6 Natural Ways to Balance Your Hormones

Our bodies are incredibly smart and adaptive. One of many bodily functions that allows us to live a healthy life are our endocrine glands. These glands produce and secrete a specific amount of each hormone needed for bodily functioning. .

With the crazy, hectic lives many of us lead, hormone imbalance has become more and more common. Combining these factors and other natural factors, like aging and genetics, many people experience hormone imbalance.

In addition to consulting your doctor, this post will discuss 6 natural ways to balance your hormones.

1. Healthy Exercise

   Physical activity has a strong influence on hormonal health. Exercise can reduce insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity. 

   Why is this important? Insulin is a hormone that has several functions. One is allowing cells to take up sugar and amino acids from the bloodstream, which are then used for energy and maintaining muscle. High insulin levels have a correlation with inflammation, heart disease, diabetes and cancer. Aerobic exercise, strength training and endurance exercise can help regulate insulin.

   It’s important to note that too much exercise is also unhealthy, and can cause over production of your cortisol. This affect can be especially challenging, because many people use exercise as a means to manage stress. The oxymoron here is that when overused, exercise can exacerbate stress on the body. So, be mindful of the minutes you spend breaking a sweat.

2. Manage Stress

   Stress has a nasty impact on hormones. Specifically, cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol, “the stress hormone,” has many benefits because it helps the body cope with stress over the long term. However, when cortisol becomes too elevated, it’s side effects include weight gain, muscle weakness, fatigue, and irritability. Adrenaline is the “fight-or-flight” hormone that provides the body with a surge of energy to respond to immediate danger. When elevated, adrenaline can cause high blood pressure, rapid heart rate, and anxiety.

   Back in the day, these hormones were mainly triggered by threats from predators. Think: living as hunter gatherers and sensing dangerous animals or other unfamiliar environmental factors. Today, these hormones are usually triggered by people’s busy, crazy lives.

   Try to devote at least 10–15 minutes per day to stress-reducing activities, like meditation, yoga, and listening to calming music. I thoroughly enjoy the calm app to help me find opportunities through the day to relax and destress.

3. Eat Healthy Fats

   Fats are often the most restricted food group due to beliefs that eating fat = gaining fat. This could not be more false! Fat fat is essential to stabilize hormones. These include sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone. *For women, fat also helps regulate menstrual cycles and fertility. Fats also help the body feel full, satisfied, and monitor insulin. Women especially should not go below 20% of your total daily calories being from fat. Avoid Long Fasts

   Why is this on here? Really, there are two reasons

   1. . The first: Long fasts normally go hand-in-hand with periods of overeating. When engaging in fasting and overeating, your insulin levels increase and your insulin sensitivity decreases. This affect on blood glucose can lead to an increased risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome.

   2. The second: Long fasts can also be associated with under-eating. Severe calorie restriction can activate the hormone cortisol, known as the stress hormone. Furthermore, for women, without proper caloric intake, the body will shut down non-essential systems and focus on those keeping you alive. These hormone imbalances lead to amenorrhea, where the menstrual cycle stops, which if untreated can affect fertility.

4. Consistent Sleep

   Often overlooked, sleep is one of the biggest factors in hormone disruption. When you sleep, your hormones, including insulin, cortisol, leptin, ghrelin and growth hormone self-regulate and reset. So, when your sleep is poor, these hormones miss out on the chance to reset.

   In order to allow for proper hormone rest, aim for at least 7 hours each night, with an emphasis on getting 8 whenever possible.

5. Eat Enough Protein

   Eating enough protein is extremely important in managing your hormones. Why? Protein gives your body essential amino. acids that you can’t make on your own. They help you maintain muscle, bone and skin health. Muscle mass burns energy more efficiently than fat mass. So, the more muscle on your body, the higher your metabolism will be.

   Furthermore, eating enough protein helps decrease the activation of the hormone ghrelin, which is often called “the hunger hormone.” Ghrelin activates your hunger cravings. So, inadequate protein leads to an increase in your feelings of hunger.

6. Eat Enough Fiber

   A high fiber diet helps your body feel fuller and more satisfied. Soluble fiber triggers the release of the hormones cholecystokinin, GLP-1 and peptide YY which make the body recognize it is full. Adding more fiber (at least 25g a day) can help you control overeating, because your body will recognize it is full faster than a low fiber diet. I personally like to add Metamucil into my daily routine.

Our bodies are truly magical. They do so much to allow us to function each and every day. If you feel your hormones could be out of sorts, in addition to consulting your doctor, try actively engaging with each of the 6 tips above.

How can you implement change, if needed, to include these natural hormone balancers in your routine?