Hormones and Cancer
Our hormones are busy affecting us, mostly silently, every day. They are the chemical messengers that our bodies use to coordinate different essential functions.
Breast cancer and prostate cancer can impact our hormones quite significantly, as can some of the treatments that the hospitals use to treat these cancers.
Following a healthy diet, not following any extreme weight loss programmes and keeping active will all help to keep our hormones in balance and reduce the risk of cancer.
Hormones and Food
Food is fuel for our bodies, the right type of fuel will keep our bodies healthy and support the production, metabolism and detoxification of hormones. Here are some foods that are particularly useful for keeping your hormones in balance:
• Cruciferous Vegetables – try broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, Brussel sprouts, watercress, radishes and rocket. There are loads of different cruciferous vegetables, any of them will support your liver function. The liver regulates the balance of sex hormones, thyroid hormones, cortisone and other adrenal hormones.
• Good fats – vegetable oils (such as olive and sunflower), nuts, nut butters, seeds, avocados and fish (sardines, mackerel, anchovies, salmon and herring). These foods will all give you Omega-3 fatty acids, which the body can not produce itself, but needs for making hormones that regulate blood clotting, contraction and relaxation of artery walls, and inflammation.
• A rainbow of vegetables – eating vegetables with a variety of colours will help you to get all the different nutrients and vitamins and minerals that your body needs.
• Protein – whether you choose to eat plant or animal protein, it will help to keep your blood sugar levels balanced. If you are trying to eat less animal protein, good plant sources of protein are tofu, lentils, beans, hemp seeds, quinoa, oats and nuts.
• Probiotics – yogurt with active or live cultures, some cheeses (Gouda, mozzarella, cheddar, and cottage cheese) and fermented vegetables such as sauerkraut all contain probiotics. You also need prebiotics, but eating a varied diet will give you the prebiotics you need. Probiotics and prebiotics will help to keep your gut healthy, helping with hormone production and balance.
If you can add some or all of these foods into your diet it will help to keep your hormones balanced, which will keep you happier and healthier. For more personalised advice about food and hormones, please contact us to book an appointment with Wendy Hill, from HillStart Nutrition. Wendy is a Naturopathic Nutritional Therapist.
Hormones and Exercise
Keeping active will help to keep your hormones in balance and reduce the risk of cancer. When you move, your muscles release hormones. The exercise does not have to be vigorous for it to be helpful. Good exercises to try are:
• Walking. Walking is an amazing exercise. It also gets you out in the fresh air, which is great for your mental health too.
• Stretching. Try some stretches at home, or try a yoga or pilates class.
• Strength training. Using your own body weight or free weights to work your muscles. Only work within your limits though.
• Just move! Try to avoid sitting for long periods of time. Exercising with a group can be great for your motivation, get in touch if you would like any information about our walking group or yoga group.
Keeping active is good for your health in lots of other ways too. Please remember to only do what you feel able to do, really listen to your body. Pushing yourself to be active is great, but you also need to rest and rejuvenate.
Happy Hormones
Hormones can make us happy, but cancer treatment can involve hormone therapy, which can disrupt our hormones, leaving patients with hot flushes (men and women). Our hormones have an effect on our mental health too. A cancer diagnosis and cancer treatment can be very challenging mentally, so doing things that will encourage our bodies to make the feel good hormones makes perfect sense. The feel good hormones are; dopamine, serotonin, endorphins and oxytocin. Here’s how you can encourage your body to produce more of these hormones, which will help you to feel better.
• Dopamine – this hormone influences feelings of reward and motivation. Doing something that makes you feel relaxed and happy is thought to increase dopamine. A walk, playing with a pet, or a massage should all help. Dopamine is also what makes sugar so addictive, it triggers the release of dopamine, making you feel good, and wanting more sugar!
• Serotonin – affects your mood, your digestion and your sleep. Getting more exercise and reducing your stress levels will help your body to produce more serotonin. You could also try eating more salmon, eggs, cheese, tofu, seeds and nuts.
• Endorphins – help relieve pain, reduce stress and improve your sense of well-being. Endorphins are why we feel good after exercise, the ‘runners high’. You don’t have to run though, any exercise will help. Dancing, gardening, walking, whatever you fancy. Acupuncture and massage will also help.
• Oxytocin – the ‘love hormone’, this is what gives new mothers that rush of love for their baby. You don’t have to give birth to produce oxytocin though! Exercise is helpful, as is touch. A hug or massage, or stroking a pet will increase oxytocin. Science has shown that all the things that we already know make us feel better, such as a good diet, exercise, enough sleep and reducing our stress levels really do make us feel better, because of the impact they have on our hormones.
Listen to the science and look after yourself as best you can. We are here if you need us