Do you want to feel younger every day? Who doesn't? {Not talking to you, twenty-somethings!}.
If you are feeling fatigue, depression, low sex drive, weight gain, or any type of PMS or menopause symptoms, feeling "younger" may seem impossible. Take heart! You CAN feel better again. Get started today, and you might be feeling better tomorrow!
(1) Optimize Your Hormones
One of the absolute best things you can do to feel younger every day is optimize your hormones so that you feel your best. Medical research has proven that when bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) is used to re-establish the body's optimum hormone levels, positive effects happen at a cellular level.
Throughout your lifetime, your hormones have your body on "remote control," acting as chemical messengers that communicate with all the tissues in your body, including your brain, endocrine system, bones, heart, and more. When hormone production is optimal and levels are balanced, you feel great, have plenty of energy, easily maintain a healthy weight, desire and enjoy sex, and handle stress well.
Recommendations for BHRT are based on specific criteria, including age range, life cycle, and associated hormone level shifts, resulting type of imbalance/medical condition, and common symptoms. These bioidentical formulations duplicate the natural physiology of hormones in the body.
How To Get Started Now: Check Out Our Hormone Imbalance Questionnaire, and call for an appointment if you need some help!
(2) Sleep More
The release of hormones by the pituitary gland (the "master gland" of the endocrine system) is significantly affected by lack of sleep. Researchers have found that after several days of partial sleep loss, early evening cortisol ("stress hormone") levels are much higher and take six times longer to decrease before habitual bedtime.
There is a domino effect between hormone imbalance, lack of sleep, and the impaired production of "ghrelin" and "leptin," the hormones that work together to regulate your appetite. After only one day of sleep restriction, studies have found that ghrelin ("hunger") levels are markedly higher, while leptin ("satiety") levels are markedly suppressed.
When you are chronically tired, you also feel ravenously hungry because your body is playing tricks on your brain! When you have chronic lack of sleep, it also disrupts glucose and insulin metabolism, leading to a condition called "leptin resistance," when your brain can no longer "read" the signals of fullness from the leptin in your body. This leads you to overeat since you are unable to recognize when your body is "full."
More studies are proving that chronic sleep loss causes weight gain, and there is also evidence that sleep loss weakens the immune system. Believe it or not: 40 percent of American adults get less than seven hours of sleep!
How To Get Started Now: Go to bed early - around 9 pm is ideal, and aim for 7 to 8 hours of sleep.
If you're having trouble sleeping, make sure to create a calm bedtime routine, keep lights low, avoid stimulants like caffeine, and turn off all your electronic devices (TV, phone, computer) at least half an hour before sleep. If you're dealing with chronic sleep issues, a hormone imbalance could be the culprit. Get all your hormone levels checked (including melatonin if you're over 50) to determine the problem.
(3) Exercise More
Numerous studies in the last several decades have confirmed that physical activity has a positive effect on longevity and mortality and that a lack of physical activity is associated with an increased risk of disease and disability. But did you know that, in addition, regular physical activity helps balance your hormones?
Exercise helps regulate cortisol production-making it less likely that surging levels will contribute to anxiety and an expanding waistline. Studies in respected medical publications such as the Journal of National Cancer Institute and Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Preview have shown that after twelve months of regular exercise (30 minutes/five days per week), estrogen levels drop an average of 13 percent.
Exercise can also cause the release of chemicals called endorphins into your bloodstream. Endorphins give you a feeling of happiness and positively affect your overall sense of well-being. Exercise is more than just "burning calories"; it is an important part of restoring healthy hormone balance.
How To Get Started Now: Take a 20-minute walk!
Begin building an exercise habit. When you have the choice of elevator or stairs, take the stairs. Get a pedometer if you need to measure your steps for motivation. If you want to try yoga, or Zumba, or anything adventurous, check out a free video on YouTube or try a free lesson at your local gym. Just get started!
(4) Eat (Mostly) Whole Foods
The Standard American Diet (SAD) is notoriously deficient in nutrients. The "sad" fact is that most Americans are not getting all the nutrients they need from the foods they eat.
Today, the average person eats three times the amount of cheese as someone in the 1970s, and as much as 22 teaspoons of sugar a day!
Americans eat double the recommended amount of salt -- mostly from processed foods. The best solution is simply to increase the amount of whole foods, especially fruits and vegetables, that you eat.
Dr. Randolph personally follows a whole foods Mediterranean-style approach, but he emphasizes that instead of focusing on a particular "diet" type (such as Vegan or Paleo), you should focus on eating a variety of "whole foods" and eliminate processed foods as much as possible. Our whole team believes that eating healthy food is an important act of self-care, a gift that you can give to yourself every day.
Every bite of food you put into your body is either making you healthier - or not! Hormones control our digestion, our moods, our energy, our libido, our metabolism, and more. When we do not eat food with the nutrients our bodies need, we cannot expect our bodies to effectively produce the hormones we need. Without the "building blocks" for healthy hormones, our bodies cannot maintain hormonal balance!
Most processed foods are literally "designed" in a food science lab to elicit overwhelming biochemical signals compelling us to eat more. These nutrient-poor foods made with synthetic chemicals are cheap to manufacture; they overstimulate our taste buds and alter our hormones in surprisingly widespread ways. It is easy for our bodies to get "dazzled" by the "supernormal stimuli" in processed foods, and our brains get fooled into eating them again and again.
How To Get Started Now: Make dinner at home tonight!
Shop the perimeter of the grocery store, where all the fresh foods are located, and skip the other aisles. Check out websites like Whole30, and 100 Days of Real Food for recipes and inspiration! (There are many more blogs, websites, and recipes to try; these are two of the most popular.)
(5) Take Pharmaceutical-Grade Vitamins
Even when you do your best to eat well, you may still need to counteract the effects of processed foods and boost your hormone balance by including vitamin supplements in your daily regimen.
Studies have shown that fertilizers, pesticides, and other techniques applied in the pursuit of higher crop yields have led to diluted protein, vitamins, and minerals in many food crops. Research has linked nutrient deficiencies to a variety of health concerns and conditions - and your diet directly affects your hormone balance!
The body works hard to maintain hormonal equilibrium and very often, the right supplements can help to facilitate this process. In our clinical practice, we have tested and observed the beneficial and balancing effects of scores of natural supplements. The best of these are available in our store. We recommend a select group of supplements to enhance healthy hormone balance and also promote weight loss and weight management.
Remember that vitamins and supplements are not regulated by the FDA like food and drugs. Unfortunately, many brands sold in chain health food stores, big box stores, and grocery stores do not contain the ingredients listed on the bottle.
Since vitamins and supplements can be highly effective to support the restoration of hormonal balance, the revitalization of energy, and the normalization of many important bodily functions, we choose to offer only "pharmaceutical-grade" products because they provide our patients and customers with the highest verifiable quality and efficacy.
How to Get Started Now: Try Dr. Randolph's essential supplements for healthy aging in the Healthy Aging Pack, available only at the Wellness Store!