Simple Steps to Hormone Health
Hormone balance is a complex topic, and imbalances can present themselves in a myriad of not-so-fun ways. Every woman possesses a slightly different hormonal picture, so testing and a personalized protocol are the ultimate answer for hormonal bliss. However, there are 3 foundational strategies that can help all of us. No matter what your specific concerns might be, you can begin to find hormonal balance with these simple steps.
Step 1) Reduce stress and support your adrenals.
It’s easier said than done, but one of the most significant steps we can take to balance our hormones is reducing stress level. This may mean taking more time for yourself, exercising, getting a massage, or learning to say no.
This helps allow our adrenal glands to rest and heal. Our adrenals are our stress handling glands – they secrete the hormones that regulate our energy and stress response. In today’s world, most of us have exhausted adrenals. We need to support them because these tiny little workhorses drive our endocrine system – they produce estrogen, testosterone, progesterone, and DHEA.
If our adrenals are exhausted from stress, this can lead to hormone imbalances. Taking specific nutrients can help nourish them back to health. These include minerals, vitamin C and B vitamins. I also like to include an adrenal glandular and herbal tonic. Herbs that support adrenal health include Ashwagandha, Licorice, Ginseng, Rhodiola, and Withania. The herb I chose depends on how the adrenal fatigue is presenting itself in my client, but they can all be beneficial to try.
Getting plenty of sleep is also important when we are trying to restore our adrenal glands and balance our hormones. I completely understand how challenging that may sound, but give it a try a few nights a week and see the difference for yourself!
Step 2) Detoxification to restore liver and colon health
Our liver and digestive system also play important roles in balancing our hormones. While your endocrinologist has probably never assessed these aspects of your health, holistic health professionals understand that these systems are vital to helping you achieve hormonal health.
Our liver acts as a filter to rid the blood stream of harmful substances and excess hormones. When harmful levels of hormones (particularly estrogens) cycle through our liver, it helps bind up the excess and convert the more harmful type of estrogen to a less harmful type to keep our levels of estrogen proportional to progesterone.
If your liver is not functioning properly, it can’t release excess hormones into the gut for elimination, and this results in imbalance. There are some simple strategies for cleansing the liver and reducing high estrogen levels in the body. These include drinking lemon water and green tea, eating more cruciferous vegetables, and ensuring you have plenty of fiber in your diet to facilitate regular bowel movements.
I also like to put clients with hormone imbalance on a 2-week liver detoxification program.
Step 3) Eat for blood sugar balance.
Our adrenal glands play a big role in supporting blood sugar balance. This is another reason to give them the support they so desperately need in our modern world.
Our diet is also critical to maintain a healthy blood sugar balance. When we eat meals that are balanced in protein, carbohydrates, fat, and fiber this keeps our blood sugar and insulin steady.
When our blood sugar spikes, this causes insulin to escalate too. When insulin is high, we produce more testosterone, our levels of sex hormone binding globulin decline leading to an increase in estrogen, and to make matters worse, our cortisol increases which depletes progesterone.
Whew! That is a lot of hormonal chaos just from blood sugar issues!
We can do something to prevent this hormonal roller coaster and that is simply limiting our intake of sugar and refined carbohydrates. When you do consume carbohydrates, balance them with protein, fat, and/or fiber as those all help to buffer against blood sugar spikes.
Adjusting your diet can help you find the hormonal balance you’re looking for. I address diet with my clients right away because it has such a profound effect on our health.
Finding Balance
Our hormones are powerful biological chemicals and when they are not balanced, it can wreak havoc on our health. I work with women with very complex hormonal issues, but we always start with these 3 simple steps.
