Would you believe me if I told you that there is a connection between the food you eat and your hormones? The truth is, nutrition is extremely powerful. It has the ability to make or break your health. Specific nutrients, dietary patterns, and overall nutrition can all contribute to hormonal imbalance. In this article, I’m going to share what a hormonal imbalance is, the impact nutrition has on your hormones, and five foods that might be causing a hormonal imbalance.
Most people experience years of dis-ease due to hormones that are out of whack. They chalk their symptoms up to aging, genetics, or stress. I’m here to tell you that poor skin quality, intense sugar cravings, mental stress and anxiety, unhealthy weight gain, and a myriad of other symptoms are not normal!
While age, genetics, and stress may play a role, there is often an environmental and dietary root cause that triggers your symptoms.
In all honesty, the standard American diet is to blame for much of your hormonal woes. It’s composed of extremely processed, highly refined foods that cause hormonal imbalance. If you think your hormones are out of check out these articles:
- The six signs your pesky hormones are out of whack
- Balance your hormones with the dutch hormone test
Now, let’s talk more about hormonal imbalance and nutrition!
What Is Hormonal Imbalance?
Take a trip with me down memory lane back to Biology 101 to remind ourselves about the endocrine system. It’s the hormonal network in your body composed of glands responsible for maintaining proper communication, development, and regulation of the body’s cells.
Unfortunately, the environment is full of toxins that disrupt the functioning of this system. Often referred to as endocrine disruptors, these toxins are the culprits of your hormonal imbalance.
They mess with the body’s hormonal communication in various ways. For example, when you have too little or too much of a certain hormone you end up with a hormonal imbalance.
There are many symptoms of hormonal imbalance, some of which include:
- Weight gain
- Unexplained, and sometimes sudden, weight loss
- Fatigue
- Muscle weakness
- Muscle aches, tenderness, and stiffness
- Pain in your joints
- Increased or decreased heart rate
- Sweating
- Increased sensitivity to cold or heat
- Constipation or more frequent bowel movements
- Increased hunger
- Decreased sex drive
- Depression
- Nervousness, anxiety, or irritability
- Infertility
- Thinning hair or fine, brittle hair
- Dry skin
- Puffy face
- Acne
What Causes Hormonal Imbalance?
Where do we find endocrine disruptors? One place is in the chemicals sprayed all over crops and pumped into livestock. Another place is in common household cleaning products and personal care products. Even your water can contain endocrine disruptors if not filtered properly!
Other causes of hormonal imbalance include stress, medication, and cancer treatment.
There are many chronic illnesses that are not causes of hormonal imbalance but actually a result of hormones that are out of whack, such as diabetes, hypothyroidism, and PCOS.
Also, just because women deal with regular hormonal changes during pregnancy, menopause, and their menstrual cycle doesn’t mean men aren’t subject to hormonal imbalance, too.
Symptoms of hormonal imbalance may include dry skin, puffy face, acne and hair loss.
How Does Nutrition Impact Hormones?
Nutrition has a huge impact on hormones. Like I mentioned above, most of our food nowadays is covered in chemicals like endocrine disruptors that adversely affect the endocrine system. But, nutrition intake patterns, such as fasting and excess calories, and foods with a higher glycemic load are known to impact circulating levels of certain hormones.
Let’s look at the thyroid to understand how nutrition impacts hormones.
Thyroid hormone regulation is influenced by the state of the body, from fed to starved. Not to mention, adequate intake and availability of the nutrients selenium, iodine, and iron contribute to healthy levels and functioning of thyroid hormones.
We can also look at the hormone cortisol, which is known as the stress hormone because it’s released when the sympathetic nervous system initiates the body’s stress response. Studies have suggested upregulation of cortisol release with a Western-pattern diet that includes increased amounts of refined carbohydrates and saturated fats and decreased amounts of fiber.
Moral of the story? Food affects the production and secretion of hormones. It does this via direct actions on the gut, by nervous reflexes, through changes in the concentration of various metabolites in the blood, or changes in circulating gut hormone levels.
Five Foods That Might Be Causing A Hormonal Imbalance
Eliminating hormone disruptors from your diet is the first step to balancing your hormones. Here are five foods that might be causing a hormonal imbalance!
Non-Organic Food
The quality of your food is extremely important. Farmed meats and fish may contain high levels of hormones, antibiotics, PCBs, and mercury. These are all powerful endocrine-disrupting chemicals that will aggravate your hormones.
Also, pesticides like glyphosate have been identified as some of the top endocrine disruptors used not only in our gardens but our supplements and pharmaceutical drugs.
Whenever you get the chance choose organic, local, and wild-caught foods.
Sugar
Potentially the top culprit of hormone imbalance, especially in females, is sugar.
Sugar disrupts the hormone insulin which creates a myriad of issues with your digestive system and metabolism. As your bloodstream is flooded with sugar the pancreas has to work harder to pump out insulin. Eventually, your body becomes insulin resistant, a common precursor for diabetes.
RELATED: 6 SIGNS YOUR PESKY HORMONES ARE OUT OF WHACK
Soy
The plant constituents derived from soy have phytoestrogen activity, meaning they mimic estrogen in the body. Not everyone needs to avoid soy, but certain individuals like those with estrogen dominance would do well to steer clear of it. Additionally, many soybean fields are covered in harmful pesticides. They are then used as ingredients in nearly every packaged and processed food.
Caffeine
While there are many claims about the benefits of caffeine, it is still a hormone disruptor that spikes levels of cortisol. This leads to a state of constant stress in the body. Chronic stress is a driver of so many chronic illnesses due to increased inflammation in the body.
My advice is to consume caffeine in moderation!
Factory Farmed Foods – packaged foods with corn, soybean, or canola
Here’s an interesting challenge – open your pantry and try to find one packaged food that doesn’t contain corn, soybean, or canola.
Again, the main problem with these foods is that they’re covered in hormone-disrupting pesticides. Plus, the impact of factory farming on modern-day wheat is linked to food sensitivities, which is why some people think gluten-free may be healthier!
Work With A Holistic Health Coach
The fact of the matter is that when it comes to your hormones nutrition is key. If you think you have a hormone imbalance, reach out to me! Working with a Certified Holistic Health Coach means you get comprehensive testing and a personalized protocol to help you get your health back on track. You get hands-on support, I’ll walk you through it every step of the way!
Reach out to me via my contact page to get started!
Mandy Patterson
