How your diet could be affecting your hormones!

When it comes to low energy, weight gain, irritability, painful periods, breast tenderness and low libido we often assume that it’s our hormones to blame, but often their is a catalyst to these symptoms resulting in imbalance with our hormones! In fact symptoms of PMS are often a sign that something isn’t quite in balance.

There are several hormones that have significant impact on womens health.

Our sex hormones that includes oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone (yes we make a small amount of the male hormone) as well as the lesser talked about thyroid hormones!

Oestrogen isn’t just the menstrual cycle hormone or the hormone for child bearing, it actually helps to keep cholesterol in control, supports insulin sensitivity of our cells, contributes to protecting bone health and affects your brain (including mood), heart, skin and other tissues throughout the body.

Oestrogen moves through the body in the bloodstream and acts on every cell. Your Oestrogen levels will change throughout the month, with the highest in the middle of your menstrual cycle and lowest during your period. During menopause, oestrogen levels drop.

Often we can have an imbalance with oestrogen levels which can result in symptoms of weight gain, irritability, breast tenderness, cramps, fatigue, Anxiety, Menstrual problems, such as light or heavy bleeding and Fibrocystic breasts.

This can often be triggered by stress, lifestyle and diet!

Progesterone is a steroid hormone that is secreted after ovulation to prepare the uterus for implantation. If a woman does not become pregnant, the corpus luteum breaks down and the progesterone levels decrease in the body, causing the woman to menstruate.

Low levels of progesterone often have abnormal menstrual cycles with irregular or missed periods or struggle to conceive, but with low progesterone can often result in higher oestrogen levels. Low levels of progesterone are often associated with high stress, due to progesterone being a precursor for our stress hormone Cortisol!

Women produce a small amount of testosterone in the ovaries and adrenal glands and is released into the bloodstream, where it contributes to a woman’s sex drive, bone density and muscle strength.

There are many women that have high levels of testosterone (particularly in the form of DHT the more potent form of testosterone) and can struggle with infertility and commonly suffer from polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), an endocrine condition. Symptoms associated with higher testosterone levels are Irregular or absent menstrual periods, More body hair than the average woman, thinning hair, Acne, Increased muscle mass, Deeper voice but PCOS can lead to Insulin resistance, elevated triglycerides and high blood pressure!

Our thyroid hormones are what helps to control metabolism, The thyroid hormones help to regulate the rate at which your body uses calories (energy). This affects weight loss or weight gain and is called the metabolic rate. Slowing down or speeding up your heart rate, as well as muscle and digestive function, brain development and bone maintenance. The thyroid hormones correct functioning depends on a good supply of specific nutrients from the diet.

There are several disorders associated with the thyroid gland with most problems concerning the production of thyroid hormones. Either the thyroid gland produces too much hormone (called hyperthyroidism) or your thyroid doesn't produce enough hormone (called hypothyroidism) resulting in your body using energy faster or slower than it should.

So how can we help to maintain a good balance of these hormones?

Well we know that many of them are influenced by the foods we eat and even stress and sleep, so here are my top tips to support hormonal balance.

Tip 1- maintain good blood sugar balance! In fact this is the most important thing you can do! When we consume refined foods, high sugar foods we are taken on a blood sugar roller coaster, which can often result in slumps in energy meaning that you will be needing that cup of coffee or more sugar to bring your energy levels up! Unfortunately it also impacts on our hormones! When we consume these refined carbohydrates or sugar they raise blood sugar levels but as these are simple sugars they are broken down very quickly to either use as a source of energy or stored in our adipose tissues (the fat cells that line our midriff), this results in our blood sugar levels dropping dramatically, which signals to our adrenals to release our stress hormone Cortisol to come in and drive glycogen from the liver to restore blood sugar levels in the blood! Imagine this happening several times a day, you may not feel stressed but your body sure will!

Remember that cortisol is produced from progesterone, so the more cortisol we have to make unnecessarily the lower our progesterone levels will go!

Also oestrogen is intrinsically linked with insulin (the hormone we produce in response to the foods we eat) oestrogen actually helps to optimize the action of insulin, the hormone that prevents high blood sugar levels. Consequently, low oestrogen levels may lead to insulin resistance, or impaired insulin action, we also know that High insulin levels from diets high in refined carbohydrates can tell the ovaries to make more testosterone. This can cause facial hair and acne. High insulin levels also lower sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG) which dumps oestrogen in your system and can contribute to symptoms of excess oestrogen such as breast tenderness, fibroids, and heavy periods.

Studies have also shown that diets high in refined carbohydrates and sugars such as Glucose and fructose can contribute to hormones imbalances! Glucose and fructose are metabolized in the liver. When there’s too much sugar in the diet, the liver converts it to lipid. This increased production of lipid shuts down a gene called SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin), reducing the amount of SHBG protein in the blood. SHBG protein plays a key role in controlling the amount of testosterone and oestrogen that’s available throughout the body. If there’s less SHBG protein, then more testosterone and oestrogen will be released throughout the body, which is associated with an increased risk of acne, infertility, polycystic ovaries, and uterine cancer in women. Abnormal amounts of SHBG also disturb the delicate balance between oestrogen and testosterone, which is associated with the development of cardiovascular disease, especially in women.

The best way to ensure a good blood sugar balance is to include fibre, protein, and healthy fats at each meal time!

Tip 2- don’t skip the fats!

We have been led to believe for many years that fats are bad for us, but in fact like carbohydrates there are forms that are good for us and some that are not so good!

Fatty acids are among the most crucial molecules that determine your brain's integrity and ability to perform. We also know that every cell in our body is surrounded by a lipid (fat) membrane (as well as protein),  Without a cell membrane there would be nothing to contain the contents of each cell.

Fat intake and healthy fats are also essential for hormone production and maintenance of proper hormone function as certain fats, such as those found in Omega-3 fat sources, will aid in the rebuilding of cells and stabilization of hormones.

Eating healthy fats may help reduce insulin resistance and levels of the stress hormone cortisol

Omega 3 fatty acids are known for their amazing health benefits, they are the unsung heroes for our health.

Essential omega 3 fatty acids and their consumption may enhance cognitive function, help regulate blood sugar levels, and decrease heart disease risk.

Adding healthy fats to your meals aids absorption of other fat soluble nutrients, so adding them to salads, breakfast, wraps, pasta dishes, nourish bowls is a great way to enhance nutrient absorption.

Tip 3- include lots of colour to your meals!

Your plate should equate to 50% vegetables to provide amazing fibre and nutrients to support hormonal balance!

Did you know the liver regulates the balance of sex hormones, thyroid hormones, cortisone and other adrenal hormones. It transforms or removes any excess from the body. But If the liver cannot do this properly, there is the risk of hormonal imbalances.

Dietary fibre from vegetables and low sugar berries has been shown to increase liver enzyme function as well as antioxidant support! cruciferous veg such as broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels actually have properties that help with oestrogen metabolism, but think about adding in a variety of amazing antioxidant rich veg!

But we also know that fibre rich foods such as nuts and seeds, healthy fats from avocados, nuts and seeds, extra virgin olive oil and olives, all support liver function and hormonal balance!

Step 4- Relax…where the mind goes, the body follows!

This is one thing that many people don’t prioritise and is crucial as supporting hormonal balance!

Have you heard of the autonomic nervous system, well this is what controls our relaxation or our stress response!

The parasympathetic nervous system is part of the autonomic nervous system that controls the body's ability to relax. It's sometimes called the "rest and digest" state. Its partner is the sympathetic nervous system, which control's the body's fight or flight response. Unfortunately with our ever increasingly busy lives, the sympathetic nervous system is often the one in the drivers seat which results in raised cortisol levels that impacts on blood sugar balance, progesterone and oestrogen levels.

We can help to turn on our parasympathetic nervous system by Stimulating the vagus nerve which can help to reduce our neurophysiological experience of stress. Our vagus nerve functions like your body’s natural reset button. Try to include some of these into your daily routine..:

Meditation, yoga, Spending time in nature, Think positive thoughts about other people, Engage in positive social relationships, exercise stimulates gut flow and the vagus nerve, cold water exposure and even Laughing out loud! I full belly laugh stimulates the vagus nerve and is contagious!

Tip 5- get moving…studies have shown that exercise can lower levels of circulating oestrogen and increase levels of the protein sex hormone binding globulin that binds up free-oestrogen in the body reducing excess oestrogen symptoms, exercise has also been shown to to improve insulin sensitivity and glucose uptake!

Tip 6- get some shut eye

When you relax and sleep well and wake up feeling restored, our body naturally produces cortisol which reaches a peak within 30 minutes of waking up, That peak sets off all your other hormones, including your thyroid and oestrogen, unfortunately Poor sleep can have a number of negative effects on cortisol release and other hormones, we all know that feeling of poor sleep resulting in eating chocolate or refined carbohydrates to boost our energy levels when in-fact they can make them worse!

Try to Prioritise sleep, make sure to turn off your phone 2 hours before bed, keep your bedroom well ventilated (so not too hot and not too cold) and try to achieve 8 hours sleep a night!