Hormone Imbalances: root causes and solutions
Hands up if you’ve experienced…
Crippling period pains
The emotional roller coaster in the week leading up to your period
Apologising to your partner again for the angry or tearful outburst
Downing the painkillers and living with a hot water bottle glued to your womb
Preparing yourself yet again for the monthly migraine onslaught
Skin breakouts around your period
Feeling totally drained when the dreaded P-day is approaching
Being offered the pill by your doctor as a way to solve your pain, acne, mood swings, or heavy periods?
Most women go through life thinking all of the above is totally normal, as society has normalised these experiences around PMS. However, I’m here to tell you these symptoms don’t need to be your normal!
We’ve become detached from the genius of our feminine cyclical nature.
We so often refer to our hormones negatively - we fear them and blame them.
But they are incredible! They’re the source of all life! In fact, for women, they’re classed as the 5th vital sign in clinical practice - they tell us that much about your overall health. When you start to truly understand your cycle and live according to the way your female body was designed to live, you’ll unlock incredible physical & emotional benefits.
You don’t need to settle for cramps, heavy periods, missing periods, migraines, acne, fertility issues, or mood swings.
Balancing your hormones is a 12 week journey. Did you know it takes 100 days for the ovarian follicle (egg) to journey into ovulation and then to a period? So the changes you implement now, will impact your period in 3 months time.
Consistency is key!
Healthy balanced hormones should look like
For women of reproductive age:
your period arrives with minimal pain
your periods are regular
your cycle is 21-37 days
your period lasts 2-7 days
ovulation happens every month (confirmed by body temperature increase)
menstrual blood is not too thick or containing clots
For women of menopausal age:
no experience of hot flashes or night sweats
memory and concentration remain normal
mood remains stable
So what’s going wrong when we get PMS symptoms?
Primarily, it’s due to an imbalance in our key reproductive hormones: oestrogen & progesterone. Most commonly, we have a dominance of oestrogen to progesterone.
Root causes of this imbalance include:
poor liver detoxification of our hormones
inflammatory diet
gut imbalances (our gut bugs can contribute to oestrogen dominance)
stress
poor sleep
dysregulated blood sugar
hormonal contraception
nutrient deficiencies
environmental toxins (which can mimic oestrogen)
thyroid dysfunction
So, what can we do to balance our hormones, and improve our fertility?
We need to take action in 3 main areas: Nutrition, Lifestyle, Environment
Nutrition
The quality of your diet is FOUNDATIONAL to the balance of your hormones. The food we eat provides the ingredients that actually MAKE the hormones that are integral to our cycle.
The first step we will take will be to reduce your intake of inflammatory foods.
Secondly, we will increase your intake of foods that
are anti-inflammatory and antioxidant rich
are used to make hormones
support the liver to detoxify oestrogen
are phytoestrogenic to reduce the impact of oestrogen in the body
are needed to fill any nutritional gaps you may have
Believe it or not, lots of us don’t eat the right AMOUNT of food to allow us to make hormones either, which can be a leading cause of amenorrhea (missing periods).
Lifestyle
Align exercise in accordance with your cycle! Intense exercise triggers the stress response. And sometimes that’s fine, as a little physical stress can keep us healthy. However, chronic intensive exercise can result in chronic stress, inflammation, depleted energy, a skewed metabolism, and hormone imbalance. Different styles of exercise are suited to the different phases of our cycle.
Sleep is ESSENTIAL for hormone balance - it’s when our body has a clear-out, grows cells, and puts things in balance. A solid sleep routine is essential if you want a happier and healthier cycle.
Stress management is essential. When we’re stressed, our body secretes large amounts of cortisol. Cortisol is made by the same precursor as our main reproductive hormones, so we’re asking our body to prioritise stress hormones over reproductive hormones! Some people are extremely sensitive to stress, and their periods can be impacted by the smallest stress event. So being aware and in control of your stress levels is key.
Environment
In our modern world, we are bombarded with Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals (EDCs) which are in
the air around us
plastics
food
skincare
cosmetics
furniture
medications (including the pill)
cleaning products.
The list could go on.
A group of these EDCs are xenoestrogens, meaning they mimic oestrogen in our body and can easily tip us into a state of oestrogen dominance (cue PMS and all that goes with it). Research now shows how prevalent these EDCs are in our bodies, and their link to oestrogen dominant cancers (breast, ovarian, cervical). Sadly they’re also now being found in breast milk.
Xenoestrogens bind to our body’s oestrogen receptors, mimicking the action of our own hormones, but also increased the overall effect of oestrogen in our body -
Removing and minimising your exposure to EDCs will have a huge impact on your hormone health.
If all of this feels overwhelming, that’s exactly why I’m here to help. In my 12-week Hormone Reset programme we’ll go step by step through the areas I’ve covered here, with a personalised nutrition and supplement plan just for you and your unique circumstances.
After 3 months following my programme, I guarantee you will experience
improved period pains
fewer mood swings and emotional turmoil
more regular and healthy periods
improved PMS symptoms such as breakouts & tiredness
improved fertility if you’re looking to conceive in the near future
