What Are Hormones and Why Are They Important?

Written by Cristina Luibil MS, RD, LDN, with support from Sabrina Stadelman

If you’ve been searching for nutrition and health information online lately, you may have seen something about hormones. Maybe you’ve heard terms like high cortisol or insulin resistance, but what do those terms actually mean? You may be wondering what hormones are or what they actually do in our bodies. There are many hormones, and each plays an important role. Hormones help coordinate many functions in our bodies, making them important for overall health. 

What are Hormones?

Hormones are molecules that work as messengers in your body. There are many different types of hormones produced by many tissues throughout your body. The tissues that produce hormones make up the endocrine system. 

Once hormones are produced, they travel through the bloodstream until they reach target cells that have specific receptors for specific hormones. Receptors on the inside or outside of a cell are like locks, and only certain, specific hormones can act as the key that fits into the locks. This means that hormones can only affect the specific cells, tissues, or organs they’re meant to affect. Once the hormone binds to a receptor on a cell, it can deliver the message that causes a specific response. For example, your pancreas releases the hormone insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels by allowing glucose to enter cells, where it can be broken down and used for energy. 

What Do Hormones Do?

There are many hormones that play many different roles throughout your body, but the main role of all hormones is communication. Essentially, hormones deliver messages that tell our organs, tissues, and cells what to do and when to do it. In this way, hormones help regulate all of the processes that happen in our bodies. 

Here are some examples of hormones and what they do:

• Insulin: secreted by the pancreas, lowers blood sugar levels after eating and stimulates the use of glucose by the cells

• Glucagon: also secreted by the pancreas, uses our stored form of glucose to raise blood sugar levels, preventing it from getting too low

• Melatonin: secreted by the pineal gland, releases melatonin during the night hours to help with sleep

• Estrogen: secreted by the ovaries, affects the development of female sexual characteristics and reproductive development, important for the functioning of the uterus and breasts and for bone health

• Parathyroid Hormone: secreted by the parathyroid glands, regulates blood calcium levels

• Aldosterone: secreted by the adrenal glands, regulates salt, water balance, and blood pressure

• Antidiuretic Hormone: secreted by the pituitary gland, affects water retention in the kidneys and controls blood pressure

• Cortisol: secreted by the adrenal gland, increases or decreases when stress levels fluctuate, regulates how your body uses glucose for energy, decreases inflammation when cortisol is in balance (neither high nor low cortisol levels are beneficial; the body needs balance), regulates blood pressure, and helps control your sleep-wake cycle

• Glucagon-Like Peptide 1 (GLP-1): produced in the gut, helps regulate appetite after eating

These are just a few examples of hormones and some of the important things they do in our body. There are many more hormones that regulate many more important processes in our bodies. 

What Are Nutrients?

Nutrients are chemical compounds in food that are necessary for humans to grow, survive, and function. Macronutrients are a category of nutrients that we get from foods that provide energy. Proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are all macronutrients. They are called macronutrients because we need to consume larger amounts of these nutrients from foods. We also get micronutrients from the foods we eat, though these don’t provide energy. Micronutrients are vitamins, minerals, and water, and they are called micronutrients because we need smaller amounts of vitamins and minerals than we do proteins, carbs, and fats. 

How Do Nutrients Help Hormones Function?

Macronutrients play important roles in hormone function, such as regulating the release of hormones. Carbohydrates influence insulin and glucagon levels. When we consume carbohydrates, insulin is released. When we haven’t eaten in a while or are lacking carbohydrates in our diet (thus having no storage of glucose), glucagon is released so our blood sugar levels don’t get too low. Additionally, when we haven’t eaten in a while or are lacking carbohydrates in our diet, cortisol levels increase (the stress hormone; because not eating for a while/not having enough carbohydrates to keep us in balance means our body is in a state of short-term stress).

Proteins also influence the production and release of hormones. Protein plays an important role in helping us feel full. This is because when we consume protein, satiety hormones are released. The release of these hormones is what causes signals in our bodies that tell us that we’re full after a meal. 

Fats are also important, specifically in the production of hormones. Fats support the production of hormones, and our bodies need healthy amounts of fats to continue producing hormones, maintain signaling pathways, and support the health of our cells. 

Micronutrients come into play because vitamins and minerals are needed to aid the processes that are needed to metabolize macronutrients, thus contributing to hormone stability. Both macronutrients and micronutrients are essential for overall health.

It’s important that each nutrient is treated equally, meaning that pairing our food groups and eating a variety of carbs, proteins, and fats–along with fruits and vegetables– is beneficial for balancing nutrition and, in the long run, ensuring our hormones have what they need to thrive. 

Why are Hormones Important?

Hormones are important because they regulate the processes that occur in our bodies. They control body functions and regulate metabolism, energy levels, growth and development, reproduction, and responses to injury, stress, and our environment.

Our bodies are constantly working to adapt to changes in our environment, whether we are reacting to a sudden stressful event, we need to digest the meal we just ate to be used for energy, or our body simply needs to prepare for sleep. With so much happening in our bodies at all times, the different parts of our body need a way to communicate with each other when we need more energy, when we need to sleep, or when we need to increase our heart rate to prepare for exercise. These messages are communicated through hormones, making them essential for our bodies to function properly. 

With so much information constantly surrounding us about topics like hormones, it’s important to understand what hormones are, what they do, and why they’re important. You can think of hormones as the messengers that allow communication throughout our bodies so that they can perform all of these important functions without us having to think about it.  They are just another example of how incredibly smart our bodies are and how they work to support us every day. 

If you’re looking for support with nutrition or hormone health nutrition, Radica Family Nutrition offers virtual nutrition counseling and support for women’s health nutrition with a registered dietitian. We offer one-on-one nutrition counseling for those in DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Michigan. Learn more about the nutrition services Radica Family Nutrition offers on our website at radicafamilynutrition.com 

About the Author

Cristina Luibil, MS, RD, LDN specializes in Intuitive Eating for the whole family. Radica Family Nutrition provides virtual nutrition counseling for those in DC, Maryland, Virginia, New Jersey, and Michigan. This post was researched and written in conjunction with Sabrina Stadelman, dietetics student and nutrition assistant at Radica Family Nutrition. Learn more about the whole team at radicafamilynutrition.com/team

Disclaimer: The information shared in this blog is for general educational and informational purposes only. It may not be tailored to your specific health needs as it is written here. This content is not intended to replace personalized medical advice, nutrition counseling, or medical nutrition therapy. Any recipes or suggestions provided are meant to inspire and should be used at your discretion. Always consult with your own registered dietitian, physician, or healthcare provider before making changes to your nutrition, lifestyle, or treatment plan. If you choose, Radica Family Nutrition would be happy to help you in your own, individual nutrition and intuitive eating journey.