What
are Bioidentical Hormones?
To answer that question as briefly as we can, they are hormones
that are identical in molecular structure to the hormones your
body used to produce but is not making in sufficient quantity
anymore. Lack of these crucial hormones causes a wide array of
symptoms. Replacement of these hormones with exact replicas from
natural products brings your body back to its normal “feel
good” state.
Why is this happening now, when it wasn’t a problem 20-40
years ago?
There are a large number of reasons why our own hormone production
has declined rapidly in the last 20 years or so. Some of the
more prominent reasons are:
1. Contamination of our food supply with artificial hormones
in beef, chickens, pork, etc.
2. Pesticides that are absorbed into our food chain.
3. Parabens, the preservatives that are in our everyday toiletry
items such as shampoo, deodorant, and make-up are really hormone
imitators that easily get transferred into our bodies transdermally
and alter your body’s balance.
4. Plastics, one of our most common used products of the modern
world, contain Parabens, so even drinking bottled water adds
to these ‘imitators’ to your body.
5. Using plastics in microwave ovens can also cause these hormone
imitators to get into the food you cook.
The environmental causes can be endless, but
there are also other normal bodily processes that cause our
hormone production to decline.
1. Aging. There is anywhere from 2-4% less hormone production
per year.
2. Surgical reasons such as hysterectomy, ovary removal, removal
of the thyroid or any hormone producing gland, etc.
3. The hormone system in our bodies is a delicate system that
needs to be in a state of balance for you to feel right. If
just one hormone gets out of ‘whack’ for any reason
at all, there is a domino effect that causes many other hormones
to become insufficient or over abundant.
Probably one of the most intriguing reasons is the “Miracles
of Modern Medicine”. This is important because our life
expectancy has increased dramatically over the past 40 years.
We now can expect to live 75-80 years on the average. While
due to the environmental factors discussed above, the decline
of our hormones is happening at a much earlier age, sometimes
in the early 30’s. That leaves a huge discrepancy from
when we lose our natural hormone supply of up to 50 years.To
put this in perspective, 40 years ago we lost our hormones
close to the time of our average life expectancy. The loss
of these hormones was not felt. |
