Improve your hormones by eating this…

Are your hormones making you fat?

Hormones have the power to make us thrive, or alternatively, feel unmotivated and irrational. When oestrogen and progesterone are out of kilter, we can experience a plethora of symptoms including excess abdominal fat, anxiety, PMS, water retention, fatigue, bloating, and an inability to lose weight. Recognise any of these? The good news is that by choosing the right foods we can have healthier hormones.

The health of our liver is a good indicator as to whether certain foods promote or reduce hormonal health. In an ideal world, once the body has effectively used the available hormones, it transports them off to the liver to be processed, and finally excreted from the body. New hormones then take the place of the old ones, and the cycle begins all over again. However, eating and drinking alcohol, caffeine, refined sugar, and processed foods (refined breads and take-out) can cause the liver to become congested. Subsequently, while the liver deals with the detoxification of these harmful foods, oestrogen is recycled back into the body, leading to an excess of oestrogen (a.k.a. oestrogen dominance). Fortunately, we can support the metabolism of oestrogen by decreasing our intake of foods that congest the liver (listed above), and loading up our plates with liver-loving foods.

Here’s what to eat:

Vegetables

Eating plenty of veg helps to support the elimination of oestrogen. Cruciferous vegetables – cauliflower, broccoli, kale, and cabbage – contain indole-3-carbinol, which aids oestrogen detoxification. As does the d-Limonene found in citrus fruits. And green leafy vegetables like spinach, chard, silver beet and herbs contain oestrogen-detoxification promoting nutrients.

Healthy fibre

Ground flaxseed binds to oestrogen in the digestive tract and removes it from the body. Add ground flaxseed to smoothies or sprinkle some over a salad for a fibre-packed lunch.

Vitamin B

Getting enough adequate b-vitamins in your diet can also aid the metabolism of oestrogen. Good sources of b-vitamins include lentils, nuts, seeds, tomatoes, eggs, beef, pork, chicken, fish, and small amounts of quinoa.

Lastly, what we eat out of can also impact hormonal balance. Storing food in plastic containers or drinking from plastic bottles increases our exposure to a substance called bisphenol A (BPA), which has the same effect on the body as oestrogen. So use a BPA-free drink bottle and store foods in glass containers.

Supporting your body to get rid of excess oestrogen can significantly restore hormonal health. For more recipes to support healthy hormones, visit danielleheyhoe.com