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12 Reasons a Holistic Nutritionist Can Help With Imbalanced Hormones

When I was diagnosed with PCOS, my doctor wanted to put me back on birth control, and on a medication called Metformin, for blood sugar control. I knew in my head and my heart that taking toxic medications was not the route I was going to take to manage my PCOS. It was a guttural feeling that has changed the course of my life. My business, The Hormone Diva, wouldn’t exist if this hadn’t happened.
 
Maybe you’ve also been diagnosed with PCOS or some other condition like endometriosis, fibroids or PMS and were offered similar options. Perhaps you, like me, don’t want to put that fake shit in your body. Perhaps using nature to balance health sounds like music to your ears.
 
But where do you start? How does it all go down? Who could possibly help you with such a complex disorder? 
 

  

For a little shameless self promotion, I will always recommend seeing a holistic nutritionist to help with hormonal imbalances and the embarrassing symptoms of acne, weight gain, and hair loss, plus the invisible symptoms of irregular or painful periods, depression, anxiety and infertility.
 
As a Holistic Nutritionist and Natural Nutrition Consulting Practitioner, I have extensive training in both the physiology of disease, as well as using natural remedies and lifestyle shifts to balance disease with natural methods. I’m so JOYful that I am able to help women using my training as my full time job. There’s nothing in the world I would rather do with my time. Those messages from clients that they’re feeling better or something big has shifted in their life in a positive way lights me up, and makes my day every single day.
 
But how can a holistic nutritionist really help with imbalanced hormones? Is diet and lifestyle really enough to tame this beast? I wholeheartedly believe that YES!, holistic living can be enough, and here’s why:
 
  1. Individualized food plans based on YOU – your likes, dislikes, food intolerances, allergies, lifestyle. Eat healthy and eat delicious- without breaking the bank!
  2. Hit a plateau? Inspiration, motivation, guidance, coaching. It’s having someone there to help you make the changes necessary and call you on your shit to keep you moving towards your goals.
  3. Get to the root cause of your hormonal symptoms through targeted nutrition and lifestyle tactics to balance sex hormones and insulin– no pill popping required!
  4. It all starts in the GUT! Work with an nutritionist (ME) on getting your digestion on track, avoid having to push out pellet poops or undo your top button after eating. 
  5. Implement strategies to boost your mood with food. Anxiety, depression, irritability and angry outbursts become a thing of the past. Good food = good mood.
  6. Learn lifestyle habits to reduce your stress and improve your self-esteem so you’re feeling empowered and gosh damn sexy!
  7. No quick-fix fad or crash diets. These types of diets provide results quick, followed by a crash in your metabolism and even more weight piling back on. 
  8. Fuck the food pyramid and embrace a diet and lifestyle plan that is suitable and sustainable for you and your rocking life.
  9. Get a different perspective on your lab test results from someone trained in optimal ranges, rather than average. 
  10. Learn to love the kitchen with new recipes and ways of cooking to optimize health and hormones. BONUS- eating lots of FAT is a good thing!
  11. Get glowing. Adult cystic acne is no joke. It’s embarrassing, it hurts and it wrecks self-esteem. Learn how to use food, botanicals and lifestyle to achieve clear, glowing skin without pills or burning topical treatments. 
  12. Learn how to be your healthiest self, even if you ARE on medications. Replace nutrients being depleted due to meds, and live a happy hormones lifestyle- no matter the birth control, anti-depressant or other medications you may be taking. 
 

  

What is Insulin Resistance and Do You Have It?

 

 
Maybe this story sounds familiar to you. Growing up, I wasn’t necessarily overweight but more on the borderline, gaining and losing the same 10-20 pounds over and over. I grew up on a diet of McDonald’s, fruit juice and sugary snacks. I had constant mood swings and tons of fatigue, right up into adulthood. I would experience extreme mood swings, anxiety and irritability between meals- even if I had just eaten an hour or two prior!
 
When I did reach that snack or meal time, I would end up feeling super foggy, bloated and exhausted after a meal. Often I was overeating because I was ALWAYS hungry- not peckish or just plain bored- HUNGRY. Like, if I didn’t get something in my belly right this second, I would be shaky, jittery and flipping out on someone.
 
Of course, I later learned that these symptoms were part of insulin resistance- a big time factor in the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) that I experienced. Not only did it play into how I felt like what I’ve described above, but it also caused irregular, painful menstrual cycles in addition to excess hair growth (moustache, anyone?), head hair loss and cystic acne (I thought puberty ended in my teens!). 
 
Insulin resistance may not be familiar to you, but I’m willing to bet it’s a large part of the symptoms and hormonal imbalances you’re experiencing, and here’s why.
 

What Is Insulin Resistance

 
To understand insulin resistance and it’s impact on our hormonal and general health, we first need to understand insulin and blood sugar control in our bodies- this isn’t just for people with diabetes!
 
Firstly, insulin is the major hormone in balancing our blood sugar. When we eat a food that has carbs, our body breaks it down into simple sugars or glucose through digestion. All of our cells need glucose for energy, and food is where we get the majority of the glucose. Once glucose has been released into the blood, the pancreas will produce insulin. Insulin then comes to the rescue and helps the glucose get into the body cells by “unlocking” the cell door. Once the majority of glucose has been brought into the cells, blood glucose levels will decline, and this is a good thing.
 
Now, here’s what goes on in insulin resistance. For various reasons (like a diet high in carbs, long-term stress, and others) many women experience high blood glucose levels. So, the pancreas will create more and more insulin to get all that excess glucose into the cells. The problem starts when the “key” that insulin has to the cells stops working- like your body hired a locksmith behind insulin’s back. 
 
This causes levels of blood glucose to stay high, and insulin stays high as well. 
 
Additionally, your pancreas may become tired after producing SO MUCH insulin for so long, and may drastically reduce or stop producing insulin altogether. Any one of these issues is bad news for your health and hormones.
 

Causes

 
So why would this be happening to you? Well, there is no ‘one’ cause, or right answer. Research is still trying to figure it out. 
 
Here are a few idea of what comes into play when insulin resistance occurs:
 

Poor Diet

If your food mostly comes from a restaurant, bag, box or carton, you can bet diet is playing a role in symptoms. All of these types of foods are generally very high in carbohydrates- especially the refined types like sugars, flours and their products. This puts a lot of glucose in the blood, causing your body to create more and more insulin, potentially leading to insulin resistance eventually. Clinically, every woman I’ve ever consulted with who ate this way had insulin resistance problems. 
 
Additionally, doctored fats like trans fats found in fried foods and the majority of those bagged and boxed foods impairs glucose sensitivity, adding to the problem. 
 
Lastly, poor diets are often low in nutrients. Not eating enough fresh produce, healthy fats and clean proteins leaves the body devoid of many insulin-sensitizing nutrients like omega3s, vitamin D, B vitamins and Magnesium.
 

Sedentary Lifestyle

As much as we hate to believe it, exercise has a profound impact on our health and on insulin sensitivity. Regular movement and exercise helps our bodies to use up excess blood glucose (for energy), reducing the amount of insulin required in the body. Second, the right exercise in general helps the body to be sensitized to the effects of our insulin hormone.
 

Genetics

Some research has pointed to genetics or heredity playing a part in insulin resistance. If you have a family history of diabetes, obesity, high triglycerides, cancer and heart disease- it is possible these factors may happen to you later in life. Genetics is funny business though, because not everyone with a family history gets whatever the disease is. Our environment has a large impact on what genes turn “active” and which don’t, which is why most things are still in our control. 
 

Main Symptoms

 
There’s a host of symptoms involved in insulin resistance, but I’ve only listed a few major ones here. 
 
  • Getting “Hangry” (mood swings, irritability in between meals)
  • Family or personal history of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, or high triglycerides
  • Weight gain, especially in the belly (the dreaded belly fat!!)
  • PCOS
  • Tiredness after a meal
  • General fatigue or exhaustion
  • Poor menstrual cycle health
  • Infertility
  
 
 

Insulin Resistance and Your Hormones 

Who gives a hoot about insulin resistance when dealing with reproductive hormone imbalances? We all should!
 
Firstly because insulin itself is a hormone- and how well or unwell insulin functions will determine the health of your other hormones- like cortisol and estrogen.
 

Cortisol

Cortisol is our main stress hormone. When we experience a stressful situation or live in long-term stress, our body releases cortisol to help us. It does this as part of the ‘fight or flight’ response. This response was initially for real, life-threatening events, like a large animal predator coming after us, in the early human days. Currently, the fight or flight response is chronically activated as we experience non-life threatening stresses like fights with spouses and long commutes, which our bodies read as emergencies. During this response, cortisol tells places of glucose storage (like the liver) to release glucose into the blood for energy. This extra glucose causes insulin to be released. The longer this cycle goes on the more vicious it gets, and the more likely insulin resistance will occur.
 

 

Stress Tea | The Hormone Diva

 

 

Reproductive Hormones Like Estrogen and Testosterone

Insulin is one of the “major” hormones,  and insulin resistance makes it almost impossible for your body to balance its “minor” hormones (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone to name a few) until your insulin metabolism is balanced first. To put it simply, if you have hot flashes, weight gain or painful periods and you are insulin resistant, it’s going to be nearly impossible to heal them without first healing the insulin resistance. 
 
Insulin resistance impairs the body’s ability to ovulate, so making some women struggle with irregular or absent periods, and infertility. It does this by creating excess LH, a hormone normally involved in ovulation, that when chronically high actually prevents ovulation from occurring. No ovulation = no period.
 
Insulin resistance also impairs the ovaries’ ability to create reproductive hormones like estrogen and progesterone- both important for health cycles and hormonal balance throughout the lifespan. 
 
This ovarian and insulin imbalance could contribute to the creation of more testosterone, causing symptoms like cystic acne, excess facial hair (hirsutism) and head hair loss (androgenic alopecia). This is the main reason that women with PCOS experience these symptoms, plus irregular or absent periods.
 
In regards to other conditions like Endometriosis and Fibroids- the insulin resistance could contribute to to estrogen dominance, in part because progesterone ends up so low. This could contribute to the pain women with endo experience, as well as the weight gain that often accompanies it. 
 
 
 
The first thing I do with any private client is work on balancing their blood sugar and insulin. Often this in and of itself will effect profound changes in their symptoms and overall hormonal health. I highly recommend any women do the same, for happy hormones and optimal health.

 

15 Best Healthy Salad Recipes for Balanced Hormones

 Salads are a fantastic way to get in some more veggies! Vegetables provide us with nutrients like vitamins and minerals as well as fibre and other compounds to keep our hormones happy. The trouble is, that sad looking iceberg lettuce salad with bottled dressing not only is devoid of nutrients but it’s also boring. 

 
The following is a list of some freaking awesome salad recipes from bloggers that I love. The recipes will both delight your taste buds and help you create Happy Hormones. 
 
kale salad edited 2My Favourite Easy Kale Salad  by The Hormone Diva
This kale salad started my love for raw kale. Kale contains tons of insulin-balancing fibre, mood balancing B vitamins and blood-building iron. Beets help your digestion, detox your liver and help your body excrete excess hormones. Pumpkin seeds are mineral powerhouses, especially zinc which is necessary for both healthy cycles and glowing skin. 
 
Pomegranates can be used to help balance estrogen production in the body. Spinach is fibre-packed and loaded with beta-carotene, which is often converted to Vitamin A in the body which is good news if you have heavy menstrual flow! Pecans provide a little protein and some healthy fats to reduce inflammation and balance blood sugar. 
 
alkalising buckwheat salad the luminous kitchenAlkalising Buckwheat Salad by The Luminous Kitchen
Buckwheat is FULL of cycle-regulating inositol, which is especially helpful for women who have trouble ovulating or have PCOS. The greens and herbs provide vital nutrients for health periods like B vitamins and Magnesium. Lemon assists your liver to detox and your digestion to function well to reduce stress on your body. 
 
Broccoli (and other cruciferous vegetables) contain both DIM and Sulforphane, two potent estrogen detoxifiers that help to balance your hormones and assist your liver in metabolizing hormones. Oranges don’t just have vitamin C- they’re also packed with mood, bone and cycle-regulating Calcium.  
 
spicy shredded carrot salad kalyns kitchenSpicy Shredded Carrot Salad by Kalyn’s Kitchen
Carrots are packed with beta-carotene, that Vitamin A precursor which could assist in reducing heavy menstrual flow. Carrots are also full of blood sugar-balancing fibre, and the specific fibre they contain helps to bind and excrete excess estrogen. 
 
 
Avocados provide healthy monounsaturated fats and are known fertility helpers. They are also full of mood-balancing Magnesium. Apples contain estrogen-detoxing Calcium-D-glucarate, as well as pectin which helps with healthy poops. Celery if full of electrolytes (aka minerals) which help to provide energy. 
 
festive winter cabbage slaw leelaliciousWinter Cabbage Slaw by Leelalicious
Cabbage is another cruciferous vegetable that contains estrogen-regulating DIM and sulforaphane. Cabbage is also fantastic for regulating digestion. Sunflower seeds are full of hormone-helping Vitamin E, blood sugar-balancing Manganese and mood-balancing vitamin B6 and Magnesium. 
 
 

If you’re loving these recipes and don’t want to lose the links, no worries! I’ve put it together for you in the Salad Recipes for Balanced Hormones PDF!  

 
 
walnut broccoli salad patricia and carolynWalnut Broccoli Superblend Salad by Patricia and Carolyn
Walnuts are super high in anti-inflammatory omega3s, which can help with mood and decrease period pain. Broccoli of course is an estrogen detoxifier and full of bowel-regulating fibre. 
 
 
Both black beans and lentils have lots of fibre and plant-based protein. They also contain blood-building iron, glowing skin zinc and healthy pregnancy folate. 
 
 
 
apple pecan arugula salad minimalist bakerApple Pecan Arugula Salad by Minimalist Baker
Arugula is another cruciferous vegetable choice that helps with estrogen metabolism. Apples of course contain both fibre and estrogen-detoxing Calcium-d-glucarate. Pecans provide some mood-balancing healthy fats and protein. 
 
 
 
Cucumbers provide not only awesome nutrients but lots of water to keep your body hydrated. The sesame seeds contains loads of calcium to protect your bones, balance your moods and reduce period pain. Carrots provide fibre to detoxify estrogen and zucchini contains many minerals to provide energy. 
 
The more greens the better! Greens give us much needed B vitamins and Magnesium- both helpful in reducing period pain and regulating cycles. Quinoa is a fantastic source of plant-based protein, and in fact isn’t really a grain at all! Pumpkin seeds are loaded with zinc for glowing skin, as well as healthy fats and fibre. Pumpkin seeds (and their oils) have also been used to help regulate sleep patterns. 
 
israeli salad feasting at homeIsraeli Salad by Feasting At Home
Bell peppers are one of the highest sources of stress-regulating vitamin C out there. Lemon juice also provides vitamin C and helps your liver to detoxify excess hormones. 
 
 
 
 
best kale summer salad the balanced berryThe Best Kale Summer Salad by The Balanced Berry
Kale is a wonder vegetable also part of the cruciferous vegetable family. Regulate your blood sugar, cycle and mood with this leafy green. Berries are a low-glycemic fruit choice and they are super anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Protect your health and immunity with berries. 
 
 
Beets contain betaine, an important component to making stomach acid for the digestion of these delicious recipes. Betaine also encourages your liver cells to release toxins. Beets also contain a fibre called pectin, which is important for taking toxins from your liver out of your body via some beet-coloured poops (don’t freak out- you’re not bleeding!!). Last but not least, beets are anti-inflammatory,
antioxidant & anti-cancer.

 

Love the recipes and don’t want to lose the links? Grab the Salad Recipes for Hormone Balance PDF for free to always keep them on hand! 

Get The Recipes

 

 

Sacred Lunar Rhythms

 

Sacred Lunar Rhythms_Pinterest

Guest Post by Lydia Jarjoura.

I often get asked what a woman’s menstrual cycle has to do with the Moon. So I start by explaining the message of the Lunar Rhythms.  This celestial body holds the most sacred cycle within; a cycle that is not unlike a woman’s internal rhythm.  Many of us have noticed the pull of a bright, Full Moon during a cloudless night.  We have all seen her morph into a silver crescent of light as the month goes on.  But what most of us aren’t taught, is that these distinct phases of the Moon’s cycle greatly affect our own psyches, our energy, even our dreams.  

 

Civilization’s way of tracking time was born out of the lunar rhythms that have always taken place in the atmosphere above us.  The origins of the word, Moon, come from the word month and menses both in Old English and Greek. This is where we get the words month, menstruation, menarch, and many more words with “me”- to measure.  

 

There was a time, before our mothers and our grandmothers and perhaps even their mothers, where all life and time was governed by the Moon cycle.  Before artificial light, hormone disrupting diets (ex. processed foods) and the rise of hormonal birth control, most all women would experience their period on the New Moon and would ovulate at the Full Moon. This cycle is our default setting and it’s only been until fairly recently that we have disrupted our own biology.

 

Because women would bleed together each month on the New Moon, this was considered the beginning of the month, and the beginning of their cycle. The Menstrual phase (New Moon) is the beginning of the 4 week cycle that brings with it distinct energetic and physical changes throughout the month.  After the Menstrual/New Moon phase, the light starts to grow fuller as it moves into the Waxing phase. In a woman’s body, this is called the Follicular phase.  From here, the Moon grows to its full brightness, in the Full moon or Ovulatory stage.  After this peak of energy, it begins to Wane, moving into the Luteal phase.  

 

Each of these phases brings about a specific energetic element and learning to go with the flow of your own cycle allows you to embrace those energies.  I always encourage women, before they begin tracking the cycles of the Moon, to track their own cycle.  This can be done by keeping a period calendar; begin on the first day of bleeding and write Day 1 on your calendar, on the date that you began bleeding.  At the end of each day, jot down any physical or emotional energies you experienced like happy, sad, angry. Or you could do a smiley (or sad) face to notate how you felt overall each day.  After a few months of tracking, you’ll notice a rhythm to your moods and your physical changes within.  Begin to note what phase the Moon is in when you start bleeding (you can do a quick Google search for the specific day to find out the Moon’s phase).  Many women find that they bleed around the New Moon or the Full Moon phase.  

 

It used to be said that a woman who bled around the Full Moon were the wisdom keepers and the leaders of the community.  Women who bleed around the New Moon are the Mothers and their body’s act as a mirror to the Earth’s natural fertile cycle. Over the course of a year, your cycle will shift and your bleeding time will move to a different phase. Take note of where your bleeding lands in the cycle and see if that is being reflected in your current life. If your period lands around the Full Moon, are you finding more time to be creative, to start new projects or to tap into some ancient wisdom? When you bleed around the New Moon, are you nurturing yourself and others? Are you giving birth to something new in your life? It’s amazingly empowering to have a full awareness of your body’s changes, both physical and emotional, as you harness the power of your own Moon cycle.

 

Just remember, many cultures did and still do, regard a woman’s menstrual cycle as the most sacred gift and a way to reach a higher realm of consciousness.  Your body is a blessing and by learning to Reclaim our Cycles, we can tap into the gifts that it provides.

Note from Robyn: Lydia has graciously provided me with a special discount for her brilliant ebook, Moon Sessions: Reclaim Your Cycles.  A guide for reclaiming your body’s cycles, regaining your health, and renewing your spirit. I’d like to share it with you! Enjoy 10% off the Moon Sessions ebook with coupon code RENEW at checkout. Grab the ebook here. 

 

Lydia Lunar Nourishment HeadshotLunar Nourishment is a wellness platform rooted in ritual and the rhythms of the Moon. Twin sisters Lydia and Marlena Jarjoura provide education, ritual tools, gemstone jewelry and more to empower women to embrace their natural cycles. Our bodies are a vessel for healing and strength; Lunar Nourishment provides support to help women (and men!) nourish Mind, Body and Spirit in a holistic and healthy way. Are you ready to live authentically and embrace the spirit within?  You can connect with Lydia and her sister on her Website, Facebook  and Instagram. 

 

Article Image Credit: www.lunarnourishment.com