how to love on your hormones
Hormones give us a perspective of the reality that surrounds us every day. We quite literally filter the world through hormones. If your cortisol levels are high (high sugar or stress), it makes the world look stressful to you and interprets events far more stressful than they are. If you have low serotonin, the world looks depressing and vice versa.
In Nutritional Therapy, we focus HEAVILY on six foundations. Everything is built around them and our body cannot function if they aren’t supported. If your digestion isn’t supported, don’t expect your blood sugar to be balanced, nor your hormones, nor your sleep, nor your metabolism. So let’s take a look at hormone health and why if you come to me with thyroid symptoms, your thyroid may not be the first thing I look at.
how each foundation effects your hormones
Digestion: If we can’t digest the good food and nutrients we are eating, we can’t make hormones. Bottom line. Hormones are derived from foods high in cholesterol, quality meats, and fatty acids. If we’re not digesting these foods, that means we’re not absorbing them, which leaves hormones sitting on the bench. (Serotonin being a biggy! If you don’t digest your food, you won’t have the amino acids to make it.)
Blood Sugar Regulation: Blood sugar regulation must be addressed in order to normalize hormonal imbalances, but it is a delicate balancing act. When glucose levels are constantly on an up/down roller coaster, adrenal glands are forced to produce “emergency” hormones that can cause severe imbalances in the body. By incorporating healthy proteins and fats into each meal, eliminating stressors and avoiding processed food when you can- it will be much easier to keep blood sugars stable and hormones in check.
Mineral Balance: Every endocrine organ has a mineral on which it is particularly dependent. (I.e. the thyroid is dependent on iodine.) This is why it’s so important to eat in variety ensuring that you get all of the nutrients you needed for your hormones to function properly.
Fatty Acids: Detestably, the queens when it comes to hormone health. Our body can’t make hormones without fats. The hormones that effect our inflammation levels, blood pressure regulation, blood clotting, fevers, etc. are literally derived from fatty acids. SO STOP FEARING THEM!
Hydration: Drink your water (And electrolytes) ! This allows hormones to frolic around in the body as they want to without getting stuck in traffic jams.
Look holistically at your body and support it accordingly. Simply throwing a thyroid medication in the mix is not going to give you the support you want long-term, and you can’t expect it to! If you want your hormones jiving and thriving, you have to look at the big picture. So chew your foods, drink your lemon water, and eat your fats fam.
(I’ll take on the toxic world in a later post. Woofta.)