crossing the hormonal divide

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You’ve gotta love being a woman & being subject to hormones from woe to go! It turns out that they tend to dominate your body through the life – with their comings & goings. Beware a hormonal woman! Of course it is these little messengers that are also responsible on a biological level for the impetus for relationships. Its always a great reminder to me that at some level I am not in control as the phases of my life unfold – on some level I make the best of these natural things!

I decided that I would investigate them and found the following information: ‘Hormones carry messages from glands to cells to maintain chemical levels in the bloodstream that achieve homeostasis. “Hormone” comes from a word that means, “to spur on.” This reflects how the presence of hormones acts as a catalyst for other chemical changes at the cellular level necessary for growth, development, and energy. As members of the endocrine system, glands manufacture hormones. Hormones circulate freely in the bloodstream, waiting to be recognized by a target cell, their intended destination. The target cell has a receptor that can only be activated by a specific type of hormone. Once activated, the cell knows to start a certain function within its walls. Genes might get activated, or energy production resumed. There are two types of hormones known as steroids and peptides. In general, steroids are sex hormones related to sexual maturation and fertility. Steroids are made from cholesterol either by the placenta when we’re in the womb, or by our adrenal gland or gonads (testes or ovaries) after birth. Steroids determine physical development from puberty on to old age, as well as fertility cycles. Peptides regulate other functions such as sleep and sugar concentration. They are made from long strings of amino acids, so sometimes they are referred to as ‘protein’ hormones. Growth hormone, for example, helps us burn fat and build up muscles. Another peptide hormone, insulin, starts the process to convert sugar into cellular energy.’ So that explains the physical reality of what happens, but not how to adjust to as the hormonal rhythm which goes up & down during our lifetime. Many years ago I also learnt about xenoestrogens from reading a book called ‘Passage to Power’ by Leslie Kenton. These are artificial female hormones which can heighten your risk of breast cancer and prostrate cancer. They are found in plastics and in the hormones that are fed to stock. We have to be careful not to get too many of xenoestrogens or it throws us off balance even further! When my dad got prostrate cancer he had treatment with female hormones as well as chemotherapy. He did eventually died of another species of prostrate cancer. It all seems so reflective of needing to achieve balance in our lives, our relationships and our bodies and of the challenges we face in this time on the planet where so much seems to be out of balance! Yin/Yang & Feminine/Masculine & Love/Death