It is no surprise that choosing the right foods is paramount to supporting hormone health and achieving optimal well-being. When it comes to these uber-sensitive biochemical messengers, hormones play an imperative role in modulating everything from digestion, growth, and metabolism to mood, fertility, and more.
Thus, when thinking about what to eat to nourish our bodies from within, it makes sense that brain-healthy, blood sugar balancing, fiber-packed, and heart-healthy foods determine your hormone healthiness. In other words, proper nutrition can considerably affect hormones’ production, symphony, and their signaling pathways, as well as our sense of holistic vitality at large.
One way to practice hormonal maintenance is by eating in tune with your body’s needs and lifestyle. Below are a few tasty foods to get you started on your hormone balancing journey and feel entirely succulent from the inside out:
Sweet Potatoes
These mighty, sweet-tasting root veggies are a great addition to any digestive-boosting diet. Thanks to their high level of resistant starch, a prebiotic food that supports a healthy gut and helps in digestion, sweet potatoes allow you to get your fill of whole, nourishing carbs while offering a significant punch of antioxidants and minerals along the way — think vitamin B6, potassium, vitamin C, and magnesium, to name a few.
Also, as a well-known staple food worldwide, sweet potatoes are one of the most versatile products to cook with for a creative, hormone-centric kitchen repertoire.
Lean Protein
Ensuring proper consumption of lean protein in one’s diet is key to overall health, especially when it comes to hormone wellness. Protein delivers the organism with amino acids used to produce specific hormones like thyroid hormone, insulin, or estrogen, which affect our gut microbiome and the functioning of our metabolism at large.
Thankfully, there are myriad healthy lean protein options for vegetarians, vegans, and omnivores alike. Here are some go-to picks to add to your eating regime:
- For omnivores: Eggs, wild-caught fish, crustaceans, grass-fed meat, etc.
- For veggie-based: Pea protein, hemp protein, seeds, legumes, nuts, etc.
The Ever-So Vital Healthy Fats
As mentioned before, nuts and seeds are not only famously recognized for their protein content but also because of their multiple health-boosting benefits. From being a great source of fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, fats, and minerals to helping lower body inflammation, nuts and seeds are the epitomai of an optimal, hormone-enhancing diet and a satisfying snack at any time of the day.
When it comes to female reproductive health, nuts have also been shown to enhance insulin, androgens, and cholesterol levels in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), or a disorder in which the ovaries create an anomalous quantity of male sex hormones. A study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition suggested that women with PCOS who received either walnuts or almonds for six weeks had low levels of low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol and reduced free androgens index, among others.
The Takeaway
Filling your plate with an antioxidant-packed, healthy, unprocessed, and vibrant diet is key to keeping your hormones functioning well throughout your lifetime. While tasty, nutritious options abound, it is also crucial to recognize and adopt a diet that can synergistically adapt to both your lifestyle and overall dietary needs. Bon hormonal appetite!
