What Does a Hormone Healthy Plate Look Like?
There are a lot of things that impact our hormone health, but what we eat on a daily basis is a particularly important one!
But, nutrition these days is confusing, and conflicting information is everywhere!
So while there is no one optimal diet for every human, there is plenty of research to suggest that a Mediterranean style diet is helpful for hormone health. It’s been shown to enhance fertility, promote healthier aging, and support overall health and wellbeing!
But the real reason I love it? It gets back to the basics!
Minimizing processed foods, eating lots of colorful plants, good fats and quality proteins and it doesn’t leave out the fact that ood is more than just macro and micronutrients. It’s meant to be enjoyed too!
Here’s an idea of what a hormone healthy plate looks like:
Ideally 50-75% your plate is for plants! Around ½ is for non-starchy vegetables, like greens, crucifers, and other veggies that you can sauté, steam, bake, or eat raw. The goal is 6-9 servings of veggies a day, and 1-3 servings of fresh fruit.
1/4 of your plate is for proteins, like wild-caught fish, organic chicken, grass-fed meats, eggs, or legumes like lentils, beans or tofu. Try to include a serving of protein at each meal.
1/8 of your plate is for starchy veggies OR grains, like sweet potato, winter squash, brown rice or quinoa. 1-2 servings of high-fiber slow burning carbohydrates daily. More during your period.
1/8 of your plate is for healthy fats like avocados, nuts, seeds, and olives/olive oil. Try to include 1 serving at every meal.
A few times a week add in some lacto-fermented veggies like kimchi or sauerkraut.
And if you have specific food intolerances, listen to your body. Low FODMAP, AIP and elimination diets all play a role at certain times and are often helpful tools in healing the gut. But they aren’t meant to be used long-term.
The goal is a nutrient-dense, blood sugar balancing diet, that decreases inflammation and makes YOU feel good and satisfied. It’s an art, not a science, so be willing to experiment and find what works best for you.
STABILIZE YOUR BLOOD SUGAR
Blood sugar and hormones are pretty dependent on one another. One of the main functions of the endocrine system (the system responsible for producing and secreting hormones throughout your body) is delivering glucose to your brain, muscles, and heart. The hormones produced each carry important messages and the optimal level for each one is tightly controlled so if anything in that process isn’t working properly, it’s pretty easy for blood sugar to get out of whack.
By focusing on eating plenty of protein, fat, fiber, and lots of plants at each meal, you can help to regulate blood sugars and support healthy hormones.
WHAT TO AVOID
Typically I like to focus on what kinds of things we can add rather than take away but I’m going to share my very unpopular opinion here: Limit your alcohol and sugar intake.
Few people want to hear this but alcohol and sugar can place undue stress on the liver, dysfunction in the gut and make symptoms of hormone imbalance even worse.
I’m not suggesting that you never have a glass of wine or break bread with friends again, as I think all of these things are important to overall wellbeing. However, if you suspect you may have a hormone imbalance, cutting these out can have a huge impact on how you feel.
Wanna Learn More
To dive deeper into eating for healthy hormones, download my Free Guide to Hormone Health here!