Nowadays, it seems like everyone and their dog has some form of hormonal imbalance or autoimmune condition.
A recent article from the National Institue of Environmental Health Sciences based in North Carolina, USA cited that the overall prevalence of autoimmune diseases is rising by 19.1% each year. Whilst hormonal conditions are somewhat harder to measure due to their wide-ranging list of symptoms, gynaecologist Dr Staci McHale estimates that up to 80% of women are suffering from some form of imbalance.
So what is causing such a rise in hormone related health problems? We’ve all heard our elders discussing how in their day there was no such thing as a hormonal condition, and honestly, they’re right.
Here are some of the modern environmental factors that play in to the rising nature of preventable hormonal issues.
- Pesticides
In 2024, pesticides play a significant role in all of our food production. Pesticides are man-made chemical compounds used in farming to kill insects and other organisms that may interfere with crops such as wheat, fruit, cotton and vegetables.
In short, pesticides are chemically designed to kill organic organisms, a category which we humans, believe it or not, actually fall in to. The World Health Organisation states that over 1000 different pesticides are used around the world with varying degrees of toxicity, affecting to the largest extent the low and middle-income farmers who work in close proximity with such substances every day.
Due to the fact that our crops are being sprayed with pesticides during production, low yet biologically significant levels of toxic substances are making it in to our bodies either directly via the plants we eat, or those eaten by animals that are then used in the meat industry. If not safely disposed of, pesticides can also make it in to our water, soil, turf and other forms of vegetation.
So how does this affect our hormones? Studies show that exposure to pesticides can disrupt all stages of hormonal regulation, particularly the hormonal function of the female reproductive system and the ovarian cycle. This impacts everything from our day to day immunity and metabolism, right down to fertility. They do this by disrupting our body’s natural endocrine systems and interfering with our central nervous system.
Some products may be exposed to more pesticide residue than others, which is why many nutritional therapists warn against foods such as red meat, dairy, soy and wheat products (gluten).
2. Processed Food
To put it lightly, the modern diet leaves a lot to be desired. Convenience foods such as ready meals, pre-packaged cereals, cakes, biscuits, crisps and many drinks are far more easily accessible than organic produce, and many of us don’t go a day without eating at least one form of highly processed goods.
Despite knowing the term well, many of us don’t know what processed foods actually are, and that many products marketed as ‘healthy’ are actually extremely processed and contain harmful ingredients.
The term ‘processed’ refers to any item of food that has been altered from the state that it comes from in nature. So as well as ready meals, think cheese, butter, oils, bread, cooked meats, granola bars, protein powder, soft drinks, fruit juices and more. Whilst some foods are of course more highly-processed than others, it’s important to be aware of the hidden ingredients that may be in items we would never even consider checking the label for.
Processed foods affect our hormones by causing inflammation in the body that puts stress on the adrenal glands. The adrenal glands are small, triangular shaped glands located at the top of our kidneys that produce the good hormones that regulate our metabolism, immune system, blood pressure and more.
3. Sugar
According to a 2021 study by The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development global sugar consumption is predicted to rise by 1.4% each year. This poses a devastating public health risk due to the link between sugar and many illnesses including obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular and liver disease.
But how does sugar affect our hormones? Well, it all comes down to insulin.
Insulin is one of the body’s essential hormones. It plays a vital role in breaking our food down in to energy and helps to regulate blood sugar levels. Consuming excess sugar over time can result in either high or low levels of insulin in the body. Your body responds to an insulin imbalance in various different ways including signalling for the ovaries to produce more testosterone and storing excess sugar as estrogen-producing fat cells. This in turn can lead to hormonal conditions such as PCOS and endometriosis, alongside other chronic illnesses like diabetes, hypoglycemia and pancreatisis.
Its important to note that sugar is not only present in its obvious forms such as candy, table sugar, syrups and soft drinks and can often be labelled as one of its many aliases such as corn syrup, sweetener, fructose, molasses, dextrose or dextrin. Sugar is also found in simple carbohydrates including bread and pasta, and can be hidden in products considered savoury or ‘healthy’.
4. Lack of Exercise
Exercise impacts our hormones in many ways. Dopamine and serotonin are two of the body’s most well known hormones, positively impacting our mood, appetite, memory, digestion, sleep cycle, libido and overall sense of well-being. A lack of exercise means denying the body one the easiest and most effective ways to produce its ‘happy hormones’ and increases the risk of other factors that negatively impact our hormonal health such as depression and chronic stress.
Regular exercise can help to decrease excess estrogen that is circulating in the blood stream, alleviating the symptoms of estrogen related illnesses such as endometriosis, alongside regulating the body’s production of progesterone and testosterone to ensure that no one hormone is dominating over the others.
5. Environmental Factors
This one is hard to swallow, but simply existing in today’s polluted world has significant ramifications on our hormonal health. The air and water quality of the places that we live in can cause our bodies to ingest environmental toxins such as free radicals (often toxic compounds produced by external factors such as pollution, cigarette smoke or radiation) and heavy metals like lead and iron.
We’ve all seen the Julia Roberts film Erin Brokovich, based on a true story of an American paralegal who took on industry giant Pacific Gas and Electric Company for their involvement in contaminating water in Hinkley, California. Unfortunately, these stories are extremely common, with companies such as Teflon, Monsanto and Johnson & Johnson all coming under fire in recent years for their contribution to polluting the environment and as a result, our bodies.
Environmental stressors such as increased temperatures and humidity within our heating planet also disrupt the body’s natural hormonal functions. For example, cold exposure can stimulate the release of adrenaline and norepinephrine, while heat stress can disrupt hormonal balance causing an exhaustive list of hormone-related and autoimmune conditions including erectile dysfunction, infertility, arthritis, PCOS and endometriosis.
Yes folks, its time to get very, very mad at how corporate greed is affecting both our world and our bodies.
6. Chronic Stress
The fight, flight or freeze response is your body’s natural way to protect itself in high-stakes situations. It was used by our ancestors to hunt, escape attacks and survive extreme weather conditions. In our modern, over-stimulated lives, the fight, flight and freeze response is activated frequently, even during non life-threatening situations such as work stress and money worries. Even using social media or playing video games can trigger powerful hormonal responses.
Today, perceived threats are everywhere, causing your adrenal glands to release surges of stress-related hormones like cortisol and adrenaline that overwhelm your body’s delicate balance of hormones too frequently than evolution ever meant them to.
Consistent stress can cause the disruption of other hormones in the body including thyroid and growth hormones, prolactin and insulin causing a host of endocrine diseases such as Graves’ disease and hyperthyroidism. Stress robs our body of its ability to regulate, convincing our physiology that we are under attack and therefore must be on high alert at all times.
7. Hidden Toxic Chemicals
I hate to say it folks, but endocrine disruptors can be found in most areas of our capitalist world, from the make up we use right down to the clothes we wear. Beware of the following items and always read the labels of your purchases carefully.
Laundry detergent – the self-proclaimed ‘Eco-Conscious Cleaning’ company ECOS documents that there are 7 toxins commonly found in most laundry detergents. These include endocrine disruptors such as Phthalates, a group of chemicals used to make plastics more durable and for scents to last longer.
Clothing – the cotton industry alone uses 6% of the world’s pesticides according to the Environmental Justice Foundation. Synthetic materials used in fast fashion are well documented endocrine disruptors, with low-income garment workers the most severely affected. Read To Dye For by Alden Wicker for more information on how the textile industry impacts our hormonal health.
Furniture- all of the above can also be found in mass-produced furniture, with flame retardants and stain repellants being 2 of the biggest culprits.
Toiletries – endocrine-disrupting toxins are common in toiletries and cosmetics. Environmental Working Group site that since 2009, 595 cosmetics manufacturers have reported using 88 chemicals, in more than 73,000 products, that have been linked to cancer, birth defects or reproductive harm.
8. Medication
To understand how your non-related medication can be affecting your hormones, you first need to remember that all components of the body, despite their different functions, are constantly working together. A 2007 study states that ‘hormones, peptides and neurotransmitters act in concert to regulate the functions of many organs, notably the liver, muscles, kidneys, thyroid, bone, adrenal glands, adipocytes, vasculature, intestinal tract and gonads, through many intermediary pathway’. This means that while a certain medication may be positively affecting one bodily system, it may be disrupting the natural balance of another. This also extends to other non-prescription drugs such as marijuana and opiods.
Whilst this is certainly not to say that you should stop taking your prescription medication all together, it can be useful to approach your recovery from a holistic perspective, combining traditional medical treatment with a healthy, pesticide-free diet, exercise and other important lifestyle changes.
Please consult your doctor with any concerns around how your medication may be affecting your hormones, and do not make any medical decisions based on the content of this blog post.
