Dr. Dawn-Elise Snipes explains that chronic stress disrupts multiple hormonal systems—especially gonadal (sex) hormones and the thyroid—which can increase inflammation. She advises reducing stress to improve hormone balance and inflammation, suggests options like hormone regulation (including bioidentical hormones or lifestyle changes such as exercise), recommends annual bloodwork to monitor hormone levels, and highlights oxytocin as an anti-inflammatory, autonomic-regulating hormone.
Questions this video answers
May 25, 2025.
At least once a year.
Chapters
In terms of hormones, both thyroid and gonadal hormones. When your stress response is out of balance, it's going to negatively impact your gonadal, your sex hormones and your thyroid hormones. Stress negatively impacts all hormones, including hunger, sex and thyroid interventions. Guess what? Reduce stress to reduce inflammation and improve hormone balance. Basically, stress is sort of like an imp that's going in there and just messing with the balance of everything. And we want to get that imp out of there so your body can stay calibrated. Improved hormone balance is neuroprotective and helps regulate neurotransmitters. Talk with your doctor about regulating your hormones, whether that be through bioidentical hormones or exercise or whatever that they, whatever they suggest. As we get older, we reduce the amount of gonadal hormones we're making and that also negatively impacts the availability of our thyroid hormones. When people are able to try to get those back in balance a little bit, they notice a significant improvement in energy and the aches and pains and healing properties. Get blood work to at least once a year to monitor your hormone levels between you and your doctor, what you're going to do about that and increase oxytocin, the bonding or survival hormone, which is anti inflammatory and is a powerful regulator of the autonomic nervous system.
