FACTORS THAT COULD BE CAUSING YOUR HORMONAL IMBALANCES
Hormones are literally my biggest passion. I’ve dedicated the last 4 years of my life to learning everything there is to know about the female body, reproductive system and hormonal health and how to identify a hormonal imbalance and work towards a resolution, naturally and holistically.
COMMON HORMONE DISRUPTING FACTORS
Birth control - As I just explained, prolonged use of synthetic hormonal contraceptive throws your body and hormones way out of whack.
Not eating enough healthy fat - Hormones are made up of fatty membranes and thrive on fats so limiting your fat intake to low fat or no fat diet is dangerous to hormone health.
Eating the wrong fats - Yes you want to increase your fat intake but you also want to be mindful of which fats you are increasing. For example Polyunsaturated fatsare unstable and oxidize rapidly in the body which causes inflammation and mutation which can lead to hormonal problems.
Insufficient calorie and/or carbohydrate intake - Restrictive diets do not provide proper energy for hormone function or production. Hormones are are part of the metabolic processes and as we all know the metabolism needs both carbohydrates and food in general to function.
Extremely low weight or body fat percentage - The body of a women is designed to carry, provide energy and protect a baby for 9 months, so if you do not have enough energy or insulation (fat) for yourself alone your body will automatically assume that you do not need to reproduce and you won't get a period.
Not sleeping enough - Lack of sleep spikes cortisol levels which spikes stress and puts a strain on your adrenals and throws your hormones out of balance.
Consuming lots of dairy - Dairy is full of hormones (yes even pasture raised dairy) that interfere with the female reproductive system.
Poor digestion - Birth control actually disrupts the microbiome in the gut which leads to yeast overgrowth and leaky gut. Alternatively if your gut is not functioning properly and not eliminating waste regularly (1-2x per day) it can also lead to leaky gut which causes toxins to seep out of the GI tract and back into the body and bloodstream which disrupts hormones.
Liver toxicity - Our liver is our body's main detoxifier, it is responsible for processing and excreting almost all waste and toxic substances. Synthetic hormones (the pill) put a serious strain on the liver and cause it to not be able to regulate the amount of hormones in the body through excretion.
Working out too much - Overtraining increases cortisol levels which causes low levels of follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) and leutinizing hormone (LH) which results in low estrogen, testosterone and progesterone levels which results in abnormal cycles and eventually no period.
Chronic stress - Being in a constant state of stress suppresses the function of the hypothalamus, which controls the pituitary gland which controls the pituitary gland, thyroid and ovaries so it directly affect the bodies ability to make sex hormones!
HORMONE BALANCING TIPS
Ditch the synthetic hormonal contraceptives - instead try a FAM (fertility awareness method) or just plain old condoms.
Up your healthy fat game - it's time to get rid of the processed fat and load up on the good stuff like avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut, all the nut butters, and salmon. Make sure you have a source of healthy fat at every meal and snack!
Say goodbye to the diet mentality - not only is restricting your food intake doing your hormones a disservice but it is also totally messing with your brain and stressing you out.
Up your carb intake during the first half of the day - your body needs carbs to function and to produce healthy happy hormones, keeping your carb intake in the first half of the day gives your insulin (an important hormone) levels lots of time to calm down so no extra fat will be stored.
Get on a proper sleep schedule - start setting a time every night to unwind for about an hour before bed, leave your phone outside of your room or keep it on airplane mode if you need it for the alarm and aim for 7-8 hours per night!
Cut out dairy - this doesn't have to be a permanent thing but a few weeks without any secondary transfer of hormones into your system will do your own hormones a world of good.
Help heal your gut - start by upping your water and fiber intake, include fermented foods into your daily diet and take a probiotic supplement daily and digestive enzymes with every meal to improve digestion.
Give your liver some love - in order to regulate your hormone levels your liver needs to be able to detoxify and excrete estrogen. Try giving up alcohol for a while and start incorporating dandelion root tea every day to help the detoxification process.
Give the cardio a break - I know you love cardio (said no one ever) but intense exercise can actually worsen the problem when it comes to hormones so give up the sprints and spin for a while and try going on a nice daily walk instead.
Shorten your weight lifting sessions - lifting weights triggers a ton of hormones reactions. Keep your lifting to 45 minutes 3-4x per week.
Limit your caffeine intake - I know I know what a terrible thing for me to say but trust me on this. The thing with too much caffeine is it raises your cortisol levels and slows down your thyroid function which limits your body's ability to take orders from your hormones. Try going just 5 days caffeine free and see how you feel, I promise you'll be okay.
Reduce stress - This is absolutely CRUCIAL. I want you to make a list of everything indoor life that stresses you out on a daily basis and then make a counter point of how you can try to alleviate those things from your life. Start taking time every single day for yourself - meditation, yoga, stretching, a walk without your phone, a candle lit bath, getting a massage, journalling or one of my current favourites - mindfulness based stress reduction MBSR (google it its amazing) I don't care what you do, just take time for YOU.
While everything in this post is backed by scientific research as well as my own knowledge and study of both nutrition and hormones I want you to remember that every single person is different and something that may work for most women may not work for you, I am a living example of this. I also want you to know that if you're struggling with hormonal imbalances, you're not alone, I know exactly how frustrating and confusing it can be to be dealing with something that no one seems to want to talk about or to just be prescribed synthetic hormones to mask these issues. My goal is that through sharing what I learn in this course and through my own experience and (hopefully) success in balancing my own hormones I can bring a deeper understanding to hormones and make hormonal health an actual topic of conversation for everyone, not just women.
If you want to learn more about birth control, how to come off of it safely and how to support your body for optimal hormonal balance, check out my e-book Tuning Into Your Cycle!
xx Lu
