Have you ever felt out of the blue?
You perhaps are suffering from hormonal imbalance!
Hormones put a huge effect on your physical, emotional as well as mental wellbeing. They play a huge role in controlling weight, mood, and appetite. While it’s normal to have high and low level of hormones, significant changes are not normal.
So, how will you maintain healthy hormones? Although there are many ways to control imbalanced hormones, some of the natural ones are:
Eat Healthy Fats:
To have a healthy living and to feel better, you should adopt habits that are good for the health and one such is consuming healthy fats. Use coconut oil, grass-fed cow butter, and avocado as a healthy fat instead of other fatty oils. You can also use wild caught salmon, which is also a healthy source of fats that aids in curbing the cause of hormonal imbalance in the body.
While your body uses various fats to produce hormones, healthy fats aids in increased metabolism and can also lead to weight loss.
Omega 3 and Omega 6:
Omega 6 fatty acids like eggs, cereal, whole grain bread, vegetable oil, nuts and even help oil if consumed in high quality can aid in increased inflammation and illness. Moreover, deficiency of omega 3 acids can lead to hormonal imbalance. However, consuming foods like flax seeds, chia seeds, cod liver oil, salmon, mackerel, egg yolk and even walnuts help in balancing that deficiency.
Exercise:
Exercise helps in reducing the insulin level and increasing the insulin sensitivity, plus, aids in maintaining the balance of healthy hormonal. Insulin has many benefits, one being allowing cells to consume sugar and amino acid level from the blood to make energy.
While little insulin is healthy, too much can hamper the health and can cause inflammation. High insulin can also lead to problems like heart diseases, diabetes, and even cancer.
However, exercise can help reduce the increased insulin level from the body. You can try aerobics, cardio, strength training and endurance building exercise.
Limit Caffeine:
Consuming too much caffeine or sugar-rich beverages can hamper health and can have adverse effects on hormones? It affects the sleep and increases heart rate. Plus, it changes the way how the brain uses the hormones in the body.
Consuming high amount of alcohol will hamper the estrogen level in the body and will limit the functioning of pancreas and testosterone in the body.
Furthermore, packed beverages mostly contain a high amount of sugar and aids in insulin resistance especially in the people that are overweight. So avoid them or limit their intake.
Drink Green Tea:
Green tea is one of the healthiest beverages that can cure tons of problems. It contains antioxidants called EGCG ( epigallocatechin gallate) which promotes several health benefits. Moreover, Green tea aids in increasing insulin sensitivity and lowering insulin level in the people who are obese or have health problems like obesity.
No Overeating or Undereating:
Not only overeating aids in hormonal imbalance, but undereating can also put bad effects on hormones. Control your calorie intake as well as your eating habits. While overeating can increase insulin level and decreased insulin sensitivity, calorie-cutting can increase the stress hormone’s called cortisol.
So, eat within your calorie range or keep an eye on weight.
Manage Stress:
Stress can hamper hormones like adrenaline and cortisol which are also called as epinephrine. While cortisol is a stress hormone that helps the body to cope with stress, Adrenaline is called a fight or flight hormone that provide energy to the body. However, the imbalanced level of these hormones can lead to high blood pressure, anxiety and increased heart rate.
To manage it, do regular exercise, get healthy sleep, and try yoga and meditation.
No Refined Carbs:
Refined carbs can put a huge impact on health. However, minimizing the intake of these foods can optimize hormones and aids in avoiding obesity and other diseases. However, consuming a low carb diet or whole foods can reduce insulin level in overweight people. Avoid things like white bread, pretzel and other foods that are rich in refined carbs.
Avoid Sugar:
Sugar intake can lead to many health problems like obesity and diabetes. Moreover, fructose in foods increases insulin level in the body and cause hormonal imbalance. Avoid foods like honey, maple syrup, refined sugar, and other forms of fructose.
Have Protein Rich And High-Fiber Meal:
Increase your protein intake to balance hormone level in the body. Dietary proteins are rich in essential amino acids, and your body can’t make it. So, consume it regularly to have healthy bone, skin, and muscles. Protein also influences the hunger hormone and affects the hormone that controls the appetite. However, protein-rich diet will control your hunger pangs and will make you feel full.
Hormones are very important; your body needs them every aspect of life. However, its imbalance can lead to health problems and can increase the risk of obesity, diabetes, and other problems.
