These habits have become usual for us and are not particularly alarming. However, they can disrupt hormonal balance, which is very dangerous for both physical and mental health.
1. Sweets
Sweets contain much sugar, which leads to weight gain, and this, in turn, increases the resistance to insulin – a hormone that helps transmit blood sugar to cells to provide them with energy. As a result, you risk developing type 2 diabetes.
2. Stress in the evenings
Usually the level of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood drops before bedtime, and that helps you relax and fall asleep. However, if you are very worried or excited in the evening, cortisol is not reduced, and normal sleep is impossible.
3. Insomnia
In turn, insomnia raises cortisol level. The higher level of cortisol, the higher the temptation is to fight stress with sweets, which leads to step 1.
4. Just one sleepless night
During sleep, the body increases leptin levels, associated with hunger suppression. The brain receives a signal that the body is full. If you miss one night’s sleep, the body would suffer from the lack of leptin, so that you will overeat the next day.
5. Passion for coffee
Reduce the amount of coffee to two cups a day! Caffeine gives a signal to the body to produce cortisol, which causes anxiety.
6. Minimum Sports
The less you hit the gym, the less endorphins – pleasure hormones – your body gets. You need them not only to be in a good mood, but also to strengthen the immune system.
7. Extreme Diet
Diets contributing to a dramatic weight loss lead to lower levels of estrogen, which is why a woman’s monthly cycle can stop until the level of fat in the body becomes normal.
8. Lack of cardio
The less you run or swim, the less ghrelin (appetite suppressant) is produced in the body. So, you want to eat more.
9. Treating PMS with sweets
Sugar promotes the release of brain chemicals that are already produced during PMS. Therefore, it does not facilitate, but only intensifies the unpleasant symptoms, such as irritability and moodiness.
