Hormones such as testosterone and oestrogen act as chemical messengers in your body and work together to keep your body in homeostasis, which is its auto-regulated healthy state.
Hormones control your thyroid, adrenal and pituitary glands, as well as the ovaries and testicles, and pancreas. And for them to work well, they need to work in a perfect symphony.
I do believe that there are a lot of things we can do naturally to support hormone balance.
Let’s explore common hormonal problems, their associated symptoms and my guide for support.
Cortisol
Our adrenal glands secret several hormones, and one of them is cortisol, your body’s primary stress hormone.
Adrenal fatigue is one of the most common problems when there’s an imbalance in cortisol. Cortisol is high when it should be low, low when it should be high, a rollercoaster of always high or always low.
Adrenal fatigue is not an issue with your adrenal glands, it is a problem with your brain’s communication with your adrenals which means as a brain stress issue, a functional medicine approach would minimise chronic stress.
Symptoms of Adrenal Fatigue include:
- Trouble getting started in the morning
- Craving salty or sugary foods
- Low sex drive
- Fatigued in the afternoon but you get a “second wind” in the evening
- Trouble staying asleep at night
- Dizziness after standing up too quickly
- Afternoon headaches
- Blood sugar issues
- Chronic inflammation
- Weak nails and brittle hair
- Moodiness
- Trouble losing weight
There are ways to test your cortisol levels, speak to your healthcare practitioner.
Tips to keep cortisol balanced naturally:
- Practice mindfulness
- Move your body
- Focus on sleep hygiene
- Invest in your nutrition
- Eat whole foods
- Make sure your getting enough minerals
- Try adaptogenic herbs – ginseng, ashwagandha, rhodiola and reishi mushrooms
- Supplements that may help – vitamin B, vitamin C, omega 3, magnesium, CBD, saffron, rescue remedy and check your iron levels, and L-theanine (found in green tea)
- Avoid caffeine and reduce alcohol.
For more, visit my blog TIPS TO LOWER CORTISOL NATURALLY.
Thyroid
Every cell of your body needs thyroid hormones to function optimally.
There are many underlying thyroid problems that won’t show up in standard labs. For example: thyroid conversion issues, thyroid resistance, or autoimmune attacks against the thyroid (Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease).
Symptoms of Thyroid issues include:
- Feeling tired
- Cold feet, hands, or cold all over
- Requiring extra sleep to function properly
- Rapid weight gain
- Constipation
- Depressed or lack of motivation
- Morning headaches that subside as the day goes on
- Thinning of the outer third of eyebrows
- Excessive hair loss or thinning
- Dry skin
- Brain fog
Your healthcare practitioner can run blood tests to check your thryoid T4 and T3 levels and rule out autoimmune thyroid problems.
Tips to naturally support a healthy thyroid:
- Eat selenium-rich foods
- Eat iodine-rich foods
- Eat fermented or other probiotic foods
- Eat vitamin B12 foods
- Eat antioxidant-rich foods
- Avoid gluten
- Avoid added sugar
Oestrogen
One of the two main female hormones in a woman’s body, alongside progesterone, and primarily associated with female development during puberty and the reproductive cycle. It also affects everything from bone health to emotional well-being.
The ratio of the three forms of estrogen – estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), estriol (E3) – is important for both women and men.
Symptoms of low estrogen:
- Vaginal dryness
- Night sweats
- Depression
- Weak bones
- Irregular periods
- Infertility
- Brain fog
- Recurrent bladder infections
- Feeling lethargic
- Depression
- Hot flashes (particularly during menopause)
Symptoms of high estrogen:
- Bloating
- Rapid weight gain
- Breast tenderness
- Mood swings
- Heavy menstrual bleeding
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Endometriosis
- Depression
- Migraine headaches
- Cervical dysplasia (abnormal pap smear)
- Insomnia
- Brain fog
- Gallbladder problems
Tips to balance oestrogen naturally:
- Avoid factory-farmed animal products
- Pay attention to your personal care products that could contain xenoestrogens
- Speak to your doctor about non-hormonal birth control options
- Triple filter your water
- Keep the digestion working
- Reduce the toxic load with supplements that support the liver and get rid of excess oestrogen – Milk Thistle assists with detoxification, and Sulforaphane aids in optimising detoxification pathways.
- Lose weight
- Reduce stress
- Take Vitamin D. Women should aim for 125mcg, or 5,000 IU, a day. Take it with vitamin K2 for maximum benefit
- Get quality sleep
Visit my blog COMMON HORMONE PROBLEMS AND WHAT TO DO for guidance.
Progesterone
Both men and women need healthy progesterone balance.
It is the other of the two main female hormones, along with oestrogen, and helps regulate the reproductive cycle.
Progesterone helps balance and neutralize the effects of too much estrogen. Without proper progesterone levels, oestrogen becomes out of control, also known as oestrogen dominance.
Symptoms of too high progesterone:
- Regular fluctuation of mood and weight
- Breast tenderness
- Slight dizziness
- Water retention
- Drowsiness
Symptoms of too low progesterone:
- Infertility
- Night sweats
- Sleeplessness
- Irregular menstrual cycles with heavy bleeding
- Weight gain
- Decreased sex drive
Tips to naturall balance progesterone:
- Manage your stress as stress depletes progesterone.
- Decrease inflammation by choosing a nutrient-rich, anti-inflammatory diet containing omega 3 fatty acids, vitamin B and C, avoid refined sugars, gluten and dairy. This will help reduce oestrogen to balance progesterone.
Testosterone
Low testosterone is not uncommon in both men and women and linked to heart disease, low sex drive and breast cancer.
It is produced in small amounts in female ovaries and combined with oestrogen plays a role in female reproduction, growth and health maintenance.
Symptoms of too high testosterone in women:
- Frontal balding
- Acne
- Deepening voice
- Increased muscle mass
- Infertility
- Rogue hairs
- Irregular or absent menstrual periods
- Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).
Symptoms of too low testosterone in women:
- Muscle weakness
- Fatigue
- Sleep disruptions
- Reduced sex drive
- Weight gain
- Fertility issues
- Sluggishness
What men might experience is an over-conversion of testosterone to estrogen which can cause a low testosterone and high estrogen.
Symptoms of this:
- Erectile dysfunction
- Low sex drive
- Weight gain
- Irritability
- Breast enlargement
Tips to balance testosterone naturally:
- For years, women have been encouraged to follow a low-fat diet, but this thinking is outmoded. Good quality sources of fats – including saturated fats – are necessary to stabilise hunger, mood and hormones (and help prevent wrinkles) and proven to boost testosterone levels which women need to keep their sex drive alive and their weight under control.
- Go for grass-fed red meat, butter, ghee, pastured egg yolks, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil, high quality >85% cacao dark chocolate, krill oil, wild salmon, sardines, avocados and avocado oil.
With all reproductive hormones, consult with your healthcare practitioner to have blood tests done and work from there.
Leptin
Your fat cells are an important part of your endocrine (hormonal) system. They produce a hormone called leptin.
One of leptin’s jobs is to tell your brain to use the body’s fat stores for energy.
Leptin resistance occurs when your body – specifically your hypothalamus in your brain – stops recognizing leptin. This can trick your brain into thinking you are starving, resulting in excessive and inappropriate fat storage.
Symptoms of a leptin resistance:
- Rapid weight gain
- Weight loss resistance
- Frequent strong food cravings
- High stress levels
Look out for my blog next month for tips to manage leptin hormone imbalances.
Insulin
Just like leptin, insulin resistance is not a hormonal deficiency but a hormonal resistance.
Most people know insulin resistance when it comes to type 2 diabetes, but insulin resistance can also happen in those who are pre-diabetic.
It is marked by resistance to insulin meaning your body is producing insulin but the insulin is not doing what it should, i.e., shuttling blood sugar into your cells where you can use it.
Instead, this ineffective insulin results in excessive fat storage, making weight loss seem impossible.
Symptoms of insulin resistance:
- Cravings for sweets
- Irritability or lightheadedness if you miss a meal
- Dependence on coffee
- Shaky, jittery, or tremors
- Feeling uncharacteristically agitated, upset, or nervous
- Poor memory
- Blurred vision
- Fatigue after eating
- Sugar cravings
- Waist girth equal to or larger than hip girth
- Frequent urination
- Increased thirst or appetite
- Weight loss resistance
Tips to naturally balance insulin levels:
- Remove sugar and starch for 90 days (including honey, sweeteners, coconut sugar, date syrup all of it) . Whole fresh fruit in season is fine, removing them altogether for a length of time will make you insulin sensitive. Then, you can ease back into eating starchy veggies, fruits, beans, and whole grains with greater metabolic flexibility. But first you need to reset
- Eat meals: Protein, fat and Fibre at each meal. A slice of sourdough with avocado is not a meal, add an egg
- Three meals no snacking, starting the day with protein – each meal 5 hours apart
- Stop using caffeine to suppress your hunger, have it after a meal and that’s it, no coffee as snacks, caffeine in a stressed person raises insulin even slightly. Instead hydrate with water or herbal teas.
- Eating according to circadian rhythms – eat more earlier in the day and less in the evening, insulin blocks melatonin (sleep hormone).
- Take berberine 30 min before each meal
- Sleep is everything – I recommend Ashwagandha, and magnesium before bed, remove blue light.
- Ease down on the cardio and rather walk and three times a week lift weights, I love sculpt yoga
- Calm your central nervous system – this one is HUGE, breathwork, meditation, prayer, journaling, a walk in nature, find your thing and do it daily.
- Cook from scratch, sit down with the family/friends and slow down, chew, bless the food
- Some people prefer to have two meals a day. That is fine IF it doesn’t cause you to binge or drink excess coffee just to get through the fasting periods.
- I like to trace minerals in the morning to assist the adrenals.
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