How we fuel our bodies is a foundational element of creating balance in our bodies to support our hormone health. The food we eat impacts our gut health, chronic inflammation and blood sugar which in turn impacts our hormones. Read on to learn about how imbalances in other areas of our bodies impact hormones and how to eat for better hormone balance.
Why is Hormone Balance Important: A Quick Primer
Like most aspects of our health, no one is thinking about their hormones until there’s a problem. But here is why you may want to start paying attention. Your overall well-being is strongly correlated with your hormone health. Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers and impact all major processes in your body. Any imbalance can lead to changes in your menstrual cycle, fertility, skin, digestion, weight, mood and general well-being (to name a few!).
There is really NO ONE-SIZE FITS ALL way of balancing hormones, especially for females. While the endocrine system is complex, there are many factors which affect hormone balance such as:
- Your menstrual cycle (hormone levels will vary throughout your cycle)
- Age (hello perimenopause…)
- Pregnancy
- Medication
- Sleep
- Stress
- Nutrition
While all of the above factors can influence hormone balance, this post is going to dive into the nutrition aspect. What you eat and how you eat will provide the foundation your body needs to support your hormone health. [1].
Natural Ways to Help Balance Hormones
Let’s look at 3 different areas of your health which are impacted by nutrition and ultimately have an effect on your hormones – gut health, inflammation and blood sugar.
Gut Health
You may be thinking – the gut and hormones are two separate systems so how can they be related, right? The truth is, a growing body of research show they actually overlap – A LOT.
The foods we eat can impact the type of bacteria in our gut. One of the major roles of our microbes, besides breaking down foods, is hormone regulation. Our microbiome both produces hormones and sends signals to glands in our body to create and release certain hormones. Thus when those microbes aren’t functioning, our hormones can become imbalanced. [2]
Here are a few examples of how our gut health affects hormone balance:
- Healthy gut flora is required for thyroid hormone conversion (approximately 20% of it takes place in your gut), enabling you to get enough T3, the active form of thyroid hormone you need to keep your energy, metabolism, weight, body heat and reproductive system stable (among many other roles).
- Research shows that the gut microbiome plays a significant role in estrogen regulation [3]. Estrogen is secreted from your body. Digestion issues caused by poor gut health can throw off the balance of estrogen in your body if it is not secreted property. Further, studies indicate that poor gut health increases the risk of estrogen-related diseases such as PCOS, endometriosis, and even breast cancer.
How to Eat to Support Gut Health
- Incorporate a variety of probiotic fermented foods DAILY (sauerkraut, kimchi, tempeh, miso, kefir etc.). I like to eat a quarter cup of kimchi or other fermented vegetables daily.
- Ensure you are getting enough pre-biotic fiber. Fiber is essential for good gut health and is associated with improvements in insulin sensitivity and the hormones that control hunger and fullness. Many fruits and vegetables contain pre-biotic fiber. You can also get prebiotics by eating a green banana and by eating cooked and cooled potatoes and rice. (The cooling turns some of the digestible starches into resistant starches which feed your microbiome).
- Take a high-quality probiotic. A probiotic doesn’t replace eating fiber and fermented foods, but probiotics will help as insurance for days when you aren’t eating your best.
Reduce Chronic Inflammation
Inflammation is an important bodily process but when inflammation becomes triggered by an unhealthy lifestyle, stress and toxic exposures, the inflammation can begin to damage the body by creating too many pro-inflammatory cells and molecules (you don’t want that…)
Inflammation often starts in the gut triggered by the foods we eat. Poor diets can lead to the intestinal lining becoming damaged or irritated resulting in undesirable bacterial products called endotoxins or food particles to leak through your gut lining and enter your bloodstream – your immune system then recognizes these foreign molecules and attacks them — resulting in chronic inflammation.
Over time, chronic inflammation can damage the cells in your endocrine glands. Diet-induced inflammation may also trigger insulin and leptin resistance.
How to Eat to Help Reduce Inflammation
- Consume an anti-inflmmatory diet. Eat a rich array of colorful phytochemicals in plant foods. The deep reds, blues, purples, oranges, yellows, greens in foods provide these important phytochemical (also good for you gut).
- Increase intake of omega-3 fats. Eat small fish, sardines, herring, mackerel, anchovies, or wild salmon, or take a high-quality omega-3 supplement.
- Increase use of herbs and spices – particularly turmeric. Try this turmeric ginger smoothie.
- Be aware that dairy and wheat may cause inflammation in some people. If you suspect you are sensitive to dairy or wheat, get tested by a healthcare professional (or try eliminating these from your diet for a few weeks to see how you feel).
Balancing Blood Sugar
When you eat carbohydrates they are broken down into glucose (sugar) which is transported to your cells for energy. To get into the cells, your body (the pancreas to be exact) releases insulin which “unlocks” access for the sugar to get into your cells.
If your blood sugar is chronically high (from eating too much sugar, for example) your body becomes insulin resistant – which means more and more insulin is being pumped into your blood resulting in a host of issues.
Not only does blood sugar levels affect the metabolic hormone insulin, but they also have a very big impact on our sex hormones.
- When insulin is chronically elevated, it puts stress on the body causing cortisol to spike and having a downstream effect on lowering progesterone levels which leads to heavy periods, acne or severe PMS.
- Elevated insulin can also cause ovaries to produce more testosterone impacting ovulation.
How to Eat to Balance Blood Sugar
- Keep blood sugars balanced by eating a diet full of plants, vegetables, and well-sourced protein.
- Ensure you are getting enough protein at every meal – 25+ grams. Its critically important to eat a high-protein breakfast.
- Avoid foods that dramatically spike your blood sugar—think anything processed, containing lots of sugar and excess carbohydrates.
- Sleep, how you manage stress, and exercise also affects your hormones.
Build Your Plate for Hormone Balance
I know this can feel like a LOT of information but you don’t have to memorize the contents of this article to be able to support your hormone health. Here are a few simple guidelines to remember when building your meals which can help you address hormone balance through nutrition:
- Eat regular meals (3 x per day minimum)
- Eat a healthy fat and protein at every meal
- Don’t eliminate carbohydrates but eat un-processed, fiber rich whole grains, fruits and vegetables
- Get at least 25 grams + of fiber a day
- Try to eat organic when possible (aim to eat at least the dirty dozen organic)
- Fill your plate with 1/2 non-starchy vegetables (zucchini, broccoli, greens, asparagus, cauliflower, tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers to name a few)
- Avoid eating ultra-processed foods as often as possible [4]
- Limit or eliminate alcohol
- Reduce added sugar intake
- Minimize snacking (constant snacking keeps your blood sugar elevated).
Sometimes despite our best intentions, we need a little support with eating better – whether that’s strategies for meal prepping, recipes, food shopping guidance or gentle reminders. If you feel that you need help putting your health and better nutrition on top of your to-do list, I’m here to provide personalized support. Click here to learn more.
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This article is for informational purposes only. It is not, nor is it intended to be, a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. I recommend that you always consult with your healthcare provider.