How to Balance your Hormones Naturally
It seems these days that everyone knows someone (or you yourself) who suffers from hormonal imbalances. Conditions such as PMS, irregular or absent periods, polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis and infertility seem to be so common these days, and other symptoms of hormonal imbalances; fluid retention, sore breasts, weight gain, period and back pain! Phew! I’m tired from just having listed those so you must be tired of experiencing the same old, day in, day out, month in, month out.
The main ways to balance your hormones naturally are through lifestyle changes and introducing specific foods, nutrients and herbs into your daily diet. You won’t get benefits overnight, but even small changes implemented over a long period of time will see your symptoms start to improve. Remember good and bad health is a result of cumulative effects, i.e. habits!
Avoid caffeine
- Caffeine raises cortisol
- Decaffeinated coffee doesn’t help either!
- Dandelion, chai or green teas are great alternatives
If you are someone suffering from PMS, period pain or any other hormonal imbalance, then it’s best to avoid coffee all together. Here is why:
- Caffeine raises cortisol levels as soon as it enters your body.
- The production of cortisol stimulates more cortisol to be produced. This hormone is great at stopping fat burning and literally makes you pack on fat around the tummy. No one wants a flabby tummy, right?
- Cortisol competes with progesterone to latch on to the same receptor sites and cortisol will always win this battle. Progesterone is the hormone responsible for holding onto pregnancies and we need a really nice ratio of progesterone to oestrogen to help reduce those symptoms of PMS, endometriosis and painful heavy periods, among other imbalances.
“So what can I substitute coffee with in the morning?” I hear you cry. Try a dandelion tea (great for clearing hormones from the liver), chai tea, green tea or a cup of Crio Bru (insert like to their website). Crio Bru is made from green cacao beans and is packed with antioxidants. It also has the added benefit of regulating your blood sugar levels and aids weight loss. It’s so fantastic that we have started stocking it at our clinic. And no, decaffeinated coffee is not the answer, as it can also disrupt your hormones as apart from the caffeine, there are other alkaloids that can cause issues. If you must have coffee, have one good cup a week. Sip it slowly and enjoy every second. And make it organic where possible as coffee bean crops are amongst the most highly sprayed crops in the world.
Eliminate sugar from your diet, as much as possible
- High sugar diets ‘inflame’ your body, weaken your immune system and remove important nutrients
Sugar encourages weight gain. Fat cells manufacture oestrogen, creating an oestrogen overload in your body. High sugar diets also contribute towards systemic inflammation in the body (this contributes to symptoms of PMS we mentioned earlier), weakens the immune system and leeches important nutrients from your body such as B group vitamins which are crucial for happy hormones, mood, weight balance, digestion, among many other things.
Eat phytoestrogens
- Have 1-3 servings of phytoestrogens per day, such as lentils, peas, fennel and parsley
- Avoid non-fermented soy products as these disrupt thyroid function
Phytoestrogens are food that contain natural oestrogen-like substances and can have a significant hormone-balancing effect on a woman’s body. I suggest having 1-3 servings of phytoestrogens a day. These include: miso, tempeh (both must be non GMO, organic and isolate free), kidney beans, lentils, chickpeas, peas, licorice root (tea), sesame and sunflower seeds, alfalfa, celery, citrus fruits, mung beans, beansprouts, hazelnut, sage, fennel and parsley. These foods reduce the toxic level of unopposed oestrogens in your body and stimulate your liver to produce sex-hormone-binding globulin (SHGB), which controls how much oestrogen and testosterone circulate in your body. Please make sure you avoid non-fermented soy (tofu, soy milk, soy ice-cream, soy cheese, soy fake meat products) as these disrupt endocrine (thyroid) function, metabolism and hormone balance. If you are a mum of a son this is especially important to not be giving him soy based products. If you have any questions about this, please leave a comment under the blog.
Gut health
- Your gut health affects sleep, mood, appetite, digestion, energy levels and reproductive health
- If you feel bloated, lethargic or sluggish you may have a food intolerance
- Include fermented foods in your diet
Many symptoms of female hormonal imbalances, such as depression, anxiety, fatigue, achy joints, fluid retention, weight gain, bloating, sugar cravings and irritability, can be attributed to digestive issues. Hormones are made by the body using amino acids taken from the foods we eat.
Our gut is one of our main endocrine glands (hormone producing systems), producing hormones that affect our sleep, mood, appetite, digestion, energy and reproductive health. So if you are feeding your body sugary, highly processed, nutrient empty foods then it’s no wonder your feeling fatigued, anxious, depressed and have insomnia. You need to make sure you are eating foods that your body appreciates, foods that are clean, organic where possible (Look here for a list of organic must eat foods), and nutritionally rich foods. This will help your digestion and improve your body’s own detoxification processes.
If you often feel bloated, lethargic and sluggish, then it is possible that you may have a food intolerance. It is possible to work together to find out which foods these are, avoid them and you will be amazed at how your health will improve. Including fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, kombucha tea and kefir can also help improve your digestion by providing your tummy with pre-biotic foods. Nutrients and herbs that help digestion and heal your gut include, glutamine, zinc, slippery elm, apple pectin, B6, aloe vera, marshmallow root, goldenseal and manuka. If you suffer from candida or thrush then it is recommended that you take a course of anti-microbial herbs and probiotics to help rebalance the amount of good bacteria in your gut.
Eat your greens
- Eat more cruciferous vegetables like bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, kale and turnip
A high consumption of cruciferous vegetables is associated with decreased risk of cancer. This is in part due to the presence of a phytochemical called glucosinolates, which has potent anti-carcinogenic (cancer causing) activities.
Brassica vegetables are also really high in fibre and improve liver detoxification. These vegetables are best eaten slightly steamed or stir-fried as if they are eaten raw, they can inhibit your thyroid function due to the glucosinolates acting as goitrogens. Examples of these vegetables are: bok choy, broccoli, cabbage, kale, turnip & watercress to name a few.
Include plenty of fibre
- Including plenty of fibre encourages quick elimination of toxins from your body
Fibre naturally contained in grains (I recommend the gluten free variety such as brown rice, quinoa, spelt, amaranth, buckwheat), fruits and vegetables helps to prevent your body re-absorbing oestrogenic chemicals from your environment , for example, plastic, cosmetics, pesticides, and encourages the quick elimination of toxins out of your bowels.
Avoid hormone disrupters
- Hormone disrupters include synthetic chemicals, processed foods, chemical laden skincare and plastic packaging
The environment we live in plays a very large role in our hormonal balance. There are thousands of synthetic chemicals that are either put directly into food, used as pesticides, added into packaging or processed foods or put directly onto our skin via the skincare or make up we use day in, day out. Some are even consumed in medicines. These chemicals act like hormones and can disrupt this delicate balance. They often mimic oestrogens and can stimulate oestrogen-sensitive tissues in our bodies. We call them xenoestrogens. They confuse the hormonal messages sent around our body and can change our sexual health, reproductive health and development. Some tips to avoid these nasty ‘fake’ oestrogens:
- Avoid buying food and hot drinks in plastic. Take your own BPA free containers to your take away shop and buy a KeepCup <link to their website> for your hot drink.
- Drink water out of BPA free bottles.
- Do not store fatty foods such as cheese, butter and chocolate in plastic wrap. Keep them in paper. ‘Baking’ paper works a treat here.
- Eat organic where possible.
- Use certified natural/organic skin care, body care, hair care and household cleaning items. Yes, even your washing powder, detergent and dishwasher tablets. You can buy these or make them yourself at home.
Herbal medicine can help
- A naturopath or herbalist can help you reach optimal hormone balance
As much as food and nutritional medicine can help and is a great starting point for balancing your hormones, there is so much herbal medicine can do that food and nutrition can’t.
Herbs have the ability to modulate and balance hormonal imbalances. Some of my favourite herbs for balancing hormones are Licorice, Shatavari, Peony, Chaste Tree, Dong Quai, Sage, Wild Yam and Schisandra. These are best used when prescribed by a naturopath or herbalist as whilst they are all general regarded as safe, hormones are complicated and it is not advised to self-prescribe.
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