Do you hear the words “hormone balance” and get confused to actually what it means or how you should feel? Do you only associate it with pregnancy or menopause? Or the teenage years?
Hormone health is important at any age and should be at the forefront of you mind your entire lifetime. Hormones are the chemical messengers that make your entire body function. Not just your menstrual cycle. And there are thousands of different kinds for each part of your body.
There are many things that can disrupt your hormones and many things to focus on to increase that function and balance. Here are 5 that I find important:
- Elimination: Keeping your liver healthy and functioning is so important. The quality of your liver health will determine your hormonal health. Keeping your body full of fiber, water, lessening harmful ingredients that can clog your liver, exercising, and allowing the liver to do the process of elimination at its best. Anything that isn’t eliminated and floats around your system can clog this elimination process.
- Blood sugar: This is HUGE. I tell all my clients that balancing your blood sugar is essential to hormone balance AND your health in general. Your weight. Your energy. Your mood. Everything. How do you do this? First, eat a protein-rich breakfast every morning. Yes, you need breakfast. Second, don’t wait too long between meals. Third, graze and listen to your hunger cues. Fourth, every meal should contain the 3 macronutrients in some form. Those are healthy fats, clean proteins, and complex carbohydrates. They slow down the digestive process, which will keep you full and will avoid the blood sugar surges and crashes.
- Rest & repair: Sleep! Recover at night with a good night’s sleep. Rest when you’re tired. Stop moving at 110 mph. Unless you have a newborn or a toddler who’s jumping into your bed every five minutes, aim for 7-8 hours of quality sleep. In the dark. No TV. No technology. Avoid the tech at least an hour prior to bed.
- Stress: This can be from the world around you or what you’re putting inside you. Managing the emotional stresses is essential to hormone health. Stress, and the hormone cortisol, can create inflammation and hormone imbalance if not at the right level. Foods and beverages can do this as well. This includes sugar, alcohol, red meat, refined grains, and dairy. So if you’re getting stress in the mind as well as inside that beautiful body of yours, it’s a double-whammy.
- Clean living: Slowly educating and changing your products is so important for hormone health. Endocrine disrupting ingredients can clog your system, confuse your body, and put it in a hormonal tornado. This goes along with liver health. Do you need to throw out your entire bathroom, kitchen, and makeup supplies tonight? No. Start educating yourself on www.ewg.org and then slowly make changes. Think of what you and your family use and touch the most first and then within time, swap the ick for the safe.
There are more essentials to hormone balance but I feel these are the most important. If you want to learn more, work with me and I will teach and support you through the changes you want to make. Here’s to your hormonal health and happiness!
XO-
