Hormone expert Karin Achten, who will be our guest during our Walk & Talk on September 9, explains exactly what happens in your body and why exercise can be so important for your hormonal balance.
Hormones mostly work in the background, but they influence a huge number of processes in your body. They control your energy, mood, sleep, metabolism, stress response, and appetite, among others. When this cooperation works well, you often feel energetic, stable, and clear-headed. But if the balance is disrupted, you can notice it in many different ways.
What do your hormones actually do?
For example, thyroid hormones partly determine how quickly your body converts fuel into energy. Oestrogen, progesterone, serotonin, and dopamine influence your mood and emotions. Melatonin helps you sleep, while cortisol ensures that you are awake and alert. And hormones such as insulin and leptin play an important role in your blood sugar levels, satiety, and fat storage.
So it is no wonder that changes in your hormonal balance can affect how you feel.
Hormones change throughout your life
A lot also changes during different stages of life. During your cycle, fluctuations in oestrogen and progesterone can, for example, cause PMS symptoms.
During perimenopause, oestrogen and progesterone levels can become more erratic. This can manifest itself in fatigue, mood swings, poor sleep, irritability, more belly fat, or brain fog, among other things. During and after menopause, oestrogen levels continue to decline, and your body has to find its balance again.
What can disrupt your hormonal balance?
Hormonal imbalance is usually not caused by a single factor, but by a combination of several factors. Think, for example, of fluctuations in your blood sugar and insulin levels, your gut health, the strain on your liver, your thyroid, prolonged stress, and insufficient sleep and recovery.
A disrupted day-night rhythm can also have an impact. And that is exactly where it gets interesting when we look at exercise.
Back to your natural rhythm
Our bodies are naturally accustomed to moving with the rhythm of the day: light means being active, darkness means rest. Nowadays, those signals are much less clear. We spend a lot of time indoors, look at screens in the evening, eat at varying times, and receive stimuli throughout the day.
You can help your body recognize that natural rhythm again:
- Get up at around the same time as much as possible
- Seek out daylight in the morning
- Get enough exercise each day
- Eat at regular times as much as possible
- Limit blue light in the evening
- Consciously take time to relax
By exercising during the day, you give your body a clear signal: it is daytime, time to be active. In this way, exercise can be part of a daily rhythm that supports your body and hormonal balance.
Want to know more about hormones and exercise?
On September 9 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m., Karin will take you further into the world of hormones during the Walk & Talk. Which hormones influence how you feel? What can disrupt the balance? What changes during different stages of life? And what role can exercise and lifestyle play in this?
You can sign up here: https://dreaver.nl/pages/webinar-sign-up
