In modern times, diseases due to poor lifestyle choices are on the rise. Poor lifestyle choices can lead to several everyday problems like obesity, stress, hypertension, and worst of all – hormonal imbalance. Hormones are the body’s chemical messengers that travel through the bloodstream to organs and tissues. These chemical messages affect not only your mood, but also your overall health. If you are someone who struggles with hormonal imbalance, it is important to find the root cause and tackle it. Let’s find out what daily habits should be changed and what foods should be included in the diet to balance the hormones in the body adequately.
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Here are 5 Habits That Disrupt Your Hormones:
According to dietitian Manpreet Kalra (@dietitian_manpreet), these 5 practices interfere with your hormones and your daily activities.
1. Consumption of sugar after meals
Many of us crave sugar after lunch and dinner every day. However, this can be harmful to our body. According to experts, having sugar or treating sugar after eating can cause insulin resistance. For those who don’t know, the hormone insulin helps control the amount of sugar (glucose) in the blood.
2. Call Before Sleeping
It is a common habit among many to scroll through the phone before going to sleep. Even if you turn on the ‘yellow light’ feature on your phone, it can interfere with the production of melatonin in your body. Melatonin is a hormone produced by the body that regulates the night and day cycle, or sleep-wake cycle. When your sleep cycle is disrupted, you go to bed and wake up at odd hours, and you’re tired all the time.
3. Caffeine Post 4 PM
Of course, we consume many cups of coffee and tea thinking it won’t affect our body, but it doesn’t. Coffee, tea, and aerated drinks contain caffeine that has a direct effect on cortisol. According to experts, consuming caffeine after 4 pm causes cortisol – a hormone that plays an important role in the stress response. In addition, it is recommended not to consume caffeine at least 10 hours before going to bed, so as not to affect the sleep cycle.
4. Consuming Carbohydrates on an Empty Stomach
If you’ve been eating high-carb meals in the morning or on an empty stomach, then it’s time to change your habits. According to nutritionist Kalra, consuming carbohydrates on an empty stomach can cause insulin resistance in the body, which can affect blood sugar levels. This is especially dangerous for people who are on the verge of diabetes.
5. Less Vegetable Consumption
If your diet is high in fat and not vegetables, then you need to change the way you eat. Having a diet low in vegetables can cause disturbances in estrogen detoxification, according to experts. For those who don’t know, estrogen detoxification is a metabolic process in which the liver helps excrete this hormone from the body. This detox is important to maintain hormonal balance in the body. So, start including more vegetables in your diet if you haven’t already.
5 Types of Food That Can Help Balance These Hormones
While diet and lifestyle changes can affect the hormones in your body, certain foods can help restore your body back to its best. According to dietician Manpreet Kalra, these foods include:
1. Increase Cortisol Levels With These Foods
The experts show that if you want to restore the cortisol level in your body, you should consume cocoa, broccoli, and walnuts in your diet.
2. Food Rich in Melatonin
If you’re having trouble sleeping or maintaining a healthy sleep cycle, this could mean your melatonin levels are disrupted. To balance this hormone in your body, experts recommend that you eat munakka, cashew, or chamomile tea.
3. Insulin Balance with These Foods
Insulin resistance is a common problem that many people face. To balance this hormone in your body, the expert suggests that you should include methi seeds, cinnamon, and coriander seeds in your diet.
4. Rebalance Your Progesterone with These Nutrient-Packed Options
If you feel your progesterone levels are out of balance in your body, these experts recommend that you balance them by including pure berry tea, sweet potatoes, and beans in your diet.
5. Don’t Skip Good Fat
Good fats or ‘heart healthy fats’ are essential for maintaining a good and healthy body. However, if you eliminate these fats from your diet, it can cause an imbalance of progesterone in your body. Progesterone is a sex hormone in the body that supports pregnancy and menstruation in menstruating women or men. Low progesterone levels can cause problems like irregular periods, mood swings, and problems getting pregnant.
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So, ditch this habit and include these foods in your diet for a healthy and happy body and lifestyle!
