How To Avoid Hormone Imbalance

If your hormones seem a little out of whack, food may be the culprit. As a Nutrition Response Practitioner , I find that diet is often the root of these types of issues. Food is pretty powerful stuff that can heal (or hurt) you. And when it comes to hormonal imbalance, one of the first things I like to tell my patients is to slightly decrease their carbohydrate intake. That can alleviate symptoms like high cholesterol, constipation, arthritis, headaches, hot flashes, bloating, and more.

5 Ways To Lower Your Carbohydrate Intake

To avoid hormone imbalance, strive to keep your daily carbohydrate intake to 72 grams. The average American consumes over 3 times that number, so it can be an adjustment. But your body will thank you for it. Get started by incorporating these tips into your lifestyle.

• Adjust Portion Sizes: Decrease the portion size of your carbs at mealtime, and increase the portion size for protein, vegetables, and healthy fats to compensate.

• Choose Root Vegetables and Leafy Greens: Foods like sweet potatoes and carrots offer plenty of fiber and are a good carbohydrate. Leafy greens like kale and spinach are packed with all kinds of vitamins and minerals, so make them a priority.

• Avoid Refined Starches: Refined is just another way of saying processed, which should be avoided all together. Take a pass on high-carb foods like white pasta and bagels. (A bagel has 45 grams of carbs by itself, just to put things in perspective by the way.)

• Cut Down On Juice and Sweetened Beverages: Just one cup of OJ has 24 grams of carbs, but nothing to keep you feeling full. So it’s a bad carbohydrate “value.”

• Think Outside The Bun: Look for creative ways to substitute bread. For example, a burger wrapped in lettuce or lettuce leaf tacos.

What A Low Carb Day Looks Like

Decreasing your carb intake is probably easier than it sounds. Just stick to the perimeter of the supermarket when you shop, and load up on vegetables, proteins, and healthy fats. Here are some ideas to get you started.

• Breakfast: scrambled eggs with sliced avocado and tomato over spinach

• Morning Snack: raw vegetables with hummus

• Lunch: zucchini noodles with turkey bolognese (try tossing some chopped kale into your sauce)

• Afternoon Snack: strawberries

• Dinner: steak with a generous portion of vegetables, and half a sweet potato with butter