Home ➾ Blog ➾ Other ➾ Simple explanation: What are Hormones?

Here we are… At the beginning of a deep dive into hormones. You as a reader and – perhaps worse – me as a writer. I’ve never really been interested in the entire subject.

In fact, for a long time I assumed that there was only one kind of hormone: “You get those when you enter puberty.” 🙂 Well, turns out it’s a little different.

Hormones have a huge influence on our lives. For example: they determine our appetite, strength and size of muscles, attractiveness, motivation to do certain things, how we feel, energy, and how much and where we store fat.

It seemed that friends of mine (especially those who hit the gym almost daily) already knew a fair amount about different hormones. So I’m lagging behind.

Also, I’m increasingly more often coming across different hormones in books and interviews. “If you do this, then [random hormone] blah blah blah.” So I’m only following the topic half.

Great to hear about Thyroxine, Insulin, Testoterone, and so many times on… But, what about the core?

Time to dive into that a bit more. Just so I simply know this for the rest of my life. Period.

1. What are hormones?

Nervous system and hormones

When we talk about hormones, we are actually talking about one of the two major communication systems in our body.

Hormones are in fact signal substances; communication messages. It just works a little bit differently than the nervous system (the other major communication system).

Okay, stop… In this blog, allow me to explain the concept of hormones in a different way than is normally done.

We are going to make a comparison with a country.

Shall we pick the Netherlands? Great.

You are now the Netherlands.

Your body is the Netherlands.

The Netherlands – meaning you – is full of internet cables. This is your nervous system.

‘Electrical’ communication.

With cable internet as a nervous system, your body is able to transfer information incredibly fast to different parts of the country. All areas are connected this way. Through this network, information is sent from the brain (the parlement?) to other parts of the body and vica versa.

So, nervous system: very fast communication.

Information for, among other things, the control of muscles, reflexes, and expression of emotions.

Hormones are the other communication system… but more similar to the postal service.

Yup, envelopes and packages.

‘Mechanical’ communication.

This is obviously a slower form of communication than through the nervous system. After all, envelopes and packages have to be transported to their destination via the road network (the bloodstream).

Who communicates with each other in this way? Glands, cells, and organs produce hormones, which are ultimately sent with a message – for example: “Slow down the metabolism.” – to cells and organs.

They are somewhat traditional… 😉

So, hormones: slow communication.

Information for long-running body processes, such as growth of sex cells, but also faster-acting processes, such as blood pressure and anxiety reactions. And much more.

A main point of influence is the metabolism. Through changes in metabolism, many other functions are affected, such as storage and consumption of spare food and influences on behavior (such as learning ability, sexual and aggressive behavior).

Hormones and receptors

The envelopes and packages (the hormones) are sent with a specific address. An envelope only has an effect if it has arrived at the right type of recipient. So not every mailbox can receive every envelope. There must always be a match between hormone and receptor.

This is sometimes also explained using keys and locks as an example. The hormone is a key that fits on a specific lock.

The effect of the hormone on the cell is determined by the type of receptor. Thus, the same hormone can have different effects and thus adequately regulate the process.

For instance, the pancreas produces insuline envelopes for all the cells in the body with the task of increasing carbohydrate metabolism. Only when the envelope reaches the mailbox, certain processes are initiated or stopped.

Eventually, hormones are broken down in the liver or eliminated through the kidneys (with urine).

2. Hormones in three categories

Generally speaking, there are three hormone categories, based on structure: Amine, Peptide, and Steroid.

Amine and peptide hormones have their own protein molecule. They are water soluble and can enter the bloodstream on their own to leave for their destination.

Steroids do not have their own protein molecule and must couple to other protein molecules to be transported. This requires so-called carrier proteins.

Let’s look at it this way…

Amine and peptide hormones we think of as envelopes. These can simply be transported in any way.

Steroid hormones we think of as packages. These require a special van to pick them up.

3. Overview hormones

Now that we have a clear picture of what hormones are in the first place, and what their job is, it becomes much easier to then look at individual hormones.

We understand that hormones are basically instructions sent around the body.

Thus, each hormone focuses on a number of specific tasks.

In closing, I’ll include an overview of the most well-known hormones with a brief description of their function. Perhaps in the future I will grab a specific hormone to dive into further.