Nourishing Hormones: How can diet support hormonal health and improve hormone dysregulation?

Hormones have a big impact on our health and wellbeing.

Hormones are like the body's internal messengers. They regulate everything from our energy levels, metabolism and mood, to our menstrual cycle and fertility. There are many different hormones but some common ones are growth hormones, thyroid hormones, cortisol, insulin, oestrogen and progesterone, FSH and LH and testosterone.

Needing to "Balance your hormones" is a common phrase in the wellness space, but can be misleading. Our hormones are supposed to fluctuate, with some higher than others at different points in time. So a better phrase might be aiming for hormone harmony.

Our hormones fluctuate throughout our lives, across the month, from day to day and even over the day in response to our body's needs (for example our insulin levels change in response to eating).

If you think of your body like an orchestra, when things are functioning as they should each of these hormone instruments plays at the right time, with the right pitch and volume. Together this creates a beautiful harmony. However, when one or more of your hormone instruments isn't playing quite right the whole symphony is affected.

For women our reproductive hormones fluctuate across the menstrual cycle. When we are healthy and our hormones are "balanced" this occurs in an organised and consistent pattern.

However many women have hormones that are out of sync and significantly disrupting our daily lives.

This hormonal harmony can be disrupted by:

• Hormonal conditions - like Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS) and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis and thyroid disease

• Pregnancy and breastfeeding

• Hypothalamic amenorrhea or eating disorders

• Hormonal contraceptives

• And even common illnesses like the cold or flu!

How do I know if my hormones are balanced?

The best indicator we have as women that are hormones are fluctuating normally throughout the cycle is a healthy menstrual cycle (regular, pain free bleeding that isn't so heavy your soaking through your pad every hour). Other key indicators are:

• having consistent energy levels

• good sleep

• relatively consistent mood (noting changes here are human), and

• stable weight

  
  

While disrupted hormone levels might show up as:

• pain or constant cramping

• brain fog

• cramping

• chronic bloating

• low mood and anxiety

• weight changes, or

• infertility

What can I do to harmonise my hormones?

The good news is there is a growing body of scientific research that demonstrates we can support our hormones through diet and lifestyle changes.

Whether you are trying to conceive, improve your menstrual health, manage a hormone condition, recover from hypothalamic amenorrhea or optimise your mood, nutrition can be a helpful tool for regulating your hormones.

So let's explore how diet affects your hormones and how you can use your diet to improve optimise your hormones.

How does diet affect our hormones?

The nutrients in foods act as building blocks that are used to make hormones. Each hormone requires certain amounts of specific nutrients and energy to be created and function.

To use another analogy to build a hormone car you might need x4 nutrient doors, x4 enzyme wheels and x1 nutrient steering wheel. You will then then at least 50L of petrol (energy) to drive the car to the shops to buy your groceries. Without enough nutrients, enzymes or energy you can't build the car, and you can't get the car to do what it needs to do.

So ensuring we get the right amount of nutrients and energy our bodies need to create all these hormones is important.

What should you focus on with your diet?

1. Adequate food intake: We need to eat enough food to supply the body with the energy and nutrients it needs to make hormones. Under-eating, dieting or excessive exercise can suppress the hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian (HPO) axis resulting in low production of Luteinising Hormone (LH) and oestrogen. This can result in irregular or missing periods, anovulation and infertility.

   
   

   If the body doesn't receive 100% of the energy it needs to do all the essential functions to keep you alive, it will redirect that limited energy from functions that are less important (like producing hormones to have a baby, grow hair and nails, or maintain your body temperature). Instead it will prioritise functions that are the most important (like keeping your heart beating, your brain functioning and lungs expanding).

2. Macronutrient balance: Your body needs a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats to produce hormones. Eating enough fat in particular is required to provide the cholesterol needed to create estrogen and progesterone. Carbohydrates provide us with the energy (in the form of glucose) we need to break down and produce hormones. Protein is essential to make, transport and respond to hormones.

3. Micronutrients: Vitamins and minerals help to produce hormones (otherwise known as cofactors). For example,

   • Iron, zinc and B vitamins are needed to make hormones that support ovulation and egg quality.

   • Vitamin D is involved in regulating hormone levels, improving insulin function and reducing inflammation in the body.

   • Magnesium helps to regulate stress hormones (cortisol) and produce progesterone.

   • Zinc, iodine, and selenium are all essential for thyroid function.

However, many women aren't aware that what they are eating (or more likely not eating) is contributing to inharmonious hormones. Our busy lifestyles and diets that encourage restriction or removing food groups can all leave us lacking the energy and nutrients we need for hormonal health.

Important Note!

What we should eat for our hormones is highly individual. What diet/ foods are best for one person will differ from another depending on your genetics and lifestyle.

If you think your hormones might need some help getting back in tune please chat to a doctor and always seek support from a qualified dietitian who can assess your individual needs and develop a personalised nutrition plan to support your hormonal balance and improve your symptoms and overall health and wellbeing.