10 Ways To Naturally Balance Your Hormones for Energy & Weight Loss
1. Cut back on the sweets and starches. Too many can set your hormones on a wild ride. Even better: eliminate sweets and starches altogether for two weeks to see how your body reacts.
2. Try reducing your grains, legumes and high sugar fruits for two weeks. You may unknowingly be carbohydrate-intolerant. Over-doing it on these carbs can cause metabolic problems for those of us who are insulin-resistant or who don’t process carbohydrates efficiently.
3. Eat Fat. That's right, FAT! Too few good fats on your plate will short-change your body’s ability to produce the hormones that boost energy, feelings of satiety and suppress cravings. Try adding coconut oil and avocado tp your daily menu.
4. Be good to your gut. Your GI tract needs plenty of immunity-supporting fermented foods and fiber to support good bacteria and keep bad bacteria at a normal level. This will not only keep digestion and elimination running smoothly, but help hormone function too.
5. Avoid reactive, inflammatory foods. For starters, stay away from sugar, gluten, processed foods and junk food, as they over-tax your immune system, gut and endocrine system.
6. Sleep more and better. Not enough sleep or poor quality sleep wreaks havoc on your system, limiting your body’s ability to release the hormones necessary to repair, restore and refresh cells as you snooze. The result? A more rapidly aging body and brain. Shoot for 7 to 8 hours a night to enable your hormones to do their job. Also, eliminate all electronic devices (yes, this means phone, iPad and t.v.) 2 hours prior to bedtime.
7. Limit your stimulant intake. Too much caffeine in the form of coffee, energy drinks, sodas, and sometimes even tea or chocolate interfere with the hormones that promote restorative sleep.
8. Minimize chemical exposure. There’s no hormonal upside to ongoing low-level exposure to common chemicals in your food, air, water, household cleaners, personal-care products and cosmetics. In fact, they interfere with optimal hormonal function. Make an effort to switch to the least toxic, most natural products possible to limit exposure to chemicals.
9. Ditch the Drugs. Ongoing exposure to medications, including both over-the-counter remedies and prescription drugs, can stress our microbiomes and throw hormones out of whack. Avoid hormone-disrupting OTC medication and, if you must take prescription drugs, ask the doc to prescribe the smallest therapeutic dose possible, or even all-natural alternatives.
10. Unwind in ways that enhance healthy hormone function. Whether you’re dealing with unremitting life challenges or bouts of intermittent stress, remember to blow off steam regularly. The key to balancing your hormones, and staying more relaxed, fit and trim is to get rid of the stress. Yoga and mindful meditation are excellent modes to achieve relaxation.
Need help with changing your lifestyle and improving your health without drugs? We can do that. Dr Cheryl Kent is your Winter Park and Orlando Chiropractic Physician, Nutritionist and Exercise Physiologist dedicated to helping patients and their families Create Balance, so that they can Live Well. Book online or contact our office today.
807 S. Orlando Ave. Ste T
Winter Park, FL 32789
(407) 670-0890.
