The Endocrine System (Hormonal System)
Hormones are chemicals that offer a wide range of effects on our body system. From the head to toe, they influence all body parts. It is, therefore, necessary to have a balanced hormonal system. Any fluctuation in this system may prove detrimental to our health.
There are various kinds of hormones that are produced, released, and affect our body system. They are classified into exocrine and endocrine hormones. Endocrine hormones have a major influence on over body. The endocrine glands include the hypothalamus, pituitary, thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal, and important reproductive organs such as testes in males and ovaries in females. These all produce different kinds of hormones such as thyroid-releasing hormones, growth hormones, thyroxine, calcitonin, parathyroid hormone, cortisol, insulin, glucagon, estrogen, prolactin, progesterone, etc. These all provide various beneficial effects on our bodies.
The function of Thyroid Hormones
The thyroid hormone maintains:
- Normal basal metabolic rate
- Heart rate
- Body metabolism
- Regulate the growth of long bones
- Development and differentiation of body cells
Function of Insulin
- It helps in maintaining a normal blood glucose level
- It has an effect on the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins.
The function of Cortisol
- Acts as anti-inflammatory
- Formation of glucose
- Helps in healing
The function of Estrogen and Progesterone
- These are necessary for a normal female reproductive cycle as well as for the maintenance of pregnancy.
Function of Testosterone
- It is required for secondary sexual development in males and for normal sperm production.
Function of Prolactin
- This hormone allows milk ejaculation for lactation.
Likewise, several other hormones provide beneficial effects on our bodies. But to get the benefits of all these hormones, they should be regulated normally. Their imbalance can occur due to various reasons. And some of these are due to our negligence. These lead to either increase or decrease in these hormones with their subsequent effects on the body.
In case there is a high level of thyroid hormone i.e. hyperthyroidism it leads to an increase in metabolic rate, increased heart rate, fatigue, sleep problems, and muscle wasting. Likewise, an increase in cortisol leads to a disease called Cushing’s disease. A decrease in cortisol in the body leads to the risk of infections of various types.
The abnormality of reproductive hormones affects fertility. Insulin deficiency can lead to diabetes mellitus, the commonest disease among our population. It can further proceed to various clinical manifestations if not controlled. A high level of growth hormone causes gigantism while deficiency leads to growth retardation.
So, one can get a thorough review regarding the importance of a balanced hormonal system in our body. Because of the broad array of effects of these hormones, they must remain at normal levels. Their increase or decrease both are hazardous for the human body.
To keep a normal balance of these hormones, it is indispensable that you take care of your body. Eat and drink healthy foods. Your diet should be a mixture of all essential nutrients i.e. vitamins as well as minerals in balanced proportion. Those who lack these in their body can get them via the use of certain important supplements.
The normal and healthy endocrine system is the key to your healthy and happy life.
Hormones in the Human Body
Hormones are chemical compounds of varying structural complexity. They are pored directly and transported to blood to respective target tissues. They may either stimulate or inhibit the function. The hormonal system is a complicated system in which many parts interact with each other. Important hormones and their functions are
Hypothalamic and pituitary hormones
Somatotropin Hormone: This promotes protein synthesis.
Adrenocorticotropin Hormone: It acts on the adrenal cortex and promotes the synthesis and release of its hormone.
Thyroid Stimulating Hormone acts on the thyroid gland.
The follicle-stimulating hormone works on ovaries in the female and promotes their maturation. Also acts on testicles and promotes sperm formation.
Prolactin causes milk production.
LH acts on ovaries and matures them.
Corticotrophin-releasing hormones promote the release of ACTH.
The antidiuretic hormone promotes the contraction of arteries and acts on the kidney to prevent water excretion.
Hormones that regulate Energy Metabolism
Insulin: It acts on cells to increase glucose and amino acid uptake
Glucagon: It responds to low blood glucose and acts on the liver to promote the breakdown of glycogen into glucose.
Thyroxin: It acts on various organs and increases their metabolic rate, growth, and heat production.
Glucocorticoids: These act as an anti-inflammatory.
Hormones that adjust other body balances
Calcitonin, parathormone, and Vitamin D
Sex Hormone
These are necessary for primary and secondary sexual development: testosterone, estrogen, and progesterone.
Gastrointestinal Hormones
They are produced in the stomach and intestine and include Gastrin, cholecystokinin, secretin, and gastric inhibitory peptide.
These all have an enormous impact on our body and every part of the body is affected by them. When there is imbalance occurs, wide ranges of effects appear. This requires the proper supplement of vitamins. So you can keep your hormonal system balanced by adding vitamins from natural supplements present in your diet. We take an example that due to some hormonal imbalance acne appears on the face, we can correct it by giving Vitamin A supplements.
Similarly, Vitamin B6 is helpful in the relief of premenstrual syndrome caused by an increase in hormonal levels and menopausal symptoms. Vitamin B is helpful in adrenal hormonal production. Vitamin B complex is also very important in the maintenance of the female hormonal system and also assists in the reproductive system. Folic acid deficiency leads to anemia and infertility so its level should be maintained within the female body. Vitamin D is necessary for bone growth and it acts with parathormone and is essential for calcium absorption from the intestine.
There are various foods containing these vitamins and these foods are readily available and accessible to everyone. These include egg, milk, meat, green leafy vegetables such as spinach, fruits e.g. oranges, mango, lemon, cereals, nuts, wheat, grains, pulses, etc. These are natural supplements of all types of vitamins and provide our body with a sufficient amount of them. By taking these foods properly you can enjoy good health and long life since the vitamins present in them will continue performing their essential functions and maintain the hormonal balance as well as prevent various diseases.
Nourishing Your Hormonal System
The hormonal system or acetone diet is the only system that ensures the descent of weight and gets rid of diseases of this age without hunger, fatigue, and dizziness.
How many times have we tried to follow a diet and although avoiding meals we like, we got tired and dizzy? How many times did we completely follow a diet, and after stopping we didn’t even come back to our previous weights, but we exceeded that by 5 or 6 kilos?
The solution is simple, researchers have found that acetone is the only followed diet that could maintain weight because the rate of insulin in the body is moderate all the time, and that is how they explain the hormonal system, which helps the body to maintain its shape under many and different circumstances, unless this is spoiled somehow with an outer influence, for that to eat carbohydrates increases the amount of sugar in the blood, and the function of insulin in the pancreas is to give orders to reduce the rate of sugar in the blood and the transfer of the excess to fats that can be accumulated in the body, researchers also discovered that protein is the basis for building muscles and as the hormonal system depends on protein and the fat, the body begins to build muscles even without the sports.
We can find today that many diet followers complain of the futility of the method they use to decrease their weight, so they move from one diet to another, and in the end, the result will be for nothing, then they immediately accuse those systems with failure and stop following any other systems, and again the result is what they tried to avoid in the beginning, but before that cause you frustration, despair and let yourself to be easy prey for obesity, you must know that some of the hormones in our bodies play a major role in the success or failure of the diet, and by creating a balance for these hormones, we can achieve all the impressive results we want to decrease our weights.
How can you start to nourish your endocrine system?
Less storage of fat: if you have passed more than three hours after you wake up from sleep, and didn’t eat any food, then the body will secrete the hormone (cortisol), which stimulates the body to reduce fat, And thus the body weight will increase as a result of eating, So make sure after you wake up to take breakfast before you go through this three hours, And you have to eat between meals some light stuff such as fruit and the yogurt or carrots, so you do not pass three hours without food and when dealing with the first meal the body starts to store fat again, also you should know that eating foods or having drinks that contain caffeine urges the body to secrete the hormone (cortisol), so be sure to minimize them.
Control your desires: the low rate of the hormone serotonin which is responsible for a feeling of happiness in the human body is what motivates the apatite of a person, and also to exceed the limits in certain kinds of foods such as sugar, white bread, so a person should eat a lot of bananas, figs, cheese, eggs, and dates, Since these different types of foods can reduce the human appetite because they contain amino acid Altroybtovan which the body converts into serotonergic, and thus its rate in the human body is increased and also the ability of a person to control his desires of eating foods.
Maintain Your Hormonal System Balanced with Dietary Supplements
If we don’t take care of our hormonal system balance there is an increased incidence of endocrinal diseases. The endocrinal system consists of glands that secret directly to the blood which are called hormones.
There are many glands in our bodies, each has specific unique functions and complementary functions. All of them work together under the effect of the pituitary gland “the maestro” of all glands. Each of them is affected by what is called the feedback effect which may be positive feedback; in this form, the levels of the hormones increase, or negative feedback, in this form the levels of the hormones decrease.
The hormones are chemical substances that act in their action on the effector’s organs.
Hormones consist of different components like the polypeptides of amino acids, a glycoprotein which is a carbohydrate attached to the proteins, steroids, or amines.
These hormones are secreted from their glands and do their activities on the cell membrane receptors, or by the intracellular mechanism.
The hormones play a role in all processes which occur inside our body so we should take care all the time of our hormonal system balance.
They are responsible for the growth like growth hormones from the pituitary gland; control our metabolic rate by the thyroid hormone from the thyroid gland, control bone density and calcium level in your blood by the parathyroid gland, sex differentiation, and appearance of secondary sexual characters by sex hormones,
control glucose level in the blood by the insulin hormone from the pancreas, and others
Dietary supplements play an important role in the process of the formation, and regulation of hormones. So we can protect ourselves from endocrinal diseases with dietary supplements.
The proteins play an essential role in the process of hormone formation and regulation, secretion, transfer via the blood, also in the formation of receptors.
We should have the essential amino acids, which are present in animal sources. If you are vegetarian you can use complementary sources of plant origin.
The synthesis of many hormones depends on lipids, so we should be supplied with good healthy fatty acids. There are many sources of these healthy fatty acids. The fatty acids mainly are in the form of Omega oils. Essential fatty acids should be supplied in our diet as our body can’t synthesize them. The commonest rich sources of essential fatty acids are fish. So we should have fish regularly in our diet
Also, the level of both, triglycerides and LDH should keep within normal. As should decrease the TAG levels, and increase the LDH levels. That’s an important thing in cases of diabetes mellitus patients.
The minerals play an important role in the processes of regulation of the hormone levels; one of them is the Calcium levels in the blood which affect directly your parathyroid gland any decrease or increase in the level of calcium leads to changes in the levels of the parathyroid hormone, and indirectly by the phosphorus levels in the blood.
Garlic, some people get away from garlic as its offensive odor but they in this way prohibit their bodies from the great benefits of the role of garlic in both immunity and control of many hormonal levels.
No one can deny the great effect of vitamins in our diet they have an important role in all our biological processes. They are important in cell integrity. Act as an antioxidant the most simple example is C. Also vitamin D plays an important role in the processes of control of Ca levels so the decrease in the vitamin D levels is followed by the decrease of the Ca level, which stimulates the levels of the parathyroid hormone.
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