Menopause doesn’t have to be miserable.
Actually, it shouldn’t be miserable.
Your body is smart. Just today, your immune system, nervous system, brain, organs, endocrine system, and circadian rhythm have all worked together to set you on a healthy path for living.
Similarly, your hormones know how to pivot for a new season of life (yes, even with menopause). Sure, you’ll experience discomfort associated with this change, but it shouldn’t be overwhelming.
Extreme mood swings, heavy periods, heart palpitations, and muscle aches could be a sign of a deeper issue, like hormone imbalance.
Can Personal Care Products Cause Hormone Disruption?
For some women experiencing hormone disruption, it’s not actually chemical-filled makeup products that do the initial damage. Maybe it’s a birth control pill, exposure to toxic mold, or even trauma that initially sets the body back.
These events can easily send your body into a tailspin of toxic burden — where even the slightest chemical is too much for the immune system, liver, and kidneys to handle.
Over time, the combination of factors creates an environment of imbalance. You may experience signs of high estrogen, high testosterone, or low progesterone — all exacerbated by hormone-disrupting chemicals.
One of the best things you can do to support your body during menopause is to eliminate chemicals from your environment — especially those that mimic estrogen. This gives your liver space to do its job, eliminating excess hormones, rather than leaving them in your bloodstream.
Hormone Disruption Symptoms
Think of hormone disruption like a picked scab. It doesn’t bother you much at first and you might hardly notice it. But the more it’s picked at, the more painful and dangerous it becomes. The subtle hormone changes during menopause are sometimes enough to open the floodgates of hormone disruption symptoms, like:
- Insulin resistance
- Mood swings
- Fatigue
- Difficulty sleeping
- Weight gain
- Cystic acne
- Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
- Irregular heartbeat
- Heavy periods
- Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS)
- Endometriosis
- Thyroid issues
- Hot flashes
- Heavy periods
Can Hormone Disruption Be Reversed?
The short answer is yes! Your body knows how to adjust to hormone changes, but it needs you to create the optimal environment.
Careful elimination of hormone-disrupting body products, household chemicals, and environmental toxins can help your body rebalance. Once the removal process has begun, you can take additional steps to flush out excess hormones and toxins through your liver.
Steps to Reverse Endocrine Disruption for Happy Hormones (And Happy Menopause)
We believe reversing endocrine disruption is a three-step process:
- Acknowledge where the hormone disruption came from. Whether it’s a birth control pill, chronic illness, or trial-and-error with anti-aging products (we’ve all been there), understanding where your symptoms started can help you create a plan.
- Remove toxins from your environment. This includes hormone-disrupting body products, makeup, cleaning chemicals, unnecessary plastics, airborne toxins, and more.
- Support your body through the detox process. Yep, getting rid of hormone disruptors is a detox process. There are so many healthy practices that can help you detox. We’ll share some of them below.
4 Easy Resources for Better Hormone Function
Remove Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals from Your Cleaning Cabinet
Time to say goodbye to cleaning products that make your symptoms worse — everything from sprayable bathroom cleaners to chemical laundry detergent. Check the ingredients and remove everything that isn’t natural. We recommend replacing these with homemade cleaners or safe brands, like Branch Basics. You can check on the EWG app to see how your cleaning supplies rank.
Enjoy an Infrared Sauna
Sweating is a natural way to rid your body of excess toxins. Regular sauna use may help remove heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and even excess hormones from the body. Not only that, but saunas can increase circulation, revitalize cells, and improve skin elasticity. If you’ve done every other step (acknowledging your hormone disruption and removing chemicals from your environment), it may be time to jumpstart the detox process.
Try Acupuncture
This is an ancient technique that works by stimulating pressure points to activate the central nervous system. It should be able to increase blood flow and support healthy liver function — two things that are helpful for detox and balance.
Level Up Your Makeup and Skincare
On average, women are exposed to 168 chemicals daily — just from personal care products. Many of these chemicals include parabens, microplastics, and phthalates, which are all known to disrupt hormones. Simply dialing back your personal care products or switching to a nontoxic brand can give your body more space to detox and process real hormones.
Transparency Shouldn’t Be a Question When It Comes to Your Skincare Products
Drugstore companies have already proven that they can’t be trusted with our health. After packing toxic chemicals into their recipes for years, they are now trying to appeal to buyers with greenwashed products — products that are only kind of toxic.
Our promise is transparency. You’ll always know exactly what you’re getting when you purchase a Toups and Co product: real, clean, and good-for-you ingredients that nourish your skin.
Stop settling for less.