Top 5 Ways to Balance Your Hormones
Nicole Jardim is a Certified Women’s Health + Functional Nutrition Coach with a specialty in young women’s hormonal health. We had her on the podcast earlier this year and talked all about our periods. That time of the month is not a time to call ourselves crazy or a time to push through and fight our bodies against all grain. She explains what our bodies our going through and how with some self love we can all learn How to Love ‘That Time of the Month’!
We enjoyed her so much, we asked her for some more tips we can share with you and she happily obliged. These are her Top 5 Ways to Balance Your Hormones:
1- Support yourself nutritionally.
Eat regular meals, especially breakfast, which include high-quality protein, whole grains and good fats. Fat and protein are the building blocks for steroid sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone. Properly timing meals to prevent dramatic dips and spikes in blood sugar minimizes cortisol (the stress hormone) output and also gives you more sustained energy throughout the day. This will make you much more resilient to your daily stressors.
2- Reduce your light at night.
Too much light at night actually stimulates your adrenals to produce more cortisol to keep you awake. It also inhibits production of melatonin, the sleep hormone. This prevents you from being able to wind down and sleep properly. After 9pm turn off as many lights in your house as possible. Do light candles, they make everyone look pretty and they’re sexy too. Give yourself a laptop curfew, this means no laptops in bed. That bright screen is keeping you up at night.
3- Reduce or cut out caffeine and sugar.
This is tough for many people but think of this: both caffeine and sugar stimulate your adrenals to produce cortisol. In addition, both of these substances do a double whammy on the body by raising both cortisol and blood sugar levels. This keeps us on a rollercoaster of blood sugar lows and highs that we can’t seem to escape. Take baby steps and wean yourself off of these elements slowly. Try Dandy Blend coffee substitute and use honey and stevia in place of sugar.
4- Walk barefoot on the earth.
There is actually scientific evidence that walking barefoot on the earth, grass or beach can help reset your adrenal function and improve chronic fatigue. Our bodies’ electrons become frazzled by the harmful electromagnetic fields emitted by man-made products such as computers, phones, hair dryers & home appliances. The earth’s electrons seem to restore order. This is probably why gardeners are so happy!
5- Sweat it out. Studies show that exercise helps improve estrogen metabolism, thus reducing high estrogen levels and conditions caused by estrogen dominance, such as PMS. Consistent exercise can help to relieve stress by increasing blood flow to the brain. It also stimulates the nervous system, and releases those feel-good endorphins. Try to get in 30 minutes of movement a day.
Try these tips at home for balancing your hormones, little steps at a time and share with us the changes you’ve seen by commenting below or sharing on our Facebook Page.
Sources:
Our podcast interview with Nicole How to Love ‘That Time of the Month’ with Health Coach Nicole Jardim
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