Healing Hormones Naturally in Women

This post is for educational purposes only and is not medical advice. Please consult your healthcare provider for personalized guidance. 

It is more common than ever for women to experience hormonal imbalances. I truly feel that is due to our chronic stress, environmental toxins, poor sleep, processed diets and our modern lifestyle, which all work against the body’s natural rhythm. Many women live with symptoms like fatigue, mood swings, irregular cycles, or stubborn weight gain without realizing these may be signs of underlying hormonal disruption. In this blog, I have listed out some things that can help regulate our hormones naturally. None of these things are easy- it takes hard work and discipline and most people need to make drastic changes to their life if they want to see improvement.

Nutrition

A. Balance your blood sugar levels: I always recommend focusing on whole, unprocessed foods. Women should prioritize protein, healthy fats, and fiber in every meal. Limit refined carbs and sugar to prevent insulin spikes (insulin raises our androgens), and avoid skipping meals to keep blood sugar stable.

B. Support Liver Detoxification: Eating cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts) support our estrogen metabolism. Increasing antioxidant-rich foods (berries, leafy greens, turmeric, green tea) helps do this as well. Don’t forget to stay hydrated!

C. Prioritize Healthy Fats: Consume omega-3-rich foods & healthy fats (wild salmon, flaxseeds, walnuts, chia seeds, avocado, olive oil, coconut oil, and nuts). Healthy fats are crucial for hormone synthesis and also helps us absorb our fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E, & K).

D. Optimize Gut Health: Include prebiotics & probiotics in your daily diet (garlic, onions, asparagus, bananas, kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir, yogurt). A healthy gut microbiome influences how hormones are produced, metabolized, and used in our body (especially estrogen). Avoid excessive antibiotics, alcohol, and processed foods that disrupt our flora.

Lifestyle & Stress Management

A. Reduce Stress & Support Cortisol Balance: Incorporate mindfulness practices (meditation, deep breathing, journaling), low impact movement (walking, yoga, pilates, resistance training), prioritizing sleep (~8-9 hours/night). These things help support our progesterone. You can always try some apoptogenic herbs to support the adrenal glands. Ill address supplements in a separate blog post.

B. Avoid Endocrine Disruptors: using natural skincare, personal care, and cleaning products, avoiding plastic and BPA’s, and filtered drinking water can help with this.

Specific Hormonal Imbalances & Targeted Support

A. Estrogen Dominance: You want to support the liver to help get rid of excess estrogen- you can do this with a DIM supplement or cruciferous veggies, increasing fiber (increase your bowel movements, we poop out our extra estrogen), reducing alcohol and inflammatory foods, and optimizing progesterone as much as possible (magnesium, vitamin b, vitamin d, zinc, stress management, and quality sleep).

B. Low Progesterone: Lifestyle/dietary changes help the most with this— increase magnesium (dark leafy greens, pumpkin seeds), stress management, adequate vitamin B6, D, and zinc (chicken, turkey, bananas, potatoes, sunlight, mushrooms, legumes, beef, etc), quality sleep, or try adding supplements (chasteberry).

C. PCOS & Insulin Resistance: There is a lot of information I can give on PCOS- this will have to be a separate post to help you understand the syndrome. Here are some short tips— following a low glycemic diet, reducing sugar and refined carbs, increasing activity via strength training and walking, inositol supplementation, and healthy omega-3’s to reduce inflammation.

D. Thyroid Imbalances: Ensure sufficient iodine (seaweed, iodized salt), selenium (Brazil nuts, sunflower seeds) and zinc (oysters, beef). Managing stress may helps as well. Many people with thyroid imbalances eliminate gluten from their diet, especially if they have Hashimoto’s which seems to be successful.

Movement & Exercise

For hormone regulation in females, I always recommend strength training and low impact activities (walking, pilates, yoga). These help support our insulin sensitivity and muscle health.

Supplementation (If Needed)

Ill list some supplements here that you can try, especially if you feel like you are missing these nutrients in your diet. Supplements can be tricky- make sure you are purchasing them through a reputable company. If you trial a supplement for 1-3 months and you have no noticeable difference, it may not be working for you.

• Magnesium for adrenal and progesterone support: glycinate helps with nerve and muscle relaxation and is best taken before bed, citrate can help regulate bowel movements.

• B-complex vitamins to support energy and stress response- everyday in the morning.

• Omega-3s to lower inflammation.

• Zinc & Selenium for thyroid health.

• DIM & Calcium-D-Glucarate for estrogen metabolism.

I hope you found this helpful! Once again- please ask your healthcare provider

Nina