“To control your hormones is to control your life.”

                                                         -Barry Sears

Barry Sears’s quote accurately expresses why knowing how to maintain hormone balance is paramount for every woman out there. When hormones get out of whack and become unruly, it can be jarring for the body. 

Hormone specialist Dr. Sohère Roked compares hormones with the foundations of the body.  If you consider your body as a house, the food you eat, proper sleep, the supplements you take, and physical activities like walking and exercising are the bricks that make you what you are. But sometimes even if you make your house with the best bricks, due to the weak foundation it will be frail. 

These supersensitive chemical messengers control your health, mood, and behaviour. PCOD, mood swings, irregular bowel movements, period cramps, irregular menstrual cycle, unexplained weight gain or loss, and insomnia are some of the adverse effects of hormonal imbalance.

Undeniably, balancing these super-powerful chemical messengers can impact your overall health significantly. And if you believe the experts, it is quite doable. But before we move on to how to manage hormone balance, let’s first talk about what hormone is. 

What is a hormone

Hormones are chemical substances and they act as messengers. The glands and organs that make hormones and secrete them in your bloodstream are together called the endocrine system. Hormones then travel to tissues and organs all over your body through blood. Read on to know what they do to your body. 

What is the main purpose of hormones?

These chemical messengers manage and affect numerous functions of your body. They impact different processes like growth, metabolism, and development. How your body gets energy from the food you eat,  your mood, your sexual health, and your reproductive health depends on your hormones. If your body starts producing too less or too many hormones, it will harm it, and you will have many health issues.

Check these 6 most important hormones and how they affect you:

It is a stress hormone that alerts you whenever you are under stress. Though it helps you by alerting you of imminent dangers, consistently high cortisol levels can create anxiety, stress, irritability, migraines, heart problems, weight gain, insomnia, and brain fogs. 

Insulin is created by your pancreas which regulates the amount of glucose in your bloodstream. It helps your body store excess glucose for energy. If your body doesn’t create enough insulin or it fails to use this hormone well, the sugar level in your blood will rise and you may have diabetes. 

A woman’s ovary releases estrogen. Estrogen is involved in regulating a woman’s period and it impacts your bone, skin, and nail health. It also helps blood clotting. A decrease in estrogen in your body will lead to mood swings and depression. 

Testosterone is another hormone that is produced in your ovaries. Though most of the time it is associated with your sex drive, it has a vital role to play in muscle and bone mass and the distribution of fat cells. Low levels of this hormone mean loss of muscles, low bone density, and low sex drive.

Produced in your brain’s pineal gland, melatonin regulates your sleep cycles. When night approaches this hormone prepares you for sleep. Interruption to natural darkness at night impacts your body’s melatonin levels and thus affects your sleep. For instance, late-night screen timing can disrupt your natural sleep patterns. 

Related to mood and mental health, 90% of the body’s serotonin is produced in your digestive tract. This hormone regulates your sleep, memory and learning ability, digestion, and muscle functions. Low serotonin levels can trigger weight gain, carbohydrate cravings, migraines, and insomnia. But too much of this hormone can create confusion, lethargy, and agitation. 

Other key hormones in a woman’s body are human growth hormone, adrenaline, and thyroid hormones. 

What causes hormone imbalance in women?

A woman’s body undergoes hormone fluctuations naturally during menstruation, puberty, pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause, and perimenopause. But sometimes it can happen due to medications, an underactive and overactive thyroid, eating disorders, stress, and the use of birth controls.

What are the symptoms of hormonal imbalance?

Some of the symptoms of hormonal imbalance are fatigue, slow or rapid heartbeat, irregular bowel movement, constipation, unexplained weight loss or weight gain, numbness and tingling in your hands, depression, anxiety, extreme thirst, dry and coarse skin and hair, darkened armpit or back of the neck, skin tags, frequent urination, high blood cholesterol levels, and irregular body fat distribution. 

Polycystic Ovarian Disease (PCOD) is a disorder that happens when your hormones go whacky.

What is PCOD?

Around one-third of women in the world suffer from PCOD.  So you need to know what exactly it is and what are its symptom to manage it completely. Read on to know more.

Your ovaries are your reproductive organ that controls your menstrual cycle and the production of hormones like estrogen, relaxin, inhibin, and progesterone. PCOD is a condition where a women’s ovaries release eggs that are immature or partially mature.

This release of huge numbers of eggs swells the ovary and makes it release a large number of the male hormone, androgen, leading to infertility. 

In PCOD, your hormones go out of balance which leads to no ovulation, difficulty in conceiving, acne, weight gain, and many other health problems. 

Difference between PCOS and PCOD

Here, you should not get confused about Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and PCOD.  In PCOS, your ovaries produce higher levels of androgen than usual, and it interrupts the development and release of eggs.  Some of these eggs turn into cysts and instead of being released during ovulation, they gather in the ovaries over time and get enlarged.

PCOS is a serious condition that needs the immediate attention of a doctor. But PCOD is not even considered a disease, since with the right diet and exercise you can cure it at home naturally. 

How to know if you have PCOD?

You will know that you have PCOD when you see these symptoms:

• PCOD increases your androgen levels, which is a male hormone. When this happens you will see excess facial and body hair and male pattern baldness.
• Your periods will become irregular due to the abnormality in the maturation of eggs.
• Those who want to get pregnant might have problems as a result of irregular or failed ovulation.
• All of a sudden you will be witnessing weight gain without any reason.
• You will have skin problems like acne and darkening patches on your armpits or the back of your neck.
• You will witness hair loss or thinning of hair which is due to the increase in levels of androgen. 

What causes PCOD?

Family history, lifestyle, insulin resistance (due to genetic factors, being overweight, or a combination of both), inflammation, and excessive weight gain are some of the causes of PCOD.

But don’t get in a fluster hearing all these, as PCOD can be overcome. The only thing you need to do is to bring a positive change to your lifestyle and diet.

How to overcome PCOD

The best treatment of PCOD will focus on bringing hormone balance so that the ovaries reduce secreting a large amount of androgen.

To avoid PCOD and other complications created by hormonal imbalance you need to be committed to adding certain important jobs to your routine. Keep reading to know how you can naturally strike a balance of your out-of-control hormones.

Natural remedies for hormonal imbalance in Women

At any stage of a women’s life, balancing hormones is paramount to leading a healthy life. Hence, here are some  remedies that will help you balance your hormones naturally:

Your gut has good bacteria or microbes that help you manage hormone balance. Healthy microbes reduce insulin resistance and regulate your appetite. Besides, the microbes in your gut regulate estrogen. Studies indicate that poor gut health increases the chances of estrogen-related diseases like breast cancer, PCOS, and endometriosis. Acidity, heartburn is common - so a little conscious eating and exercise keeps your gut health at check.

Weight gain is related to hormonal imbalance. There are easy exercises to keep your weight on check. Weight gain may complicate your insulin sensitivity and reproductive health. Obesity is directly related to insulin resistance and losing weight is associated with improvement in insulin resistance. 

This means if you manage your weight, you will lower the chances of diabetes and heart diseases. Moreover, obesity impacts ovulation which leads to infertility in women. 

Including enough protein in all your meals, lowering your sugar intake, and consuming healthy fats, including fiber-rich food is one effective way to balance your hormones. Eating healthy means there will be no chances of weight gain, and at the same time, it would take care of your gut health. 

A 2014 study notes that exercise goes a long way to balance your hormones. Even a short exercise session can do wonders for your hormones.

Exercise improves the delivery of nutrients and hormonal signals in your body. Most importantly, exercise reduces insulin levels and enhances insulin sensitivity. Those who cannot do rigorous exercise can walk every day to keep a check on unruly hormones.

1. Avoid stress 

A 2017 study pointed out that stress disrupts your endocrine system and hormone balance. It increases the hormones adrenaline and cortisol and this leads to obesity, mood swings, and cardiovascular diseases. Hence, try to avoid stress. 

Cortisol is a stress hormone that helps you cope with long-term stress. How your body responds to stress leads to cortisol production. But enhanced cortisol levels can impact your appetite, and increase your cravings for sugary and high-fat food. This can lead to many health problems like obesity and diabetes.

So whenever you feel stressed, listen to your favourite music, read a book, talk to your friends and family, go for a walk, meditate, or do yoga. In short, do whatever you need to do to calm yourself down.   

Your sleep can impact many hormones like insulin, cortisol, leptin (a hormone that helps different parts of your body work together), and ghrelin (a hormone produced by your stomach and called the hunger hormone). 

Getting enough sleep is the most important factor to stop your hormones from going whacky. If you don’t get proper sleep, it will disturb your hormones and create problems like obesity, high or low appetite, and diabetes.

Smoking can do the unthinkable to your hormones. It can alter thyroid hormone levels, raise the levels of steroid hormone, and stimulate your pituitary hormone.

Apart from these, hormonal imbalance is common during periods,  pregnancy and menopause, and perimenopause. Here’s what you should do to maintain hormonal balance during these stages.

Shatavari is considered as the queen of herbs. Its anti-inflammatory properties reduce inflammation in your body and relax tissues. It has a composition called saponin which is a uterine  relaxant that gives you relief from cramps during periods. 

Adding a supplement is an wonderful idea to balance your hormones. GoYNG Nutrifem is one of the best hormone balance supplement. It has shatavari which is excellent for those who are suffering from PCOS and PCOD.

Shatavari helps maintain a regular menstrual cycle, prevents new cysts from forming, decreases menopausal problems, enhances fertility, regulates mood, and is great during pregnancy, breastfeeding and postpartum.

You have heard innumerable  times that calcium and  vitamin D is essential for your bones’ health. But do you know that vitamin K is equally important for your bones. 

Nutrifem is is packed with calcium, vitamin D and vitamin K and will help you gert rid of fatigue, weight issues, mood swings, PCOD, and knee and  back pains 

How to balance hormones in different stages of your life

Getting enough sleep, keeping yourself active, keeping yourself warm, drinking enough water, and eating complex carbohydrates, healthy fat, and protein can help you keep your hormone balanced during the periods. 

Avoiding caffeine, alcohol, and junk food in your diet and adding food that is rich in antioxidants, and fibre, really help in balancing the hormones. Apart from that, doing moderate exercise, keeping yourself hydrated, getting adequate sleep, and keeping stress away are the best ways to overcome hormonal imbalance during pregnancy.

Manage your stress, exercise regularly, eat foods that support your liver health, have protein-rich food, and add a supplement to your diet that looks after all your nutritional needs. 

Diet plan for hormonal balance

Now that you know the ins and outs of hormonal imbalance and resultant problems, let’s move toward the first and most important step to get control of these superpowerful messengers of your body. 

If you are still confused, I would like to clarify that maintaining your diet is the most important part of your mission to get control over your hormones. 

Check these points to know what foods are good for hormonal balance:

Have foods that are rich in protein. Examples of such foods are chicken breast, wild-caught fish, eggs, peas, lentils, beans, milk, and cottage cheese. Eating good protein triggers the production of peptide hormones, a few of which make you feel full by suppressing your appetite.

Vegetables like carrot, spinach, squash, lattice, broccoli, and fruits like papaya, grapes, guava, berries, mango, and watermelon are rich in vitamins. Meat, dairies, whole grains and legumes, soy foods, fresh fruits, and vegetables are rich in minerals. 

CoQ10 is an antioxidant that your body produces naturally. But if it is produced naturally then why do you need to have food rich in it?

The answer is that it decreases with your age, and it is essential for your growth and development.  Most importantly,  It improves ovarian response and embryo quality. Apart from that, it helps you look younger by improving your skin quality.

The best food sources for CoQ10 are organ meat like liver and kidney, cold press soya oil, nuts and seeds, fatty fish, muscle meat like chicken, vegetables like spinach cauliflower, and broccoli, and fatty fishes.

These nutrients are essential to achieve a hormonal balance, but sometimes you might fail to include all these food in your diet. One better way to get all these nutrients is to add a supplement to your diet. This will give you relief from constantly checking what you have eaten, and what you have missed, which really sounds stressful. 

Conclusion

Your hormone balance is related to your overall health. An imbalance in hormones can increase your risk of obesity, heart diseases, diabetes, and many other conditions. Hence, making “prevention is better than cure” your goal, step into a journey with a healthier and stronger you.

If you think this article has helped you find some answers about how to maintain hormone balance, feel free to share with us in the comment below. 

FAQs

How do I balance my hormones?

Do exercises, have a healthy diet, lower your sugar intake, reduce stress, get enough sleep, and manage your weight to balance your hormones.

What is the main purpose of hormones?

Hormones are chemicals that work like messengers to help your body perform different functions.

How to balance your hormones in a week?

It is difficult to balance your hormones in a week, naturally. It is a slow and time taking process where the amount of exercise you do, the kind of food you eat, and many other factors play a vital role.

What are the natural remedies for hormonal imbalance in females?

Doing exercises, having a healthy diet, lowering your sugar intake, reducing stress, getting enough sleep, and managing your weight are some of the natural remedies for hormonal imbalance in women.

Are there Foods that cause hormonal imbalance?

Processed foods, junk food, red meat, caffeine, and aerated drinks are some of the food that can whack your hormones out.

Why Co10Q is important for women?

 It improves ovarian response and embryo quality, that is why it is so important. Apart from that, it helps you look younger by improving your skin quality.

How does protein affect female hormones?

Studies have found a link between a low protein diet and estrogen levels that can result in autoimmunity and compromised thyroid function.

What should I eat to avoid hormone imbalance?

Eat food that is rich in protein vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.

What can I take naturally for a hormone imbalance?

Along with a healthy diet, you can take a supplement to manage hormone balance.

What are the symptoms of hormonal imbalance in a female?

Fatigue, weight gain, the hump of fat between the shoulders, muscle pain and weakness, and an increase and decrease in heart rate are some of the symptoms of hormonal imbalance in women.