As we age, our hormone levels naturally decrease. This can lead to a number of issues, such as decreased energy, weight gain, and a lack of sex drive. While some people choose to undergo Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT), there are also natural solutions that can help maintain hormone levels. In this blog post, we will discuss the benefits and drawbacks of both HRT and natural solutions, so you can make the best decision.
What is HRT or BHRT?
Hormone Replacement Therapy, also known as HRT or BHRT, is a treatment that replaces the hormones our bodies naturally produce. HRT can be taken in pill form, as a patch, or even injected. The most common type of HRT is estrogen therapy, which is used to treat symptoms of menopause. However, HRT can also be used to treat other conditions, such as hypogonadism (low testosterone levels in men) and Addison’s disease (an adrenal gland disorder).
Benefits of HRT & BHRT
There are many potential benefits of HRT, including relief from hot flashes and night sweats, improved mood, libido and more. You have probably read about this but if you need more information on the benefits to HRT and BRT you can visit this helpful link.
Natural Options to HRT
For some people, HRT may not be the best option. If you are concerned about the potential risks of HRT, or if you simply prefer a more natural approach, there are other options available to you. Some of the most popular natural solutions for hormone imbalance include:
- Herbal remedies
- Diet changes
- Changes to lifestyle that reduce stress
- Supplements
- Peptide Therapy
If you’re reading this, you’re likely focused on natural ways to improve hormone imbalances. This imbalance is truly a loss of cell efficiency. Peptide therapy is focused around bringing efficiency back to the cell, which means improved communication or in some cases a revival of communication back to the cell which has lost that ability due to constant stress and/or injury.
Your thymus gland has the ability to produce the same amount of hormones in your 20’s as you are in your 60’s or 70’s. The problem? our daily wear and tear, injuries, exposure to UV damage, toxins and other stressors cause the loss of cell efficiency.
When your cell loses efficiency it loses the metabolic flexibility, or the ability to choose the most efficient energy source it needs to function optimally. Instead of using glucose as energy, the cell may be forced to utilize other vital stores as energy (such as protein). This causes a cascade of domino effects that eventually leads to the loss of cell communication and efficiency. Listen to hear all about this important aging factor in Dr. Seeds’ Podcast Episode 52: Where things go wrong.
How Can Peptides Help with Endogenous Hormone Production?
Peptides are simply put, a cell communication agent. They can be powerful modulators of what the cell wants rather than blocking or upregulating things the way some other chemical pharmaceuticals work.
Instead Peptides serve to restore communications of the cell’s wants and needs. When we examine growth hormone, which is typically released from the anterior pituitary after a communication signal from the hypothalamus, this signal is a peptide (called growth-hormone releasing hormone, or GHRH).
A quick science explanation: GHRH stimulates the somatotroph in the anterior pituitary to start the machinery that produces growth hormone. The somatotroph is also controlled by another peptide called somatostatin, which typically inhibits the release of growth hormones and only acts under certain metabolic circumstances or circadian rhythms that assist in decreasing this inhibition.
As we age, this inhibition becomes more significant. Whether this is caused by inflammatory states or increased cellular senescence, that’s up for debate. On average, growth hormone is released 3-6 (and potentially up to 8) times a day every 3 hours. This pulsing progressively decreases as we age. Lack of quality stage 4 sleep is a big player in his decrease.
We haven’t touched upon the important role of growth hormone and IGF-1, but it is important to note the close relationship between the two as it relates to hormone production and aging.
Through peptides like CJC 1295 (which is a GHRH) and Ipamorelin (a GHRP), we can improve the endogenous production of growth hormone and IGF-1, rather than superficially utilizing x-amounts of testosterone or x-amounts of estrogen, effectively making the best guess as to what the cell needs.
So What is the Better Solution?
There is a place for both, and in some cases both therapies are utilized. However the Redox Medical Group approach is to achieve the following criteria in everyone’s care:
- Does it protect you from future age-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, Alzheimer’s, or dementia?
- Does it help to restore cell efficiency without dependencies?
- Does it improve our patient’s lives and wellbeing?
- Does the patient know all their options so they can make the best decisions for themselves?
These two therapies are options, but what isn’t an option is a healthy diet and regular exercise. There’s no replacing those two vital factors for healthy aging no matter what anyone says.
