What starts at puberty and never seems to end? Hormone hell.

Hormones play a massive role in your body’s overall function and even your mental well-being. An imbalance is all we need. As women, we have a huge weight placed on our shoulders by both ourselves and society. We juggle our own expectations of self as well what society (eg family, friends, media, social media) expects of us. Let me tell you right now, no one has an Instagram body naturally and to be fair, not everyone has the time to try to gain an Instagram body. Especially for you working mums, life is hard.

Now, I hear you asking, hormonal imbalance? What even is that and how on earth does it affect me? Well hormonal imbalance has many factors but the main ones are: weight gain, stomach fat and loss of muscle, tiredness, reduced libido and a sometimes serious effect on your mental well-being.

Let’s break down the 5 signs and see if anything sounds familiar for you.

Weight gain

Many factors can have an effect on weight gain, including other signs of hormonal imbalance. Lack of exercise and a less than desirable diet can take you down the slippery slope to weight gain. However, even women who work out and eat well can gain weight due to an imbalance which is extraordinarily frustrating. The slippery slope to weight gain can be even harder to escape from if you do have a slightly indulgent diet because if your hormones are completely out of whack then the body is unable to correctly process what you are ingesting and this leads to no fat burning.

Stomach fat and loss of muscle

Stomach pudge. Third tyre. Love handles. Rolls. Whether you love them or hate them, that extra weight around your belly can be a sign of hormonal imbalance. High levels of hormones such as cortisol (the stress hormone – we all feel this one) can make the body store fat for future use rather than burn it which can lead to belly fat. This biological need to retain fat rather than burn it can be a factor in why women lose muscle mass and find more bulk rather than a more preferable muscle tone.

Tiredness

We’ve often talked about how lack of sleep and fatigue can have an effect on your hormones (click here to read our blog on this) and this time we’re delving a bit deeper. Tiredness often results from the changes in blood sugar. One day you’re diving into the depths of sugary heaven and the next you’re craving white bread like it’s nobody’s business! These fluctuations can be attributed to hormonal imbalance issues. Fluctuations can be down to too much sugar (remember diving into the depths of sugary heaven, yeah that.) When a hormonal imbalance occurs, usually meaning you have too much Oestrogen in your system, your blood sugar levels can be affected by peaking and crashing, leaving you feeling abnormally tired between meals. Once again, this is where diet is important as we talked about earlier.

Reduced Libido

Did you know that your lack of sleep, induced especially by hormonal imbalance can affect your libido? Lack of good quality sleep can lead to less of the “sex hormone” being produced while your are asleep. If you have a hormonal imbalance, this can mean the body does not regulate sleep correctly meaning other functions don’t work correctly either. Dr Jolene Brighten mentions this in her book Beyond The Pill – “Your interest in sex is an important measurement of health.” Did you know that 40% of American women experience a low libido and disinterest in sex. Hormones are hell aren’t they?

Mood Swings, Anxiousness and Irritability

These 3 issues can seriously affect your mental well-being. They can be disruptive in relationships causing tension and upset feelings, not just for you but for your loved ones. These symptoms can be caused by an excess of hormones – Oestrogen or Progesterone. During your menstrual cycle the delicate balance between these two hormones can shift. This shift controls the stages of your cycle and can be a catalyst for why you feel like someone else entirely during the month.

How can NuWoman 30 PLUS and BALANCE help?

NuWoman 30 PLUS and NuWoman BALANCE (designed to help younger women – 18 and older) can help you to naturally deal with these hormonal imbalance issues. Scientifically formulated hormone support supplement for women that contains no hormones, or hormone mimicking chemicals. The ingredients are specifically formulated to help the body maintain a natural hormonal balance, which can often be difficult in modern life due to synthetic source of hormones such as foods, the contraceptive pill and BPA plastics. NuWoman 30 PLUS is trusted by thousands of women in Australia and New Zealand. Why not check out our Facebook page, which has tons of reviews from women we have helped.