By Tris Alexandra

Understanding if you have hormonal imbalances and which hormones are in fact out of balance can help you to address your underlying causes and clear your symptoms, naturally.

Hormonal imbalances are incredibly common, but often they go undiagnosed with women living for years with painful or debilitating symptoms. Women often pass off symptoms as being “normal” because they seem to be common, however any symptoms that are affecting your quality of life absolutely warrant further investigation and follow up. Often hormonal imbalances are diagnosed as conditions such as Endometriosis, PCOS, Hypothyroid, however you can have hormone imbalances without it being a diagnosable condition.

Even with a healthy diet and lifestyle, hormonal imbalances can occur for a number of reasons including genetics, environmental toxin exposure, history of exposure to viruses, medications and antibiotics, stress and history of stress, mineral and nutrient depletion, undereating, and more.

You might also be surprised to know that hormonal imbalances don’t just refer to reproductive hormones (oestrogen and progesterone), but also insulin, androgens, cortisol (stress hormone), thyroid hormones and more. Our hormones impact everything in our body from communication, immunity, menstrual cycle, fertility, metabolism, weight, skin, energy, mood and so much more.

There are numerous symptoms that hormones can contribute to, but here are the 5 most common signs you may have a hormonal imbalance:

Irregular or absent menstrual cycles

Irregular menstrual cycles are common but actually not normal, and a sign many hormones could be out of balance. A normal menstrual cycle is considered anywhere between 25-35 days. If you cycle is consistently shorter or longer than this or constantly changing lengths, it’s worth further investigations.

Heavy, painful and/or prolonged periods

A little cramping and bloating around your period are normal. However, days bed ridden, heavy bleeding (>40ml loss), periods lasting longer than 7 days, or pain that impacts your day to day life is not.

Unexplained weight gain / difficulty losing weight

Whilst there can be a number of reasons for difficulty in losing weight it is often a symptom of hormonal imbalances. In PCOS, high insulin and androgens cause weight gain particularly around the middle. Slow thyroid function in another key reason women struggle to lose weight despite reporting moving more and eating less. 

Skin breakouts and acne

Acne or skin breakouts that have a consistent pattern around the jawline and chin (although you can also have acne anywhere on your face, neck or back), typically worsening leading up to your period is a sign of hormonal imbalances. It’s also common in PCOS due to high androgen hormones that trigger PCOS symptoms.

Low libido

Its normal for your libido to fluctuate throughout your menstrual cycle (and different life phases such as postpartum), however if it is continually low, it may be a sign of low oestrogen, oestrogen:progesterone ratio imbalance, or low testosterone (less common but women do need a small amount of testosterone).

Now that you have a clearer understanding if you may have a hormonal imbalance (including PCOS, Endometriosis, Hypothyroid etc), what’s important to know is you can use nutrition and lifestyle to address your symptoms!