Your Master Hormones

There are certain hormones that affect most functions of your body. The balance of these hormones is regulated by the types and balance of the foods you eat.

Insulin-Your Storage Hormone
What is Insulin?

Insulin is a powerful hormone secreted by the pancreas in response to glucose (blood sugar). It is the door-opener that allows blood sugar to flow into specialized cells where it is used for energy. Your body needs insulin in the right amounts at the right times to keep your blood sugar in a healthy range. How much and what kind of food you eat determines how much insulin is released. Too much insulin has negative effects.

What triggers release of excess insulin?

  Eating sugar and other refined, processed carbohydrates.

  Eating too many carbohydrates for your body (without protein and good fat to slow their entry into the bloodstream).

  Eating carbohydrates (processed or unprocessed) by themselves.

Effects of Excess Insulin (Hyperinsulinemia):

  Blood sugar levels plummet (causing hypoglycemia).

  Low blood sugar results in hunger and cravings, mental fog, low energy, sluggishness, moodiness, and stress.

  Denies access to stored body fat for energy (most energy will come from burning carbohydrates).

  Reduces oxygen transfer to muscle cells, reducing endurance and performance

  Promotes production of arachidonic acid which promotes inflammation and increased risk of heart disease.

  Tramples the walls of your arteries causing damage and leading to plaque build up

  Converts excess glucose into fat and stores it in your fat cells.

  Insulin resistance and eventually diabetes (Type II = insulin resistance + inability to secrete enough insulin to overcome resistance).

How to test insulin levels

If you have excess body fat, particularly around your waist-line, you are likely to be hyperinsulinemic (meaning, have high insulin levels). You can also have your fasting insulin levels tested, although this is a time-consuming and expensive test.

Food Sources
Safflower oil (w6)	Red Meat	Flaxseed oil (w3)
Sunflower oil (w6)	Dairy	Fish oil (EPA/DHA) (Cold water fish)
Sesame oil (w6)	Saturated Fat
Evening Primrose oil (GLA)	Hydrogenated Fat
Borage oil (GLA)
Blackcurrant oil (GLA)

Explanation of Inflammation Pathway “PGs” or Prostaglandins are a sub-set of eicosanoids (hormone-like substances made in our bodies from essential fatty acids), that regulate cellular activities on a moment-to-moment basis. PG's fall into 3 series or families, depending on which fatty acid they were made from.

Series 1 PG's ( good eicosanoid ) are made from essential fatty acid Linoleic Acid (LA)--(omega 6) the starting material. Our body changes LA into GLA then to DGLA. These are good guys.

Sources : Warm weather plants like sesame, sunflower, safflower and corn oil are the richest source of LA. Evening primrose, Borage, and Blackcurrant oil are the richest sources of GLA.

Functions : PG1's:

Keep blood platelets from sticking together and help prevent heart attacks and strokes caused by blood clots in your arteries;

Help your kidneys remove sodium and excess fluid from your body; relax blood vessels, thereby improving circulation, lowering blood pressure, and relieving angina;

May slow cholesterol production.

Decrease inflammation response, helping control arthritis.

Make insulin work more effectively, helping diabetics.

Improve nerve function, producing a sense of well-being.

Regulate calcium metabolism.

Improve immune function.

Prevent the release of Arachidonic Acid from cell membranes. As long as AA remains in cell membranes, it cannot be converted into PG2. Therefore the bad effects of PG2 are prevented from occurring. Series 2 PG's (bad eicosanoid) are made from Arachidonic Acid (AA), which comes from ingesting food high in arachidonic acid. Also PG2's can be produced by excess consumption of foods containing omega 6—DGLA can be broken down into AA (bad guy) on these occasions.

Sources : Foods high in arachidonic acid include saturated fats from red meats, whole dairy, and egg yolks, as well as processed and hydrogenated fats.

Function : Promotes platelet aggregation, the first step in clot formation. Induces kidneys to retain salt, leading to water retention and high blood pressure. Causes inflammation.

Series 3 PGs ( good eicosanoid ) are made from the essential fatty acid alpha-linoleic acid ( ALA ) – omega 3 (the riches source coming from flaxseed oil). Our body first changes LNA to stearidonic acid (SDA) then to eicosatetraenoic acid ETA then to eicospentaenoic acid (EPA) and DHA. EPA and DHA are then converted into PG3's.

Sources: Flax seed oil is the richest source of ALA. Cold water fish oils (salmon, tuna, trout, eel, mackerel are the richest sources of EPA/DHA).

Functions: EPA prevent PG2's from being made, thereby preventing cardiovascular disease, water retention and inflammation caused by excessive production of PG2.

Cortisol-Your Stress Hormone What is Cortisol?

Cortisol is a hormone secreted by the adrenal glands in response to stress. In moderate amounts it is not harmful, but when produced in excess, day after day, as a result of chronic, unrelenting stress, this hormone can impact the body in various ways.

Effects of Excess Cortisol :

Neurotoxic. This means it is toxic to your brain. It kills brain cells, and is the primary cause of Alzheimer's and memory loss.
• Catabolic. This means it causes the break down of lean muscle mass and bones
• Encourages fat storage
• Suppresses your immune system
• Accelerates aging

What triggers its release?

• Physical stress
• Over-training
• Over-carbing
• Environmental stressors
• Emotional stressors
• Poor nutrition
• Lack of sleep
• Dieting

How do you test Cortisol Levels?
You can do an adrenal function panel. This is a saliva test that evaluates salivary cortisol levels at 4 time points during one day to determine adrenal inadequacy. Available through Aeron LifeCycles Laboratory 1 800 631 7900.

How do you attain optimal hormonal balance and optimal health?

Follow the EnergyFirst Essentials.