Hot flashes and night sweats are drenching your clothes and draining your energy. One of your friends is on hormone replacement therapy, and it’s really helping her hot flashes and other menopause symptoms. But you don’t want to put synthetic products into your body, so on you go—flushed and sweaty.
News flash! Not all hormones are synthetic. Bioidentical hormones are different than the synthetic products your friends may be taking.
It’s worth saying that synthetic hormones are the only option for some hormones—due to chemical modifications needed to allow for injection, for example. But for most hormones used during perimenopause and menopause, there are bioidentical options.
How hormones get into cells
To understand the difference between synthetic vs bioidentical hormones, it helps to know about hormone receptors and their role in getting hormones into your cells.
Each hormone that’s made by your body has a distinct molecular structure. Your cells recognize each hormone based on that unique structure and allow the hormone to attach to the correct receptors on the cell membrane. Estrogen attaches to estrogen receptors, progesterone attaches to progesterone receptors, and so on. After it attaches to the receptor, the hormone can perform its job.
For a loose analogy of how it works, think of the colorful Lego® sets your kids use to build models. Pretend that “hormone X” has this structure: 2 green square blocks on top of a long blue rectangular block with a yellow rectangle going the other direction underneath. The “hormone X” receptor on your cells would recognize the exact shape and colors of that block formation and allow hormone X to enter into the cell.
The difference between synthetic and bioidentical hormones
Now let’s differentiate between synthetic and bioidentical hormones. The differences include the chemical structure of the hormones, how the formulations are created, and whether or not they can be customized to your needs.
Synthetic hormones
Synthetic hormones are manmade hormones that are created in a laboratory. The most common synthetic estrogens are made from the urine of pregnant horses. These hormones are made in fixed doses by drug companies, which means the formulations are regulated and approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The molecular structure has slight differences from natural hormones, so synthetic hormones do not exactly match your cells’ hormone receptors. While synthetic hormones may alleviate menopausal symptoms, their nonidentical molecular structure may lead to different effects in the body compared to what occurs with natural hormones.
Bioidentical hormones
BHRT stands for bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, which uses bioidentical hormones.
Bioidentical hormones are derived from plants like soy or yams. They are identical in molecular structure to the hormones your body makes naturally.
So, bioidentical hormones attach correctly to receptors on your cell membranes and are welcomed into your cells, where they function like the hormones made naturally in your body. That’s why replenishing your natural hormones with bioidentical hormones may soothe hot flashes and other menopause symptoms.
While some bioidentical hormones are manufactured by drug companies, others are custom-made by compounding pharmacies where pharmacists customize your compounded BHRT based on your provider’s prescription. Compounding pharmacies use minimal fillers and additives and have options for people who are sensitive to certain additives.
Look for a pharmacy that buys their BHRT ingredients from FDA-registered drug facilities with manufacturers and suppliers’ sources that are also registered and certified by the appropriate regulating bodies. You can feel confident in those products because the FDA has oversight over all active pharmaceutical ingredients used in compounding.
Avoiding synthetic products when possible is a smart move for your health. Thankfully, BHRT offers a more natural hormone replacement option to address your hot flashes, night sweats, and other menopause symptoms, so you may not need to rule out hormone therapy as an option.