Whether you have a natural hormonal imbalance, or one induced by birth control or menopause, we all know that having hormonal levels out of whack can cause a boatload of issues such as weight gain, acne irritability, and mood swings.
1. Take a daily probiotic that you research well. Gut health plays a large role in regulating hormones.
2. Stabilize your blood sugar. Dealing with your blood sugar consciously is essential for stabilizing your hormonal imbalance as well.
3. Work on different methods of liver detoxification. These pathways can help get rid of metabolized hormones and in turn create more of a balance.
4. Switch over to organic. Factors like growth hormones, pesticides, and fertilizers are known as endocrine disrupters can contain chemicals which make it harder to process and eliminate the synthetic hormones that these foods may cause.
5. Up your intake of brassica veggies, such as broccoli, cauliflower, kale, cabbage, bok choy, and brussel sprouts. All these contain indole-3 carbinol, a massive natural hormone balancer which breaks down estrogen and facilitates detox.
6. Try fermented or pickled foods. This is a tastier, foodie oriented alternative to a probiotic. Consider starting out with popular choices such as sauerkraut and kimchi.
7. Improve your sleep quality or how many hours you get in every night. Low sleep quality greatly impacts hormonal balance. You can try taking melatonin or CBD, and switch from coffee to green tea.
8. On a related note, decrease your caffeine intake. Too much caffeine increases cortisol, insulin, and estrogen, as well as depleting nutrients like magnesium which hormones need for balance. Roasted dandelion is a popular alternative which also detoxes the liver.
9. Try an herbal supplement that supports hormonal balance instead of taking the shortcut of birth control. It’s not a quick fix, but its benefits may take place over a longer, more sustainable way, without side effects.
10. Try seed cycling. This process balances estrogen and progesterone during menstruation. In the follicular stage, eat raw flax, chia, hemp or pumpkin seeds as well as 1500 mg of fish oil. In the luteal phase, eat raw sunflower, sesame seeds and 1500mg of evening primrose oil.