We all know that chronic mental stress is not good for us. It does not make us feel good. But do we know how? I will give you one short explanation why.
Your sex hormones, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and DHEA all come from one parent compound called pregnenolone, which is manufactured from cholesterol. The chronic stress hormone, cortisol, also comes from pregnenolone. When the demand for cortisol is high due to repeated stress, most of the pregnenolone is shunted towards the production of cortisol, and less towards estrogen and testosterone production. The result of that can be hot flashes and loss of libido. Progesterone production is also diminished which initially can cause a person to be in an “estrogen-dominant” state. This high-estrogen, low progesterone state is associated with breast cancer, fibroids, and endometriosis.
So, mental stress alone can induce all these changes. If you add non-mental, physical stresses, in the form of food sensitivities (especially gluten and dairy), nutritional deficiencies, environmental toxicities, poor lifestyle choices into that mix, it is not at all difficult to have multiple hormone imbalances. The takeaway: find good ways to reduce all forms of chronic stress.
