Using Hormones? Here's What You Need to Know

The use of bio-identical hormone therapy is becoming more popular with the increasing awareness of its potential benefits in the aging population. There is an intense interest in finding ways to make this therapy as safe as possible, and an exciting avenue for this is looking at how hormones are metabolized.

We can increase the safety of hormone use by supporting healthy hormone breakdown. A relatively new twenty-four-hour urine hormone test being offered by several laboratories has made it possible to look at how hormones are being processed by the body. This is a wonderful tool for evaluating hormone usage in both men and women, and provides insight into possible risk factors for breast, prostate and other hormone related cancers.

This information has value for anyone who wants to be proactive in healthy aging and cancer prevention, those who are taking hormones, or those who have hormone dependent cancers. The information can help guide treatment strategies and determine individual supplement and dietary guidelines. Some of the intermediate compounds produced as the body breaks down hormones can promote the growth of cancer and cause damage to DNA. Each person’s metabolism is different. By using this test, we can tell if an individual is having problems with hormone breakdown and provide more support for these important processes. This can greatly improve the safety of taking hormone preparations for both men and women.

A number of nutrients, foods and lifestyle interventions can support these important hormone metabolic processes. Supplements include activated forms of B vitamins such as methylcobalamin (B12), 5 methyl-tetrahyrdrofolate (folic acid), pyridoxyl-5-phosphate (B6), as well as trimethylglycine, and sulfur doners (SAM-E, whey protein, MSM), DIM, flax lignans, cruciferous vegetables and medicinal mushrooms, among others.

Lifestyle changes, such as minimizing alcohol intake, increasing regular exercise, and improving the Omega 3/6 ratio in the body all help to promote normal hormone balance and processing. At Amitabha Medical Clinic in Sebastopol we are taking a deeper and broader approach to using bio-identical hormones, and consequently improving the safety of this popular and valuable therapy. For more valuable health information, visit www.DrEliaz.org.