Hormone imbalance is one of the leading causes of weight gain, low energy, and poor health. What many people don’t know is that what you eat can either hinder or help hormone balance.
When we eat, a chain reaction of hormones are released in order to process and breakdown our food. If we are putting foods into our body that cause disruption of those hormones it can make us feel really awful.
We can also add in foods that help us maintain hormone balance into our lives so that we can stay balanced and feel our best. Below I will list my top 10 hormone balancing superfoods that I keep as staples in my and my family’s every day lives.
What Is a Superfood?
A superfood is a term that is used to describe foods that are considered to be exceptionally nutrient dense or exceptionally good for you. I don’t typically use this word when I talk about food, but for the purpose of this article and to stay on track with mainstream lingo I will use it here.
For me, superfoods are just foods that I know provide great vitamins and nutrients and tend to be healthy and safe for most people to use in their lives.
How Can Superfoods Help With Hormone Balance?
Hormone balance is achieved by eating the right type of foods for your body and eating a well rounded meal every few hours. Eating this list of foods can help you find balance.
Hormone balance is extremely important to looking and feeling your best. What most people don’t know is that hormones are directly linked to the foods you eat. I try to help people learn more about hormones and the foods they should avoid plus the foods they should try to eat regularly for hormone health.
Is Changing Your Diet To Help With Hormone Imbalance Considered a Natural Treatment?
Yes, I have found that changing your diet can be very effective in creating hormone balance, fighting certain lifestyle diseases, and living at your best state of being.
In fact, I truly believe that your diet should be the place you start with when trying to live a balanced life.
List of the Best Natural Hormone Balancing Superfoods
When we think of superfoods, we think of health foods and that is true. These foods you have probably seen listed many times before on lists and in “healthy” food recipes.
I think what is important to know, is that these foods can be more than just grilled veggies or protein on a plate. You can learn to use these foods to create the meals that you love and even grew up on just by changing a few ingredients.
If you’re interested in learning more click here to grab my FREE 3-day hormonal imbalance diet plan.
Fish – Salmon and Small Fish
Certain fish are a great addition to any diet. They have protein and Omega fatty acids that are great for your skin, anxiety, and gut health. A simple and quick meal of fresh salmon is delicious and easy to make.
Other small fish, such as anchovies, are also high in Omega-3s and a great choice for keeping blood sugars and hormones healthy.
Protein – Beef, Pork, & Chicken
Quality, sustainably sourced proteins should be a part of every meal you eat. Protein is broken down in the body more slowly and therefore keeps us full and satisfied. This will also help to keep our blood sugars in check and therefore keeps our hormones level.
Protein is where I am more picky and spend a bigger portion of my budget on. Choosing grass fed and hormone free meats is super important to our health and our environment.
Eggs
Eggs are a great source of protein and help keep blood sugar in check. I start every day with one to two eggs. Eggs are also nutrient rich and keep us satisfied.
For a while there was poor information in the health community about cholesterol that has proven now to not be true. The yellows of the eggs are where all the good stuff is! Eat it.
Also, because the hormone cortisol is highest in the morning, having eggs for breakfast is a great and important way to get your chromones in balance before they get out of whack every day.
Leafy Greens
You have probably heard a lot of hype around leafy greens for a long time. There is a lot of information out there on their benefits, and the truth is – they are true.
Leafy greens like spinach, kale, arugula, and mustard greens are full of benefits, especially for balancing hormones. Gut health and healthy bowels play a significant part of hormonal health.
Leafy greens contribute greatly to helping the bowels function at their best, and I promise you cannot underestimate how much better you will feel with a healthy gut. It will change your life!
Cruciferous Vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables are great for gut health and hormonal health as they provide fiber and folate, and are rich in vitamins C, K and E. Fiber rich foods are slower to breakdown and are not sugar dense.
This means that they help glucose levels stay level and keep you full. Try adding cauliflower rice in the place of white rice or adding some roasted brussels sprouts to your breakfast plate for added fiber and vitamins – they are a surprisingly delicious companion to eggs.
Healthy Fats
One of the most surprising things people learn in my Mindful Elimination Program is how much the oils they eat are affecting their hormonal health. I have taught many people how to change the way that they read a label to learn of the types of oils they are consuming.
Fats are found in everything we eat and are necessary for our health. But so many foods these days are full of unhealthy fats that keep us unbalanced and sick, and we have no idea they are in what we are eating.
They are even in “health foods” and organic foods. I found learning about oils and fats to have been the biggest change in my health journey to date!
Berries
Berries are all-around superfoods and are one of the easiest and simplest superfoods to add to your diet. So many different kinds of berries are readily available to us in stores year-round.
They are also tasty and can be easily added as a side dish, a sweet craving satisfying desert, or to spruce up salads and recipes. Berries help keep insulin in balance, which is so important in our hormonal health. On top of that they also provide antioxidants, nutrients, vitamins, and fiber.
Fresh & Dry Herbs
Fresh and dry herbs not only make your food more tasty, they also provide anti-inflammatory properties. Garlic, ginger, turmeric, and paprika are just a few that are exceptionally good for you and tasty.
If you haven’t tried using these spices before, I encourage you to try some new dishes. Turmeric was a spice that I was surprised to enjoy and many Indian dishes are full of healthy fats, proteins, and anti-inflammatory foods.
You now also find turmeric in many juices as an anti-inflammatory ingredient. It is yummy and simple.
Nuts & Seeds
Nuts are a great source of protein and healthy fats. They are also low in complex carbohydrates and are very filling. I love to add nuts and seeds as toppings to my other foods like vegetables and salads. For instance, adding slivered almonds to green beans.
Seeds and nuts are also my answer to a quick small meal in the afternoon to help keep my blood sugar level and hormones in check. They are a great answer to those afternoon crunchy food cravings!
I also love to eat nut yogurt topped with some fresh fruit for a satisfying and hormone balancing treat. I avoid dairy for many reasons, but mostly hormonal reasons.
Olives
Fermented foods like olives are a great way to keep your gut microbiome healthy. Olives are a great addition to salads, snacks, and proteins to help keep your gut happy.
I always say that our health starts in our gut! Once I got my gut health in check, my health flourished!
Hormone Imbalance Symptoms
Here are some symptoms you may have if you have hormone imbalance:
- extreme fatigue
- weight-gain in the mid-section
- sleep disruption
- moodiness
- a foggy mind
- night sweats
- emotional distress
Things That Can Cause Hormone Imbalance
There are many things that can cause horomonal imbalance. Here are my top three:
- Diet – I cannot stress enough how important diet is to hormonal balance.
- Lifestyle – As a wellness counselor I am always working with people to create healthy lifestyle changes that directly affect their hormones and therefore the way they look and feel.
- Chronic Stress – the stress hormone cortisol is a huge factor in creating hormonal imbalance. The foods you eat directly affect cortisol production.
Can Foods Make a Hormonal Imbalance Worse?
Yes, foods can make hormonal imbalance worse! This is something I work with women on often in my program and in wellness counseling because it is so important.
Women are constantly going through hormone cycles on a daily, monthly, yearly, and lifetime schedule. Women enter into different times in their lives where hormones naturally change.
Many times this causes disruptions and imbalance. If your diet is poor and you are eating oils and other foods that are known hormone disrupters you can make hormonal imbalance worse.
I have seen many women benefit when they are going through hormonal changes from creating a new diet plan that is made to help keep hormones in check.
Can Hormone Balancing Superfoods Help With Period Cramps?
Yes, if you add in hormone balancing superfoods to your diet and eliminate hormone disrupting foods you can feel a difference in your periods – not just with cramping but fatigue, mood, and bloat too.
I want to emphasize though that it is not as much about adding the superfoods as it is about staying away from the foods that harm your hormones.
If you are struggling with hormonal imbalance, try changing your diet and eating the natural hormone balancing superfoods from the list above.
You should also work to eliminate foods that cause hormonal imbalance. It is not enough to add in hormone balancing superfoods alone. If you are eating berries in a smoothie but the smoothie contains fats that are known hormonal disrupters you won’t get the benefits you need from the superfood.
Start to add the list of superfoods to your diet first and then try to eliminate foods that cause hormonal imbalance and you will soon see a HUGE difference in the way that you look, feel, and function on a daily basis.
