By Use food as the medicine it intended to be
Hormones are the key to health, immunity and moods.
Keeping them in balance is not always easy, and when we think we’re travelling towards hormone certainty, something will throw us off balance, making it hard to get back up again.
Women’s hormones will never be predictable and are forever altering — from when our periods begin, pregnancy, diseases such as endometriosis and, of course, the one time we all dread — menopause.
Food is hugely part of how balanced our hormones become, although it’s not the silver bullet. A lot of genetic magic is also happening on the sidelines.
But, taking stock of what we eat is one thing we have control over, and using food to help us work towards balance daily will lead us towards success.
Use these food options to help keep your body functioning optimally with minimal hiccups.
One: Eat Selenium rich foods for thyroid functioning
Many foods can disrupt the intricate balance of our thyroid. Foods such as Brazil nuts contain selenium, crucial for thyroid health.
Selenium also supports thyroid hormone products and metabolism and protects your thyroid from excessive iodine exposure.
Regulating your thyroid is essential since hypothyroidism can increase feelings of lethargy, slower movement, speech and lack of concentration.
Symptoms can also cause feelings of depression, cold, loss of libido and insomnia.
Other rich foods in selenium are tuna, eggs, sardines and legumes.
Two: Eat more broccoli to balance estrogen
All cruciferous vegetables benefit our health and balance our hormones due to indole-3-carbinol, which supports liver detoxification.
Our liver has to function correctly as any excess hormones will find it difficult to clear and circulate through the body, leading to excessive imbalances.
If you experience PMS, acne, heavy periods, low energy or weight gain, it’s a sign that your liver needs a bit of a boost.
Eat more cruciferous vegetables daily to help you (especially broccoli).
Three: Balance your insulin by eating leafy greens — especially spinach
Eating enough magnesium helps to support insulin uptake.
It also helps to make our carbohydrate intake by helping to secrete insulin which might help the cells in your body receive insulin more effectively.
Magnesium also helps to regulate blood sugar levels for those who have type two diabetes & improves food absorption.
All leafy green vegetables contain high amounts of magnesium, particularly kale, spinach, collard greens, turnips and mustard greens.
Blanching one cup of cooked spinach contains 158 mg of magnesium, 37% of your daily vitamin intake.
Four: Balance progesterone by eating more tuna
Vitamin B6 helps manage PMS symptoms such as tiredness, moodiness, headaches, bloating and fluid retention.
Vitamin B6 relieves those dreaded emotional symptoms hormonal changes bring on.
Several studies indicate taking a vitamin B supplement can help with many of the psychological symptoms of PMS.
You can also get these in tuna, but other alternatives may help, such as chickpeas, potatoes, beef liver, salmon and dark chocolate.
Tuna is high in vitamin B6 & omega-3 fatty acids and has been proven to help relieve PMS symptoms.
Key takeaways
While eating the range of foods above is beneficial, it’s also important to know what to avoid when experiencing hormonal imbalances.
Managing your sugar intake by staying away from processed foods is very important.
Sugar will encourage insulin resistance, and fructose will disrupt the delicate gut microbiome, spinning the hormone imbalance cycle out of control.
Reducing stress can also be beneficial since stress is integral to harming the body’s natural balance.
Be sure to integrate some exercise and mental health practices when things get tough.
As always, we ride the tide of emotions and eventually, the balance begins to retake shape — until the next time.
Eating a balanced diet daily will help lessen hormones’ impact on our body, mind and soul.
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Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself, and all opinions expressed here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
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