Disclaimer: I'm not a doctor or healthcare professional. This is not medical advice. Just sharing what I’ve learned from my personal experience with hormonal imbalance and what I've learned from my functional doctor and nutritionist and other functional practitioners online. Everyone's body is different. Go see a trusted and qualified practitioner for your own specific body's needs.
1. Stress is one of the MAIN reasons an estimated 80% of women suffer from hormonal imbalance.
AND STRESS can look like different things. You have most likely stressed out your body and didn't even realize you were doing it. For example:
- skipping breakfast
- eating in a way that causes blood sugar dysregulation
- drinking coffee on an empty stomach
- depriving our body of bioavailable nutrient-dense foods and then becoming deficient in essential nutrients (like protein, minerals, healthy fats for healthy hormones!)
- not managing mental/emotional stress
- not sleeping well enough
I did ALL of these things for most of my adult life. It all has to do with cortisol and our HPA axis which is a whole other video I can make. But basically, excessive/unmanaged stress in any form can cause hormone imbalances.
2. Eating a big protein rich breakfast *transformed* my hormones.
Why? Because hormone balance requires BLOOD SUGAR BALANCE. The whole cortisol/HPA axis connection is so important to breakfast because when we feel satiated and our blood sugar is stable, we feel safe. When you feel safe, your brain doesn't have to signal your adrenal glands to release excess amounts of cortisol (fight or flight) which means more balanced hormones.
3. Generally speaking, strength training is a form of exercise that is most conducive to female hormones.
Muscle is the most insulin sensitive tissue in the body and since so many hormonal imbalances have an underlying blood sugar regulation issue, building muscle is so helpful!
4. Sadly, we've only been taught about the menstrual phase of our cycle, but we have THREE other phases in our cycle called the follicular, ovulatory and luteal phases. You can ✨optimize✨ your hormones and CHANGE your life by syncing your diet, exercise and lifestyle for each phase of your cycle.
#hormonalimbalance #healthyhormones #bloodsugarbalance #cyclesyncing #womenshealth
