What are Hormones?

Hormones are molecules that act as your body’s chemical messengers to affect processes such as metabolism, growth and development, mood, reproduction and sexual function. Hormones are made by endocrine glands and travel in the bloodstream to organs and tissues to deliver their messages via chemical signaling. Most are carried in the blood by plasma proteins. Too much or too little of a hormone can be a serious problem. There are two main classes of hormones: hydrophilic (peptides, proteins and modified amino acids) hormones and hydrophobic (steroid) hormones.