How many times have you heard that your symptoms are “just part of being a woman”?
That it’s normal to suffer through crippling cramps, blinding headaches and skin breakouts when you get your period?
That it’s normal for the week before your period to be filled with unpredictable mood swings, tender breasts, bloating and digestion changes?
That trying to express yourself can be dismissed as simply “being hormonal”?
I want to let you in on a secret:
None of the above scenarios are normal. And none of them are simply ‘part of being a woman’.
They are a sign that you are suffering from a hormonal imbalance.
It is your birthright to expect drama-free periods, stable moods, clear skin and vibrant energy.
And it is possible to achieve this naturally.
I’m going to walk you through exactly what a hormonal imbalance looks like, what causes it, and the natural solutions to finding balance again.
Ready to reclaim your life and be free of period symptoms?
Let’s dive in!
Signs and Symptoms That You May Have a Hormone Imbalance
-
painful periods
- lots of clots in your period
- changes to your period colour
- mood swings
- feeling stressed easily
- low libido
- missing period (common after stopping birth control)
- weight gain/inability to lose weight
- anxiety
- insomnia
- Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
- hair loss/thinning on the head
- hair growth on the face, back and chest
-
acne breakouts (pimples)
- period bleed lasts longer than 7 days or less than 2 days
-
breast tenderness or fibrocystic breasts
- difficulty falling pregnant
- irregular period
- heavy period
- feeling cold all the time
- hot flashes and waking drenched in sweat in the night
- blood sugar issues
The truth is, your body is always trying to communicate with you.
When you experience hormonal symptoms like mood changes, tender breasts, irregular periods or acne, your body is sending you a clear sign that something is out of balance.
It can be tempting to take a pill or another ‘quick-fix’ solution to mask these symptoms.
These band-aid solutions can work short term, but ultimately don’t address the root cause of the imbalance.
By exploring the triggers for your symptoms and identifying hormonal imbalances, you can get rid of your period symptoms for good and experience blissful, drama-free cycles.
By first learning to decode what your hormones are trying to tell you, we can then pinpoint the hormones which are likely out of balance for you and address these naturally.
Prefer To Learn This Information Through Video? See below.
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Step #1 To Decoding Your Hormones: How Long Should Your Period Be?
Since we only have our own period to compare to, it can be hard to know whether what we experience is ‘normal’.
Let’s run through some normal cycle parameters so that you can determine where you fall:
The length of your period refers to the number of days from the first day of your bleed to the last day before your next bleed.
A healthy range for your cycle length is anywhere between 21 and 35 days, with the average being around 29 days.
Many of my clients tell me their period is always “late” because it comes on day 30 (or 32). This is a huge misconception: that if your period isn’t 28 days, you aren’t normal. If your period consistently arrives around the same day of your cycle, and it falls within the healthy range of 21 to 35 days, this is your normal, healthy cycle length.
Whether or not you fit this textbook 28 day cycle (which only 14% of the population actually have - think about that for a minute), the most important factor to consider is whether your ‘normal’ has changed or not.
Our menstrual cycles are very responsive to stress in our lives and demonstrate this most clearly in the length of our cycles.
Stress is not always psychological (like being under the pump at work), but may be physical (e.g. under-eating, over-exercising, not sleeping enough or being low in certain nutrients).
When we are more stressed, our body does not deem our environment to be a safe place to bring a baby in to the world, and can shut down ovulation all together, or delay it until it deems we are safe.
The end result of this change in ovulation is a missing period altogether, or longer cycles than your normal.
Think this might explain your menstrual cycle problems?
Read on for how to address the impact of stress on your cycle.
Step #2 To Decoding Your Period: What Does a Healthy Period Look Like?
Head on over to this blog post, to learn exactly what a healthy period blood colour should be, and how to observe your menstrual blood for signs that your hormones are out of whack.
Step #3: Learn How Your Hormones Work Together
The first half of the menstrual cycle is called the follicular phase and is where you experience a rise in follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) as several of your follicles (which contain eggs) begin their final race to ovulation.
These growing follicles release the hormone estrogen in higher and higher amounts.
Luteinising hormone (LH) then triggers ovulation – the bursting open of a dominant follicle.
Following ovulation, there is a steep decline in estrogen.
The sack which contained the egg begins to secrete another hormone: progesterone which increases and becomes our dominant hormone in the second half of the menstrual cycle which is known as the luteal phase.
Each of these two phases last roughly two weeks in a typical cycle.
If your cycle is longer than 28 days, the first half of the cycle will be longer, with the second half usually remaining around two weeks.
After this second two-week phase, if your egg is not fertilised, the lining which has grown to support a potential pregnancy will be shed in the form of your period.
The is accompanied by a sharp drop in all hormone levels as you return to baseline.
This bleed becomes day 1 of your new cycle, and the process begins again.
As you can see, the delicate balance of hormones throughout the different phases of the menstrual cycle work in concert to orchestrate the process of ovulation and menstruation.
This delicate balance can easily become disrupted, leading to hormonal imbalances.
Let’s break down the key female hormones further and then explore what happens if they are out of balance.
The Key Female Hormones
Key Hormone #1: Estrogen
The first hormone is estradiol – this is the form of estrogen produced in the greatest amounts by women of childbearing age.
Estrogen is considered the happy hormone, because it boosts neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which gives us a sense of pleasure and motivation.
It is also great for:
- strong bones
- healthy heart
- muscle development
- feminine characteristics
Click here to learn how to reverse estrogen dominance naturally.
Key Hormone #2: Progesterone
- boosts body temperature and metabolic rate
- reduces inflammation
- builds muscles
- promotes sleep
- protects against heart disease
- helps us deal with stress and anxiety
Key Hormone #3: Testosterone
- Libido
- Motivation
- Mood
- Energy
- Muscle building
- Poor blood sugar control
- Mood swings
- PMS
- Poor concentration
- Sugar cravings
- Feeling sleepy after eating
- Abdominal fat
- Increased testosterone from ovaries
- Irregular cycles
What happens when these hormones become imbalanced?
When there is an excess of estrogen in your system, this can lead to heavy and painful periods, sore breasts, PMS, and weight retention around thighs and hips.
The causes of estrogen excess include higher production from ovaries and poor metabolism and detoxification.
Low estrogen can also have negative effects on your health, which include low libido, missing periods, or very long cycles. The causes for low estrogen include under-eating, over-exercising, stress, and smoking.
The consequences of low progesterone include PMS, spotting before period begins, anxiety, and prolonged bleeding.
The causes of low progesterone include stress and not ovulating.
Having high testosterone can cause acne, male pattern hair growth, hair loss, and irregular cycles.
It is associated with a condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), which is associated with irregular cycles and excess androgens (male hormones).
Step #4: Learn How To Balance Your Unique Hormonal Imbalance Naturally
Balancing your hormones is a complicated process and takes time.
It will often take up to 3 menstrual cycles to fully experience the benefits of bringing your hormones back in to balance.
Unfortunately, there isn't one quick fix or magic solution which will fix all of your period problems.
Addressing diet, lifestyle, stress, exercise, mindset and emotional and spiritual health are the cornerstones to improving your hormone health.
To get you started, I'm sharing my top 6 tips to begin balancing your hormones naturally.
These are a great place to start if you are new to hormonal imbalances, and will give you a taste of addressing your symptoms naturally.
Hormone Balancing Tip #1: Get off the sugar roller coaster
Eating large amounts of processed sugar and refined carbohydrates (like cakes, pastries, lollies/candy and soft drink/soda) can lead to insulin resistance.
This is where your body gets tired of receiving the signal that your blood sugar is high, and becomes less responsive to it.
Excess insulin production causes inflammation in the body and increased production of testosterone from the ovaries.
This can lead to irregular cycles, acne and hair growth on the face.
Reduce Your Intake Of Processed Sugars Like:
- Soft drinks
- Lollies
- Chocolate
- Pastries
- Cakes
- Added sugar and syrups (e.g. in your coffee and tea, on pancakes/fruit)
- Alcohol, particularly mixed drinks
Hormone Balancing Tip #2: Balance Blood Sugar
Having balanced blood sugar means that your body produces a normal insulin response when you consume food. A balanced meal includes good quality fat, protein, and fibre.
A balanced plate might look something like this:
- 1⁄2 of your plate greens and vegetables
- 1⁄4 of your plate good quality protein
- 1⁄4 of your plate complex carbs (whole-grains and vegetable starches)
- 1-2 tablespoons of healthy fats (olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds)
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Hormone Balancing Tip #3: Support hormone detoxification
Our liver and gut are the two major organs responsible for breaking down and clearing hormones once they have been used in the body.
It's so important that these systems are working properly to prevent build-up of hormones which contributes to hormonal imbalances.
Here’s a brief overview of how to support these two systems of detoxification
LIVER SUPPORT:
- Plenty of cruciferous vegetables: kale, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussel's sprouts
- Start the day with one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar or the juice of half a lemon in a glass of water to stimulate liver detoxification
- Enjoy bitter foods like dandelion greens, rocket, green tea
- Reduce the load on the liver: quit smoking, reduce/eliminate alcohol
DIGESTION SUPPORT:
- Easy to digest, nourishing foods: soups, stews, bone broth, casseroles
- Enjoy fermented foods like cultured, unsweetened yoghurt, kombucha, and sauerkraut
- Reduce refined and added sugar intake
- Try collagen powder to support the gut lining
- Slippery elm bark powder – soothes an irritated gut: 1 tsp in glass of cold water, followed by lots of water
You can also consider supplementing with our Hormone Detox and Digestion vitamin.
It’s 100% made in the USA, GMP certified, manufactured in an FDA approved facility and 100% natural!
Hormone Balancing Tip #4: Manage stress
Stress wreaks havoc on our hormones, particularly our production of progesterone.
Progesterone is produced from the same building blocks as our stress hormone cortisol (our stress hormone).
When we are stressed, our body ramps up its cortisol production and slows down on progesterone, contributing to a number of hormonal imbalances.
For many of us, we have little control over the stressors that are thrown on us on a day to day basis.
The key then to managing stress is learning how to change your relationship with stress.
Shifting your mindset around stress is the cornerstone to changing the way that it affects your body.
Try Some Of The Strategies To Help You Manage Stress:
- Learn to say no
- Meditation, yoga, breathing exercises
- Protein with every meal to stabilise blood sugar and moods (important in reducing cortisol surges)
- Regular exercise that you enjoy and is not too strenuous
- Time outdoors: barefoot on the ground (this is great for helping ground yourself after an intense day)
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Hormone Balancing Tip #5: Consider supplementing
The above suggestions will go a long way to improving your body's production and elimination of hormones.
Consider these initial steps as the 'ground work' for hormone balance.
If you have implemented all of these tips, your next step is to consider adding 1 or 2 high quality supplements in to your regime (Important note:please check with your health care provider before starting any new supplement regime)
Magnesium: wonderful in helping the body cope with chronic, ongoing stress as magnesium is used in the stress response. Magnesium bisglycinate form is best for most people as it causes the least disturbance to digestive symptoms. 300mg per day is an effective dose for most people.
Zinc: Great for acne and digestive issues. 30mg per day in citrate or picolinate form after food (taking on an empty stomach can cause nausea).
Iron: great for heavy periods, low iron stores and fatigue. Please have your iron levels checked through a simple blood test which can be requested through your health care provider. Bisglycinate form is best as it causes the least digestive issues. 24mg every second day away from caffeine is a good dose for most people.
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Hormone Balancing Tip #6:Tune in to the subtle energies throughout your cycle
Our patriarchal work culture has been built around the masculine energy of high productivity every day of the month.
Unfortunately, women are not designed to operate like this.
Our menstrual cycles mean that we naturally go through phases of high energy (around ovulation: mid cycle) and slower, more introspective times (around menstruation).
Learning to identify and respond to these subtle energetic changes can revolutionise your productivity and output throughout your cycle.
When first becoming aware of your changing energy throughout your cycle, start by taking time to truly rest at menstruation.
Even if this means for just one hour – asking someone to watch your kids, going to bed early, taking a bath or reading a book instead of tidying the house.
I guarantee if you can take some time for some self-care at menstruation, you will be rewarded with overflowing energy, productivity and creativity at your next ovulation time.
Your highest energy levels will be during ovulation (mid cycle).
This is when your productivity and focus will be at their highest.
You will feel like connecting with others and being social.
This is the time to schedule big meetings, important life decisions, parties and social gatherings.
Use this energetic burst to achieve things on your to-do list that then allow you to slow down and rest during your menstruation.
Keen to dig your teeth into even more period loving content?
Frequently Asked Questions
What Are The Symptoms Of Hormonal Imbalance?
Signs of hormonal imbalance include irregular periods, painful periods, acne breakouts, premenstrual mood changes (like feeling teary, angry, irritable or sad in the days before your period), breast tenderness, food cravings and digestion changes around the time of your period.
It may also include symptoms during your period like very heavy bleeding, spotting, 'flooding' (extremely heavy periods), missing periods, and periods that start, then stop, then start again. The quality of your menstrual blood also provides insight into how balanced your hormones are.
Very dark clotted blood may indicate estrogen excess, while light pink, watery blood may indicate low estrogen.
What Should I Eat To Balance My Hormones?
The most important thing to eat to balance hormones is healthy fats (think avocado, oily fish like salmon, raw nuts and seeds, olive oil and organic meats).
This is because your hormones are literally built from fat, so undereating fat or following a low-fat diet means you aren't providing your body with the building blocks it needs to create hormones.
Over time this can lead to hormonal imbalances.
A hormone balancing diet also includes plenty of leafy greens (like kale, rocket, spinach) because these provide many nutrients needed for regular ovulation, along with good quality protein (like grass-red and/or organic meats, eggs, beans, lentils, nuts and seeds).
Finally, you also need to consume moderate amounts of slow-release carbohydrates like sweet potato, pumpkin, quinoa, buckwheat, brown rice and beetroot.
Eating this way makes sure your body receives all of the nutrients it needs to ovulate regularly and create balanced hormone levels.
How Can I Lower My Estrogen Levels Naturally?
When it comes to lowering estrogen naturally, the two most important strategies to focus on are supporting your digestive health, and liver detoxification.
This is because once estrogen has been created in the body and exerted the effects it is designed for, it is sent to the liver to be deactivated, and then to the bowels to be excreted.
If either of these organs aren't functioning effectively, the estrogen can be reabsorbed rather than excreted and contribute to excess estrogen in the body.
Make sure you are pooping every day to get your estrogen out, and support you liver detoxification pathways by eating plenty of leafy greens which are rich in magnesium and B-vitamins – crucial nutrients for your liver health.
How Do You Balance Estrogen Levels?
Estrogen levels can be balanced by supporting your natural estrogen detoxification pathways.
How Do You Check Your Hormone Levels?
Hormone levels can be checked in a number of ways.
You can take my free hormone imbalance quiz to get an idea of your most likely imbalance and received a personalised report with tips to get started straight away in addressing your imbalance.
If you would like more in depth information, you can visit your health care provider to request a blood test which will look at your levels of your female reproductive hormones (estradiol, progesterone, testosterone, FSH and LH).
This will give you a baseline for where your hormones were on that particular day.
If you'd like to go even deeper, I suggest talking to a natural health care practitioner about ordering a D.U.T.C.H test (dried urine test for comprehensive hormones) which provides much more in-depth information about the individual metabolites of each of these hormones mentioned above (i.e. it tells you how well your body is breaking them down).
This helps you to hone in on where your body may need individual support.
How Do You Fix Hormonal Imbalance?
Fixing a hormonal imbalance involves addressing your diet, lifestyle, liver detoxification, digestive health and emotional wellbeing, as well as addressing any individual hormonal imbalances that need to be corrected. Applying the foundations first (like eating a hormone-balancing diet, taking care of your stress levels, engaging in gentle, regular exercise and getting enough rest) might not sound like important steps, but without this groundwork in place, it's unlikely you will be able to truly address the root cause of your issues and prevent them from coming back.
33 Comments
Hey Tara,
I’m sorry to hear you are having this issue. This sounds like something to chat with your doctor or natural health practitioner about as it’s difficult for me to give specific advice on this. Good luck!
Reply to Tamika Woods
Hi Jessica,
I’m sorry to hear you are having issues with your cycles. It is difficult for me to say whether the cause of your cycles and periods changing are due to hormone imbalance or perimenopause without taking your case history and investigating further. It might be worth getting your hormone levels checked with a health practitioner. I would also find out how old your Mother was when she went into perimenopause and menopause (if possible), as this may help you gauge when you may enter these phases too. Shorter cycles and brown bleeding/spotting before actual period starts, may be due to lack of ovulation and/or lower levels of progesterone. This can be caused by a number of things. Stress being a significant factor.
Overall though, I think you would benefit from balancing your hormones.
Tam.
Reply to Tamika Woods
Hey Anita,
I’m so glad you are finding my blog articles helpful for your journey! I’m sorry to hear you are struggling with these issues.
There is so much you can do naturally to support yourself!
Tam
Reply to Tamika Woods
Hi Madhu,
I’m sorry to hear you are experiencing this. This hair loss could be due to a hormone imbalance, such as excess androgens. It may also be a sign of a thyroid imbalance. Or potentially due to another cause. I recommend seeing your primary healthcare provider (doctor) to investigate this further.
Good luck!
Tam
Reply to Tamika Woods
Hi Lisa,
Unfortunately I am unable to provide advice on this.
It may be worth seeing a natural health practitioner one-on-one and discussing your options with them, particularly in regards to more natural options.
Good luck!
Reply to Tamika Woods
Hi, I’m eighteen year old and I just stopped birth control about a month ago. My period tracker said i was supposed to have my period but it’s been late. I also want to regulate my period without taking anymore pills. How long do you’ll think it’ll take for it to regulate?
Reply to Hannah
Hi Hannah, it’s very common to experience delayed periods once you’ve come off birth control. This is because when you were on birth control, the synthetic hormones in this medication suppresses your body’s ability to produce its own natural hormones. So the periods you get on birth control is not real periods but fake ones caused by the synthetic hormones. So when you do come off of birth control, there will be a time where your body needs to clear out these synthetic hormones and for your body to learn/remember how to produce its own hormones again. So it is common for women to have a delayed return of a period for 2-3 months or so once off birth control.
It’s also worth mentioning that period trackers are not accurate. They work by predicting ovulation and the arrival of your next period by using a calculated algorithm. It doesn’t take into account when you actually ovulate (when you are cycling naturally) and it has no idea if you are on birth control or not. So I always recommend to ignore (or turn off if you can) any predictions if you are using period tracking apps.
You might find this article helpful – https://nourishednaturalhealth.com/nutrition-guides/the-ultimate-guide-to-coming-off-the-pill-without-a-face-full-of-acne-or-irregular-periods
Reply to Tamika Woods
Hello! I have top of the normal range testosterone – but no PCOS. And after ovulation to period I have horrible acid reflux. What hormone is responsible for this and how can I combat it?
TY!
Reply to Lauren
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Reply to jimjack
Many thanks for your article. I am about to stop the contraceptive pill, after being on accutane for almost a year, lowest dosage, due to severe acne after stopping the contraceptive pill 5 years ago…
I have fears my acne will come back. Will watch out my food, my skincare, and mental health, etc. If you have any probiotic to recommend, I would appreciate. thank you, Sophie
Reply to Sophie
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