10 ways to balance your hormones naturally

1. Eat more fibre

Fibre increases insulin sensitivity and produces hormones that make you feel more satiated after eating.

Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas and controls how our body stores and uses blood sugar (glucose), it is a vital part of our metabolism.

2. Ditch crash dieting

Crash dieting increases your bodies stress, it raises cortisol levels. You may be able to shock you body and prepare for a healthier eating plan for a day or two but prolonged calorie restriction will have the opposite effect as your body fights to survive.

Eat within your personal calorie range.

3. Stop over eating

Over eating increases our insulin levels and over time reduces our insulin sensitivity which means our pancreas will release insulin but our body won’t use it effectively, this can cause our bodies to store energy rather than use it!

4. Eat enough protein

Protein influences the release of hormones that control your appetite and help you feel full for longer. Protein can increase your metabolism and ability to burn fat.

Eggs are a fantastic source of many nutrients including protein. They also lower insulin and ghrelin levels in the body. Don’t just think of them for meal times, they are a handy portable snack.

Ghrelin is known as the hunger hormone. It stimulates appetite and promotes fat storage.

5. Avoid sugar and refined carbs

Sugar and refined carbohydrates increase insulin resistance and appetite – nuff said?

6. Eat healthy fats

Healthy fats on the other hand help reduce insulin resistance and also help you feel full and satisfied.

7. Stress less

Chronic stress can wreak havoc on your hormones. We, humans, are hard-wired to protect ourselves against threat and predators, life is a lot different now compared to the Stoneage, but this is how it still works:

A small region in your brain called the Hypothalamus sets off an alarm in your body, this alarm communicates with nerves and hormones and prompts the adrenal gland to release hormones including adrenaline and cortisol to boost energy and increase the availability of substances for repair, ie to help you run away and recovery from any injuries sustained.

These hormones alter the responses of our immune system and suppress our digestive system, reproductive system and growth (metabolism) processes. When stressors are always present you can see how this has a detrimental effect on our health.

8. Exercise, but not too much!

Exercise reduces insulin levels. Physical exercise can increase hormones such as testosterone and help maintain metabolism. Exercise also helps manage stress, reducing our cortisol and adrenaline levels, but, too much can have the opposite effect and create stress in our bodies.

9. Get good quality sleep

We need quality sleep to ensure we go through all 5 stages of the sleep cycle. It is when we are asleep that we release our growth hormone which is responsible for maintaining our metabolism.

10. Mind your skin

You aren’t just what you absorb through your digestive tract you are what you absorb through your skin. 70% of what we put ON our skin is absorbed into our bloodstream.

Many cosmetic and pharmaceutical products are packed with Parabens, Sulfates and Triclosan which are used to extend shelf life, reduce bacteria growth and make our products foam. There are also studies suggesting that when some of these manmade chemicals are mixed they become carcinogenic.

Be mindful of products you buy and what you put on your skin (as well as products you use around your home). Ensure as far as possible the ingredients are derived from nature. A great app to use is called ‘Think Dirty’ it scans and list the ingredients in the products and uses a traffic light system to identify the level of toxins in these products.

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