Feeling sluggish, even after a good night's sleep, is a common experience for many people around the globe. But when mood swings become unexplained, they can affect your health and leave you uncertain and drained.

Hormonal imbalance is usually the culprit, and it can affect various aspects of life, including sleep quality, emotional stability, energy levels, and body composition.

However, the good news is that you can balance your hormones without depending on invasive treatments. Nature has provided numerous tools for hormonal balance, from nutrient-based foods to wellness lifestyles  and stress-reducing techniques.

This guide will teach you the top 10 natural ways to balance your hormones, empowering you to take control of your health and wellness.

What Are the 10 Natural Ways to Balance Your Hormones?

1. Eat Enough Protein-Based Meals

Daily food can impact your health and vitality, and eating sufficient protein is essential. Protein provides the amino acids your body uses to produce peptide hormones that regulate physiological processes, including appetite, growth, reproduction, and energy metabolism.

According to research, people who eat adequate protein automatically lower their hunger hormone, known as ghrelin, and boost the fullness hormones, like the peptide YY (PYY) and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1).

To boost your protein intake, expert nutritionists recommend consuming 25-30 grams of protein in each meal and incorporating high-protein foods such as chicken breast, eggs, fish, and lentils into your diet.

2. Balance Your Hormones With Regular Exercise

Engaging in regular physical activity can positively impact your hormonal health. Exercise does not only regulate blood flow to your body and muscles but also enhances your hormone receptor sensitivity, increases your insulin resistance, and reduces your insulin level.

Incorporating physical activities like cardio, strength training, and high-intensity interval workouts has been found to help improve insulin resistance. Regular walking also helps those who cannot perform vigorous exercise. Walking increases essential hormone levels and vitality in the body.

3. Minimize Your Added Sugar Intake

Lowering sugar can improve hormonal health and prevent chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. Sugar-sweetened foods and beverages, such as fruit juice, soda, and sports drinks, are products' primary sources of sugar additives.

Commercially processed sweeteners have seen a staggering increase in consumption since 1980, and according to studies, eating added sugars in excessive amounts can enhance insulin resistance, regardless of weight gain or calorie intake. So, to improve your hormones, you must reduce the added sugar intake in food and drinks, which further helps control your health and wellness.

4. Eat Healthy Fats

Consuming natural fats or high-quality diets can nourish your body and help reduce your appetite and insulin resistance. Healthy fats support metabolic balance and weight management and can boost calorie burning. Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) are fats that are efficiently absorbed and used by the liver to enhance energy, improving calorie burning.

Healthy fats like omega-3 fatty acids help enhance insulin sensitivity, promote heart health, and lower inflammation. Healthy fat is found in avocados, pure MCT oil, almonds, fatty fish, peanuts, and macadamia nuts, which are suitable for your hormones.

5. Stress Reduction Techniques

Stress can significantly affect your hormones in many ways, particularly cortisol levels, which are also known as the stress hormone. When you’re anxious or stressed, your body responds by activating cortisol and disrupting feedback mechanisms, sending natural feedback that normalizes your hormonal system. The consequences of chronic stress include weight gain, obesity, increased appetite, and sugar cravings.

However, you can reduce stress by practicing yoga, deep breathing, and other mind-body connection exercises. You can also focus on relaxing your mind to soothe your body by maintaining mindful meditation for some minutes daily.

6. Consume a high-fiber diet.

It is essential to eat high-fiber food to balance your hormones, as research reveals that fiber stimulates fullness hormones and increases insulin levels, helping your body regulate blood glucose and supporting weight management. Both insoluble and soluble fibers are essential in improving vitality, and they are found in foods like whole grains, nuts, oats, beans, avocados, and seeds. Eating these foods daily can balance your hormones and enhance your wellness journey.

7. Get Quality Sleep

The secret of hormonal balance lies in getting quality and consistent sleep. If your sleeping habits are poor, your routine exercises and nutritious diet might not work out well because good sleep maintains health. Unhealthy sleep habits contribute to an imbalance in hormones, including leptin, HGH levels, insulin, ghrelin, and cortisol. In addition, your brain functions appropriately with quality sleep, and you need an active brain to complete the sleep cycle stages, which supports the growth hormones released during deep sleep. You can improve your hormone balance by increasing your sleep rate to 7 hours every night.

8. Dim the Lights

Excessive exposure to artificial lights, especially from computer screens and mobile devices, can significantly affect your sleep cycle and reduce hormone regulation. According to a 2015 research study, reducing evening exposure to artificial light can help improve sleep quality, revitalize the internal body clock, and balance hormone levels.

9. Quit Smoking

Tobacco smoking can damage your hormonal system by disrupting the production of essential hormones that your body needs. A 2018 research review shows that smoking can alter thyroid hormone levels, increase cortisol levels, and stimulate pituitary hormones. So, quitting smoking can help reduce stress, improve wellness, and restore hormonal balance.

10. Mind Your Portions

Too much food can disrupt hormonal balance and cause long-term metabolic health problems. According to a 2013 research study, short-term overeating can also affect the body by elevating oxidative stress, disrupting fat levels, and increasing ceramide levels. However, researchers emphasize the need for further analysis of the effect of overeating and how it affects metabolic health.

Conclusion

Hormones are essential in regulating various body functions, and a slight imbalance might have consequences. While lifestyle changes and diet improvement can restore the hormonal balance of most individuals, it is crucial to seek professional counsel concerning your hormones from your healthcare provider. Personalized guidance enables accurate diagnosis, advice, and treatment and ensures effective management of your hormonal imbalance.