Hot flashes affect 75% of women going through menopause. But there seems to be a bit of mystery about why that is. Today, we’ll talk about what causes hot flashes, and what you can do about them.
Most women associate hot flashes with menopause, and the truth is, they can make your life miserable. For one, they’re unpredictable. You can have hot flashes multiple times an hour, or just occasionally. Some women just feel kind of flushed and warm, while others are sweating constantly.
So how do you know if you're having a hot flash?
The first sign that you’re having a hot flash will be the rush of heat, sometimes followed by a flushing of your skin. Your skin will feel very hot, and you may feel as if you're going to faint. You may notice your cheeks and chest getting red and flushed. Your sense of heat will not make sense to the environment, because even if everyone else is cold, you’ll feel like you’re burning up. A hot flash comes in a wave, and feels like it starts in your chest then goes up your neck into your face, and then spreads throughout your body.
So what causes them?
In short, hot flashes are caused by hypothalamic dysregulation. Your hypothalamus controls your body’s temperature regulation, and when your hypothalamus becomes dysregulated by your falling estrogen levels, it’s as if you’ve lost your internal thermostat. You cannot regulate your own body temperature, resulting in hot flashes.
Hot flashes can be irritating, but they’re very treatable.
The key to overcoming hot flashes is balancing your hypothalamus. You can do this by taking nutraceuticals or using hormone replacement therapy. Because it's the lack of estrogen dysregulating your hypothalamus and causing the hot flashes, it's important to be sure you're getting enough estrogen. However, some of you may know that you cannot use estrogen without using progesterone. Remember that progesterone protects you from estrogen’s growth-promoting effects, helping to keep tumors at bay.
Typically, healthcare providers tend to prescribe a synthetic version of progesterone called progestin to protect the uterine lining. However, synthetic progestin is not natural progesterone, and it has a lot of side effects, such as elevated LDL cholesterol, depression, and weight gain. And most importantly, progestin does not protect the rest of the tissues, including the breasts, the colon, the skin, the brain.
The safest and most effective way to treat hot flashes is to balance your hypothalamus. The best way to balance your hypothalamus is with a nutraceutical, designed to support your hypothalamus’ whole function, not just its temperature regulation.
I created Genesis Gold® in order to support the hypothalamus in its entire function, including temperature regulation, and it is particularly effective at mitigating hot flashes.
If your hot flashes are extreme, meaning you have more than a few an hour, then you should take extra Sacred Seven® amino acids, which are amino acids that are formulated specifically to balance the hypothalamus. These are plant-based amino acids, and while they're in Genesis Gold®, taking extra Sacred Seven® for one to three months when you first begin hypothalamic balancing with Genesis Gold® can make a huge difference in mitigating your hot flashes very quickly and resetting your hormone balance.
We talk a lot about the best ways to deal with hot flashes in our Hormone Support Group, which we’d love for you to join! You can access our group by joining our Hormone Reboot Training.
Frequently Asked Questions:
Can your hypothalamus cause weight gain?
Yes. The hypothalamus is the master regulator of metabolism, controlling how your body stores and burns energy through its signaling to the thyroid, adrenals, and pancreas. When the hypothalamus becomes dysregulated by chronic stress, poor sleep, inflammation, or blood sugar instability, it defends a higher weight "set point" — causing the body to hold onto fat regardless of diet or exercise. This makes hypothalamic dysfunction an upstream root cause of stubborn weight gain.
What is a weight set point and why won't mine move?
A weight set point is the body weight your hypothalamus works to defend, calibrated over time by stress, sleep, hormones, and inflammation. When you diet, the hypothalamus perceives scarcity and responds by slowing metabolism, increasing hunger hormones, and suppressing satiety signals to return you to that set point. This is why most people regain lost weight within two to five years of conventional dieting — the set point itself was never recalibrated, only temporarily overridden.
Why do I gain weight under stress even when I'm not eating more?
Chronic stress raises cortisol, which disrupts blood sugar regulation, promotes abdominal fat storage, and signals the hypothalamus that the body is under threat. In survival mode, the hypothalamus defends fat stores and slows metabolism — so weight can increase even without any change in calorie intake. The stress chemistry, not the food, is driving the weight gain, which is why stress reduction is essential to any lasting metabolic reset.
Why do I regain weight after stopping GLP-1 medications?
GLP-1 medications work peripherally on appetite and gastric signaling, but they do not address the underlying hypothalamic dysregulation that sets your defended weight. Because the hypothalamic set point is never recalibrated, the body resumes defending its original weight once the medication stops — leading to significant regain. Long-term success requires restoring hypothalamic regulation so the set point itself lowers, rather than relying on appetite suppression alone.
How long does it take to reset your metabolism?
Genuine metabolic recalibration takes a minimum of 90 days, because the hypothalamus needs consistent signals of safety and sufficiency before it will lower its defended set point. This differs from a diet, which produces temporary suppression the body quickly corrects. A 90-day reset typically moves through three phases: stabilizing stress chemistry (days 1–30), rebuilding metabolic efficiency (days 31–60), and lowering the weight set point (days 61–90).
Why does my thyroid feel slow even though my labs are "normal"?
Under chronic stress, the body converts thyroid hormone into reverse T3, which blocks active thyroid receptors and slows metabolism at the cellular level — even when standard lab values appear normal. This means you can experience genuine symptoms of slow metabolism, such as fatigue, cold intolerance, and brain fog, while your thyroid panel looks unremarkable. Addressing the upstream hypothalamic and stress signaling often improves thyroid conversion and symptoms.
Is stubborn weight gain a willpower problem?
No. Stubborn weight gain is a signaling problem, not a willpower problem. The hypothalamus governs weight through survival mechanisms that operate below conscious control — defending its set point by slowing metabolism and increasing hunger when it perceives threat. No amount of discipline can override this system; lasting change comes from restoring hypothalamic regulation through reduced stress, balanced blood sugar, restorative sleep, and targeted nutritional support.
Known as the Hormone Queen®️, I’ve made it my mission to help everyone - no matter their age - balance their hormones, and live the energy and joy their DNA and true destiny desires. See more about me my story here...
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