How to Balance Your Hormones the Natural Way
Do You Have a Hormone Imbalance?
Women's hormones change throughout the life cycle. Starting from the age at your first period, all the way through menopause, your hormones are shifting and changing on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. The balance is a delicate one that can be disrupted by external factors that you may not realize have any effect on you. Stress, a poor diet, poor sleep, inadequate exercise, and exposure to xenoestrogens can all contribute to a disruption in your hormonal balance. Unfortunately, these factors are so common in modern society that you may not realize the issues you're experiencing are indicating that anything is wrong. Rather, you might just assume that, since everyone around you is experiencing similar issues, these are normal female issues that are a part of life. PMS is the best example of such a problem. It's not the only way to tell if you're experiencing a hormonal imbalance, however. Hormonal imbalance can manifest itself in a number of ways in women. Here are the most common signs that something could be going on for you hormonally (1):- Dramatic changes in weight (Weight gain or weight loss)
- Changes in sleep (trouble falling or staying asleep)
- Loss of sex drive
- Changes in energy (lethargy or fatigue)
- Changes in appetite (excessive sugar and carb cravings or changes in your general appetite)
- Sugar crashes or "hangry" feelings
- PMS symptoms (mood swings, bloating, cramps, water retention, tender breasts)
- Irregular menstrual cycles (missed cycles, heavy bleeding, light spotting, spotting between cycles)
- Frequent headaches, especially around the period
- General anxiety, depression, irritability, or other mood issues
- Joint or muscle pain
- Uterine fibroids or fibrous breasts
- Hot flashes
- Male-pattern facial or body hair growth
- Trouble focusing
- Vaginal dryness
- PCOS (polycystic ovaries syndrome)
- Endometriosis
- Infertility or trouble conceiving
Hormone-Balancing Lifestyle Changes
There are a number of lifestyle and diet factors that can affect your overall health and create issues hormonally. We mentioned stress, a poor diet, poor sleep, inadequate exercise, and exposure to xenoestrogens. Every individual reacts to these stimuli differently. What one person is sensitive to might not affect another. That being said, they're all important to take into consideration, especially if you're dealing with a serious imbalance like PCOS, infertility, or endometriosis.Diet to Balance Hormones
Cut the Sugar
The big one is sugar. Eating too much sugar can create a cascade of effects in your body that could lead to serious hormonal imbalances over time. It can also cause weight gain in the midsection and make it a lot harder to lose weight too (2). For this reason, it's really important to keep your blood sugar levels in a healthy range by avoiding excessive sweets and simple carbohydrates. If you're really a carb lover, stick with the whole food options like root veggies and winter squash, which come with fiber to help you slow down the sugar rush and also feed the good bugs in your gut (which you can support with probiotics).Eat Probiotic Foods
Research shows that the gut microbiota is very closely tied to the endocrine system and can affect "behavior, sexual attraction, appetite and metabolism, gender and immunity" (3). Still other research shows that there are particular microbes that help you metabolize excess estrogen (this group of estrogen metabolites are referred to as "estrobolome") and move it out of your system before it gets reabsorbed into your bloodstream (4). While this research is still in its infancy, we know there’s a documented connection between gut health and hormonal health. It stands to reason, based on these studies, that ensuring there's a diversity of probiotics living in your gut is a good thing for your endocrine health. This means eating probiotic foods like kimchi, raw sauerkraut, kombucha, yogurt, and kefir. It could also mean adding a daily probiotic supplement.Crave Your Cruciferous Veggies
Cruciferous veggies (kale, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, collard greens, kohlrabi, cabbage) have been scientifically studied for their effects on breast cancer. That's because they have a positive effect on estrogen metabolism in both men and women. In other words, eating crucifers (also called brassicas) could not only help prevent breast cancer, but help balance hormones and reduce the risk of estrogen dominance and the resulting issues that come from this type of hormonal imbalance (5)(6).Focus on the Outer Aisles
The perimeter of the grocery store should be the bulk of your grocery shopping destination. This means whole fruits and veggies, grass-fed and pastured meats and eggs, and wild-caught small fish (avoid anything with antibiotics or hormones). Venture into the center aisles for hormone-balancing foods like flaxseeds, chia seeds, and green tea, but stay away from the junk food. You might also want to stock up on canned wild-caught salmon and sardines from the center aisles, just make sure they're in BPA-free cans to avoid those xenoestrogens.Lifestyle to Balance Hormones
X-out the Xenoestrogens
Xenoestrogens are chemicals in your environment that can mimic the natural estrogen in your body. These chemicals are found in certain household cleaners, body care products, makeup, plastics, pesticides, herbicides, and building materials. Chemicals you may have heard of include Bisphenol A (found in plastics), phthalates (in plastics), parabens (in cosmetics), benzophenone (in sunscreen)(7)(8)(9). This is not a comprehensive list. Importantly, xenoestrogens aren't the same as phytoestrogens, which are the natural estrogen-like compounds in foods like soy and flax seeds. Talk to your healthcare provider to decide if eating foods rich in phytoestrogens is a good idea for you. Medical advice on this topic depends heavily on your health history, especially if you've had a type of cancer that involves estrogen receptors (like certain breast cancers).Reduce Stress
Sure, it's easier said than done. We mentioned all those uncontrollable factors. Stress is the result of many of those factors, but finding ways to manage and release stress is crucially important to get to a state of hormonal balance. Stress hormone production ramps up when you're constantly under the gun. The main stress hormone, cortisol, is very closely related to high blood sugar levels, which we know doesn't help with hormone balance. Chronic exposure to stressors without a healthy outlet leads to chronic stress. Chronic stress leads to chronic cortisol release, and chronic cortisol release could lead directly to type 2 diabetes. One study, in particular, showed that this is even more pronounced in women than in men (12). So find a way to destress. Whether it's yoga, meditation, taking a walk with some peaceful music in your ears, calling a friend, or watching your favorite comedy special, find what works for you and make it a regular practice.Get Some ZZZs
Sleep is critical for basically everything in the health and wellness world. A good night's sleep will help on the stress front (controlling cortisol production). It will also help on the appetite front (controlling leptin and ghrelin). Your circadian rhythm depends on healthy hormonal levels, and healthy hormonal levels are more likely when you get adequate sleep (13). Use good sleep hygiene to get yourself to bed on time and up in the morning with the sun. Turn off the screens as close to sun-down as possible, establish a good bedtime routine in which you wind down for at least an hour before bed. Avoid eating anything too heavy or spicy close to bedtime, and don't watch or read anything that will increase your stress or keep you up late. Try to stick to the same sleep and wake time every day in order to get your circadian rhythm on track.How to Balance Hormones
The natural approach to balancing your hormones involves a number of aspects of your life. Food, sleep, stress reduction, and eliminating toxic exposures are all key ways to help balance your hormones. Staying away from overly sugary foods, eating lots of cruciferous veggies, shopping the perimeter of the grocery store, and finding a healthy way to deal with everyday stressors are all examples of how you can make moves in the right direction. Each of these takes time to implement, so start with the ones you think would be the easiest for you, and go from there.
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