Hormonal Imbalance: A healthy lifestyle requires both a healthy body and a healthy mind. For this, one needs to follow a good diet, be physically active and manage stress. Lifestyle changes can affect a person's health in various ways, including hormonal imbalance. When we talk about hormonal imbalance, it is not only for women but also for men. However, women are more likely to develop an imbalance in hormones due to the presence of a slightly different endocrine system. So if you want to know how to balance hormones naturally, here are some lifestyle tips that you can adopt.
Why is it important for women to have hormonal balance?
Hormones act as chemical messengers in our bodies, which play a major role in controlling appetite, weight, and mood. Hormones also play a role in the period cycle, ovulation, protection of unfertilized eggs, and preparing a woman's body for pregnancy. Hormonal imbalance can disrupt our normal functioning and can also affect a woman's physical, mental and emotional health.
How to balance hormones naturally
1. Diet plays an important role in maintaining hormonal balance
An unbalanced diet and lack of nutrition will not work. Eating a proper and balanced diet helps in maintaining hormonal balance. A healthy diet should include protein, iron and vitamins, along with macronutrients such as carbohydrates and fats that the body needs. An unhealthy diet pattern can increase the chances of being overweight or underweight. Women with a higher body mass index (BMI) are more likely to experience hormonal imbalances. Maintaining a healthy BMI to avoid complications like menstrual dysfunction and anovulation requires a proper diet which helps in controlling hormonal imbalance.
2. Exercise to maintain hormonal balance
Maintaining good health depends on a proper and balanced diet and an ideal amount of physical activity. Exercising improves the body's metabolism, which makes it easier to burn calories and helps control body weight, which also helps maintain hormonal balance.
3. Reduce Stress
Stress releases a hormone called cortisol, which triggers the body's flight or fight response and is considered normal. Cortisol is required by the body in small amounts, but when released in excess due to stress, it causes hormonal imbalance. This further leads to complications like obesity, insomnia and fatigue. An increase in stress hormones can also lead to the risk of high blood pressure.
4. Avoid High Chemical Beauty Products
Endocrine disruptive chemicals (EDCs) can enter the body and are readily absorbed through the skin. EDCs affect fertility, inducing early puberty, as well as causing cancer and abnormalities in the reproductive organs. Even though a low level of EDCs is present in cosmetic products, it causes hormonal imbalance, hence it is advised to use chemical-free beauty products for the skin.
5. Manage Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (POCs)
PCOS is a condition where the ovaries produce large amounts of androgens which are present in lesser amounts in females, leading to hormonal imbalance. Women with PCOS often have problems conceiving and in case of pregnancy, hormone levels should be carefully monitored. Hormone levels also change during puberty, pregnancy, breastfeeding and menopause, which can cause infertility or difficulty with future pregnancies.
