5 Hormones That Mess With You Every Month and Natural Ways to Balance Them

Overall health maintenance can be difficult to assess and navigate, especially when some body systems are invisible to the eye. Hormone health is essential to maintaining your optimum level of functioning, and overall wellness goals. Some conditions may require medical attention, but others may be minor, and can be addressed through a holistic or all-natural approach. These five hormones are essential to everyday health, and when well-balanced, can help you meet and maintain your overall health goals.

Gastrin

What Does It Do?
This hormone tells your body when to release gastric acid into the stomach to aid in digestion. Before a meal, your “G cells” secrete gastric acid into the stomach lining which helps break down the food. Without appropriate levels of gastric acid, your body cannot properly digest and absorb nutrients.

How to Stay Balanced:
Taking a daily probiotic will help keep your gut regulated and aid in proper digestion. Consider incorporating probiotics, or nutrient dense foods such as bone broths to help heal a potentially leaky gut.

Cortisol

What Does It Do?
Also known as the “stress hormone,” this steroid hormone is typically released during periods of high stress and can lead to high anxiety, difficulties with sleep, increased weight gain, depression, and high blood pressure. Over time, increased levels of cortisol in the blood can lead to lowered sex drive in women.

How To Stay Balanced:
Developing a sleep routine may help you work toward reaching 7-8 hours of sleep each night. Also, incorporating 30-60 minutes of light exercise into your daily regimen will release endorphins which can counterbalance anxiety and depression.