send you down the wrong path and potentially make your symptoms worse. I always advise people to skip the Google search because there's so much conflicting information on the internet.

EC. Is period pain normal for women without a diagnosed condition?

MD. No, it's not. Period pain, especially if it’s not diagnosed Endometriosis (but even if it is Endometriosis) comes from inflammation caused by prostaglandins. Our bodies are always looking to maintain homeostasis/ balance so a little bit is good, but we don't want too much or too little of anything. Prostaglandins are important in helping the uterus to contract, which sheds our lining and leads to a period. We need this process to happen but when a woman has too much inflammation and too many prostaglandins this can lead to an over contraction of the uterus and pain.

I grew up thinking period pain was normal, that it’s just part of being a woman but as I have learned and since taking control of my health, I don't experience period pain at all. Women who don't have a big complex endometriosis case should feel confident knowing that by reducing their inflammation, balancing hormones or reducing other root causes, they can get rid of period pain.

EC. How about our thoughts? Can our thoughts determine how healthy our hormones are?

MD. Absolutely. This relates to the stress hormone, cortisol. Many years ago, threats and stresses came from needing to run away from lions or wild animals. It was all closely related to survival and this is what triggers high cortisol - our fight or flight response. These days, our reptilian brain doesn't understand the difference between getting chased by a lion or getting a bill in the mail when we’re financially stressed.

A lot of people underestimate the impact that mental stresses have on the body and when they can have just as many implications as physical stresses. Think about what happens when you're scared of something? You’ll usually experience physical symptoms such as your heart rate increasing, you breathe faster, you might get sweaty or clammy and may even feel physically sick. This happens when cortisol directs the blood flow to different systems (depending on what it needs in a stressed time) to increase your survival. So it might send more blood to the heart and less blood to the digestive system therefore if you are chronically stressed (with Chronic Anxiety, PTSD, Low Mood or Depression) you may suffer with bloating, poor digestion or fatigue because you're not digesting nutrients properly. Your digestion is being restricted (even if your diet is healthy & nourishing) because of high cortisol - your body's trying to focus on survival versus eating a sandwich.

EC. How can exercise impact our hormones and cause an imbalance?

MD. If you're over-exercising, grinding and doing regular high-intensity interval training (HIIT), this can spike cortisol and adrenaline. Say you have a stressful job during the day and you do a HIIT workout at night, it's going to be a lot harder for your body to relax and wind down. If you don't necessarily have a problem falling asleep, you might find that sleep-quality isn’t great because you're still buzzing internally due to all that cortisol. You might wake up exhausted, pump the coffees and it becomes this big, nasty cycle. Choosing exercise that builds lean muscle mass, (which is important for so many health outcomes), whilst at the same time reduces cortisol, will always be best.

Women might undereat, consume next to no calories and workout every single day yet not lose weight. Our hormones are such an important part of that equation. Social media and diet culture completely forget this and tend to focus purely on calories in versus calories out which seems so black and white but it doesn’t speak to the complexity of our bodies. Trained professionals really focus on this. I've seen clients drop 5kgs kilos in 1 or 2 weeks whilst eating more, just from reducing their cortisol.

EC. What about beauty and cosmetic products? How important is it to choose chemical-free products?

MD. Endocrine-disrupting chemicals are a very real thing however I feel it's a lot easier to bring in a perspective of balance here. I try and eliminate as many chemicals from my diet, beauty, skincare and household products as much as I possibly can.

Is my makeup 100% natural? No, but I pick my battles because I still want effective products otherwise there's no point in buying that product in the first place.

I've also swapped soaps and detergents to ones that don’t have endocrine-disrupting chemicals. You can swap out toothpaste, but I do recommend still choosing one with fluoride in it. We don’t swallow toothpaste which means we don’t swallow fluoride but fluoride is really important for the health of our teeth. I did cut out fluoride for a little while, then when I went to the dentist next, had more problems than usual.

Aim to take baby steps with this. You don’t have to swap all products at once but each time you go to the supermarket, look to change one thing at a time. The products containing less chemicals may be more expensive but they're going to reduce your health bills and the supplements you'll need in the future because you're not going to have those ramifications. Toxins & chemicals do seep into our skin, get into our bloodstream and when we are so overexposed to pollutants, every little bit helps.

EC. So many women don’t realise that not eating enough to properly fuel their day, is causing more harm than good. What are your thoughts on this?

MD. Yes, there's a huge link between women who undereat and those who don't get their period. Women with eating disorders are more likely to miss a period or suffer from irregular periods.

It goes back to that diet culture conversation. Women think that the less they eat (whilst still being functional) is great to aim for which couldn’t be further from the truth. We should be thinking of food as fuel. Assuming that you're actually eating nutritious foods, all of those nutrients are needed in a lot of different biological processes that happen inside our bodies such as the production of energy and the requirement of B vitamins. Stress really depletes magnesium, so a lot of people are magnesium deficient as well.

There’s a whole host of biological processes that we don't even understand so we need to make sure that we are properly fuelling our body, not only with micronutrients but proteins, fats, and carbohydrates as well. We shouldn't be cutting out any of those 3 macronutrients, whereas a lot of diets focus on making an enemy out of at least 1 of those. It's about understanding that protein, fats and carbs have very different roles within the body, so it’s important to consume all of them.

Follow Madison Dohnt on Instagram -@madisondohnt @modernbalance.co