Fix Hormonal Imbalance
12 Natural Ways to Bring Hormonal Balance to Your Body
Having a profound effect on our emotional, mental and physical health, hormones are chemical messengers that play a significant role in a person’s weight, appetite, and mood, as well as other bodily funtions.
If things are operating in a balanced way in the body, a person’s endocrine glands will produce the optimal amount of each specific hormone that is needed for a specific body process, of which there are many.
- Unfortunately, imbalances in the endocrine and hormonal processes have become more and more common in the fast pace of today’s modern lifestyles. Additionally, it is normal for certain hormones to decrease with age, and for some people these decreases can be dramatic. Luckily, however, healthy lifestyle choices can help improve and balance a person’s hormonal health. Here are some recommended ways that are considered natural approaches to balancing your hormones.
- Adequate Protein Intake For optimal hormonal health is extremely important to make sure you are eating enough protein during each meal. Protein in your diet will provide essential amino acids, which your body isn’t able to form on its own. Therefore, proteins must be consumed daily to maintain the health of your bones, skin, and muscles. For optimal hormonal health, intaking 20-30 grams of protein at each meal is recommended by experts.
- Consume Fatty Fish Regularly Fatty fish is high in omega-3 fatty acids, which are known for their anti-inflammatory properties, and studies have shows that they may also be helpful in reducing levels of stress hormones. Including 2 or more servings of fatty fish each week can help contribute to optimal health.
- Eat Eggs Regularly Considered to be one of the healthiest foods, research has shown that eggs positively affect the hormones that regulate appetite, and insulin resistance. Eat eggs often!
- Avoidance of Refined Carbs and Sugar Refined carbs and sugar have both been linked to various health issues. Minimizing (or avoiding) foods containing these can be instrumental in optimal hormone balance and function, as well as helping to avoid diabetes, obesity and many other health issues. It is especially important to avoid intake of sugary beverages.
- Aim for a High Fiber Diet Eat lots of fiber-rich foods daily to protect your body against overeating and insulin resistance.
- Consumption of Healthy Fats Inclusion of natural and high quality fats in the diet, while avoiding the unhealthy trans-fats, may contribute to reducing insulin resistance, as well as help maintain a healthy appetite by stimulating hormones that help control the appetite.
- Avoidance of Under-eating and/or Overeating Eat in accordance with a caloric range that is appropriate for your body type and lifestyle to help balance hormones. Consuming too few or too many calories, especially with irregular eating patterns, can contribute to hormonal imbalance.
- Consume Green Tea One of the healthiest drinks available, green tea contains metabolism-boosting caffeine, and also contains the well known antioxidant, EGCG (epigallocatechin gallate), which is known to have various health benefits. You may want to consider drinking from one to three cups per day.
- Regular Exercise Walking, aerobics, regular strength training and other form of exercise can help affect hormones in a positive ways that reduce risk for some disease and protect a person’s muscle mass over time. One major benefit of physical activity is that it can help reduce insulin levels as well as actually increase insulin sensitivity. Since insulin functions in various ways in the body it is important to maintain balanced levels.
- Stress Management Stress can be very hard on your homones. Cortisol and adrenaline are two major hormones that are significantly affected but stress. Stress-reducing activities such as yoga, massage, meditation, walking in nature, and listening to relaxing music can help reduce and balance stress levels, and therefore the stress hormones.
- Make Sure To Get High Quality Consistent Sleep Restorative sleep is an essential aspect of hormonal regulation and balance. Quantity and quality of sleep are equally important. Imbalances of hormones such as insulin, cortisol, ghrelin, leptin, and growth hormones have all been linked to poor sleep. Aim for 7 hours each night of high quality sleep.