The hormones in our body play a vital role in ensuring that everything works as it should. As such, it is considered essential to maintain the normal balance of hormones in the body. Failure to do so might result in myriad health related ailments in the long run. Hence, here are some simple tips that will help you in keeping the hormones balanced in your body.
Increase Fiber Intake from Vegetables
Vegetables are known to contain phytonutrients aka plant hormones. They seem to have a balancing effect on the hormones in the body. The fiber in these vegetables binds to and clears the old estrogen in the body, thus maintaining a better equilibrium. The prebiotic fiber content in green vegetables also contains lots of good bacteria which help in maintaining a clean and healthy gut.
It is recommended to add at least 3 servings of cooked vegetables to the daily diet in order to reap these benefits. Vegetables like leeks, onions, garlic, asparagus, chicory root and green leafy veggies are recommended for their high prebiotic fiber content.
Substitute Natural Sweeteners for Refined Sugar
The hormones in the body can face disturbances on a daily basis because of the sugar consumed by you. Sugar does not have any essential nutrients that can aid the body. Worse, it might remove the hormone balancing nutrients from the body. Hence it is recommended that you should rather use refined that has natural sweeteners. This will help in avoiding hormonal imbalances and many other health problems.
Avoid unhealthy fats
While eating healthy fats in low quantities is considered normal, it is imperative that you should all kinds of unhealthy fat. These fats cause hormonal imbalances in the body. Fats found in canola oil, vegetables oil, peanut oil, soybean oil, sunflower oil and cottonseed oil contain not only margarine but also high levels of omega 6 fatty acids that can really harm the normal balance of the hormones in your body.
Substituting these with friendlier fat like avocados, grapeseed oil, coconut oil and olive oil will be helpful not only in stimulating the production of hormones in the body but also in maintaining their balance.
Stay away from Excessive Caffeine
Studies have revealed that certain cases of hormonal imbalance may be triggered by caffeine. In addition to slowing down the thyroid and raising cortisol levels in the body, caffeine is known to cause gut disorders. Hence, while a cup or two of coffee is allowed for a day, too much of the same can cause several hormonal imbalance in the body.
Get proper sleep
The majority of health related ailments faced by humans today arise from improper sleep. The body requires adequate amount of rest in order to recover itself. Sleep also helps in balancing the hormones in the body. It is recommended that one should sleep at least 8 hours a day in order to stay free from stress and other issues that are triggered by the endocrine system. Getting to bed by 10 in the night will help you in preventing stress related disorders as it maximizes hormone function of the stress hormone cortisol.
Do regular exercise
A great way to balance the hormones in the body without much effort is to exercise on a daily basis. In addition to reducing stress levels, regular exercises helps in effectively balancing out the hormones in the body. Though slow exercises will help. But if you really want to bring your hormones back on track then do high intensity and short burst exercises. Exercises like running, walking, swimming and hiking will help. It is preferred that you do burst training sessions of 20 minutes twice or thrice a week. This will activate your hormone regulation.
Summary
The hormones in the body may face several disturbances owing to food and lifestyle choices. A few simple tips and tricks however, can balance the hormone levels in the body and keep it safe from hormone related health ailments in the long run.