Hormones They are our go-to defense whenever we lose our cool with a friend, coworker, or clueless barista. And while we hate what they do to our emotions during pregnancy, our sleep when we’re stressed, or our skin around that time of the month, it’s good to know that there may be something we can do to manage them. Want to know how to eat to balance your hormones?
Let’s talk about 13 Foods That Balance Hormones in Females Naturally in harmony with some actual scientific evidence.
1. Avocado
Our beloved avocado has many more uses than just guacamole and fancy toast and hormone balance. Avocados can balance your estrogen levels and help you control your stress hormones. One of the most prevalent hormonal abnormalities in women is estrogen dominance, which frequently produces unpleasant symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, and mood changes.
Avocados can be beneficial as they contain healthy fats and plant sterols, which help prevent estrogen absorption and enhance progesterone production. Exposure to poisons and environmental pollutants, chemical estrogens in plastics, hormones from food, and hazardous exposure are some causes of high estrogen. Additionally, avocados contain a lot of beta-sitosterol, which can lower blood cholesterol levels and maintain a healthy level of cortisol, a primary stress hormone.
2. Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables, especially broccoli and sprouts, support our livers and effectively metabolize estrogen. They include DIM (diindolylmethane), a phytochemical that helps remove extra estrogen. Instead of eating them raw, cooking cruciferous vegetables is recommended to avoid goitrogens. These compounds interfere with your thyroid hormones and affect your metabolism. While it also applies to everyone else, this is especially important if you already have a thyroid issue. The occasional serving of raw kale in a green smoothie may not matter much in the big picture, but you don’t want to do it too frequently! Moderation is key.
3. Fatty fish
The American Heart Association recommends fatty fish, including wild-caught salmon, herring, mackerel, lake trout, and sardines, to help balance your appetite hormones, allowing you to feel full for longer. Furthermore, fatty fish is considered a food that supports women’s hormonal balance. They contain a lot of vitamin D, which improves testosterone levels in women. Controlling these hormone levels can help with problems like weight gain, exhaustion, and depression. Furthermore, healthy fats in fish improve the overall communication of hormones. Hormones communicate with the brain, improving cognition and elevating mood.
4. Yogurt
Yogurt and other gut-friendly foods are essential for hormone production. The body’s largest endocrine organ, the gut, produces and secretes more than 20 % of hormones that affect metabolism, satiety, and hunger. Recent studies have shown gut microbiota’s role in controlling estrogen. These findings suggest estrogen-related disorders, including PCOS, endometriosis, and possibly breast cancer, are more likely to develop in those with poor gut health. Also, do you know the gut is where serotonin is made and kept in 95 % of people? This explains why despair and anxiety are ordinary in individuals with poor gut health.
Furthermore, an unbalanced gut flora is one of the causes of a poorly functioning thyroid, often known as hypothyroidism. Healthy cholesterol levels are also influenced by gut health. These are necessary for keeping the ratio of progesterone to estrogen in check.
5. Sweet Potatoes
Try sweet potatoes instead of bread and sweets if you are craving carbs. Sweet potatoes are excellent foods that balance hormones in females. They are abundant in Fiber, B vitamins, magnesium, potassium, and vitamin A. They also encourage the production of tryptophan, which triggers the release of the happy hormone serotonin, and reduces sugar cravings.
This prevents anxiety and depression, and sweet potatoes work better than most other starchy foods to curb your appetite. Furthermore, they contain vitamin C, essential for producing progesterone in the second half of women’s menstrual cycles (a.k.a. the luteal phase). It is crucial for maintaining the first trimester of pregnancy and the menstrual cycle.
6. Flax Seeds
Flax seeds are the best diet foods, and it is a rich in nutrients and fiber-rich seeds with added benefits for hormone balancing, thanks to the unique little compounds known as “lignans”. Flax seeds support hormonal balance by two primary mechanisms. Firstly, lignans in the colon bind to estrogen, ensuring that those estrogens are excreted in the stool. It is most beneficial for women with an estrogen-dominant issue.
Secondly, lignans promote the liver’s ability to produce Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG). The more estrogen-binding SHBG is in our blood, the more it prevents estrogen from binding to receptors and contributing to the symptoms of estrogen dominance. To get the most benefits of flax seeds, use ground flax seeds, as they are easier to digest. You can add them to your morning bowl of cereal or yogurt to enjoy a nourishing breakfast.
7. Green Tea
It has been proven through research that simple green tea raises neurotransmitter levels. It contains the amino acid L-theanine, which increases serotonin, dopamine, and GABA levels while lowering the stress hormone cortisol. Our bodies go into “fight-or-flight” mode thanks to this hormone. Cortisol is at work when your heart starts to race and you feel ready to take action.
While short-term exposure to cortisol is beneficial, giving our systems the energy we need to escape potentially hazardous situations; long-term cortisol toxicity can result in various side effects. These include anxiety, stomach problems, and high blood pressure. Since cortisol also suppresses insulin production, excessive amounts of this hormone can eventually put you at risk for high blood sugar levels, weight gain, and even diabetes.
8. Cherries
Cherries are a delicious treat, and if you experience insomnia due to one of your hormonal problems, having a snack of cherries may be beneficial. Cherries are a natural source of melatonin, the “sleep hormone” produced by your pineal gland. Melatonin production declines with growing age. Studies have found that cherries raise melatonin levels, length of sleep, and sleep quality. They also contain other hormone-balancing nutrients like magnesium, and vitamin C. Magnesium calms the body’s stress response by preventing the release of cortisol and adrenaline. And for producing and maintaining hormones like progesterone and estrogen, vitamin C is necessary.
9. Eggs
Eggs are excellent diet foods for hormonal balance since they contain vitamin D and B6, which are required for estrogen metabolism. In addition, eggs are a great source of HDL cholesterol, which your body needs to produce hormones. They also contain protein, which is required to make peptide hormones.
These hormones are produced by endocrine glands from amino acids and are responsible for physiological functions, including growth, energy metabolism, appetite, stress, and reproduction. Look for “pasture-raised” eggs for the least amount of added antibiotics and hormones, which can also contribute to hormonal imbalance. Try frying your eggs in olive oil with spices like garlic and turmeric over medium heat. You can also add a slice of avocado for a fantastic hormone-boosting meal.
10. Apples
Diet foods apple is rich in Fiber, and its benefits for gut health are well known, but what is less discussed is its impact on hormone balancing. When our body no longer requires extra estrogen and testosterone, these cholesterol-based hormones are released into the intestines. Fiber works as a sponge in the gut, excreting excess hormones in the stool. The kind of Fiber you should take for this process to happen is soluble Fiber; we have apples. They contain a lot of soluble fiber called pectin. The fruit contains vitamin C, which helps produce progesterone hormone and reduces stress and anxiety.
11. Coconut oil
All hormones, including progesterone, estrogens, and androgens (such as testosterone and DHEA), are generated from cholesterol. Your body uses good fats as the raw material to create cholesterol. The medium chain fatty acids (MCFA) in coconut oil are simple for your body to absorb.
Therefore, when you consume coconut oil, your body receives more raw materials to generate and regulate your hormones. Whether you want to lower your blood sugar level, lose weight, or reverse estrogen dominance, coconut oil got you covered. Add it to your favorite hot beverage, or use it to prepare eggs and greens in the morning. It masks the bitter flavor of collards or spinach.
12. Turmeric
Anyone who suggested you take turmeric for menstrual cramps was undoubtedly onto something. Turmeric’s primary active ingredient, curcumin, provides pain-relieving properties similar to NSAIDs. Your hormones benefit from turmeric’s anti-inflammatory qualities. The body’s excessive inflammation may be the source of your hormone abnormalities.
This occurs due to your body over-releasing the hormone cortisol during inflammation. All that additional cortisol signals your body to give less priority to other hormones you require for good health. Turmeric helps your body maintain and prioritize other hormones by lowering inflammation. Toss it with roasted vegetables in soups, or make a soothing cup of turmeric tea.
13. Quinoa
Quinoa is a hormone balancing foods, a tiny seed full of minerals, protein, Fiber, and complex carbs. Complex carbohydrates maintain a stable blood sugar level in the body. In contrast, eating a simple carbohydrate cause a surge in blood sugar and an increase in the hormone insulin. When insulin levels rise quickly, you may experience hunger again shortly after eating. Complex carbohydrates prolong your sense of fullness by enabling a constant release of insulin from the pancreas.
Furthermore, zinc in quinoa contributes to the synthesis of thyroid hormones. You can use quinoa in salads, smoothies, or in place of rice or barley. The best thing is ”it contains no gluten”, so you can still enjoy the best foods while on a gluten-free diet.
Conclusion
So, are you ready to add these nourishing foods to your diet and balance your hormones? Nutrition and diet are essential factors for hormonal balance. Still, there are also some other things, like staying active and getting adequate sleep.
Your body actively eliminates toxins, refreshes the mind, and produces hormones while you are sleeping. Avoid late nights and get seven to eight hours of sleep daily. Also, spend the first 30 minutes each day in natural sunlight. This help boost serotonin levels and improve sleep quality by balancing melatonin levels at night. Remember, if your hormones are happy, they will keep you happy.
