In a healthy body our hormones have a multitude of functions. They act as messengers, sending signals throughout the body to your organs, your skin and other tissues. They tell the body what to do and when. They are responsible for innumerable functions like your reproductive system, your energy levels, how well you sleep. In essence hormones keep your whole system working together as one unit.
Science has identified over 50 hormones so far. Hormones are made of proteins, so it is essential to have a good variety of high quality protein in your diet to make sure that your body works optimally and you stay shining bright and energetic every day! What can go wrong? Many people suffer with an imbalance of hormones.
Symptoms of these imbalances can be any or all of the following, this list is not exhaustive:
• Acne
• Weight gain or weight loss
• Sleep disturbances
• PCOS
• Endometriosis
• Goitre (swelling in the neck)
• A lack of energy
• Mood swings
• Sweating
• Hot flashes
• Increased or decreased heart rate
• Puffy face
• Infertility
• Redness in the skin
• Depression or anxiety
Our diet and lifestyle is the environment our hormones are created in. If the environment doesn’t give the right ingredients to make the hormones we need or if we eat toxic food, we leave our hormones with extra work to firefight problems that could be avoided, easily disrupting our finely tuned hormonal balance.
Sadly, today’s lifestyle is often too busy and stressful. To cope we might grab a toxic soda or fast food burger for lunch on the go, we may skip a workout, we might eat sugary foods for comfort and not make time to prepare healthy food for ourselves.
Our hormones are made from quality proteins found in organic meat and fish, pulses and nuts/ seeds. Hormones also need micronutrients like Vitamins A and C, found in vegetables of many colours. In particular Vitamin B6 is essential for a balance of hormones, as is Vitamin D3.
Here is my recommendation for optimal hormonal balance.
Remove all processed white foods from your diet, there is no place for white bread/flour products, white pasta or white sugar at all. If you must eat these foods, opt for organic and wholegrain/ wholefood versions only.