5 Hacks to support your hormones and ease Period pain
We truly take our hormones for granted. Hormones do so so much for us yet we don’t acknowledge them enough. Our hormones are the reason why we grow from kids to adults, we bring babies into the world, we sleep, we have a drive and so much more.
Hormone imbalances are so common in women. Whether you have PCOS or simply just lacking energy throughout the day— Sister, that’s most likely a hormone imbalance and it can be supported, even fixed.
First, I need you to understand that stress plays a crucial role in your hormone imbalances. You don’t need to be chased by a tiger to feel stressed— one day at a job that you hate or one hour of scrolling on social media would do. For that reason, it is imperative that you seek things that bring you joy. Intentionally pull yourself out of things that generate unpleasant, stressful reactions, cut out toxic relationships, and all that good stuff, your period will thank you.
Now, let’s get straight to the point: 5 life hacks to support and balance that Period pain and hormonal imbalances in general:
Eat 1 or 2 raw carrots a day
Hormonal imbalances like painful periods or PCOS are a sign of estrogen dominance (too much of it because we have been inefficient at flushing it out) Estrogen is necessary, but it needs to be excreted once it has done its work. Raw carrots help flush estrogen out of our bodies.
You can eat raw carrots like Bugs Bunny (omg, I am old!), or simply just shave them into a salad with some salt and olive oil.
Only drink coffee with food. Once a day max.
The unpopular opinion that I know my coffee lovers hate me for saying it— but sis, coffee can be stressful to the body, and if you:
suffer from painful periods
Have no energy throughout the day
Have PCOS
Unexpected weight gain
Chances are your body is in a stressed state and we need to calm it down. Ideally, we should stop coffee for a period of time while we’re on our hormone-balancing journey. If that’s too much to ask, a way for coffee not to wreak havoc on our hormones is by making sure we’re eating it with a source of fat and protein. Drop a tablespoon of coconut oil into your coffee (I promise it actually tastes good!) Or just simply wait until breakfast to have your first cup— your hormones will thank you.
3. Take a liver supplement for all the good vitamins and minerals
Little by little I’ve truly started to enjoy liver. I found a recipe I love and that tastes GREAT. But if you’re not there yet, no worries! not gonna make you eat it, you can literally just get it in pills!
Liver contains most (if not all) known vitamins and minerals. In my opinion, the most important for your hormones are B vitamins, zinc, vitamin A, and selenium. Vitamins and minerals work synergistically within our bodies. You need to have the right balance for them not to actually cause harm while they are trying to do us good, that’s why getting your vitamins from whole foods is better: the balance is already there.
You can get liver pills on Amazon. Just make sure they’re from grass-fed animals.
4. Replace vegetable oils from your diet with olive oil, grass-fed butter, and animal fats
This is literally the first thing I ask my clients to do. Why? because it’s cheap, you can throw them away with no remorse. Vegetable oils are so cheap that alone should be a red flag. If you’re reading this go throw away that canola oil that’s in your pantry, or that sunflower, corn, soybean, etc.
These oils are highly inflammatory. You cannot support your hormones if you’re eating highly-processed vegetable oils. To put it simply, you cannot reduce inflammation in your body (hormonal imbalance) while eating highly-inflammatory foods.
So instead, go for cold-pressed olive oil, grass-fed butter, organic coconut oil, and pasture-raised animal fats. We need these good fats to create and maintain important hormones.
5. Ditch the HIIT
High-intensity interval training (HIIT) can put more stress on your body than it is actually useful. Remember that stress is the main thing that causes the cascade of hormonal imbalances. When our bodies are undernourished and our hormones are underperforming, doing HIIT is just the cherry on top to get your hormones out of whack. It can even be counterproductive since chronically-high cortisol (stress) leads to weight gain.
What to do instead?
Lift moderate to heavy weights with enough time to recover in between sets.
Do yoga or pilates.
Go for walks or small hikes.
Do these hacks for your next 2 cycles and let me know how you’re feeling! Honestly, the raw carrot is a game-changer!
Until next time,