A Harmonious Hormone Lifestyle

Sugar is a big culprit in just about everything related to our health, but especially hormones. Insulin is greatly affected by sugar, which can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. Sugar also affects estrogen. So, when you feel “PMS” and go for that pint of ice cream, you are doing much more harm than good!

Probably no surprise here either. Exercise helps promote balanced hormones. You want to make sure you are getting the right amount, and not too close to bed. Exercise is a temporary stressor and does increase cortisol levels in the short-term, so exercising too close to bedtime may affect your sleep quality. Regular exercise in the long run helps balance these hormones and will promote better mood and sleep.

Chronic stress is one of the biggest culprits of hormone imbalances. When we are stressed, things simply do not work correctly! Our body goes into survival mode, which heightens the “fight or flight” response and shuts down normal bodily processes like digestion, reproduction, and sleep. Chronic stress is so detrimental to our health. It’s so crucial to find healthy stress reduction techniques that work for you.

Including healthy natural fats in your diet and avoiding unhealthy trans and processed fats can help reduce insulin resistance and stimulate the production of hormones that help control appetite. Fat does not spike insulin levels and helps you feel more satiated between meals, which can help reduce how much you eat throughout the day.

Overeating is shown to increase insulin levels and reduce insulin sensitivity, especially in overweight and obese people who are insulin resistant. On the other hand, cutting your calorie intake too much can increase levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is known to promote weight gain when it’s elevated. That means following a very calorie restrictive diet to lose weight could end up having the opposite effect! You want the right amount of fuel and good quality food!

Green tea has been linked to increased insulin sensitivity and lower insulin levels for people who are overweight, obese, or have diabetes. In addition to hormone support, green tea is a powerful antioxidant and metabolism-boosting beverage. All around, it’s great for your health! But because of it’s natural caffeine content, just avoid too close to bedtime!

Processed foods are just all around bad for us! They are high in unnatural trans fats, sugar and artificial sweeteners, and other chemicals that aid in production and increase shelf life. All of these things can negatively affect our hormones. If you can’t pronounce the ingredients on the package, there’s a good chance it’s not good for you! Eating a diet full of fresh and local whole foods will always be your best option, no matter what health issues you may be dealing with.

Alcohol can affect a lot of things in the body including inflammation, and yes, hormones. Alcohol affects insulin, and therefore excessive consumption can lead to problems with insulin resistance, similar to too much sugar. Insulin also increases estrogen levels. It’s not to say you can never have a drink, but if you are working to rebalance your hormones, you definitely will want to reduce or eliminate your alcohol to help get things functioning properly.

No matter how nutritious your diet is and how much exercise you get, your health will suffer if you don’t get enough restorative sleep! Poor sleep has been linked to imbalances of many hormones, including insulin, cortisol, leptin, ghrelin and growth hormone. Even one night of poor sleep can lead to an increase in the hunger hormones (ghrelin) and decrease in your satiation hormones (leptin). This leads to feeling hungry and eating more throughout the day. Long term imbalances can lead to weight gain.  

I don’t often talk about weight or focus on the scale. But when it comes to hormones, this is important. Adipose (fat) tissue is actually an endocrine organ, making it directly involved in the hormone system. This means excess fat can impact hunger and your ability to lose weight. Anyone who’s ever lost weight knows how much harder it is to keep that weight off. That’s a hormonal response from your body. Maintaining a healthy body weight is best for preventing issues from excess fat, and even more important after losing weight. Constantly fluctuating weight can have some major negative impacts on your hormones and overall health. Find a diet and lifestyle that works to maintain a healthy and realistic weight FOR YOU.

This could be (and may be in the future) its own blog! To keep it very simple for now, xenoestrogens are any type of substance that comes into your body and throws off its proper balance of estrogen by essentially acting just like estrogen (i.e. estrogen mimicker!). They can be synthetic or natural, but either way, they are a big problem as they can block or bind to our hormone receptors, as well as be stored in our fat cells and lead to a massive estrogen buildup! This may eventually result in estrogen dominance (too much estrogen and often not enough progesterone). Common culprits of xenoestrogens are plastics, health and beauty products (like lotions, shampoo, makeup, fragrance, etc.), and processed and soy-based foods. This means being an educated consumer and learning to check labels and choose natural products as much as possible.