Balancing hormones naturally has been part of my personal development journey since day one.
Personally, I’ve done the whole 360 when it comes to my hormones – going on and off the pill, dealing with adult acne, dry skin, thinning hair and the whole gelato – which is no fun at all.
Once these symptoms show up on your face (in the form of dry skin, acne, rashes what have you), it’s a sign that your body is unbalanced.
Your body is trying to tell you something and wants you to listen and pay attention to it.
I never really listened to this voice before and I kept on living my life as usual.
This was at the beginning of my twenties so I was, of course, binging on sugar, coffee and indulged in whatever I was craving.
Oh to be young, eh?
It wasn’t until fairly recently that I discovered the way of living more holistically and that it’s totally possible to heal the body naturally, from the inside out through detoxing.
It all starts with nutrition and lifestyle.
Disclaimer – I am in no way a medical practitioner. The information in this article is my own experience and general information. Please see a naturopath or a doctor before you make any huge adjustments to your lifestyle. Everyone is different.
You Are What You Eat
Diet is at the core of a balanced body. If you are feeding your body with rubbish, your body will act and feel like rubbish and this shows on your skin and on your body.
Foods To Avoid –
The following foods are known to disrupt your hormone balance.
- Refined sugar (in any form – this includes the sugar added to your favorite flavored yogurt)
- Gluten and wheat (pasta, bread and all that good stuff)
- Processed foods
- Dairy
- Alcohol
Coffee is debatable. I’m struggling so much to give this up because coffee is one of my true joys in life. So, yes, I do drink one cup of coffee every morning and it’s my favorite time of my day. Gotta enjoy life a little, eh?
Please note that this doesn’t mean that you can never have sugar EVER again. This is just until your hormones find their balance, which can take a few months. Again, everyone is different.
Foods You Can Literally Swim In –
- Nuts (walnuts, almonds, cashews)
- Fruits
- Vegetables (cruciferous vegetables are especially great for skin – like kale and broccoli)
- Leafy Greens
- Beans
- Lentils
- Amazing fats like avocados, extra virgin olive oil, coconut oil and fatty fish
- Organic meat
- Seeds – sunflower, chia, flax, and sesame
- Sweet potatoes (contains Vitamin A which can help with acne)
- Quinoa
Zzz…
Sleep is obviously essential for a body that’s undergoing detox, is unbalanced and for anyone who is alive and breathing, really.
It’s important to get at least 6 hours of sleep every night, so your body has time to recharge and get ready for the next day.
Natural Skincare
Keeping your skincare and make-up toxin-free is crucial to balancing your hormones.
Make sure you are buying green and clean cosmetics.
The things you put on your skin has just an as big effect on your hormones as what you put in your body, so be mindful of the cosmetics and skin products you buy and be sure to check the list of ingredients.
Avoid any products that have the following ingredients:
- Fragrance, of any kind
- BHA
- Sodium lauryl sulfate
- Triclosan and Triclocarban
- Parabens
- Polyethylene
- Hydroquinone
- Oxybenzone
- Petroleum distillates
We want safe and clean options, girls. Better yet, make your own skin care products using natural and organic ingredients only.
Drink Plenty of Water
Get that H2O flowing.
If you are coming off birth control or going through any type of detox, it’s extra important to drink enough water so you can flush those toxins out of your system.
Try and drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
Start your mornings by drinking two glasses of water. This will also help to wake you up. Your body has been dehydrated for 7-9 hours, so it needs water to replenish and wake up.
Tip – Drink lemon water in the morning for the added detox effect from the lemons. I usually squeeze about half a lemon with my hot water.
Natural Supplements
While nutrition is very important, it can also help to boost your detox by taking natural supplementation.
Natural supplements that help with hormonal imbalance:
DIM (Diindolylmethane) can help you kick out the bad estrogens of your system and help with the hormonal imbalance. It is essentially an extract taken from the cruciferous vegetable broccoli and it is completely natural.
I personally have started using EstroBlock and have had good results with it so far.
Vitamin E has antioxidant properties that can decrease PMS symptoms, fight free radicals and prevent disease. Oh and also help you with glowing skin. YAS QUEEN!
Magnesium can help with PMS, PCOS, thyroid support, adrenal fatigue, and anxiety. Ovulation becomes irregular and your hormones won’t be at the levels they need to without magnesium. Magnesium is a big part of what actually create your hormones.
Zinc is necessary for creating and maintaining hormones and is associated with testosterone, estrogen, thyroid hormones (T3 & T4), progesterone and growth hormones.
In other words, if you ain’t got zinc you need to get on the zinc-train.
If you are on birth control you are especially in need of hopping on this train, because the pill suppresses zinc.
Selenium is praised for its antioxidant properties and says to help with both male and female fertility, for optimal thyroid function, cognitive function and better the immune system.
If you are coming off birth control you are most likely deficient in vitamin B. This is because the pill does a heck of a good job at suppressing it when you’re on it.
When you get off your body is completely depleted from it. Taking a solid B Complex is great for your health. Without it, you will feel low in energy and fatigue.
Flaxseed oil is a great source of Omega 3 if you’re a vegan. One teaspoon a day will give you your daily needed dosage.
Investing in a good probiotic is a good idea when you have a hormonal imbalance. A great way to get good bad bacteria and improve gut health, which again has an impact on our hormone levels.
Sweat It Out
Get in a little light to moderate exercising weekly.
Don’t go overboard with your workout routine – this will actually have a counter effect on your hormones.
Sweat a little weekly to help flush out the bad stuff.
Go for a brisk walk, dance it out or run a couple of miles every other day.
Drink Your Herbs
Replace your coffee after lunch with healing herbal teas.
Experiment with different ones to find one that you enjoy.
Licorice root is, for example, amazing for inflammation and so is turmeric.
My favorite herbal teas:
- Element Tea with Ashwagandha
- Golden Tea with Tumeric
- Pukka with Licorice root
- The Republic Of Tea with Dandelion root
- Holy Basil tea
- Lemon Ginger herbal tea
Self-care <3
Make sure you take some time out of your busy day to care for yourself.
Whine down with a little mindfulness, take a soothing bath, do a little light yoga or cozy down with a good book to help your mind wander away from your current imbalance and struggles. Implementing a little self-care can go a long way when learning how to balance your hormones.
Here are some great ideas for self-lovin’ – 57 Helpful Self Care Ideas For When Life Is Tough
Go see a naturopath
Before you make any adjustments to your lifestyle, it’s a good idea to make an appointment with a naturopath.
She can help you determine which supplements you should be taking, what foods to avoid and what other adjustments you should make to your current lifestyle to heal your imbalance.
You are unique and so are your hormones, so find the underlying cause for your imbalance.
Ask to take a hormone test (saliva or urine is best) to find out just what hormones are out of balance. This will help your healing and speed up the process because you are targeting the right cause of your imbalance.
Before You Go
This article is a little different but I wanted to share my own hormonal journey with you and I hope that you found it helpful so that you too can implement some of these strategies to balance your own.
We are all different, which is a beautiful thing, so all of these methods may not work for you.
However, these are things that have certainly helped me and will hopefully help balance your hormones naturally as well.
I wish you the best of luck on your hormone balancing journey.
Let me know how you get on in the comments below and if you have other tips that I should add to the list. 🙂
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