You have stopped hormonal contraception but notice that your body is taking a bit longer to resume its natural menstrual cycle.
You experience monthly menstrual complaints such as PCOS, PMS, heavy periods, painful periods, sore breasts or migraines.
You suffer from acne, hair loss, eczema or brittle nails.
You suffer from digestive problems (bloating, intestinal discomfort) or weight gain without cause.
You suffer from recurrent (bladder) inflammations and/or vaginal yeast infections.
You experience a lack of energy, tire easily, experience sleeping problems and/or notice that you experience a lot of stress and find it hard to cope.
Do you recognize yourself in one or more of the above symptoms? Then chances are you are dealing with a hormonal imbalance. But fortunately, there is something you can do about it! In this blog, we give you 7 tips to improve your hormonal balance and get your hormones and menstrual cycle functioning optimally again.
1. Less stress: getting more rest in your body
Stress is a major disruptor of your hormone balance and therefore your health. But unfortunately, for many women, it is almost impossible not to experience stress. We also have a lot of balls to keep high: work, partner, children, friendships, hobbies, etc. Since it is not always possible to avoid all stressors in life, we are going to focus on how to get more rest in your body despite a hectic existence:
Make time for rest and things you enjoy.
Use relaxation techniques. Think meditation, yoga, breathing exercises.
Grounding: walk barefoot outside and visit the forest regularly.
Stimulate serotonin and oxytocin production by cuddling, making love or petting your pet.
Use magnesium bisglycinate with taurine, a GABA supplement or herbs that act on the GABA mechanism (valerian, sage and lemon balm) or brew an organic loose-leaf tea, delicious!
Use adaptogenic herbs that in combination support the control of your cycle and stress processing (saffron, vitex (monk's pepper), rhodiola, ginsing, maca harmony, ashwaganda and curcumin).
2. Feeding your body the right way
Nutrition has a big impact on our bodies. It is the basis of our health. For a good menstrual cycle, you need healthy food. Feed your body with (organic) food that has been processed as little as possible, contains no artificial additives and has been prepared in a healthy way (not in the microwave or in teflon pans, for example). With the following simple adjustments to your diet, you can ensure better hormone balance and therefore better health and vitality:
Drink at least 2.5 litres of (filtered) water a day
Eat plenty of vegetables, at least 500 grams a day
Eat 2 or 3 pieces of fruit per day
Eat oily fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, herring) at least twice a week
Eat enough saturated fat from avocados, nuts, seeds, coconut oil, butter and/or olive oil
Eat enough proteins (alternating between animal and vegetable proteins): fish, eggs, beef, poultry, mushrooms, leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, (vegetable) protein powder
Provide sufficient variety in your diet and eat according to the seasons
Avoid sugar and fast carbohydrates (alcohol, biscuits, sweets, crisps, white bread, crackers)
Avoid ready-made food
Avoid refined oils and trans fats such as margarine, sunflower, rapeseed, rapeseed, soybean and peanut oil
Limit caffeine intake
Avoid cow's milk products, preferring goat/sheep or vegetable 'dairy' products (but avoiding soy products)
Avoid gluten-rich grains (especially wheat)
3. Restoring biorhythms: sufficient sleep
By a good biorhythm, we mean that you fall asleep quickly and get enough hours of sleep (at least 8), sleeping through the night. Because if you don't sleep enough, your hormones won't be balanced. Improve your sleep? Here's how you do it:
Make sure you get enough magnesium. Magnesium helps the body and brain relax. Take magnesiumbisglycinate with taurine supplement before bedtime or eat magnesium-rich foods such as a handful of raw almonds or a banana in the early evening.
Do not consume coffee, alcohol and/or caffeine-containing drinks in the evening.
Try not to eat anything else (especially no products containing sugar) in 2 to 3 hours before bedtime.
Avoid ' blue light' an hour before bedtime (television, computer, smartphone), rather read a book by (candle) light.
Take a warm shower or bath before bed.
Turn your head 'off': meditate, do a relaxing breathing exercise or keep a diary. This will help you go to sleep with an empty head.
Maintain good sleep hygiene: a dark, cool room. Or use a darkening sleep mask.
Try not to exercise intensively in the late evening; a relaxing walk will do.
4. Get some exercise
Regular exercise is beneficial for (hormonal) health and a healthy menstrual cycle. But what is the right kind of exercise? That can be different for everyone. In any case, having fun with it is very important. Exercising takes energy, but it is important that it also gives you energy. So find something that suits you:
Walking or cycling outdoors
Swimming
Short explosive workouts with heavy weights (kettlebell/dumbbells) or do a few sets of exercises like squats, lunges, box jumps, pushups.
Cardio training, interval training
Team sport
Dancing
Yoga
Also integrate more exercise outside sports into your (work) day:
Take the stairs instead of the escalator or lift
Take a 'sitting break' every hour. That's 2 minutes of active exercise: stair climbing, push-ups, jumping rope, squats, planks. Get your breathing and heart rate up (considerably).
Choose a standing desk so you are standing instead of sitting at your desk.
Take the bike instead of the car more often.
Do you take the car to work or to an appointment? Park one kilometre from your final destination so you are forced to take some extra steps.
Taking public transport to work or your appointment? Get off a (few) stop(s) earlier to catch some extra exercise.
Wear a pedometer to chart your movement and set a goal for a minimum number of steps per day.
Need to make another phone call? Do this while taking a lap outside. You can also do this with colleagues before a work meeting.
Also use your lunch break to take a walk around the block.
Integreer ook meer bewegen buiten de sportmomenten om in je (werk)dag:
Neem de trap in plaats van de roltrap of lift
Neem ieder uur een ‘sitting break’. Dat is 2 minuten actief bewegen: traplopen, push-ups, touwtjespringen, squats, planken. Zorg dat je ademhaling en hartslag (flink) omhooggaan.
Kies voor een standing desk zodat je staat in plaats van zit aan je bureau.
Pak wat vaker de fiets in plaats van de auto.
Ga je wel met de auto naar je werk of een afspraak? Parkeer een kilometer van je eindbestemming zodat je genoodzaakt bent wat extra stappen te zetten.
Met openbaar vervoer naar je werk of afspraak? Stap een (paar) halte(s) eerder uit om wat extra beweging te pakken.
Draag een stappenteller om je beweging in kaart te brengen en zet een doel voor een minimumaantal stappen per dag.
Moet je nog een telefoontje plegen? Doe dit terwijl je buiten een rondje loopt. Dit kan ook samen met collega’s voor een werkoverleg.
Grijp ook de lunchpauze aan om een blokje om te gaan.
5. Keep your gut microbiome healthy
Our gut plays an important role in our health. It is important that your gut is healthy to keep your hormones in balance. Unfortunately, our one-sided Western diet with lots of sugars and little natural fibre causes gut bacteria to be out of balance in many people, making it difficult to restore hormonal imbalances.
Also, in many women, the balance between good and less good gut bacteria is disturbed by long-term use of hormonal contraception. For a healthy gut microbiome, it is important that you:
Eat pure (organic) and unprocessed food
Eat lots of fibre (from vegetables)
Maintain a varied diet (at least 100 different foods in the month, eat all colours of the rainbow of vegetables)
Regularly eat fermented foods (kimchi, sauerkraut, tempeh) or consume fermented drinks (kefir, kombucha)
Regularly add bone broth or collagen to the menu
Prefer not to eat sugar and artificial sweeteners
Avoid alcohol
Possibly use a pre- or probiotic supplement to restore balance
6. Avoid exposure to (environmental) toxins and hormone disruptors
Toxins in our environment can play an important role in menstrual problems. Even in low doses, environmental toxins can be harmful because many environmental toxins disrupt hormones or are endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs). These are substances that have adverse health effects by affecting the function of the hormonal system. Examples include pesticides, metals, polluting industrial substances, solvents, substances added to food or personal care products.
Do not use non-stick or Teflon pans but cook in glass or non-coated metal pans
Avoid heating or storing food in plastic, preferably use glass storage containers
Eat organically
Use only organic/natural cleaning products and detergents
Use only organic/natural personal care products
Use a menstrual cup and only washable/organic sanitary towels
7. Supplement nutritional deficiencies and cycle support with supplements
Vitamins and minerals are essential for our health. They are needed in many processes in our body, including the production of hormones. So it is important to get enough vitamins and minerals! Over the years, however, the quality of our food has deteriorated so much that it no longer contains enough vitamins and minerals. Without supplementation, we therefore hardly get the necessary amount. And science has also shown that long-term use of contraception causes vitamin and mineral deficiencies. So it is doubly important to support your body with the right supplements.
Especially for restoring the cycle, we have put together the Cyclus+ Package containing:
B12: affecting very many processes in the body. Women who have used hormonal contraception for years often have greatly reduced B12. Deficiencies are associated with infertility, menstrual problems, sleep problems, miscarriage, reduced resistance, migraine headaches, back problems, restless legs, inflamed mucous membranes. But also fatigue, reduced concentration, recovering from burnout or preferably preventing it requires the active B12 melting tablet under the tongue. Not all B12 versions are easily absorbed and actively working in your body.
Magnesium: calms your nervous system and helps you sleep better. It is anti-inflammatory, increases your energy levels and promotes healthy oestrogen metabolism.
Vitamin C (with antioxidants manganese, zinc and copper): in addition to its tasks for our immune system (anti-inflammatory), it is also important for the production of neurotransmitters (signaling substances that affect your mood) such as serotonin and dopamine (also known as happiness hormones), among others.
D3/K2: is essential for trouble-free ovulation. Precursor to cycle hormones estrogen and progesterone. Deficiency can reduce the chances of a healthy pregnancy.
Omega-3 today based on algae oil: good for the heart, blood pressure and a strong immune system. Pregnant or breastfeeding? Then intake of DHA (part of Vegan DHA/EPA algae oil) contributes to normal eye and brain development in the foetus or breastfed infants.
Adaptogenic herbs: support the menstrual cycle, beneficial for good mental balance and contribute to normal resistance to stress. These include ashwaganda, saffron, maca harmony and vitex.
Are you happy with these tips?
Did you miss any tips? Enter them here in the comments because then share them with everyone. You don't want to know how happy that makes women!
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