The Triathlete and Hormone Balance:
Hormone health is often an issue for endurance athletes for men and women especially as we continue to train and race as we age. We seem to experience more problems as we age with our testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, thyroid and growth hormone. Instead of taking hormone supplements to “fix” the problem or imbalances, we may want to re-assess and search for the root cause. Perhaps it is over training, nutritional deficiencies, poor digestion, lack of sleep and the big one… experiencing chronic stress!
The production of our main stress hormone, cortisol, is the result of our built-in emergency response team: HPA Axis or specifically the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis.
Did you know that the body naturally prioritizes the emergency response team (HPA AXIS) over all other body functions?
Chronic stress degrades the endocrine system. If the HPA Axis is activated (adrenals overstimulated) then the Pituitary gland is taken away from its other hormone.
Any attempt to normalize hormonal imbalances is futile until blood sugar and adrenal issues are addressed. 
WHY?
STRESS disrupts digestion, immune system and hormone functions. If stress is on… digestion is turned off. If stress is on… other hormone functions (Hypothalamus-Pituitary glands oversee other hormones) are put on hold (including thyroid function).
Chronic stress will create a hormonal cascade of events. Because of living life as a race, the endocrine system (hormones) take a hit… as progesterone can be converted into making more cortisol to help us continue respond to the threat. We need to support the HPA Axis with the right nutrients (get NTP to test you), adaptogen herbs and glandulars to achieve optimal performance and restore the body’s natural ability to restore (and achieve) homeostasis- “normal function”. 
For every adrenal response (via HPA Axis) to release the stress hormone cortisol, the body makes blood sugar (from protein via gluconeogenesis) to respond quickly to the “threat” at hand (race for your life from that lion or you will be eaten) or perceived emergency.
Excessive high blood sugar (even if eating LCHF/Keto!), from responding to chronic stress, can lead to insulin resistance as the pancreas keeps having to respond to elevated blood sugar levels by releasing insulin – then stores excess blood sugar into fat cells as triglycerides. We end up with insulin resistance, as me, even if you are a LCHF metabolically efficient triathlete. You can lose valuable muscle and gain fat all while exercising and eating “right” for a metabolically efficient fat adapted athlete.
To burn fat, we need to eat fat – but always we need to have balance our blood sugar, proper digestive function and hormone balance. The problem is that we are addicted to being busy…training, working, multi-tasking and living in a toxic environment. We rush to eat food while doing other tasks as computer work or driving a car, so we can fit in more time to do our training. We cut back on sleep, so we can fit more tasks, work, training and social media check in during the day.
If you see a doctor, functional medicine specialist or a naturopath for lab testing, make sure you also see a Nutritional Therapy Practitioner to get a full functional evaluation and LNT or muscle testing to find out the root cause to your hormone imbalance. It could be a result of chronic stress, excessive sugar, food allergies, gut issues, toxicity, and exercise.
We are living live as a race and we can’t improve our performance in triathlons (or daily life!) by not addressing our stressors (inside and out) and supporting our adrenals. Find a trained Nutritional Therapy Practitioner near you that works with endurance athletes and understands our crazy sport of choice! Or ask me for coaching online or in person via www.debbiepotts.net plus find my book and manual on Amazon… search for DEBBIE POTTS!
Debbie
