5 Hormone-Balancing Foods for Women

Hormone balance is an essential part of wellbeing, especially for women. Women’s hormones fluctuate a great deal throughout the month, and throughout their lives — your hormones are quite different in your thirties and forties than they were in your twenties. To help get your hormones back in check, hormone balancing foods can help.

Hormone Balance
Hormone balance plays an important role in almost everything your body does. And because hormones all influence one another, if one hormone gets out of balance, the consequences can ripple throughout your body causing discomfort for women with hormonal imbalance. Many women are troubled by fatigue, brain fog, sudden weight gain, hair loss, and other symptoms of hormone imbalance: all will respond to appropriate diet.

The good news is that there’s plenty you can do to influence your hormones. Your cycle, age, diet, exercise, and stress levels all play a major role in your hormone balance. If you’re one of the many women suffering from hormonal imbalance, diet is one of the most powerful ways you can rebalance your hormones and take back your health. With that in mind, here are the top five hormone balancing foods for women.

1. Avocado
Avocados are among the best hormone balancing foods. They are low in carbs and rich in heart-healthy, anti-inflammatory monounsaturated fats. The healthy fats and low carbs promote stable insulin, one of your key metabolic hormones. Stable insulin keeps your energy steady and prevents your blood sugar from crashing. On top of that, the healthy fats in avocados are building blocks for sex hormones, including estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. The plentiful fat in avocados gives your body the raw materials to make hormones it needs.

2. Fresh berries
Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries are all hormone balancing foods packed with great nutrients. Berries are rich sources of vitamin C, which regulates your progesterone levels, particularly during the luteal (PMS) phase of your cycle. If you have especially rough PMS, it could be a progesterone imbalance. Try doubling down on berries in the days leading up to your period; the vitamin C in them may help relieve your symptoms.

Berries are also packed with polyphenols, powerful antioxidants that protect your cells from stress. Polyphenols decrease inflammation and can help you manage cortisol, your body’s stress hormone.

3. Eggs
There are some myths out there about eggs and hormonal imbalance, but in actuality, eggs are one of the best foods for balancing hormones, as they have a positive impact on insulin and ghrelin hormones in the body. Specifically, insulin controls blood sugar while ghrelin controls appetite. Your insulin and ghrelin levels are lower after you eat eggs for breakfast (compared to a carb-based meal). Similar to other proteins, eggs are one of those hormone-friendly foods that keep you full for longer, so you can end up consuming fewer calories. This aspect is particularly advantageous if you have trouble losing weight.

4. Fatty Fish
According to the American Heart Association, fatty fish—such as wild-caught salmon, herring, mackerel, lake trout, and sardines—help stabilize your hunger hormones, thus helping you feel fuller for longer. On top of that, fatty fish are considered to be one of the foods that balance hormones in females. They are rich in vitamin D, which helps improve female testosterone levels. Getting these hormonal levels under control can positively address concerns including weight gain, fatigue, and depression. A 3.5-ounce serving of such fish twice weekly can also keep your heart healthy and your skin and hair glowing.

Finally, the good fats in fish improve overall hormonal communication, which solidifies it as one of the best foods to eat for hormonal balance. The endocrine system uses hormones to communicate with the brain, which in turn boosts our mood and gives us better cognition skills.

5. Leafy Green Vegetables
Leafy green veggies like kale, chard, broccoli, and spinach are all rich in dietary fiber, and great hormone balancing foods which normalizes sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone by improving your hormone metabolism. Try to get at least five servings of green vegetables a day, if not more.

Balance Your Hormones Naturally
Diet plays a big role in hormone balance, and these four foods are some of my top picks for keeping your hormones healthy. Other great ways to achieve hormone balance are exercising, plenty of mild, direct sunlight, managing stress with meditation, and self-care days.

For Further Reading:
• The article by The WellNest, "11 of the Best Foods for Hormone Balance", can be read at: https://www.humnutrition.com/blog/best-foods-for-hormone-balance/
• "10 Natural Ways to Balance Your Hormones", an article published by Healthline, is at: https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/balance-hormones
• Eating Well's article, "Hormone-Balancing Foods: How Your Diet Can Help Keep Your Hormones Functioning Well", is available at: https://www.eatingwell.com/article/7805452/hormone-balancing-foods-how-diet-can-help/