Your endocrine system consists of nine glands in your brain and body that secrete a variety of hormones, or chemical messengers that influence a variety of bodily functions, ranging from digestion to reproduction. Hormonal balance is important for proper growth and development, helping you reach and maintain your ideal weight and keeping your moods on an even keel. Many plant foods and some animal foods contain compounds with hormone-like effects that can assist you in reaching hormone balance and related health goals.
Various Foods
Berries, clover, dandelion, pomegranate, tofu, flax and sesame seeds provide weak estrogen effects, according to nutritionist Sonia Gaemi, ED.D., R.D., author of the book “The Eating Wisely for Hormonal Balance Journal: a Daily Guide to Help You Manage Your Weight, Gain Energy and Achieve Good Health.” Similarly, the spices cumin, turmeric, thyme and sage also offer hormone-balancing benefits.
Japanese Diet
Adopting a Japanese diet may help balance your hormone levels, according to Eve Agee, author of “The Uterine Health Companion: A Holistic Guide to Lifelong Wellness.” The traditional Japanese breakfast can set you on the right track toward hormone balance. This meal typically consists of miso – a fermented soy product that contains high levels of phytoestrogens – and seaweed, which provides iodine to support thyroid health and salmon, which provides hormone-balancing omega-3 fatty acids. Women who eat these foods tend to have fewer problems with PMS and uterine disorders, says Agee. By contrast, the Western breakfast often contains cereal or toast made from refined grains. These high-glycemic foods create a surge of blood sugar followed by a surge in insulin, a hormone that affects blood sugar levels, fat production and storage and protein utilization.
Organic Foods
Eat organic, preservative-free foods to avoid the damaging effects of pesticides and other chemicals, many of which have unhealthy estrogenic effects that increase your cancer risk, says Claudia Welch, author of the book “Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life: Achieving Optimal Health and Wellness through Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine and Western Science.” These chemicals, known as xenoestrogens, are associated with breast, testicular and other reproductive cancers and reproductive disorders. When Israel banned chlorinated pesticides in the 1970s, rates of breast cancer dropped off considerably after being among the highest in the world, according to Gordon Edlin, author of the book “Health and Wellness.”
Low-Fat
Eat a low-fat diet to keep your estrogen levels in check. Dietary fat, whether from plants or animals, saturated or unsaturated, promotes estrogen production and stores it. If you consume a Western diet, decreasing your fat intake by half may reduce your estrogen levels by as much as 20 percent, according to Neal Barnard, M.D., author of “Foods That Fight Pain: Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain Relief.” Chronically high estrogen levels of the type promoted by a high-fat diet can cause menstrual pain and increase your risk of certain forms of cancer, Barnard says.
References
- "The Uterine Health Companion: A Holistic Guide to Lifelong Wellness"; Eve Agee; 2010
- "Balance Your Hormones, Balance Your Life: Achieving Optimal Health and ..."; Claudia Welch; 2011
- "Health and Wellness"; Gordon Edlin, et al.; 2009
- "Foods That Fight Pain: Revolutionary New Strategies for Maximum Pain Relief"; Neal D. Barnard; 1999
- "The Eating Wisely for Hormonal Balance Journal: a Daily Guide to Help You ..."; Sonia Gaemi, et al.; 2005
