Six steps to boost your HORMONE HEALTH

Feeling a little off kilter? It's time to turn detective and find out what's really going on with our bodies, discovers Sally Saunders

- 

I've always considered myself to be quite in tune with my hormones. I've been adept at spotting the minor fluctuations that arise at different times of the month, and, after a few tumultuous teenage years, I became increasingly aware of the way they can shape my mood and outlook. But as I head firmly into perimenopause territory, I feel on shaky ground. The gentle(ish) waves that would come and go each month are becoming more stormy, and I'm worried about getting swept away.

So I turn to hormone specialist Hannah Alderson, author of Everything I Know About Hormones (DK Red, £16.99), to find out more.

'It's kind of like an intricate dance,' she says. 'It's a super dynamic system, the endocrine [hormone] system, and nothing works in isolation, and that's really important to remember. If there's an imbalance, it's like a domino effect where everything can come crashing down.'

And that's especially the case when it comes to sex hormones, like oestrogen and progesterone. 'They can have a direct and indirect impact on your mood,' explains Alderson. 'So if your oestrogen is not functioning optimally, that can impact your ability to make serotonin, your feel-good, happy hormone. They're all interconnected, and where there is an imbalance, it can manifest with mood disorders and feeling low or anxious, depressed.'

How can I tell if my hormones are unbalanced?

There are a raft of tests we can have to identify how well our hormonal system is working, but for most of us before we call in the big guns, the first thing to do is turn detective ourself, says Alderson. 'Look at what clues your body is giving you,' she says.

'Are you feeling low in energy? Are there differences in your cycle? Is it irregular? Are you noticing things like sweet cravings, energy crashes, problems with your hair (whether that's hair loss or excess hair in places that you wouldn't normally see it), or perhaps acne?