8 Natural Ways to Balance Hormones

Published on: 20 June 2018 Last Updated on: 24 July 2024

Did you know that every day your body is sending complex chemical messengers called hormones to regulate its systems?

Often times, we think our hormones negatively, but these natural compounds are essential to the health of both men and women.

The most common types of hormones include cortisol, melatonin, progesterone, testosterone, estrogen, adrenaline, and insulin. Without any of these, our bodies wouldn’t be able to function properly.

Hormones can impact everything from digestive health to mental health, and they are intimately involved in the reproductive cycle.

As important as they are, dysfunction can easily occur at different points in the production and circulation of hormones. It is vital to understand how to combat these issues in a natural way.

Read on to learn more about the endocrine system’s inner workings, as well as natural ways to balance hormones.

How the Endocrine System Works:

The endocrine system is essentially made up of several glands that produce the different types of hormones found in your body.

To name the major ones, these are the pituitary, pineal, thymus, thyroid, adrenal glands and pancreas. The testes and ovaries are also involved, depending on your sex.

Understanding the basis of this system can help you understand what can go wrong, and how to promote better hormone health.

Firstly, there are key ingredients that are needed to produce hormones. These include fats, proteins, and various nutrients.

As well, toxins can disrupt hormones by either mimicking them or suppressing their production in some form.

All and all, the entire endocrine system works in unison to promote the normal functioning of your body. Even the slightest imbalance can lead to symptoms.

Signs of Hormone Imbalance:

There are a few keys signs of hormone imbalance to be aware of, as both a male and female.

In women, problems around the menstrual cycle are often the most obvious sign of an imbalance.

Infertility, irregular periods, skin issues, and premenstrual syndrome can all signify issues with the endocrine system.

Additional symptoms that can manifest in both sexes include fatigue, anxiety, depression, low libido, insomnia, digestive issues, hair loss, and weight problems.

Natural Ways to Balance Hormones:

With the impact that hormones can have on the body, promoting their balance in your daily routine is essential.

Natural options are much more favorable than synthetic ones such as birth control or other artificial hormone medications.

These do not get to the root of your health issues. They merely cover them up, and symptoms can get worse or more can occur in the meantime.

As an alternative to treatments that do not get to the bottom of your problems, here are eight natural ways to balance hormones.

1. Avoid Endocrine Disruptors:

Endocrine disruptors are abundant in our industrialized world. These are chemicals and compounds that interfere with hormonal processes in the endocrine system.

A few well-known endocrine disruptors include BPA, dioxin, phthalates, and certain pesticides.

The items we use in our homes can often contribute to our overall toxin load, and switching over to healthier alternatives can be greatly beneficial.

Choose non-toxic cleaning products whenever possible, and try to avoid using plastics in the kitchen as much as possible.

As well, our beauty products can also be a potential source of exposure. Use the environmental working groups website to help you pick better products for your hormones.

Lastly, eating organic produce whenever possible will reduce your consumption of pesticide residue.

2. Limit Caffeine:

Caffeine is a big part of most of our lives, and it is difficult to part with. But, in truth, it can have detrimental effects on our hormones.

Highly-caffeinated beverages, namely coffee, can put our bodies into a permanent state of fight-or-flight by stimulating the production of stress hormones.

While this may be beneficial in the short term, it can stress your entire body out in the long-term.

Consider cutting back on your caffeine intake, or swapping it out entirely for drinks with lower levels of caffeine.

3. Eat Healthy Fats:

Many hormones are cholesterol-based, meaning that fat is the basis of their make-up.

Therefore, eating plenty of healthy fats will help your body produce enough of these hormones.

Ensure that you focus on saturated fats and omega-3’s especially, as our diets tend to be too high in omega-6’s.

4. Sleep is Key:

Sleep is the time when our bodies produce hormones and detoxify harmful substances from our body.

Moreover, sleep can disrupt your mood and your blood sugars levels, both of which can contribute negatively to hormones.

Try to optimize your sleeping environment by making the room as dark as possible and creating a nighttime routine.

5. Exercise Properly:

While exercise is always important, extended periods of exertion can actually have negative consequences.

Therefore, opt for less strenuous workouts such as weight lifting or gentle yoga when you first begin your healing journey.

6. Try Mindfulness:

Stress is often at the root of our hormone problems. In the least, it can make your moods and physical symptoms much worse.

To complicate things, stress is not an easy problem to ‘fix’. Often times, it is anything but easy to reduce our stress levels.

One option to try, however, is to implement mindfulness into your approach. It will not only help you become more aware of your body and its struggles but also to how you deal with adversity.

Over time, you can begin to shift your mindset around the stresses of life with mindfulness and develop a better relationship with it altogether.

7. Consider Herbs or Supplements:

Another potential way to heal your endocrine system is with different herbs and supplements.

These are not a quick fix by any means, but they can provide additional support alongside other treatments.

Some good options for supplementation could include red raspberry leaf, evening primrose oil, vitex, maca, fish oil, magnesium, and zinc, depending on your specific imbalance.

8. Try Bio-Identical Hormones:

There are times when no amount of natural treatment through sleep, diet, and exercise help.

In this case, an option could be bio-identical hormone therapy, which involves using chemically identical hormones to heal your imbalance.

BodyLogicMD has an abundance of information on this topic and can help provide you the support you need.

Hormone Health Reflects Overall Health:

All in all, the health of our endocrine system is reflective of our lived environment.

While it can be influenced partly by genetics and other factors out of our control, much of it is impacted by the way we choose to live.

Therefore, by consciously choosing to implement natural ways to balance hormones, we can reap the benefits of our system working in our favor.

For more information about how hormones can impact reproductive health, check out our post of the causes of female and male infertility.

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Ariana Smith

I enjoy writing and I write quality guest posts on topics of my interest and passion. I have been doing this since my college days. My special interests are in health, fitness, food and following the latest trends in these areas. I am an editor at Content Rally.

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Top 4 Natural Combination for You to Eliminate Blackheads

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Avoiding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Key Techniques For Holding Your Mouse

We are living in increasingly computer-dominated times. Only ten to fifteen years ago, computer skills were considered a bonus. Nowadays, being able to operate a computer for prolonged periods of time is all but required. While computers have made our lives difficult, they've also introduced a host of physical problems. Due to the rise in computer use, carpal tunnel syndrome has found new life in modern America. As a result, countless people are either dealing with the onset of carpal tunnel syndrome or are actively fighting to prevent it from happening. Today, we are going to be discussing a few ways you can prevent carpal tunnel syndrome from impacting your life. Keys to Avoiding Carpal Tunnel Syndrome: Carpal tunnel syndrome is a condition that can impart numbness, tingling, and pain in your hand and arm. This condition is typically caused by compressed nerves in your wrist and on the side of your palm. There are many reasons as to why someone would begin to develop carpal tunnel syndrome. Most commonly, most modern carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis comes from incorrectly using a computer mouse. Fortunately, there are a variety of ways that you can approach using your computer in order to prevent carpal tunnel from ever manifesting. Let's go ahead and outline a few key ideas below. 1. Use An Ergonomic Mouse: The easiest way to reduce stress on your wrist while negating the potential for carpal tunnel is by purchasing an ergonomic mouse. When you use a computer, the mouse that you operate will be instrumental to your health and your overall computer experience. The shape of your mouse needs to be conducive to your hand size. The ideal ergonomic mouse will be symmetrical in shape rather than curved. A curved mouse will lead to odd contours in your hand which will promote stress and improper ergonomic support. Who knew that getting the right mouse was so important? 2. Larger Is Better: If you are planning on purchasing a new mouse for your desktop computer, consider buying something a little larger than normal. When it comes to your daily mouse usage, you are better off opting for something larger in size. Why is this the case? A smaller mouse will most likely improperly fit your hand, thus leading to odd extensions and contractions. A larger mouse will provide you with palm support which will aid in your quest to maintain proper ergonomic control of your hand. While this sounds needlessly specific, the truth is that size matters when shopping for a computer mouse. 3. Implement Wrist Padding: If you plan to be at your computer for any appreciable amount of time, you owe it to yourself to install some wrist padding. Wrist padding can be purchased at just about any computer store, online or otherwise. This padding is placed in front of your keyboard and it allows you to keep your wrists elevated while you are typing, thus protecting your movement range while supporting your wrist. When you go shopping for the best custom mouse pads BrandMe has to offer, consider upgrading your wrist support at the same time. 4. Take Plenty of Breaks: This is a bit of advice that falls outside of our discussion on mouse usage. The number one way to prevent over-stressing your wrist is simple, just take a break. If you work in an office or at a computer, you need to get into the habit of taking a break every hour. Consider taking a five to ten-minute break every single hour so that you can keep your body stress-free. By taking these breaks, you'll prevent stress from building up in your wrist. Sometimes, you don't know how sore your wrist is until you take a break to examine it. 5. Follow a Stretching Routine: Here is a neat little tip that you can employ right at your desk. Did you know that by actively stretching your wrists, you can stave off the impact of carpal tunnel syndrome? There are a variety of different stretches that you can do right at your desk. A great stretch to activate the tendons and ligaments in your wrist starts off in a prayer position. Push your hands together, as if in prayer while slowly raising your elbows. You'll feel the ligaments in your wrist activate as your elbows rise. Do the same stretch with your hands pointing down and your elbows pulling down, connecting at the base of your wrist. Take these stretches slowly and go to them whenever you start to feel like you are growing stiff. Take a walk, reset your body, and get back to work when you feel comfortable. 6. Proper Seating Levels: Finally, take some time in order to make sure that your chair and desk are at an appropriate height. If your chair is significantly lower than your desk, you'll feel the stress of having to adjust your wrists. 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8 Natural Ways to Balance Hormones

How the Endocrine System Works:

Signs of Hormone Imbalance: