The ancient Greek philosopher Hippocrates, often described as the father of medicine, would have made an excellent directeur sportif of a cycling team. Over 2,500 years ago he advised that the “surest way to health” was by giving each individual “just the right amount” of nutrition and exercise. The word hormone also originates from the ancient Greek, a term meaning “setting in motion” – and that’s spot-on because hormones set in motion our path to optimal health and performance from the moment we are conceived. Usually described as internal chemical messengers transported in the bloodstream, hormones are instrumental in the function of cells, tissues and organs. These vital regulators of the body exist in different types: sex steroid hormones including oestradiol, testosterone; anabolic “body building” hormones such as growth hormone; stress response hormones like cortisol; and hormones like thyroxine that control metabolic rate.
Hormones are much more than mere messengers; they are more like executives, directing the DNA in cells to produce the most beneficial proteins, in the right amount and
