7 Hormones Every Woman Needs to Understand

Hormones are proteins that communicate between glands and cells in several parts of the body. Hormones modulate physical growth from puberty to senior years. They affect metabolic processes, sleep, menstrual cycle, reproduction, and simply about every other body function.

As we age, the issue of hormones come up once more whenever women achieve the pre- or peri-menopausal stage, the time of their life when the hormones begin to wane, and variations can occasionally cause alarming and distressing symptoms. This is the reason why women should know about certain hormones that affect them considerably.

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The first one is the thyroid hormone. Thyroid hormones control your energy levels, appetite, the timing of your periods and several other internal functions. Malfunctioning of the thyroid gland can lead to hyper or hypo thyroid and result in problems related to the menstrual cycle, fertility, energy levels, metabolism, thinking power and problems of the skin and hair.

The second hormone is progesterone. This hormone level rises and falls dramatically during a woman's menstrual cycle. This hormone is very important for women who are trying to conceive because it helps the womb to accept the sperm. Its absence can result in weight gain, low energy, abnormal and irregular periods and complications in pregnancy.

The third hormone is melatonin. This hormone regulates your sleep patterns and energy levels. If this hormone does not function properly in your body, you will have problems with sleep and energy levels and it will be difficult to carry out your daily chores.

The fourth hormone is parathyroid. It is responsible for metabolizing vitamin D and regulating calcium levels in the body. It also helps to regulate your blood and organs of the body. Problems with this hormone can result in irregular heart beat, foot and hand spasms, osteoporosis, irregular heart beat and kidney stones.

The fifth hormone is cortisol. This hormone controls blood sugar levels, balances the body's salt-water ratio and is responsible for the proper functioning of the memory. When this hormone level fluctuates, your stress level rises and you can become a victim of osteoporosis, irregular menstrual cycle and hair loss.

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The sixth hormone is ghrelin. This hormone tells you that you are hungry and aids in the digestion of food. Fluctuation in this hormone level leads to malfunctioning of the digestive system.

The last hormone is insulin. It allows the body to absorb the glucose in your blood. Too much or too little insulin can cause skin patches, too much urination and finally diabetes.