The symptoms of hormone imbalance in women are infinitely long and varied. Mood swings, fatigue, night sweats, insomnia, hot flashes, brain fog, skin problems, and weight gain do not even cover the tip of the iceberg with the symptoms of hormonal imbalance. If you are suffering through perimenopause, menopause, or post-menopause with a plethora of symptoms, you may run straight to your doctor to get relief from a medication she may prescribe. Or, if you are like me, you spend hours researching natural ways to combat your symptoms.
Some women breeze through “the change” with little difficulty. My journey has been tumultuous—experimenting with methods such as acupuncture, essential oils, and grounding. While these are solid practices, I saw a pattern of wellness emerge when I consistently performed the following 7 steps:
- Eat to nourish your body. A healthy diet is the foundation of your body’s homeostasis. In the garden, God gave them plants, nuts, and seeds to eat. We have gotten away from eating healthy foods such as fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. Eating a primarily plant-based diet, avoiding sugar, consuming high-quality proteins, and drinking lots of quality filtered water will help your body function the way God intended.
- Eliminate certain foods and drinks. This may hurt some people’s feelings, but caffeine and alcohol are two culprits that are well-known sleep disruptors. Alcohol makes you feel drowsy, but then the effects wear off, and you are awake at 3 a.m. Caffeine is great for morning activities but try to limit yourself to one cup and don’t drink caffeine after lunch. Hot drinks and alcohol can trigger hot flashes in some women. The only way to find out is to eliminate them for 2 to 4 weeks. Food allergies often go undetected because there may not be a huge reaction. Big offenders are gluten, dairy, and grains. Try eliminating these foods one at a time for 4 weeks and see how you feel. While I am not allergic to dairy, I am sensitive to it and function much better when I do not consume it.
- Supplement for deficiencies. Unfortunately, we cannot get all our nutrients from food due to soil depletion. The earth does not make nutrient-dense food like it used to, so we must identify our deficiencies. Lab testing can help with that. Did you know that approximately 1 billion people worldwide have a vitamin D3 deficiency? I could write a whole blog post on this alone, but please make sure you get your vitamin D3 checked. Functional medicine doctors recommend a blood level >60 ng/mol for optimal health. Other deficiencies to check for are magnesium, B vitamins, and folate. These three play significant roles in mood stabilization and nervous system function. Besides vitamin supplementation, many women find relief by adding adaptogens. Adaptogens are herbs that can help a person cope with life stressors. Examples of adaptogens are American ginseng, ashwagandha, astragalus, cordyceps, goji berry, holy basil, turmeric, and licorice root. I recommend buying high-quality supplements with no fillers or binding agents such as magnesium stearate or vegetable stearate.
- Exercise. What kind of exercise is best? The kind you will do. I enjoy walking, biking, stretching, and strength training. Getting the body moving helps combat stress. If you struggle with excess weight around your middle, that may come from too much estrogen or cortisol—or both. Cortisol production can be made worse from excessive exercise, so do not overdo it. Yoga is a great way to relax, exercise, strengthen the body, and reduce excess cortisol. Check out the Christian yoga products at https://christianyoga.com/.
- Avoid Plastics and other hormone disruptors. Xenoestrogens are foreign estrogens that make their way into our bodies in the form of chemicals from plastics, cleaning agents, cosmetics, hair products, lotions, fingernail polish, candles, perfumes, etc. The way we manage something as simple as leftovers has the potential to damage our health. Using plastic wraps, plastic baggies, and plastic food containers allows harmful xenoestrogens to leech into our food and drinks, disrupting the balance of our hormones. Cosmetics, soaps, and hair products contain SLS, parabens, PEG, and many other hormone disruptors. Most products we use to clean our homes contain dangerous chemicals that affect our hormones negatively. I use the Environmental Working Group’s website (ewg.org) to check for product safety before buying a product.
- Daily meditation on good things. Meditation is beneficial for many reasons. Focusing on God’s Word using scriptures, devotionals, and affirmations (what God says about us as believers) has probably made the most impact in my life through this journey. Along with my daily Bible study and prayer, I take 10-15 minutes to sit in a comfortable chair with my eyes closed and focus on true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy thoughts. Some days I may say one verse over and over, or I may think about walking and talking with Jesus. During this time, if my mind wanders, I take that thought captive to Christ. I continually renew and train my mind. This habit carried over to my thought life and really changed me.
- Live connected. There are days I could easily curl up on the couch and completely shut out the world. But I discovered that connecting with others—especially women—has been the best medicine! God says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength” (Proverbs 17:22, NLT). It is good to go out, laugh, and have fun. Laughing increases endorphins, the “feel-good” hormones. We were created for connection, so plan social time with friends regularly.
Albert Einstein said, “The definition of insanity is doing the same things over and over again and expecting different results.” I was guilty of this. I did not change anything and woke up day after day wondering why I did not feel good. When I practiced the steps outlined above consistently, I reached a level of hormonal balance like never before. Again, consistency is the key to success!
If you would like more resources to balance your hormones, please check out my book, Hot Flashes and Jesus and my previous blog, How to Balance Hormones During Menopause.
Renee Norris is a naturopathic practitioner and author from Orange Beach, Alabama. She enjoys beach walks, biking, paddle boarding, and spending time with her large family. Please check out her website here.
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Well articulated useful information. Thank you.
Thanks so much. I am glad you found it helpful.