Show
 That it’s normal to suffer through crippling cramps, blinding headaches and skin breakouts when you get your period? That it’s normal for the week before your period to be filled with unpredictable mood swings, tender breasts, bloating and digestion changes? That trying to express yourself can be dismissed as simply “being hormonal”? I want to let you in on a secret:None of the above scenarios are normal. And none of them are simply ‘part of being a woman’. They are a sign that you are suffering from a hormonal imbalance. It is your birthright to expect drama-free periods, stable moods, clear skin and vibrant energy. And it is possible to achieve this naturally. I’m going to walk you through exactly what a hormonal imbalance looks like, what causes it, and the natural solutions to finding balance again. Ready to reclaim your life and be free of period symptoms? Let’s dive in! Signs and Symptoms That You May Have a Hormone Imbalance
Head on over to this blog post, to learn exactly what a healthy period blood colour should be, and how to observe your menstrual blood for signs that your hormones are out of whack. Step #3: Learn How Your Hormones Work TogetherThe first half of the menstrual cycle is called the follicular phase and is where you experience a rise in follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) as several of your follicles (which contain eggs) begin their final race to ovulation. These growing follicles release the hormone estrogen in higher and higher amounts. Luteinising hormone (LH) then triggers ovulation – the bursting open of a dominant follicle. Following ovulation, there is a steep decline in estrogen. The sack which contained the egg begins to secrete another hormone: progesterone which increases and becomes our dominant hormone in the second half of the menstrual cycle which is known as the luteal phase. Each of these two phases last roughly two weeks in a typical cycle. If your cycle is longer than 28 days, the first half of the cycle will be longer, with the second half usually remaining around two weeks. After this second two-week phase, if your egg is not fertilised, the lining which has grown to support a potential pregnancy will be shed in the form of your period. The is accompanied by a sharp drop in all hormone levels as you return to baseline. This bleed becomes day 1 of your new cycle, and the process begins again. As you can see, the delicate balance of hormones throughout the different phases of the menstrual cycle work in concert to orchestrate the process of ovulation and menstruation. This delicate balance can easily become disrupted, leading to hormonal imbalances. Let’s break down the key female hormones further and then explore what happens if they are out of balance. Keen to get started balancing your hormones? Start balancing your hormones in a week with my 7 Day Hormone Reset mini-course.
The first hormone is estradiol – this is the form of estrogen produced in the greatest amounts by women of childbearing age. Estrogen is considered the happy hormone, because it boosts neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which gives us a sense of pleasure and motivation. It is also great for:
Click here to learn how to reverse estrogen dominance naturally. Key Hormone #2: ProgesteroneThe second key hormone is progesterone (which comes from the word “pro” - “gestation”) - the key role of this hormone is to sustain pregnancy; therefore, it is involved in sustaining a healthy uterine lining which is shed in the form of your period if your egg is not fertilised. Some of the benefits of progesterone include:
The third key hormone is testosterone. Although testosterone is usually associated with men, women need it too. In healthy levels, testosterone supports:
The final key hormone for your menstrual cycle is insulin. The role of insulin is to stabilise blood sugar levels, support energy production and distribution, and support your metabolism. When blood sugar levels are not stabilised (think chronic indulgence on high starch and sugar foods), insulin becomes less responsive in the body and can cause the following:
When there is an excess of estrogen in your system, this can lead to heavy and painful periods, sore breasts, PMS, and weight retention around thighs and hips. The causes of estrogen excess include higher production from ovaries and poor metabolism and detoxification. Low estrogen can also have negative effects on your health, which include low libido, missing periods, or very long cycles. The causes for low estrogen include under-eating, over-exercising, stress, and smoking. The consequences of low progesterone include PMS, spotting before period begins, anxiety, and prolonged bleeding. The causes of low progesterone include stress and not ovulating. Having high testosterone can cause acne, male pattern hair growth, hair loss, and irregular cycles. It is associated with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is associated with irregular cycles and excess androgens (male hormones). Think you might have a hormone imbalance? Take my FREE 3-minute quiz to find out which one is causing your annoying symptoms (plus receive your personalised guide to healing your imbalance INSTANTLY)
Balancing your hormones is a complicated process and takes time. It will often take up to 3 menstrual cycles to fully experience the benefits of bringing your hormones back in to balance. Unfortunately, there isn’t one quick fix or magic solution which will fix all of your period problems. Addressing diet, lifestyle, stress, exercise, mindset and emotional and spiritual health are the cornerstones to improving your hormone health. To get you started, I’m sharing my top 6 tips to begin balancing your hormones naturally. These are a great place to start if you are new to hormonal imbalances, and will give you a taste of addressing your symptoms naturally. Eating large amounts of processed sugar and refined carbohydrates (like cakes, pastries, lollies/candy and soft drink/soda) can lead to insulin resistance. This is where your body gets tired of receiving the signal that your blood sugar is high, and becomes less responsive to it. Excess insulin production causes inflammation in the body and increased production of testosterone from the ovaries. This can lead to irregular cycles, acne and hair growth on the face. reduce your intake of processed sugars like:
Hormone Balancing Tip #1: Get off the sugar roller coasterEating large amounts of processed sugar and refined carbohydrates (like cakes, pastries, lollies/candy and soft drink/soda) can lead to insulin resistance. This is where your body gets tired of receiving the signal that your blood sugar is high, and becomes less responsive to it. Excess insulin production causes inflammation in the body and increased production of testosterone from the ovaries. This can lead to irregular cycles, acne and hair growth on the face. reduce your intake of processed sugars like:
Having balanced blood sugar means that your body produces a normal insulin response when you consume food. A balanced meal includes good quality fat, protein, and fibre. A balanced plate might look something like this: 1⁄2 of your plate greens and vegetables 1⁄4 of your plate good quality protein 1⁄4 of your plate complex carbs (whole-grains and vegetable starches) 1-2 tablespoons of healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds) Here at Nourished, we wanted women to have an easy way to get started on their blood sugar balancing journey. We created a 100% natural vitamin for you to get started on your journey. Click the button below to see more info and add our Blood Sugar Balance vitamin to your cart. Our liver and gut are the two major organs responsible for breaking down and clearing hormones once they have been used in the body. It's so important that these systems are working properly to prevent build-up of hormones which contributes to hormonal imbalances. Here’s a brief overview of how to support these two systems of detoxification. LIVER SUPPORT:
DIGESTION SUPPORT:
You can also consider supplementing with our Hormone Detox and Digestion vitamin. It’s 100% made in the USA, GMP certified, FDA approved and 100% natural! Did I mention there’s free shipping worldwide?
Stress wreaks havoc on our hormones, particularly our production of progesterone. Progesterone is produced from the same building blocks as our stress hormone cortisol (our stress hormone). When we are stressed, our body ramps up its cortisol production and slows down on progesterone, contributing to a number of hormonal imbalances. For many of us, we have little control over the stressors that are thrown on us on a day to day basis. The key then to managing stress is learning how to change your relationship with stress. Shifting your mindset around stress is the cornerstone to changing the way that it affects your body. Try some of the strategies to help you manage stress:
When it comes to supplementation, ashwagandha is an incredible natural solution. Here at Nourished we have created the purest ashwagandga supplement on the market, our Calm + De-stress vitamin. It is made in the USA, FDA certified and 100% natural.
The above suggestions will go a long way to improving your body's production and elimination of hormones. Consider these initial steps as the 'ground work' for hormone balance. If you have implemented all of these tips, your next step is to consider adding 1 or 2 high quality supplements in to your regime (Important note: please check with your health care provider before starting any new supplement regime) Magnesium: wonderful in helping the body cope with chronic, ongoing stress as magnesium is used in the stress response. Magnesium bisglycinate form is best for most people as it causes the least disturbance to digestive symptoms. 300mg per day is an effective dose for most people. Zinc: Great for acne and digestive issues. 30mg per day in citrate or picolinate form after food (taking on an empty stomach can cause nausea). Iron: great for heavy periods, low iron stores and fatigue. Please have your iron levels checked through a simple blood test which can be requested through your health care provider. Bisglycinate form is best as it causes the least digestive issues. 24mg every second day away from caffeine is a good dose for most people. Here at Nourished, we have created a high quality all round vitamin to support your hormonal health. Our Period Repair + Regulate vitamin is designed to support your period throughout your cycle. All of our vitamins are 100% natural and FDA approved. We offer free global shipping on any order size, so give it a try. Our patriarchal work culture has been built around the masculine energy of high productivity every day of the month. Unfortunately, women are not designed to operate like this. Our menstrual cycles mean that we naturally go through phases of high energy (around ovulation: mid cycle) and slower, more introspective times (around menstruation). Learning to identify and respond to these subtle energetic changes can revolutionise your productivity and output throughout your cycle. When first becoming aware of your changing energy throughout your cycle, start by taking time to truly rest at menstruation. Even if this means for just one hour – asking someone to watch your kids, going to bed early, taking a bath or reading a book instead of tidying the house. I guarantee if you can take some time for some self-care at menstruation, you will be rewarded with overflowing energy, productivity and creativity at your next ovulation time. Your highest energy levels will be during ovulation (mid cycle). This is when your productivity and focus will be at their highest. You will feel like connecting with others and being social. This is the time to schedule big meetings, important life decisions, parties and social gatherings. Use this energetic burst to achieve things on your to-do list that then allow you to slow down and rest during your menstruation. Keen to dig your teeth into even more period loving content?
Signs of hormonal imbalance include irregular periods, painful periods, acne breakouts, premenstrual mood changes (like feeling teary, angry, irritable or sad in the days before your period), breast tenderness, food cravings and digestion changes around the time of your period. It may also include symptoms during your period like very heavy bleeding, spotting, ‘flooding’ (extremely heavy periods), missing periods, and periods that start, then stop, then start again. The quality of your menstrual blood also provides insight into how balanced your hormones are. Very dark clotted blood may indicate estrogen excess, while light pink, watery blood may indicate low estrogen.
The most important thing to eat to balance hormones is healthy fats (think avocado, oily fish like salmon, raw nuts and seeds, olive oil and organic meats). This is because your hormones are literally built from fat, so undereating fat or following a low-fat diet means you aren’t providing your body with the building blocks it needs to create hormones. Over time this can lead to hormonal imbalances. A hormone balancing diet also includes plenty of leafy greens (like kale, rocket, spinach) because these provide many nutrients needed for regular ovulation, along with good quality protein (like grass-red and/or organic meats, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds). Finally, you also need to consume moderate amounts of slow-release carbohydrates like sweet potato, pumpkin, quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice and beetroot. Eating this way makes sure your body receives all of the nutrients it needs to ovulate regularly and create balanced hormone levels.
When it comes to lowering estrogen naturally, the two most important strategies to focus on are supporting your digestive health, and liver detoxification. This is because once estrogen has been created in the body and exerted the effects it is designed for, it is sent to the liver to be deactivated, and then to the bowels to be excreted. If either of these organs aren’t functioning effectively, the estrogen can be reabsorbed rather than excreted and contribute to excess estrogen in the body. Make sure you are pooping every day to get your estrogen out, and support you liver detoxification pathways by eating plenty of leafy greens which are rich in magnesium and B-vitamins – crucial nutrients for your liver health.
Estrogen levels can be balanced by supporting your natural estrogen detoxification pathways.
Hormone levels can be checked in a number of ways. You can take my free hormone imbalance quiz to get an idea of your most likely imbalance and received a personalised report with tips to get started straight away in addressing your imbalance. If you would like more in depth information, you can visit your health care provider to request a blood test which will look at your levels of your female reproductive hormones (estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, FSH and LH). This will give you a baseline for where your hormones were on that particular day. If you’d like to go even deeper, I suggest talking to a natural health care practitioner about ordering a D.U.T.C.H test (dried urine test for comprehensive hormones) which provides much more in-depth information about the individual metabolites of each of these hormones mentioned above (i.e. it tells you how well your body is breaking them down). This helps you to hone in on where your body may need individual support.
Fixing a hormonal imbalance involves addressing your diet, lifestyle, liver detoxification, digestive health and emotional wellbeing, as well as addressing any individual hormonal imbalances that need to be corrected. Applying the foundations first (like eating a hormone-balancing diet, taking care of your stress levels, engaging in gentle, regular exercise and getting enough rest) might not sound like important steps, but without this groundwork in place, it’s unlikely you will be able to truly address the root cause of your issues and prevent them from coming back.
Tamika Woods | Nutritionist For a decade, Tamika battled chronic acne, irregular cycles, mood swings, hair loss, painful periods, severe digestive issues and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). You name it - she's been there!Tam was finally able to clear her skin, regulate her cycle, be free of period pain and fall pregnant naturally with her daughter in 2020. It took Tam 10 years and tens of thousands of dollars in tertiary education to get the answers she needed to get better. She didn’t want other women to suffer as long as she did which is why she has dedicated her life to helping women in the same position as she was.Tam helps women interpret what their bodies are trying to communicate through frustrating symptoms, and then develop a step-by-step roadmap to find balance again. She's here to help you get on track! Tamika Woods holds a Bachelor of Health Science degree (Nutritional Medicine) as well as a Bachelor of Education, graduating with Honours in both. She is a certified Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) Educator and a certified member of the Australian Natural Therapists Association (ANTA). |
How to fix hormonal imbalances
Postagens relacionadas
direito autoral © 2024 estudarpara Inc.
