In a study, women consuming a diet containing 30 percent protein experienced an elevation of GLP-1 and greater feelings of fullness than when they ate a diet containing 10 percent protein. When we consume protein, our levels of the ‘hunger hormone’ ghrelin are decreased and the production of hormones that help you feel full, including leptin, PYY (peptide tyrosine – relating to satiety) and GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1 – reducing blood sugar by increasing insulin function) are increased. Protein supports the release of hormones that control appetite and food intake. Healthy lifestyle choices can support proper endocrine function and it is a lot easier to maintain optimal hormonal function than you might imagine, so see what you can do to balance your own hormonal profile, based upon these strategies. Some hormone levels become depleted with age, with some people experiencing a more precipitous decrease than others. However, due to our fast-paced society, the lack of adequate nutrition, and poor stress-response management, causes of hormonal imbalances have become increasingly common. When everything is in balance and working well, your endocrine glands produce the precise amount of each hormone needed for diverse processes in your body. These chemical messengers control your sleep, appetite, weight, mood, sexual response and more.
#How to balance hormones naturally how to
Our hormones are produced by our endocrine glands and other tissues, which together make up our entire endocrine system – an extraordinarily complex constellation of chemical messengers that operate in concert with each other – sometimes acting upon our organs directly, and at other times forming part of a ‘feedback loop’ that tells our bodies how to function. When we think of hormones, we tend to think of the sex hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone first, but in fact we currently know of more than 200 hormones and hormone-like substances that are crucial to health – with more being discovered regularly.