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How Can I Optimize My Hormone Levels?

Your hormones play a major role in your mental, physical, and emotional health, controlling things like appetite, weight, and mood. Your body naturally produces the right amount of each hormone needed to regulate essential bodily processes, but several lifestyle factors and age can affect your hormonal environment. If you’re concerned about your hormone levels—or your doctor has determined, you have a hormone imbalance—here are five ways to optimize your hormone levels.

Hormone Optimization Therapy

The most effective way to optimize your hormone levels is through Hormone Replacement Therapy. This method supplements under-produced hormones, restoring them to optimum levels. Many people who choose Hormone Replacement Therapy see relief from symptoms of aging, including low libido, low energy, and poor mood. Your healthcare professional will customize your treatment plan with a delivery method and dosage best suited to your needs and your lifestyle.

Eat More Protein

The food you eat has a major impact on your hormone levels and getting enough protein in your diet is paramount. Protein not only provides essential amino acids your body can’t produce on its own, but it also supplies essential protein-derived hormones, known as peptide hormones. Your protein intake directly affects the hormones that control appetite and food intake, helping you feel full when you eat. Aim for a minimum of 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal to support healthy hormone levels.

Get Active

Physical activity is directly linked to hormonal health, as exercise increases hormone receptor sensitivity. Exercise also reduces insulin levels and increases insulin sensitivity, helping cells take sugar from the bloodstream to use as energy. Physical activity also may help increase levels of muscle-maintaining hormones that decline with age, including testosterone, helping you feel energized and preventing muscle mass decline.

Reduce Stress

The way your body responds to stress also affects your hormone levels. The hormone cortisol, known as the stress hormone, helps your body cope with long-term stress, and chronic stress interferes with the feedback mechanisms that bring your hormonal systems in balance. Chronic stress causes your cortisol levels to stay elevated, stimulating your appetite and increasing your intake of sugary and high-fat foods. By taking some time out of your day to enjoy stress reduction activities like yoga or meditation, you can keep your cortisol levels in balance and keep stress from weighing you down.

Get Consistent Sleep

Restorative sleep is essential for optimal health, and the quality of your sleep affects hormones like cortisol, insulin, ghrelin, leptin, and HGH. Your brain needs uninterrupted sleep to go through all stages of a healthy sleep cycle, which is especially important for the release of growth hormones. Aim to get 7 hours of high-quality, uninterrupted sleep each not—not just for your hormonal health, but your overall health.

Balance Your Hormones for a Healthier Life

Your hormone levels have a major impact on your everyday health and lifestyle. If you’re ready to feel younger and energized, hormone optimization can help. Reach out to the team at Impact Medical Sarasota today at (941) 222-1157 to schedule your consultation!

Physical Therapy vs Rehab Compared

Each year, individuals succumb to injuries that require physical rehabilitation to restore one’s abilities. When injuries or illnesses limit your ability to enjoy everyday tasks, physical rehabilitation can help restore your physical strength and function. However, which one do you need – physical therapy or rehab? Impact Medical Group of St. Petersburg examines the difference between physical therapy and rehabilitation below.

Physical therapy is a branch of physical rehabilitation. This term refers to all aspects of rehabilitation but the main focus of this type of treatment is to correct impairments and dysfunctions from a patient’s injuries. With these therapeutic exercises, patients can improve their functional ability and movement. Most of these methods involve manual treatments like balance and gait training, stretching, and functional mobility. Patients who suffer injuries involving their spine, joint, or even stroke should consider physical therapy to shorten their recovery periods.

The overarching practice of rehabilitation involves restoring the body back or close to its original condition. By doing this, patients can lessen the strain of their physical impairments on their bodies. With this broader scope of work, rehab incorporates re-learning skills and introducing new ways to perform tasks. For most, the goal of initiating rehab is to improve independence for everyday life. Types of injuries that invite rehabilitation involve bones, muscles, spinal cord, nerves, and more.

With proper application of either of these practices, an injury might not involve lingering pain. Our team of experienced and courteous physical therapists will assess your injury and develop a personalized program that will help you recover correctly. Call our St. Petersburg office at (727) 722-8103 or send a message to schedule your appointment.

How Hormone Replacement Can Help with Weight Loss

Wisdom comes with age, as well as the perks that come with knowing who you are and reaching your optimal lifestyle. But if you have a hormonal imbalance, it can hinder you from reaching your lifestyle goals as you age. Women often turn to hormone therapy to deal with the effects of menopause and prevent significant weight gain. 

Hormone imbalance weight gain is common as women age, but hormone replacement therapy can rebalance hormone levels in the body, helping to restore it to its best function—ultimately helping women lose weight!

Our team at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel explains signs of hormonal imbalances and how hormone therapy can boost weight loss.

Signs of Hormonal Imbalances

Throughout your life, your hormone levels will naturally fluctuate. They rise and fall when you reach puberty, become pregnant, or start to go through menopause. A hormonal imbalance occurs when there is too much or too little of a hormone in your body. Even small changes in your hormone levels can affect your health in dramatic ways.

Some common signs and symptoms of hormone imbalances to look out for include:

• Fatigue
• Mood swings
• Foggy memory
• Headaches
• Mood swings
• Chronic ailments
• Depression
• Loss of libido
• Hair loss
• Weight gain
• Irregular sleep cycles
• And more!

The causes of hormonal imbalances vary from the side effects of medication, allergies, stress, and aging. While weight gain due to a hormonal imbalance can be hard to overcome, rebalancing your hormones can help you decrease the chances of adding on extra weight.

Hormones That Affect Weight

Multiple hormones in the body can significantly affect weight. Here are some of the most common hormones that can cause fluctuations in weight:

Insulin

Insulin is the hormone in the body that signals the body to store fat. Sometimes insulin stores can spike, even if you don’t have diabetes. You can keep your insulin levels in check by avoiding sugary foods and not overeating.

Leptin

Leptin makes you feel full. Those who are already obese sometimes experience problems with leptin not working in the way it should. This can make it hard to lose weight, even if you are working out and eating right.

Cortisol

Cortisol is the infamous stress hormone and is released when your body is under stress. If your cortisol levels are chronically high, it can be hard to stop overeating.

Estrogen

Estrogen is the female sex hormone and can cause weight gain if it is extremely high or low.

How Hormone Replacement Therapy Enhances Weight Loss

Treatments like hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can be used in tandem with proper diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes to enhance your weight loss goals. As a result of menopause, many women gain extra weight in their stomach, thighs, and hips, which can be hard to lose and can lead to heart disease and diabetes if not taken care of.

Treatments like HRT can help boost your vitality and energy to give you the push you need to start exercising regularly. You won’t feel as exhausted and will have the energy to start burning off those extra pounds. 

Our team at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel will help design a personalized treatment plan to help you healthily lose that pesky weight.

Enhance Weight Loss with HRT

If you are doing everything right but just can’t seem to lose weight, you may require help from our team at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel to balance your hormones. We can design a specialized plan just for you to keep your hormones in check and boost your weight loss.

Don’t struggle with weight loss. Call our hormone replacement therapy team at Impact Medical Wesley Chapel today for a consultation; (813) 953-1002!

Don’t Fall for These Hormone Replacement Therapy Myths

When it comes to non-traditional medicine and wellness modalities, there are always people who are quick to dispute their effectiveness. Unfortunately, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) is one form of treatment that falls into this category.

At Impact Medical Zephyrhills we specialize in diagnosing and treating hormone-related issues and we are here to dispel the myths about HRT to help you decide if this effective treatment is right for you.

Myth #1: Hormone Replacement Therapy Only Works for Women

Both men and women can suffer from hormone imbalances including imbalances in insulin, growth hormones, adrenaline, and steroids. Women may also experience estrogen and progesterone imbalances, while men are more likely to suffer imbalances in testosterone.

Hormone imbalances occur when there is too much or too little of a particular hormone in the bloodstream. Hormone imbalances can affect the whole body and can cause issues with:

• Appetite
• Metabolism
• Heart rate
• Sexual function
• Stress levels and mood
• Body temperature

Hormone replacement therapy can be used by both men and women to help regulate most major bodily functions.

Myth #2. Hormone Replacement Therapy Causes Cancer and Heart Disease

This HRT myth has been debunked time and time again. Although it is true that receiving more hormones than your body needs can raise the risk of some types of cancers, when properly administered, HRT does not cause cancer in healthy adults.

There is no reported association between HRT and heart disease. In fact, some studies have found that women taking estrogen were less likely to develop heart disease.

Myth #3. There’s Only One Form of HRT

Many people believe that there is only one way to administer hormone replacement therapy. The truth is that it is much less restrictive than these people think.

There are several types of HRT ranging from topical formulations, oral pellets, and injections. Different types of HRT can be used alone or in specific combinations to best treat symptoms and balance your hormones.

Myth #4. You Don’t Need HRT Unless You Have Severe Symptoms

There is a common myth that hormone replacement therapy can only be used to address severe symptoms of hormone imbalances. You should NOT wait for your symptoms to get worse before seeking treatment.

HRT can relieve hot flashes, irritability, night sweats, and many more signs of hormonal imbalances and is quite beneficial for less severe symptoms that are interfering with your daily life.

Myth #5. HRT is Not “Natural”

All bioidentical hormones, even ones that are derived from plants, require a chemical process that allows pharmacists to synthesize the final product. Bioidentical hormones contain an exact molecular match of human hormones. Yes, you read that right!

Whether you are using HRT creams, injections, patches, or pellets, every bioidentical hormone is made from the most natural form of hormones that can be found.

Myth #6. I Can Get the Same Benefits from Vitamins and Supplements

If you think that you can pop a few calcium pills to keep your bones safe from osteoporosis, (one of the conditions linked to low estrogen,) think again. Estrogen is the key to strong, healthy bones so when you have an estrogen deficiency, your bones will get weaker as you age. Taking calcium to reverse bone loss does not work, but hormone replacement therapy might.

Further, taking supplements and vitamins to self-treat hormonal imbalances can set you up for disappointment. That’s why it is in your best interest to come in and consult with our team at Impact Medical Zephyrhills for customized HRT treatments

Get Started with Hormone Replacement Therapy

Get your energy back and feel better in all aspects of your life with Hormone Replacement Therapy at Impact Medical Zephyrhills. We will design a personalized hormone therapy plan that will suit your unique needs and symptoms to help you feel your best.

Get relief from hormonal imbalance symptoms. Contact Impact Medical Zephyrhills for a hormone replacement therapy consultation today: (813) 706-5156!