The Latest Breaking News from Hormones

8 Foods That Improve Egg Quality and Fertility for Indian Women Before Conception

Spinach and Other Dark Leafy GreensFolate is the single most studied nutrient for egg quality, and spinach delivers more of it per serving than almost any other vegetable available in Indian markets. A 2020 study published in Fertility and Sterility found that women with higher dietary folate had significantly lower…

Times Life · Aug 30

7 Postpartum Health Problems Indian Mothers Face That Are Never Taken Seriously

Postpartum Haemorrhage That Lingers Past the First WeekHeavy bleeding in the first 24 hours after delivery gets clinical attention. The bleeding that continues at week two or three, soaking more than one pad per hour, passing clots the size of a small lemon, rarely does. Women are told this is…

Times Life · Aug 29

8 Perimenopause Symptoms That Indian Women Commonly Mistake for Thyroid Problems

Why the Confusion Happens in the First PlaceThyroid dysfunction and perimenopause both peak in Indian women between the ages of 38 and 52, and both produce symptoms so similar that even experienced physicians routinely conflate them. A 2021 study published in the Journal of the Association of Physicians of India…

Times Life · Aug 28

5 Signs Your Body Is Running Low on Iodine Even When You Use Iodised Salt Every Day

Your thyroid is working, but not well enoughThe thyroid gland needs iodine to produce T3 and T4 hormones. When iodine supply drops even slightly below what the gland requires, it compensates by enlarging, a condition called goitre, or by slowing hormone output without enlarging at all. That second pattern, subclinical…

Times Life · Aug 19

Endocrine disruptors: How hormone-disrupting chemicals in everyday products can affect your thyroid and health

Endocrine disruptors are compounds capable of altering the production, transport, metabolism, or action of hormones. They are found in various everyday products, such as plastic containers, the inner linings of cans, food packaging, some cosmetics, and synthetic fabrics, among others.

The Conversation · Aug 18

5 Morning Habits That Reset Your Cortisol Curve and Calm Stress for the Rest of the Day

Get outside within 20 minutes of wakingNatural light hitting your retina is the single strongest signal your circadian system receives. It tells the suprachiasmatic nucleus, the brain's master clock, to anchor the cortisol awakening response (CAR) at the right time of day. A 2014 study published in the Journal of…

Times Life · Aug 17

6 Foods That Restore Adrenal Balance and Lower Cortisol After Prolonged Burnout

AshwagandhaOf all the adaptogens studied for adrenal recovery, ashwagandha has the most rigorous human trial data behind it. A 2012 double-blind, placebo-controlled study published in the Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine (Chandrasekhar et al.) found that adults taking 300 mg of ashwagandha root extract twice daily for 60 days showed…

Times Life · Aug 17

7 Signs of Adrenal Exhaustion: Fatigue, Cortisol Crashes and Symptoms You Should Not Ignore

Crushing fatigue that sleep cannot fixThe most reported symptom of adrenal exhaustion is waking up tired after a full night's sleep. The adrenal glands produce cortisol in a rhythm: a sharp peak around 6 to 8 a.m. that pulls you into alertness, then a steady decline through the day. When…

Times Life · Aug 16

Your Pancreas Controls Insulin, Digestion, and Your Diabetes Risk. Here Is How.

A Small Organ Doing Two Very Different JobsThe pancreas sits behind your stomach, about 15 centimetres long, and most people could not point to it on their own body. It runs two entirely separate systems simultaneously. The first is exocrine: it produces digestive enzymes, lipase, amylase, protease, that travel through…

Times Life · Aug 15

What happens when someone’s chromosomes, sex hormones and body don’t align?

I teach a university course called Hormones and Behaviour. What surprises students is that biological sex is not produced by a single switch. What surprises me is that many students have never been taught this before. It is basic biology, but it helps explain life.

The Conversation · Aug 14