We tend to think of certain times in life, such as puberty, pregnancy, and the transition to menopause as hormone-fueled, but the truth is that our hormones influence the health of our bodies and minds every single day.
What Are Hormones? A Description of the Messenger Chemicals
So what exactly are hormones? Hormones are special chemicals that travel through the bloodstream. “Think of them as the body’s internal WiFi,” says Randi Hutter Epstein, MD, (1) the author of Aroused: The History of Hormones and How They Control Just About Everything. They carry messages from the glands where they are produced to cells in different parts of the body. These chemical messages help to “turn on” or “turn off” cellular processes that control appetite, growth, stress, blood sugar, sleep cycles, drive, and sexual function, to name a few. (2)
Hormones Play an Important Role in Daily Healthy Living
“The term ‘hormonal’ has become synonymous with ‘moody,’” says Dr. Epstein. While hormones do affect mood, they do much more in the body than that, she says. (1)
Eat, Breathe, Love: Hormones Help You Do It All
Hormones are involved in some way in most bodily functions — from the basic (hunger, heart rate) to the complex (reproduction and emotion).
