When we think of hormones, we tend to think of the sex hormones oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone first, but in fact we currently know of more than 200 hormones and hormone-like substances that are crucial to health – with more being discovered regularly. Our hormones are produced by our endocrine glands and other tissues, which together make up our entire endocrine system – an extraordinarily complex constellation of chemical messengers that operate in concert with each other – sometimes acting upon our organs directly, and at other times forming part of a ‘feedback loop’ that tells our bodies how to function. These chemical messengers control your sleep, appetite, weight, mood, sexual response and more.
When everything is in balance and working well, your endocrine glands produce the precise amount of each hormone needed for diverse processes in your body. However, due to our fast-paced society, the lack of adequate nutrition, and poor stress-response management, causes of hormonal imbalances have become increasingly common. Some hormone levels become depleted with age, with some people experiencing a more precipitous decrease than others. Healthy lifestyle choices can support proper endocrine function and it is a lot easier to maintain optimal hormonal function than you might imagine, so see what you can do to balance your own hormonal profile, based upon these strategies.
Hormonal imbalance diet changes
Protein supports the release of hormones that control appetite and food intake. When we consume protein, our levels of the ‘hunger hormone’ ghrelin are decreased and the production of hormones that help you feel full, including leptin, PYY (peptide tyrosine – relating to satiety) and GLP-1 (Glucagon-like peptide-1 – reducing blood sugar by increasing insulin function) are increased.
In a study, women consuming a diet containing 30 percent protein experienced an elevation of GLP-1 and greater feelings of fullness than when they ate a diet containing 10 percent protein. They also experienced an increase in metabolism and fat burning.
Aim for 20 to 30 grams of protein per meal. Add beans, pulses, nuts, seeds, quinoa, tofu, tempeh, and leafy greens to your meals. Plant-based protein sources are better for you than animal protein sources, as they do not come with the unwanted burden of an array of proinflammatory chemicals and hormone disruptors. Whole food plant-based proteins assist in maintaining your body’s very fine acid/alkaline balance – thus also contributing to a reduction in chronic inflammation.
What vitamins can help to balance hormones?
Read our guide on supplements for hormonal imbalance : vitamins that are beneficial for hormonal imbalance include vitamin B and vitamin D.
Reduce refined sugar and carbs
Diets high in refined carbs promote resistance to the hormone insulin in a large portion of adults and increasingly in children. By contrast, following a moderate-carb diet based on whole foods reduces insulin levels in overweight and obese people with prediabetes and other insulin-resistant conditions, including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Optimise your calorie intake – too many calories increase insulin resistance and too few can increase cortisol levels. A whole food, plant-based diet increases fibre – leading to improvements in insulin sensitivity and regulation of the hormones that increase hunger (ghrelin) and satiety, and food intake (leptin), and it provides the most nutritional bang for your buck – it has been shown to be the most helpful nutritional strategy for hormonal optimisation.
Will exercise help balance hormones?
Aerobic, strength training and endurance exercise all positively influence hormones. In a 24-week study of obese women, exercise increased participants’ insulin sensitivity and levels of adiponectin, a hormone that has anti-inflammatory effects and helps balance the metabolism. Plus, exercise will help combat any hormonal weight gain.
Activity also helps improve levels of muscle-maintaining hormones that can decline with age, including testosterone (in men and women), IGF-1, DHEA (a precursor to sex hormones and more) and human growth hormone – sometimes thought of as the ‘youth hormone’ as our levels of HGH are at their peak until our early 20s and then they drop off precipitously. Improvement and maintenance of our HGH levels enhances our muscle to fat ratio and bone strength. A combination of resistance and aerobic training provides the best results, and I advise my clients to lift weights and take a 30-minute walk at least five times per week.
Reduce stress for balanced hormones
Two major hormones affected by stress are cortisol and adrenaline. Cortisol, often referred to as ‘the stress hormone’, helps your body cope with stress over the long term. Adrenaline, the ‘fight-or-flight’ hormone, provides your body with a rush of energy in response to immediate danger. Thousands of years ago, our hormones were triggered by threats from predators, whereas today they’re usually sparked by people’s busy, often overwhelming lifestyles. This chronic stress leads to persistently elevated cortisol, resulting in excessive calorie intake and obesity, increased belly fat and toxic visceral fat around our internal organs, and underlies many chronic illnesses. Elevated adrenaline levels can cause high blood pressure, rapid heart rate and hormonal anxiety. However, these symptoms of hormone imbalance are short-lived because adrenaline tends not to become chronically elevated.
Stress-reducing techniques including meditation, yoga, massage and listening to relaxing music all help. A 2005 review of studies found that massage therapy reduced cortisol levels by an average of 31 percent, and increased levels of the mood-enhancing hormones serotonin by 28 percent and dopamine by 31 percent, on average. Try to devote at least 10 to 15 minutes per day to stress-reducing activities.
Get better sleep
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 is linked to imbalances of many hormones, including insulin, cortisol, leptin, ghrelin and growth hormone. In one study of men whose sleep was restricted to five hours per night for one week, insulin sensitivity decreased by 20 percent, on average. When sleep was restricted for two days in young men, their leptin declined by 18 percent, their ghrelin increased by 28 percent and their hunger increased by 24 percent. In addition, the men craved high-calorie, high-carb foods.
Your brain needs uninterrupted sleep to go through all five stages of the sleep cycle. This is especially important for the release of HGH, which occurs mainly at night during deep sleep. To maintain peak hormonal balance, aim for at least seven hours of high-quality sleep per night.
The best foods for hormone balance
Food forms the building blocks for hormones and, fortunately, one of the main ways you can help hormones stay on top of their game is by eating the right type of foods. Check out our list of dietary choices for happy hormones.
Take this quiz to find out what your hormones are trying to tell you
Le’nise Brothers is a registered nutritionist, women’s health expert, hormone and menstruation coach and is the host of the Period Story podcast. She set up her practice, Eat Love Move , to help empower and educate women to understand their bodies, as well as advocate for better healthcare and healing. Take her quiz here to find out what your hormones are trying to tell you!
1. How’s your mood?
A. I get terribly moody right before my period, swinging between being overly emotional to feeling low.
B. I find myself getting really angry or anxious before my period.
C. My mood tends to be quite even all through my menstrual cycle.
2. What are your energy levels like?
A. I struggle to wake up in the morning and I rely on coffee to get me going.
B. I get extremely tired and lethargic right before my period.
C. My energy is really good. I feel bright-eyed and bushy-tailed most of the time!
3. How do you sleep?
A. I struggle to get to sleep, but once I do, I stay asleep all night.
B. My sleep is easily disrupted.
C. I don’t have any issues nodding off. I sleep like a log most nights.
4. Let’s talk about our bodies. How do they feel?
A. My breasts get so tender right before my period.
B. I get so bloated when I’m on my period that I struggle to do up my trousers!
C. I don’t notice any difference in my breasts; they pretty much stay the same all through my menstrual cycle.
5. How’s your menstrual flow?
A. My periods have gotten heavier as I’ve gotten older. I have to change my tampon/pad at least every two hours!
B. My periods are really light and short. They don’t last longer than two days.
C. My periods are between four to seven days long. I might have one slightly heavier day.
6. Do you get headaches?
A. I sometimes get migraines before or during my period.
B. I get headaches right before my period, but they clear up as soon as my menstruation starts.
C. I only occasionally get a headache when I’m stressed or tired.
How did you do?
Mostly As: Oestrogen dominance/High oestrogen in relation to progesterone
If you’ve chosen at least three As, you might have more oestrogen in relation to progesterone. Oestrogen and progesterone need to be in balance: imagine them sitting on opposite ends of a see-saw, rising and falling across the menstrual cycle. When oestrogen is consistently higher than progesterone, this can lead to some of the symptoms we went through in the quiz. There are many reasons for this, including related conditions such as fibroids, endometriosis and adenomyosis. Dietary changes can have a huge impact on the amount of oestrogen we have and the process of removing it.
High-fibre foods, including leafy green vegetables, crucifers such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and asparagus and fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi and pickles support the liver and gut in breaking down oestrogen and making sure we have regular bowel movements. Constipation can have a very negative impact on hormone health as this is how we remove the oestrogen the body has used and broken down. A bowel movement once a day does you good!
Mostly Bs: Low progesterone
If you choose at least three Bs, you might not be making enough progesterone when you ovulate. Progesterone is released from the corpus luteum, which is the by-product of ovulation. If you’re not ovulating every menstrual cycle, you could feel the effects of low progesterone. This is common when women go through the perimenopause or in a condition called luteal phase defect, where the ovaries don’t produce enough progesterone after ovulation, leading to a shorter luteal phase. If you’ve had these symptoms for a while, it’s important to speak to your GP. You can get your progesterone levels tested at two points in your menstrual cycle: on day two to three, when it should be at its lowest point, and again seven days after you ovulate (around day 21-25, depending on the length of your cycle).
Mostly Cs: Good to go!
Your menstrual cycle, hormones and symptoms are all normal, apart from the odd twinge or cramp here or there.
Natural remedies for hormonal imbalance
Beat fatigue, banish mood swings and feel great with these simple lifestyle tweaks, says Angelique Panagos . Read on to discover her easy remedies for hormonal balance.
Go organic
This reduces toxic burden and helps with hormonal balance as exposure to xenoestrogens, antibiotics and hormones in animal products, chemicals in fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides all disrupt hormonal balance.
Eat the right carbs
I know what you’re thinking… carbs? Yes – the right carbohydrates, complex ones, are extremely beneficial to us. These are brown and fibrous wholegrains and vegetables. They’re nutrient-packed and contain the all-important fibre we need for healthy elimination. Avoid white carbs that are refined – that’s white bread, pasta, white rice, cakes, biscuits, pastries – and no added sugar or artificial sweeteners.
Avoid sugar and sweeteners
Sugar is sugar, whether it’s in refined or raw form. Read ingredients labels and watch for sugar’s many guises (syrups and names ending in -ose, like sucrose or dextrose). Artificial sweeteners such as aspartame, saccharin and sucralose are chemicals, not food, and can contribute to insulin resistance and perpetuate a sweet tooth.
Add cinnamon to meals
Cinnamon can improve insulin sensitivity and help with blood sugar balance. Plus it’s naturally sweet in taste and can help keep those pesky cravings at bay. Sprinkle a teaspoon of ground cinnamon on your breakfast or make a cinnamon tea.
Avoid foods that cause hormonal imbalance
Try to avoid caffeine, alcohol and stimulants. It’s tricky if you rely on coffee to get through the day and wine to unwind, but trust me, you don’t need them. Your hormones and energy levels will benefit.
Concentrate, connect, nourish
We all tend to rush around from one task to the next, eating at our desks while still typing that email reply, eating in front of the TV, engrossed in the show but distracted from our food. This might seem like multitasking at its best, but at what cost to your hormonal balance? If you eat while you are stressed, blood is diverted away from the digestive tract, making digestion harder and causing food to sit there for longer and ferment, leading to bloating and cramping.
Being distracted and eating fast also means you eat mindlessly and a lot more than you actually need. The easiest way to practise mindful eating, even if it’s just a snack, is to really use your senses. How does the food look, how does it taste, smell, feel in your mouth? Savour whatever you’re eating. Connect with it. Mastering the art of eating intelligently is more important than counting calories.
Learn 4/7 breathing
Adjust your posture to relax your shoulders, and sit comfortably. Keep one hand on your chest and the other on your abdomen. Take a deep breath in for a count of four, expanding your chest and right down into your belly, feeling it expand last. Pause and then breathe out for a count of seven, contracting your belly first, and then chest, as the air leaves your body. Repeat this 10 times. Do this every morning and every evening. It’s also a handy trick to practise any time you feel anxious, for example if you are stressed at work. Try it if you have difficulty sleeping or you wake in the middle of the night or early morning with an active brain.
Change your response to stress
Easier said than done, I know, but it’s easy to make a mountain out of a molehill. Have you ever flown off the handle, then a few days later thought, ‘what on Earth was I bothered about?’ The body doesn’t differentiate between real threat and chronic stress ; it’s all damaging to your hormone balance. If you have a lot of issues to work through, it’s well worth speaking to a therapist. The next time you’re faced with a stressful situation and you can feel the anger rising in you, stop and take a step back. Try the breathing exercise previously described. Feel better? Yes, that demanding email from your boss needs to be answered, but not at a cost to your health.
Laugh more
I love chatting about this with clients. When was the last time you just sat and laughed? Laughter is food for the soul and we need to do more of it. Watch a funny film, go see a stand-up comedy show, read a hilarious book that makes you really laugh out loud, spend time with your wittiest friends. Fill your life with more joy.
Be more active
When our adrenals are working in overdrive we can feel exhausted, and the last thing we want to do is exercise. But adaptive exercises, like going for a brisk walk outside and filling your lungs with fresh air, can be just what you need to re-energise. Yoga or Pilates, which incorporate deep breathing work, can be extremely restorative, while working on stability and core muscles. Sweat plays a crucial role in your body’s natural detox function and helps clear out a range of toxins, from those pesky persistent organic pollutants and BPA (a chemical that disrupts hormones we are too often exposed to) to heavy metals (along with that alcohol you drank last night!). Remember to rehydrate to replace the water you’ve lost.
Use positive affirmations
I love the power of positivity. Start each day by looking at yourself in a mirror and speaking aloud one of the following affirmations (or one you write yourself): I can and will make positive choices; I choose to eat healthy foods; I eat when I am calm and relaxed; I take time for me every day; My hormones are balanced and happy; I am focused on giving my body all it needs; I love and nurture my amazing body; I love to move my body daily; I can do this; The better I eat, the more I rest, the better I feel; I am grateful for all the blessings in my life.
What is the Ayurvedic treatment for hormonal imbalance?
One unusual Ayurvedic treatment is moon bathing. As well as general health benefits, the moon is thought to be hormonally beneficial for women in particular. “The moon has an especially powerful influence on our daily and monthly cycles,” says Jillian Lavender, founder of The London Meditation Centre . Take a look at why Ayurveda could hold the key to balancing hormones , and why Ayurvedic herbs such as ashwagandha could be an effective hormonal imbalance treatment.
