But what are hormones, anyway, and are they really that bad? Here’s what’s what:
* Hormones are chemicals that are released in your body. They affect other parts and systems of your body and tell them what to do. Everybody has slightly different levels of hormones in their bodies.
* Hormones affect a ton of different things, from growth and the amount of hair on your body to your emotions–yes, including that crush you’ve got on the hottie in bio lab.
* At puberty, your body releases something called the gonadotropin-releasing hormone, which triggers the release of two other hormones: the lutenizing hormone and the follicle-stimulating hormone–which both boys and girls have–but which cause ovulation (and thus, your period cycle!) in girls.
* The lutenizing hormone and follicle-stimulating hormones also trigger the release of estrogen (yet ANOTHER hormone), which causes your hips and breasts to grow.
* Basically, hormones work like dominoes when you’re going through puberty. One will trigger another will trigger another.
* Many birth control methods contain synthetic hormones that keep you from ovulating–which means you’re far less likely to get pregnant. Those same hormones can also help keep your skin clear since they prevent your hormone levels from going up and down so much during your cycle and causing breakouts.
Now that you know the facts about hormones, do you still think they’re so bad? Have you ever gone on hormone-based birth control? Tell me everything in the comments!