Over the years I have read several books and many articles online about tips for improving hormonal health that seem to make things overly complicated, in my opinion, and potentially, when followed, end up doing more harm than good. These protocols advocate for eating only a very specific list of foods in addition to suggesting very specific forms of exercise and other life habits for each phase of your cycle. While I think there is some truth to these suggestions (for example, basic principles like eating iron-rich foods like red meat and doing lower intensity exercise when you are on your period) that can be helpful, I generally think extensive, black-and-white protocols like this way overcomplicate things, adding unnecessary stress, rigidity, and confusion. This is the LAST thing you want if you are having hormonal problems, as the root of a lot of hormonal imbalance issues is unhealthy stress (in any and all forms – physical, mental, emotional, environmental etc.).

SO… in the spirit of making things LESS complicated and hopefully MORE effective, I have for you in this post ten of my top tips for hormonal health. Between an eating disorder, recovering from an eating disorder, lots of other life stress throughout college and beyond, and genetic predispositions to certain hormonal issues, I have (unfortunately in many ways!) plenty of experience dealing with hormonal imbalance myself. NOT FUN as hormones affect basically everything.

Thinking broad picture, when thinking about hormonal health, we want to reduce (unhealthy) stress in all the major areas that contribute to our “stress buckets” being too full – this includes taking a well-rounded look at things like nutrition, exercise/movement, sleep, emotional stress, and our environments.

Let’s dive into more details – think of this as a “mini guide” for getting started, taking small steps over time. Sit back, grab a cup of coffee, or ingest in doses and come back as needed as a resource, as I have lots of information for you here!

10 Whole-Person Tips for Hormonal Health:

1. Eat enough. If you are chronically undernourished, you are not going to have balanced hormones. Period. (No pun intended). However, this CAN be addressed. Our bodies need adequate FOOD/nutrition for the building blocks to make hormones. If your body is overly stressed, *such as through under-eating*, one of the first things the body does in an effort to conserve energy is shut down the menstrual cycle and decrease reproductive hormonal production. This is because in times of undernourishment and stress the body needs to conserve energy for absolutely essential bodily functions like keeping your heart beating and your brain working. That’s not to say healthy levels of hormones aren’t very important to good health – they are – it is just to say that your body can’t handle the potential of having a baby (pregnancy/birth requires a LOT of energy/nutrition) when it is undernourished and overly stressed – hence the decrease in reproductive hormones. Thus, it is ESSENTIAL to be eating enough if you want balanced and healthy hormones. This includes enough food with ALL the macronutrients – fat, protein, and carbs are all essential. If your diet is low in any of the three macronutrients, I highly recommend increasing as consuming enough of each macronutrient is key. Favorite hormonal balancing foods I would recommend include (organic when possible) red meat, wild-caught salmon, eggs (don’t skip the yolk!!), whole-milk dairy products, oils, butter, avocado, nuts and seeds (esp. flax seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds, and chia seeds), and regular and sufficient carbohydrate consumption throughout the day. Be sure to address any disordered eating patterns (working with an RD if needed!) that are preventing you from eating normally – normal eating looks like eating enough, eating regular desserts/fun foods, not avoiding foods out of fear, etc.

   

2. Eat regularly. Building off my previous point, in addition to eating enough, it is also important to eat regularly. While each person is different, this generally looks like eating every 2-4 hours – usually 3 meals and 2-3 snacks throughout the day depending on your needs. If we go too long without eating, this also puts our bodies in a place of unnecessary and unwanted stress. While it is normal for this to accidentally happen on occasion (even with efforts to be prepared and to minimize this), if this is a regular occurrence, going too long without eating will lead to undernourishment, stress, and a decrease in hormonal production. Another point I will make here is that cortisol (the main stress hormone), when made in excess, actually “steals” the precursor to progesterone, a key female hormone. In other words, one of the main precursors for cortisol and progesterone is the same and more of this precursor is diverted to cortisol production when we are chronically stressed and therefore less is diverted to progesterone production. This is known as the “progesterone steal”. All the more reason to eat enough, eat whenever you are hungry, and to eat regularly! Without enough progesterone we will not get our periods and/or have balanced hormones.

   

3.  Eat a variety of foods. Eating a wide variety of foods will help to prevent any micronutrient deficiencies, as making sure our vitamin and mineral levels are in a good/optimal place is important for hormonal health. Key micronutrients to focus on especially for hormones include zinc (sources include red meat, nuts, and seeds), iron (sources include red meat, spinach, and dark chocolate), vitamin D (sources include salmon, trout, eggs, and fortified dairy products), and selenium (eat one brazil nut each day!). The key here is to eat a variety of colors, protein/fat/carbohydrate sources, and to address any disordered eating patterns that are preventing you from eating certain foods.

   

4. Eat fermented foods. Many studies have shown a link between our gut health and our hormonal health. Regularly eating fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and tempeh are helpful to incorporate into your diet to foster a healthy gut microbiome balance. I would also recommend trying a high quality probiotic, like this one by Seeking Health.

   

5. Focus on sleep. This one is huge. If we aren’t sleeping well on a regular basis, our hormones are going to be out of whack. I would say this tip is probably the most foundational to all the others, meaning, if you aren’t sleeping well, none of the other tips can fully overcome that deficit. I know from experience that getting high-quality sleep is often much easier said than done! Think about small, incremental changes that can be made given your circumstances and season of life. Can you focus on going to bed and getting up at a similar time each day? Calming down with some relaxing music or reading before bed? Seeking out a counselor for any anxiety or obsessive thinking that make sleeping challenging? Showing yourself compassion when you can’t sleep or are in a stage of life (newborn, pressing deadline, etc.) when sleep is harder to come by? Focus on sleep, and also try not to overly stress about any current difficulty with sleep!
6. Grow in managing mental and emotional stress. Life is full of challenges and stressors, whether it is a new semester, new job, relationship conflict, busy schedule, or general and persistent underlying anxiety. We can work to eliminate or reduce certain life stressors, but life has a way of constantly introducing new ones and it is important to continually be growing in adapting to stress and change and managing our emotions in a healthy way. While this topic could certainly be a whole other blog post in and of itself, one thing to think about is ways to incorporate fun and joy into your days and weeks. Spontaneity, adventure, creativity, and connection do wonders for our stress levels and thus hormonal health!

   

7. Exercising an appropriate amount for you. This tip is highly individualistic. If you are in recovery from a restrictive eating disorder, I would recommend taking a full break from all formal exercise and limit movement in general. This is often very challenging to work through but is an important and (in my opinion) often necessary part of recovery. If you are not getting your period or have inconsistent/irregular cycles, I would also recommend taking a break from all intense exercise and doing only some light yoga and walking. For the general, well-nourished person with balanced hormones, moderate exercise in ways YOU ENJOY(!) can be beneficial for continued hormonal health. For hormonal health (and well-being in general), it can be beneficial to exercise outdoors (vitamin D, sunshine, nature – helps with circadian rhythm, boosting mood, etc.), engage in some light strength training, and practice more mindful exercise like yoga or pilates. But most importantly, find a way to exercise that brings you JOY and feels good to your body!

   

8. Get off hormonal birth control. There are many reasons why I am not a fan of hormonal birth control – however, for the purposes of this post, I would consider getting off hormonal birth control if you are wanting to focus on your hormonal health. Many doctors prescribe birth control when women aren’t getting their periods as a “solution” to the problem. THIS IS NOT A SOLUTION! Birth control pills are a band-aid to the problem, masking the real issue, by giving you a medication-induced period and doing nothing to address the underlying problem. Once you get off the birth control you will likely still not have your period (or if you had regular periods before, the birth control can also mess with that). Artificially inducing hormones into your body and/or using them to mask an underlying hormonal problem are not healthy hormonal practices, in my opinion.
9. Think about your environment. Consider environmental factors like the kinds of makeup/lotion/skincare you use, buying organic food if that is an option, filtering your water, and keeping your air clean and home free of mold. You can certainly go crazy trying to avoid any and all toxins that might be messing with your hormones, so I suggest starting with small and feasible changes, like opening your windows more often to let in fresh air and switching your most-used makeup products to something more natural. Consider working with a functional medicine doctor if you think your environment is a large factor in your hormonal and health issues and are wanting more help in this area.
10. Consider targeted supplementation. I saved this tip for last because this is also something that you can easily go crazy with, and can easily buy a myriad of supplements to try, ending up spending a lot of money with little to no benefit. After you have been working on improving your sleep, stress levels, eating enough, and engaging in appropriate exercise (if applicable), and things are still not improving, I would then think about adding a supplement or two. Certainly if you know you have any micronutrient deficiencies, it can be helpful to supplement and address these right away in addition to focusing on consuming more food sources of the nutrient. Other supplements I would recommend are vitamin D drops (many of us are deficient or not as high as is optimal even if we are in the “normal range”), a daily brazil nut, and potentially Inositol powder. It is, of course, a good idea to work with your doctor or dietitian when introducing any supplements!

To wrap things up, it’s helpful to take a step back and think big picture. Yes, women’s hormones can be complicated and finicky, which is why I included some more detail in this post, but I generally think that BASIC practices like sleeping well, eating enough, and not exercising in extremes go a LONG way in getting your hormones to where they need to be. Our bodies are quite resilient when we are giving them the nutrients, rest, and care that they need!