4 Things that mess with your hormones

You experience unaccounted mood swings and sporadic mood behaviour. You end up being mad at someone without any reason despite being completely normal a few moments before.

Wondering what's been affecting your mood or health?  Well, it's probably hormonal imbalance. Out of all the causes of disbalanced hormonal production, some substances may have more affect than others. Here are four such factors that affect hormones and may lead to an imbalance.

Hormonal imbalance may sound nothing like a problem, however it has been linked with everything from infertility in women and lower sperm counts in men to obesity. Pregnant women are especially at risk because chemicals passed from mother to child may have an impact on the endocrine system of the latter.

Contaminated drinking water

Water contaminated with pesticides and herbicides can interfere with estrogen in the body. One of the biggest potential threats is a herbicide called atrazine.

Air fresheners

Chemicals used in floor cleaners, air fresheners, and scented soaps and lotions often belong to a class of endocrine disruptors called phthalates. Phthalate is linked with hormone disruption, particularly genital abnormalities in children whose moms were exposed to it, and lower sperm counts in men.

Polycarbonates

Studies have found that synthetic estrogen, bisphenol, is used as a building block in hard plastics. Bisphenol is made in large amounts and appears in the blood of a large part of population. In a recent Harvard study, the level of Bisphenol found in the urine of people who drank from polycarbonate Nalgene bottles for one week had skyrocketed by 69 percent. Avoid putting plastics in microwave or dishwasher to escape the damage.

Meat

Some experts also suspect that certain chemicals particularly hormones in meat contribute to earlier puberty in girls.

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