Hormones are so much more important than what many think. We should know that gut bacteria and hormones can easily mess up your body even if everything else like supplementation or dieting is perfect. If you want to boost your health and/or keep it at good levels, you have to think about balancing your hormones. Contrary to popular belief, this is a necessity at any point in time, not just when problems appear or when a person ages.
Hormones are important for most of the body processes, including:
- reproduction
- sexual function
- metabolism
- development
- growth
Naturally balancing hormones is a little difficult but it can be done if you follow some important tips. Read everything and if problems still exist, go to a professional:
Avoiding Omega-6 Polyunsaturated Fat
It is common to use vegetable oil when cooking but you need to be a little careful. That is because high polyunsaturated fats are in high quantities in these oils. The human body requires fat in order to produce hormones and rebuild cells. When the percentage of polyunsaturated fats is higher than normal, the body uses that.
What you may not know is that polyunsaturated fats will easily oxidize and are unstable. Cell mutation and inflammation appears when the fats are oxidized. Many other problems can appear.
Remember to avoid canola oil, vegetable oil, margarine, soybean oil, chemically altered fats, peanut oil and shortening. Go for real butter, animal fats, high Omega-3 fish, olive oil that is not heated and coconut oil.
Reduce Caffeine Intake
You will hate us if you are a caffeine lover but when you consume too much, the endocrine system is negatively affected. That is especially the case in the event that we have hormone presence like toxin presence, pregnancy, stress or fat imbalance.
If you absolutely need to drink coffee, which is a lot more common than we may think at the moment, add 1 tablespoon of coconut oil then use a blender so you emulsify the combination and you get some healthy fats at the same time. The taste is similar to that of latte.
Sleeping
It is really important that you sleep as much as the body needs. Anything else leads to hormone imbalances. Improving the quality of your sleep is necessary and will have a great impact on improving hormone balance and even optimizing weight.
Using Supplementation
Although we may want to think differently, the truth is that we need supplements. The quality of our food is lower than it used to be and gaps are much more common than what we would like to think. Out of the many different supplements that are often necessary, you will want to consider:
- Maca
- Vitamin D
- Magnesium
- Gelatin
- Cod Liver Oil – Fermented
Light Exercising
When a person has a hormone imbalance, it is a bad idea to exercise intensely. That would make everything worse. Sleep starts to be even more important and people that have such a problem need to focus on exercises that are light in intensity and relaxing like swimming or walking.
The bottom line with exercising is that cardio is bad in this case. However, short sessions of heavy lifting are beneficial. This includes exercises like lunges, squats, kettlebells and deadlifts. Just make sure that your form is proper.
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil is really good for the health of your hormones. It is useful in hormone production, helps reduce inflammation, assists with weight loss and has some really interesting antibacterial and antimicrobial properties. Around a quarter of a cup daily is more than enough.