J.7/ Regulate your Hormones
Balance your hormones naturally with lifestyle and diet changes, nutrients and herbal medicine. Do you experience bloating, irregular cycles, painful periods, mood swings, using natural medicine you can help reduce these symptoms.
Regulating your hormones can be a lengthily process, on average it can take more than three months to see a difference with natural medicine, this is because the treatment we would be doing at the present is for an egg that will be released in 90 days and then your period would follow if unfertilised. Hormones can be a challenge to treat, you need to find the cause of what is actually happening, for example, if you have irregular cycles it may be your thyroid, it could be you’re not eating enough macronutrients, it could be that you’re low in a particular nutrient. It’s always important to speak with a professional before starting any work on your hormones because it is such a sensitive system of your body.
Many patients I see have been on ‘the pill’ or an IUD, these methods of contraception often get used for treatments for PCOS, Endometriosis, painful periods or irregular cycles. Using these contraceptive methods as treatments is often not necessary and doesn’t in fact treat the condition at all. It puts a pause on what is happening with your hormones and the same issues will arise again once you’ve decided to come off the contraception. As a Naturopath we treat the cause of your symptoms and delve deeper to find out what may be causing the symptoms. Natural medicine alone may not be the answer but sometimes it can be helpful in balancing your hormones.
Diet and lifestyle can play a huge role in the health of your reproductive system, for those wanting to regulate and balance your hormones, this is for you! Eating a well balanced diet full of wholegrains, a variety of vegetables and fruit, good quality protein sources and good fats can improve your hormones. Making sure you’re limiting sugar, processed foods, salt, alcohol and excess caffeine will also help reduce your toxin load, bonus points if you can eat organic too, as pesticides can wreck havoc with your hormones. Being outdoors, breathing in fresh air and being in the sunlight will do wonders for your body, daily exercise and also daily stress relief will help your hormones too.
As for specific supplements for hormonal health that is really an individualised approach, one herbal mix that might have worked for one patient may not work for the next, this is because we are all individuals and require different things. Some basics for general wellbeing for your hormones are, Omega 3, Magnesium, Zinc, B6, Vitamin D and Vitamin C.
Hormonal balancing takes time but it is really worth giving it a go and treating the cause of the issue will make a huge difference. There’s no need to suffer from mood swings, bloating, irregular cycles or painful periods. If you’re wanting to stop taking contraception, speak with your Doctor before stopping any medication, there are natural methods of contraception such as, Fertility Awareness Method which involves taking your temperature daily this is one of my favourites, there are courses which can give more information on this. As for wanting for information on what supplements are needed you’ll need to have an appointment with a professional Naturopath to see what you as an individual need.
