Several hormones influence your brain and emotions, including cortisol (the stress hormone), estrogen, testosterone, and HGH. HGH might not be the first hormone you think of when it comes to mood, but it’s deeply involved in your brain’s ability to regulate emotions, energy, and motivation.
Mood swings and low motivation are not just “in your head.” They can be signs that your hormones, including human growth hormone, need attention. With the right support, you can regain balance, energy, and a more positive outlook on life.
Signs that your hormones might be impacting your mood:
Sudden Mood Swings or Irritability without Obvious Reasons
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers that transport messages or chemical signals from one neuron to the other. Your hormones are under the influence of these neurotransmitters. For example, estrogen levels fluctuate during a woman’s menstrual cycle, and this results in irritability.
Feeling Tired or Drained, Even After Resting
Several hormones contribute to feelings of fatigue and tiredness, including progesterone, thyroid hormones, and cortisol. If any of these hormones are decreasing or increasing, the result can be extreme tiredness, even though you have gotten enough sleep.
Lack of Interest in Activities You Used to Enjoy
Imbalanced hormones also affect motivation. Testosterone is known as the “male sex hormone,” but it is responsible for both men’s and women’s low motivation.
Difficulty Concentrating or Brain Fog
When hormones become imbalanced, this causes less clarity, the inability to maintain attention, and difficulties concentrating. As this occurs, it becomes difficult for your brain to process information, and you cannot focus as well as when your hormones are balanced.
Decreased motivation or Drive
An imbalance in your thyroid hormone production is another reason that you may be experiencing low motivation or drive. The thyroid hormones are responsible for maintaining your metabolic rate and producing energy. When these hormones are low in a condition known as “hypothyroidism,” energy production slows down. This leaves you feeling sluggish and without motivation.
The Reason Low HGH Can Affect You
HGH supports the health of your brain cells and helps regulate chemicals that affect mood and energy. When growth hormone levels drop due to aging, stress, or health issues, you may notice the following:
Increased Feelings of Sadness or Anxiety
Increased feelings of sadness or anxiety are general symptoms of low HGH levels.
Less Energy to Get Through Your Day
The body cannot produce as much energy when growth hormone levels are low because growth hormone levels influence how much energy the cells can produce. It also impacts the way that the body uses fat, and this leads to a decrease in energy.
Trouble Focusing and Staying Motivated
Because of the connection between the neurotransmitters and hormones, low HGH levels affect your cognitive processing and low motivation levels.
What You Can Do
Prioritize Good Sleep – HGH is mostly released during deep sleep.
The best way to support the production of growth hormones is to get enough sleep. Sleep, after all, is the most common reason that growth hormone levels are low. In addition to that, sleeping is the safest way to increase your growth hormone levels. In fact, approximately 75% of the growth hormone that your body releases is released during deep sleep.
If you are experiencing insomnia, you can encourage your body to fall into deep sleep by consuming melatonin. It is known to be safe, but the medical community advises you to speak with a doctor before you begin supplementing with melatonin. You can also increase your melatonin consumption by eating melatonin-rich foods, such as pomegranate, raspberries, grapes, nuts, tomatoes, mustard seeds, fish, and eggs. Eating these foods at breakfast time causes the body to increase its melatonin secretions at night.
If you are experiencing insomnia, take the following measures to increase the chances of falling into the deep sleep stage:
Keep Away from Blue Light.
The computer and phone emit blue light, so you will need to turn these devices off a couple of hours before you go to bed.
Avoid Stimulating Beverages.
Make it a habit of not consuming alcohol or coffee before going to bed.
Prepare Your Mind.
Select something interesting to read before you turn off the lights to go to sleep.
Make Sure That Your Space Is Comfortable.
Your bedroom needs to be comfortable to encourage sleep. Set your thermostat at a temperature that is not too hot or too cold.
Manage Stress Through Relaxation Techniques, Like Meditation and Gentle Exercise.
In particular, deep breathing exercises, yoga, and meditation have been shown in the laboratory to manage subjects’ stress levels. This, in turn, helps to maintain the hormonal balance between growth hormone and your other hormones.
Gentle exercise will reduce your stress levels, but high-intensity exercise increases your growth hormone levels. The most beneficial type is called “high-intensity interval training” or HIIT. These types of programs bring you up to the energy level that is required for the increased release of growth hormones. An example is “CrossFit.”
Eat a Balanced Diet That is Rich in Nutrients that Support Hormone Health.
Most importantly, eating a balanced diet that is rich in nutrients gives the body what it needs to support the health of your hormones. These nutrients provide the building blocks that the body uses to produce and regulate hormones.
Satisfying your sweet tooth will be detrimental to your growth hormone production. Make it a habit to consume a diet full of whole and unprocessed foods without large amounts of sugar. It is also a good idea to limit your consumption of fast food and sweetened beverages.
Talk to a healthcare provider if mood swings or low motivation persist. They can check your hormone levels, including HGH, and they will discuss your treatment options if necessary.
