There is a lot of information on the internet about how to balance hormones in women. I’ve compiled a list of the most popular diets, supplements, and lifestyle changes that have been proven to work.
The first step is identifying your symptoms and then you can find the right solution for you!
The blog post will go into detail about how each method works. It will also include a section for people who still think they are too young to be experiencing hormone problems or who feel like their symptoms don’t match up with what’s listed here.
There are many other causes for hormonal imbalance besides PCOS, endometriosis, thyroid disorders, etc., so it might not be as straightforward as “try this supplement because it sounds like your symptoms.”
If you are looking for scientifically-backed information about how hormones work, what hormone problems actually look like, and the complete solution guide to rebalancing your hormones back to their optimal levels, then this post is for you!
It is important to take action before it’s too late. Women usually go decades with hormonal imbalances before getting diagnosed. By this point, they have probably already experienced a lot of negative side effects from the damage to their body from all those years of hormonal imbalance. It’s important to take action now while you still can reverse your symptoms and prevent further damage!
How to Identify your hormonal imbalance yourself
What we’re looking for is a combination of the following symptoms: low progesterone and estrogen dominance, high testosterone or cortisol levels (or in some cases both), and insulin resistance.
These symptoms can vary in severity and frequency. What you need will depend on your unique case.
Symptoms may include
- Irregular periods,
- Infertility,
- Heavy and/or painful periods,
- endometriosis,
- PCOS, cystic acne (on the lower half of your face),
- Depression or anxiety,
- Irritability or mood swings before period starts,
- Difficulty losing weight no matter how much you exercise or diet,
- Difficulty getting pregnant even after trying to conceive for a long time,
- Low libido, and/or
- Other hormonal imbalances such as high cortisol or Androgens (due to polycystic ovarian syndrome).
It is important to know the root cause of why your hormones are imbalanced so you can fix it properly. You don’t want to just deal with your symptoms, you want to get down to the bottom of what is really causing them OR find something that treats all of your symptoms at once!
Before trying anything, I highly recommend working with a doctor to identify your symptoms. It can be difficult to do it yourself especially if you are not familiar with the science behind how hormones work.
How hormone imbalances affect you and what key symptoms come from each imbalance
For example, PCOS is associated with all of the following symptoms: weight gain, loss of hair on the head, facial hair growth, acne, irregular periods, infertility, and insulin resistance.
It’s important to keep in mind that everyone will have their own unique list of symptoms based on their hormonal imbalances. For example, someone with PCOS may also experience anxiety but not everyone with PCOS will.
The 4 Main Causes of Hormonal Imbalance in Women
There are 4 main causes of hormonal imbalances in women:
- Stress,
- Inflammation,
- Low-fat/high-carb diet (or the “Standard American Diet”), and
- Toxins.
We are exposed to many different toxins on a daily basis, which can influence our hormones. These include herbicides, pesticides, BPA, phthalates, triclosan, etc.
It’s important to limit your exposure to these chemicals but it is impossible to completely remove them from our lives. It is good to know that they can affect your hormones, though.
Inflammation can be caused by a low-fat/high-carb diet, food allergies (gluten, dairy, eggs), poor gut health (candida overgrowth or leaky gut syndrome), chronic infections (bacterial vaginosis or staph infections), etc., which will also contribute to hormone imbalances.
Stress can cause hormonal imbalances by raising our cortisol and Androgens (male hormones) which happen to be the same ones that PCOS and insulin resistance affect.
Our cortisol levels are typically highest in the morning when we wake up to help us get out of bed. It is normal for cortisol levels to be high in the morning but they should return to a healthy level during our waking hours.
When they stay high, this causes insulin resistance which makes it harder for your body to lose weight or reverse your symptoms.
This is why many of these symptoms are caused by one or more types of hormonal imbalances (usually PCOS and/or insulin resistance).
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How to Test for Hormonal Imbalance Yourself
There are three different tests you can try to identify what hormones may be out of balance: your hair, saliva, and blood.
The first test you can do is to test your hair for mineral imbalances. You can typically find a hair analysis kit at your local health food store or on Amazon.com. The results will show if your levels of key minerals are low, high, or out of balance and what foods you should be eating to help fix this.
It is important to note that certain key minerals can compensate for others in the body. For example, if you are low in calcium but high in magnesium, it may not be a problem because magnesium levels can help regulate calcium levels in your body. Calcium levels can also stay elevated when your potassium or sodium levels are low. What this means, is that you may not need to supplement with calcium and magnesium or potassium and sodium if your levels are already high. The other key minerals (zinc, copper, chromium) typically do not compensate for each other.
The next step is to test your saliva levels which can tell you about your status of estrogen, progesterone/estradiol, DHEA/androstenedione, cortisol, and testosterone.
To do this test you can order a kit online or use lancets to prick your finger (which is very similar to the glucose meter used by diabetics).
The last type of test you can try is to test your blood for estrogen, progesterone/estradiol, DHEA/androstenedione, testosterone, and cortisol levels.
The best time to do this test is in the morning when your hormones are typically at their highest point (before you eat or drink anything).
If needed, you can also order hormone testing kits online that will turn certain colors depending on the levels that you are testing.
These kits allow you to track the changes in your hormones over time (for example, if they are getting higher or lower). This can be very helpful for many women because hormonal imbalances can change quickly and drastically throughout a woman’s lifetime.
How to balance hormones women
What lifestyle changes can I make to help improve hormonal imbalances?
1. Eat more vegetables and fruits
2. Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night
3. Reduce stress by taking up hobbies, meditating, yoga, etc.
4. Exercise 3-5 times a week for at least 20 minutes
5. Drink more water and reduce caffeine and alcohol consumption
6. Eat less processed foods and junk food
7. Avoid soda/carbonated drinks because they can cause hormonal imbalances if you have insulin resistance or PCOS (due to their phosphoric acid content)
8. Try intermittent fasting by not eating for 12-16 hours (such as not eating anything after 7 pm and then only eating between 10 am-6 pm)
9. Reduce your intake of dairy products (due to the hormones they contain that can cause hormonal imbalances), gluten, and soy (to help reduce inflammation in the body caused by insulin resistance).
10. Eat lots of healthy fats to help improve thyroid function (such as coconut oil, avocado, almonds, walnuts, sesame seeds)
11. Use natural progesterone cream to balance your hormones and feel better fast
12. If you are struggling with infertility due to hormonal imbalances, try the Fertility Smoothie Recipe
13. Take a high-quality multivitamin and mineral supplement to make sure you are getting all the nutrients that your body needs (for example, my favorite is this prenatal, and my favorite all-in-one multivitamin and natural pre-workout is this one )
Conclusion
Hormonal imbalances can have an enormous impact on your life. They can lead to serious health problems if left untreated, but they are often very easy to fix with simple lifestyle changes. If you are experiencing hormonal imbalances the best thing you can do is consult your doctor for help with creating a customized plan that works for your body specifically.
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