Healthy habits that promote hormonal balance
In todays hectic and stressful world, it comes as no surprise that many of us women at some point experience some form of hormonal imbalance.
Hormones have a profound effect on our mental and physical state.
They play a major role in regulating your mood, appetite and weight, hence if things are out of balance we are bound to not feel great.
They are our bodies chemical messengers which are produced in the endocrine glands and travel around our bloodstream telling our tissues and organs what to do.
Signs of hormone imbalance may include painful periods, changes in period colour, mood swings, feeling stressed easily, changes in libido, anxiety, weight gain or inability to loose weight and insomnia.
Luckily there are many natural ways in which you can promote hormone balance, however changes won’t happen over night .
Bringing your hormones back into balance will usually take up to 3 menstrual cycles, but the benefits of creating more hormonal balance very much make it worth it paying attention to this area of your health.
Here are some ideas about what kinds of changes you can make in order fo promote hormonal balance.
Managing stress
Stress is detrimental to our hormonal balance. It has a particularly grave effect on Progesterone production, which is a sex hormone involved in the menstrual cycle, pregnancy and embryogenesis. When we get stressed our body reduces progesterone production while increasing cortisol( The stress hormone) production creating an imbalance. While some cortisol is essential to your health, too much of it can wreak havoc on your body. Thus learning how to manage stress is an absolute must in order to promote hormone balance. Ways of coping with stress could include exercising regularly, spending time in nature, better time management, meditation, yoga and breathing exercises etc. Whichever methods you end up choosing to help you cope with stress, the bottom line is that you are able to reduce stress in your daily life since this is an essential part of balancing your hormones.
Cut out sugar
If you want to create hormonal balance it is essential that you cut out sugar and simple carbs out of your diet as much as possible. Eating too much sugar and simple carbs creates insulin resistance which can cause weight gain as well as other health problems.
Limit Alcohol
Consuming too much Alcohol, while being awful for your liver also can lead to an increase in estrogen levels. High oestrogen levels doesn’t only bring your hormones out of balance but also may contribute to the risk of breast cancer. Hence Limiting Alcohol consumption is crucial in order to have a healthy hormone balance.
Limit Caffeine
Consuming excessive caffeine may effect your cortisol levels. High Levels of the stress hormone cortisol can effect your sleeping patterns as well as causing weight gain.
Cut out dairy
If you are planning to reset your hormones and attain a healthy balance cutting out dairy is an essential step to doing so. Dairy contains a variety of sex hormones such as Prolactin, Estrogen, Progesterone, corticoids and androgens- All of which can negatively affect your natural hormone balance. There are plenty of amazing plant based dairy alternatives these days, so you really aren’t missing out on much if you quit or heavily cut down on dairy.
Get enough sleep
Not getting sufficient sleep limits your body’s ability to release the hormones needed to restore and refresh your cells while you are sleeping resulting in a more rapidly ageing brain and body. Make sure you get at least 7-8 hours of sleep in order to give your body the rest it needs.
Tune into the subtle energetic changes throughout your cycle
As women it is natural for us to go through phases of higher and lower energy according to our cycles and at what point of it we find ourselves at. We tend to have more energy around ovulation( mid cycle) and feel lower energy around menstruation. Trying to tune into and respect these natural energetic changes can play an important role in hormonal balance. Now, unfortunately the modern world we live in doesn’t always make it easy to take rest when we need it or slow down to our liking-still there are little ways in which we can respect these subtle energetic changes. Respecting our female energetic changes in the stressful world we live in could mean rejecting a dinner invitation and taking a relaxing bath, or going to bed early instead of taking on another task at the end of the day on days on which we feel low energy. Conversely this could also mean to engage in some social activities or attend a dance class during a period in which we feel higher levels of energy.
Supplementing
Now I am a firm believer that you should change your diet and adjust your lifestyle before using supplements. This isn’t because I don’t believe that supplements aren’t effective, but because I believe they are only truly effective if you additionally do all the other “ work “ required to create change on top of taking them. There is an array of natural hormone balance promoting supplements out on the market, one of my favourites being Moon Balance by Your Super. This yummy tasting supplement contains an array of hormone supporting superfoods such as Baobab, Amla Berry and Maca.
I hope that some of these ideas on how to promote healthy hormone balance have inspired you to make some positive changes which will make you feel more balanced, happy and healthy.
