How to Balance Your Hormones Naturally When Experiencing Hormonal Imbalances
New You Wellness Center | Serving Tomball, Cypress, Spring, and Houston
Understanding the ways in which our body communicates with us can largely affect how well we perform on a daily basis and how quickly we address problems and irregularities that arise. When something is wrong internally, the body will showcase different external signs, helping us understand that something is in need of attention.
The same is true with hormonal imbalance.
Learning how to recognize these imbalances by understanding what our body is communicating can have a profound impact on our physical, mental, and emotional health, helping us to continue living a full, healthy life.
Are You Experiencing Hormonal Imbalances?
By becoming aware of the many different symptoms associated with hormonal imbalances, we can begin making lifestyle changes to restore harmony in our bodies. Here are some of the most common signs and symptoms that you may experience:
- Fatigue—While everyone, at some point in the day, gets tired, there is a difference between being tired and chronically fatigued. If you’re still feeling tired after consistent rest, proper hydration, and a proper diet regimen, you might want to consider getting evaluated for hormonal imbalance.
- Weight Gain or Losing Weight—It’s safe to say that many people struggle to either gain weight or lose weight, especially as they age. However, this can also be indicative of the body experiencing a deeper level of stress, especially when an individual is changing their diet, limiting their intake, or overeating. Such occurrences actually cause the human body to produce more cortisol, which causes the body to store more fat.
- Trouble Sleeping—While there are many different reasons why an individual may struggle to sleep, persistent struggles after intentional intervention may be linked to hormonal imbalance. The sleep-promoting chemical, melatonin, is released in the brain, and therefore connected and impacted by other hormones in our bodies. If other hormones are experiencing a disruption in how they perform, melatonin levels can also be affected.
- Skin Changes—Changes in the skin are another indication of hormonal imbalance. While the onset of puberty typically brings with it acne breakouts and other skin problems, these upsets should subside once puberty passes. However, varying levels of certain hormones can lead to the persistence or recurrence of these skin issues, causing noticeable changes to skin and hair. Having said that, it’s important to know that skin issues may also be attributed to a poor diet. So, making sure your diet is wholesome and healthy can lead to improvement.
- Changes in PMS and Sex Drive—A clear sign of hormonal imbalance involves sex hormones. While men and women are meant to have regulated levels of their sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, DHEA, and testosterone), either can experience varying levels.
- Women: If monthly menses are shorter, longer, unexpected, consist of too much bleeding, or unbearable cramping, such abnormalities are typically considered red flags and worthy of getting a hormone check.
- Men: Men who are suffering from hormonal imbalance typically undergo sexual dysfunction, including a decrease of sexual desire, or the inability to properly hold or achieve an erection.
How to Balance Your Hormones
After recognizing that you may be experiencing hormone imbalance, it’s important to know what you can do to help your body get back on track. There are a number of lifestyle and diet changes that can have a profound effect and facilitate the realignment that’s necessary to getting hormones back to optimal levels.
Eat More Protein—As an important aspect of the human diet, consuming healthy amounts of protein with each meal is essential. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition states that individuals should consume at least 20-30 grams of protein per meal in order to receive the necessary amino acids the human body requires. In addition to this, protein plays a role in impacting the hunger hormone, “ghrelin,” meaning that individuals who increase their protein intake find themselves feeling more full and noticing an increased metabolism and greater fat burning.
Properly Manage Stress—If you are finding yourself feeling stressed on a daily basis, it’s incredibly important to make some life changes. Stress completely debilitates the hormones in the human body, which can lead to an imbalance and affect hormone production. When it comes to stress, there are two specific hormones that are affected:
- Cortisol: The “Stress” hormone
- Adrenaline: The “Fight or Flight” hormone
As you might imagine, individuals that live a stressful life have elevated levels of cortisol and adrenaline, which can lead to debilitating side effects including obesity, high blood pressure, and anxiety. Finding proper ways to manage stress can significantly improve one’s everyday life and help regulate hormone levels. Outlets such as relaxing music, yoga, meditation, exercise, and massages are all ways to naturally and effectively reduce stress.
Eat Healthy Fats—In addition to eating appropriate amounts of protein, incorporating the right amount of healthy fats into your diet can help with both insulin resistance, creating hormones, reducing inflammation, improving metabolism, and aiding with weight loss. The most beneficial type of healthy fat is known as medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs, which can be found in coconut oil, palm oil, or in man-made MCT oil.
Say NO to Sugar—Scientists and nutritional experts highly advise individuals to avoid sugary foods and drinks, especially when it comes to balancing your hormones. While any type of sugar, regardless of its form, is unhealthy for the human body, the liquid sugar found in popular drinks and beverages has been linked to insulin resistance and obesity.
Sleep—In today’s culture, many people take pride in the idea of only sleeping for a few hours, trying to get ahead for the next day of work. The truth is, even if you are eating healthy and effectively managing stress, if the human body does not receive the proper amount of sleep, the body suffers. It has been proven time and time again that individuals who lack sleep experience hormonal imbalances. In Lancet, from London, England, a study was performed linking the impact of the lack of sleep on metabolic and endocrine functions. To properly reap the benefits of sleep, it’s important for the human body and brain to experience at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, giving the brain time to experience all stages of the sleep cycle and to release the growth hormone.
Get Your Hormones Checked at New You Wellness Center Today!
If you are experiencing symptoms of hormonal imbalance, take the time to practice the steps we’ve shared above. Recognizing how your body communicates, what it needs, and implementing holistic approaches to address the imbalances are all essential to optimizing your health and wellness.
Our team at New You emphasizes the importance of treating the whole patient and helping you get your life and hormones back on track. Contact us today for a hormone check and for a custom treatment plan to help you achieve your wellness goals.
Schedule Your Hormone Consultation with New You Wellness Center Today