Health & Wellness | Lifestyle

Best Way to Balance Hormones Naturally

Healthy PinchAugust 15, 2022

Hormones are chemical messengers of the body. They are secreted directly in your bloodstream to tissues or organs. The main functions of hormones in our body include growth and development, metabolism, sexual function, reproductive growth and health, cognitive function, mood, maintenance of body temperature, and also thirst. They also affect our mental, physical and emotional health. Having hormonal imbalance is very common these days but it’s also very easy to balance hormones naturally.

Why is hormonal disbalance so common these days?

It is so because of the sedentary lifestyle that people follow. This is the main reason why our hormones have started getting affected and people are suffering various health issues due to that imbalance.

However, age also plays a very important role, as your age increases, your metabolic processes slow down, and similarly, our hormones also start to decline. Eating wrong or having bad lifestyle habits can give you PCOS, thyroid issues, obesity, and other lifestyle conditions that can actually just spoil your entire life. But, if our lifestyle is healthy, we can keep our hormones balanced. 

Types of Hormones

There are a total of 8 types of hormones which include:

• Growth
• Thyroid
• Estrogen
• Progesterone
• Testosterone
• Insulin
• Cortisol
• Adrenaline

Foods that can help you balance hormones naturally

• Almonds
• Fatty fish
• Broccoli
• Flax seeds
• Pomegranate
• Pumpkin seeds
• Eggs
• Bell peppers
• Brazil nuts
• Sweet potato

Little lifestyle changes can also balance hormones naturally

1. Go for a walk, spend some time in nature

It helps in releasing the happy hormones in your body. And as such it rejuvenates your mood.

Walking also helps to reduce the risk of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and type 2 diabetes.

2. Spend some time with your loved ones, friends, and family.

Oxytocin hormone gets released which helps to boost your mood, and further, regulate your hormones.
This is a very good way of balancing the hormones in a natural way. When you spend some time with your loved ones, you get away from your normal routine work life and which makes you feel light and stress-free. Talking to your special ones really helps.

3. Pick a hobby of your choice

It may be painting, singing, writing, dancing, etc., just do whatever you like and you will feel the difference yourself. Your body will feel recharged because you value yourself, and your emotions. You did what you actually wanted to.

It is called ME time, which means spending some time with yourself, which actually helps a lot to balance hormones naturally.

4. Workout daily and balance hormones naturally

Be it yoga, weight training, cardio, etc., doing a physical workout always helps a lot to keep your body fit, healthy and happy. Dopamine hormones get released which makes your mood very good, your whole body feels very active, light, and recharged.

Physical workout is directly proportional to hormone health. The more you exercise, the more balanced your hormones will be. It especially helps to reduce insulin levels in your body, which is a  hormone that allows the cells to take sugar from your bloodstream to use as energy. Also, exercise helps a lot in maintaining your muscle-maintaining hormones.

5. Eat healthy and nutritious food, a plate of goodness.

Try to include good amounts of protein, fiber, and water in your diet, fewer carbs, and the right amount of healthy fats. When you work out, it helps to increase hunger, and then when you eat clean and nutritious food, it helps your body to grow and develop properly.

Protein is a very essential part of the diet. You should include at least (0.8 x your body weight) grams of protein in your daily diet. Our Indian diet lacks protein, so you should take great care of your body by eating lots of protein-rich foods. You should aim for 20-30g of protein in each meal of your day.

6. Take proper sleep to balance hormones naturally

A minimum of 6 to 8 hrs of sleep is highly recommended. Mostly, it is said that the body requires 7.5 hours of sleep which comes to 5 sleeping cycles as one round of sleep cycle is 1.5 hours. Your body actually needs an uninterrupted sleep of 5 sleeping cycles. Getting restorative sleep is very important for our optimal health. It is important for the release of growth hormones.

Poor sleep disbalances a number of hormones – insulin, cortisol, leptin, ghrelin, etc.

7. Meditation also helps a lot to calm down your senses

You need meditation or Yog Nidra, which is a type of guided meditation to reduce your stress and anxiety levels. As stress harms your body in a number of ways. High cortisol (a stress hormone) levels can cause insulin resistance. And chronic stress hampers the hormonal health of the person. Including healthy fats in your diet also reduces stress in your body.

The cortisol hormone helps to deal with long-term stress, so it’s very necessary to keep our hormones balanced and de-stress our bodies with meditation techniques.

8. Maintaining your weight balance hormones naturally

Obesity affects your hormones a lot. In males, it decreases the testosterone hormone which is a reproductive hormone, due to which infertility issues can happen. Similarly, if we talk about females, it hinders the ovulation process, and so infertility issues in females can also happen. So, if you want to have a child, you should take care of your weight, and it goes both for males and females.

Obesity also hinders health by developing insulin resistance in the body.

How Yoga helps in balancing your hormones naturally?

Yoga can actually help a lot when it comes to balancing your hormones naturally. The yoga poses that can balance hormones naturally are:

1. Bhujangasana
   
   
2. Shashankasana
   
   
   
3. Bhadrasana
   
   
4. Ushtrasana
   
   
5. Supta Matsyendrasana
   
   
6. Setu Bandhasana
   

How does Ayurveda balance hormones naturally?

Ashwagandha, which is known as the King of Herbs helps a lot in balancing your hormones. Mostly, Ashwagandha is recommended to males.

Not only that, Shatavari which is also known as the Queen of Herbs helps to balance hormones naturally, mostly recommended for females. It helps a woman with all the reproductive & hormonal health issues.

Things you should keep hormones in check

Avoid spending time on digital platforms

Digital platforms these days have taken up all the time of a person’s day. People are just so hooked to digital media platforms that they are just scrolling and scrolling and wasting their precious time and health due to that. More screen time, more blue light radiations, and less time for other activities. One should plan their day by limiting the time that one spends on digital media platforms.

Avoid too much light at night

Exposure to blue light can confuse your body and can have a negative effect. The artificial blue light suppresses the melatonin hormone. Avoiding too much light at night can actually help to regulate the circadian rhythms of your body, and help regulate your hormones.

Limit your sugar intake

Sugary foods hamper metabolic and hormonal health, due to which you fall prey to many lifestyle diseases. So, try to avoid carbonated drinks, artificial sweeteners, packaged and processed foods, etc. A high-sugar diet develops insulin resistance in your body, hinders your gut health, and also hampers your hormones.

Summary

Hormones can affect your life drastically by affecting a wide range of bodily functions. Even small imbalances in life can cause a toll on your health and your life. But, always remember that just making small lifestyle changes can also do wonders in your life.

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