Women's Hormones Explained: A Clear Guide to the Seven That Matter Most

By Tina Chagoury, Clinical Dietitian · 9 min read · 2026-09-27

Your hormones work as one network, not seven separate problems. Here is what each one does, the signs it is struggling, the tests worth asking for and what helps.

When a woman tells me her hormones are "all over the place", she is usually right, but the phrase hides a lot. Hormones are not one thing. They are chemical messengers made in different glands, each with its own job, all talking to each other constantly.

This guide explains the seven women's hormones that matter most for how you feel day to day: estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, insulin, thyroid hormones and prolactin. For each one you will find what it does, the signs it is out of balance and where to read more. Then we look at how hormones change across your life, which tests are worth asking for, and the foundations that support all of them at once.

How women's hormones work together

Most of your hormonal system is run from the brain. The hypothalamus and the pituitary gland send signals to the ovaries, the adrenal glands and the thyroid, and those glands answer by releasing their own hormones. The hormones then report back to the brain, which adjusts the next signal.

Two hormones sit slightly outside that chain and influence everything inside it. Insulin is made by the pancreas in response to food. Cortisol is made by the adrenal glands in response to stress.

That is why hormones rarely go wrong one at a time. High insulin raises testosterone. Sustained cortisol can suppress ovulation, which lowers progesterone. An underactive thyroid can raise prolactin. When one shifts, others follow, and the symptoms you feel are usually the result of several changes together.

It is also why insulin and cortisol, the two hormones you influence most directly every day, are so often the best place to start.

1. Estrogen

Estrogen runs the first half of your cycle and reaches far beyond it, into your bones, brain, mood, heart, skin, metabolism and vaginal and urinary health. It is made mainly by the ovaries and cleared by the liver and the gut.

When it is high relative to progesterone: heavy or painful periods, breast tenderness, bloating and worse premenstrual mood.

When it is low: hot flushes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, poor sleep, joint aches and missed periods.

Read the full guide: Estrogen in Women: What It Does and Why It Goes Out of Balance.

2. Progesterone

Progesterone is made after ovulation, and only after ovulation. It prepares the uterus for pregnancy, balances estrogen, and has a calming effect on the brain that supports sleep.

When it is low: anxiety and irritability before your period, poor sleep in the second half of the cycle, spotting before the period, shorter cycles and heavier bleeding. It is often the first hormone to fall in perimenopause.

Read the full guide: Low Progesterone: Symptoms, Causes and What Food Can Do.

3. Testosterone

Women make testosterone in the ovaries and adrenal glands, in much smaller amounts than men. It supports muscle, bone, libido, energy and motivation.

When it is high: jawline acne, unwanted hair, thinning scalp hair and irregular cycles, most often because of PCOS and high insulin.

When it is low: low libido, low energy and difficulty holding on to muscle, often from the forties onward.

Read the full guide: Testosterone in Women: What It Does, Why It Rises and What Happens When It Falls.

4. Cortisol

Cortisol is your main stress hormone. It is meant to peak in the morning and fall through the day. It raises blood sugar, influences where fat is stored, and shapes sleep, immunity and even ovulation.

When the rhythm is disrupted: tired but wired evenings, waking in the night, belly fat, sugar and salt cravings, anxiety and frequent illness.

Read The HPA Axis: Why Stress Is a Physical Condition, Not a Mood for how the stress system works, and High Cortisol: The Signs, the Causes and What Actually Brings It Down for the signs and testing.

5. Insulin

Insulin moves glucose from your blood into your cells. When the cells stop responding to it properly, the pancreas makes more of it to compensate. That is insulin resistance.

When it is high: constant hunger, afternoon cravings, energy crashes after meals, weight gain around the middle, and in many women higher testosterone and irregular cycles. Standard blood sugar tests can look normal for years while insulin is already high.

Read the full guide: Insulin Resistance in Women, Explained Simply.

6. Thyroid hormones

The thyroid sets the pace of your metabolism. It affects energy, body temperature, digestion, heart rate, hair, skin, mood and your cycle. The most common cause of an underactive thyroid in women is Hashimoto's, an autoimmune condition.

When it is underactive: fatigue, feeling cold, constipation, weight gain, hair loss, dry skin, low mood and heavier or irregular periods.

Read Hypothyroidism Symptoms in Women for the signs, and Hashimoto's Is Not Just a Thyroid Problem for the autoimmune side.

7. Prolactin

Prolactin is made by the pituitary gland. Its main job is milk production after birth, and it also suppresses ovulation.

When it is high outside pregnancy and breastfeeding: irregular or absent periods, milky nipple discharge, difficulty conceiving and low libido. It always needs a doctor to find the cause.

Read the full guide: High Prolactin in Women: Symptoms, Causes and Why It Needs a Doctor.

How hormones change across your life

• Puberty. The ovaries wake up and cycles begin, often irregular for the first few years.
• The reproductive years. Estrogen rises in the first half of each cycle, ovulation happens around the middle, and progesterone leads the second half. That monthly rhythm explains many changes in mood, appetite, digestion and energy.
• Pregnancy and after birth. Estrogen and progesterone rise enormously, then fall sharply after delivery, while prolactin rises for breastfeeding.
• Perimenopause. Usually from the late thirties or forties. Ovulation becomes less reliable, progesterone falls and estrogen swings unpredictably. This is when many women first feel that something has changed.
• After menopause. Estrogen settles at a low, steady level, and the priorities shift towards protecting muscle, bone, heart and metabolic health.

Signs of hormonal imbalance in women

These are the signs I hear most often, with the hormones worth looking at first:

• Irregular, very heavy or absent periods: estrogen, progesterone, prolactin, thyroid and testosterone
• Anxiety and poor sleep before your period: progesterone
• Belly fat, cravings and energy crashes: insulin and cortisol
• Fatigue, feeling cold and hair loss: thyroid, alongside iron
• Acne, unwanted hair and scalp thinning: testosterone and insulin
• Hot flushes, night sweats and vaginal dryness: estrogen
• Low libido: estrogen, testosterone, prolactin and thyroid

None of this is a reason to diagnose yourself. It tells you which questions to bring to your doctor. I go through five of these symptoms in more depth in Common Is Not the Same as Normal.

The tests worth asking for

A useful starting panel to discuss with your doctor:

• Thyroid: TSH, free T4, free T3 and thyroid antibodies
• Blood sugar and insulin: fasting glucose, fasting insulin and HbA1c
• Reproductive hormones, timed to your cycle: estradiol, FSH, LH and progesterone
• Prolactin
• Androgens: total testosterone, SHBG and DHEAS, when acne, hair or cycle changes point that way
• Ferritin, vitamin D and a lipid panel

Timing matters for several of these, and the results only make sense together with your symptoms. I explain the full list in The Blood Tests Every Woman Over 35 Should Actually Ask For.

How to support hormone balance

No supplement balances hormones on its own. What does most of the work is a set of unglamorous foundations that support every hormone in this guide at once:

• Stable blood sugar. Protein at every meal, carbohydrate eaten with protein and fibre, and no all day grazing. This lowers insulin, which calms testosterone and supports ovulation.
• Enough protein and enough food. Undereating is one of the fastest ways to suppress ovulation and raise cortisol.
• Fibre, every day, from vegetables, pulses, whole fruit, nuts and seeds, so the gut can clear used estrogen.
• Strength training, because muscle improves insulin sensitivity and protects bone and metabolism.
• Consistent sleep, which resets the cortisol rhythm and supports hormone repair overnight.
• Stress you actually manage, rather than stress you simply push through.
• A healthy gut, because the gut clears hormones and shapes inflammation. See Your Gut and Your Hormones Are the Same Conversation.
• Less alcohol and less processed food, which lowers the load on the liver and the inflammatory load overall.

These foundations are the core of the Hormone Reset Method™, the six month programme I created for women who want to do this properly, with testing, structure and support. You can read what the Hormone Reset Method™ actually is.

When to see a doctor

• No period for three months or more, and you are not pregnant
• Very heavy bleeding, or bleeding between periods or after menopause
• Nipple discharge when you are not breastfeeding
• Rapid hair growth or a deepening voice
• Severe fatigue, unexplained weight change, or signs of Cushing's syndrome
• Hot flushes or missed periods before the age of 40
• Difficulty conceiving

This article is nutrition education, not medical advice. Hormone testing, diagnosis and treatment belong with your own doctor.

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About the author. Tina Chagoury is a licensed clinical dietitian specialising in women's hormonal health, inflammation and gut health, and the creator of the Hormone Reset Method™. Learn more about the Hormone Reset Method.

Frequently asked questions

What are the main female hormones?

Estrogen and progesterone run the menstrual cycle, but testosterone, cortisol, insulin, thyroid hormones and prolactin all shape how a woman feels, and they constantly influence each other.

What are the signs of hormonal imbalance in women?

Irregular or heavy periods, anxiety or poor sleep before your period, stubborn belly fat, constant cravings, fatigue, hair loss, acne, unwanted hair, hot flushes and low libido are the most common.

Can I balance my hormones naturally?

Food, sleep, strength training and stress management support every hormone and often improve symptoms considerably. Some conditions, such as thyroid disease, a prolactinoma or severe menopause symptoms, may also need medical treatment.

Which blood tests check women's hormones?

A useful start includes a full thyroid panel, fasting glucose and insulin, HbA1c, cycle timed estradiol, FSH, LH and progesterone, prolactin, and androgens where relevant. Your doctor decides what fits your symptoms.

Do hormones change after 40?

Yes. Perimenopause usually begins in the forties, when progesterone falls and estrogen fluctuates. Insulin sensitivity and muscle also become harder to hold, which is why the foundations matter even more at this stage.

Related reading

• Common Is Not the Same as Normal: 5 Symptoms Women Should Stop Living With
• The Blood Tests Every Woman Over 35 Should Actually Ask For
• If I Had Six Weeks to Change Your Hormones, This Is Exactly What I Would Do