I bet you’ve never gotten up in the morning, yawned, stretched and asked yourself, “How is my endocrine system today?” I know I never have. But the endocrine system is so important to your overall health and well being it certainly wouldn’t hurt for each of us to give that question a little thought.
First, a quick trip back to high school: What the heck is the endocrine system? The human body is composed of ten main systems. Among these are the respiratory system, muscular system, digestive system and endocrine system. The foundation of the endocrine system are glands and the hormones they produce.
To give an idea of how extremely important a healthy and properly functioning endocrine system is lets take a look at some of what this system is responsible for.
The tiny pituitary gland located at the base of the brain regulates such things as the activity and hormone production of the thyroid, the adrenals and the reproductive glands. One of the hormones it produces is the Human Growth Hormone, which is considered the “master hormone” and plays a role in the body’s usage of minerals and other nutrients and stimulates the growth of bone and other tissues. This has obviously a huge effect on aging and anti-aging. This is also why athletes use supplemental HGH to increase their physical prowess.
One of the jobs of the pancreas is the production of two major hormones, glucagons and insulin. They work together to maintain a steady level of glucose in the blood and keep the body supplied with fuel. As we know, when this system gets out of whack (to be technical) it can cause Diabetes.
The thyroid gland produces hormones that control the rate at which cells produce energy by burning fuels from the food we eat. A badly functioning thyroid gland can also create problems for the body. When the thyroid gland over-produces this is called hyperthyroidism and can cause, among other things, nervousness, tremors, increased blood pressure and an increased heart rate. The opposite, an under-producing thyroid, hypothyroidism, can cause fatigue, weight gain and a slowed heart rate.
Other glands of the endocrine system are the gonads or reproductive glands. The hormones they produce are vital to growth and the body changes involved in sexual development. These male and female hormones, testosterone, estrogen and progesterone may also need to be regulated or supplemented, as the body grows older
With the endocrine system regulating all these vital bodily functions it becomes important that we do pay some attention to how well our endocrine system is functioning and keep it working as well as possible.
Since growth hormone and other hormone production begin to decline when one hits their 20’s one of the things we can do to help our endocrine system and our bodies in general is to support our body’s natural growth hormone release through proper diet, exercise and supplementation with vitamins, minerals and amino acids and other nutrients that help our body produce and release its own growth hormone and other hormones. Doing this could have a highly beneficial effect on energy levels and anti-aging.
A poorly functioning endocrine system creates a poorly functioning body. A correctly functioning endocrine system helps create a healthy, high-energy body and will aid in stalling the unwanted symptoms of aging.
