Eating to Balance Your Hormones

Hormones affect every aspect of your body’s health. You need them in specific and unique amounts for your body to function optimally. Hormonal imbalances may increase your risk of obesity, diabetes, heart disease and many other health problems.

Symptoms of hormonal imbalance can include:

• infertility
• PMS
• low libido
• weight gain or weight loss
• fatigue
• hair loss
• skin changes
• anxiety
• depression

Your hormones signal the rest of your body to function properly. Unfortunately, estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, insulin and adrenaline levels can all be affected by a number of outside sources.

Your whole body health, including hormones, starts in the gut. When you’re putting things in your body that throw off your hormones, you may experience food allergies, reduction in cognitive function, microbiome disruption, and toxicity within your body. Despite the fact that aging and some other factors are beyond your control, there are many steps you can take to help balance your hormones.

If you’re experiencing symptoms of hormone imbalance, take a look at the medications you are currently taking and the foods you’re putting into your body.

The side effects of common medications like birth control, antidepressants, thyroid medication, hormone therapies, antibiotics and insulin can throw your body completely out of whack.

Many doctors will say that you need to be on certain medications for the rest of your life – but that may not necessarily be the case. There are conditions which do need medical intervention for proper treatment and correction, but for many of them it is possible to eventually wean off the medication and managing them going forward with your diet. Your health professional or holistic health coach should always be involved when adding, adjusting or weaning off any supplements or medications.

Your surroundings can affect your hormones as well. Herbicides on non-organic produce are full of endocrine disruptors which are detrimental to your health. Plastics are also a common cause of hormone imbalance because of the chemicals contained within them. When we store our food and water in plastics, those chemicals can leach into what we consume and ultimately into our bodies.

Cleaning up your diet can impact your hormone health as well. Your body’s hormone levels can be thrown off by:

• fast foods
• caffeine
• processed foods
• bagged, boxed & frozen foods

Consuming nutritious food, getting enough sleep, exercising on a regular basis and engaging in other healthy behaviors can go a long way toward improving your hormone health.

Things to Remember When Treating Hormone Imbalance

1. Eat real, organic foods
2. Prioritize sleep
3. Supplement & medicate wisely and with professional help
4. Limit caffeine
5. Exercise regularly & carefully
6. Avoid harmful chemicals
7. Support digestive health