Nutrition is broad, and today in an age with so much science around diets and how to stay healthy via food, it can be overwhelming to decide on the right kinds of foods.
What is important about your diet is that the food you eat helps you feel energized, full and just feels good to help yourself have a healthy relationship with food. If you eat foods and notice you feel bloated after, you aren’t going to feel well, which indicates a need to change up your diet.
In terms of your energy levels, a highly underlooked area of nutrition is eating foods that help keep your hormones in balance. It is surprisingly easy to do, the main things to keep in mind are eating a variety of foods to help your body get a variety of nutrition from different sources. The best foods to eat also tend to follow an anti-inflammatory diet, to help your body stay in balance.
Here are 10 foods to incorporate into your weekly meals to keep your hormones balanced, have plenty of energy and enjoy the foods you eat.
10 Any Leafy Green
Leafy greens are packed with vitamins and nutrients, there is really no better food to eat with every meal. You can blend them into smoothies to add some nutrition to your breakfast, throw them into any salad or even cook them with dishes like rice, pasta and meats.
The key to leafy greens is to add a variety if you can. Expand your palette beyond romaine lettuce and try bok choy, kale, Brussel sprouts, broccoli and rocket. Shop local at farmer’s markets to find new kinds of leafy greens.
9 Olive Oil
Olive oil is a healthy fat, and like all healthy fats, it is essential for hormone production as hormones are made from fats. Skip out on cooking with butter and cook with olive oil, or at the very least drizzle on a spoonful of olive oil before beginning your meal.
Other than olive oil you could try avocado oil, flaxseed oil and add other healthy fats like nuts, seeds and avocados.
8 Avocados
While avocados are a healthy fat and work in the same way as olive oil and nuts, they deserve their own category because it is also a superfood. Avocados are rich in nutrients and vitamins, making them the perfect addition to any meal.
Add avocados into your cooking rotation, or start the day with avocado toast.
7 Plant-Based Proteins
Protein is essential for keeping your body in balance, and that includes hormones. While you can get protein from both animals and plants, do try to at least mix things up if not look for more ways to add plant-based proteins.
There are a lot of ways that a plant-based diet is good for you and the environment, one of which is you end up ingesting fewer hormones and antibiotics which are often found in meat.
6 Sneak In Flaxseeds
Most seeds are packed with vitamins that add nutrition to your diet, flaxseeds stick out from the crowd for their high levels of lignans which specifically support hormone production and regulation.
Seeds are an easy food to add to your diet, you can simply put them in a smoothy, on top of a salad or soup. You can also look for wholegrain bread that is rich in seeds.
5 Low Sugar Fruits
Fruits are important for giving you vital vitamins and antioxidants but do stick to lower sugar fruits like berries, pears, apples and oranges. Also avoid juices and dried fruits as they are loaded with sugar that spikes your blood sugar and dysregulates your hormones, according to nutrition experts.
4 Cook With Herbs & Spices
Herbs and spices have many nutritional benefits, plus they make your food full of flavor. You can use fresh or dried, they have the same nutritional value. Try to incorporate herbs like turmeric, ginger, paprika and garlic which have anti-inflammatory powers to regulate your body and digestion.
3 Wholegrains
Whole grains are rich in B vitamins, which especially for folks who eat a plant-based diet, are really important to substitute foods rich in them. Look to add quinoa, brown rice and even whole-grain pasta to your diet.
This can be as simple as going whole-grain and saying goodbye to white carbs.
2 Magnesium Rich Foods
Magnesium is a wonder for regulating your hormones, mood and also strengthening your bones. You can find many ways to incorporate more magnesium into your diet with food such as leafy greens, whole grains, avocados, legumes, tofu and seeds. Basically, all the foods on this list are rich in magnesium, making it an easy thing to supplement in terms of regulating your hormones if you follow a healthy diet.
1 Probiotic Foods
If you want to keep your hormones in check, you need to minimize inflammation in your body and gut by eating anti-inflammatory foods. Although in addition to anti-inflammatory foods add probiotics like yogurt and fermented foods to support the microbiome in your gut.
Your body is full of good bacteria that support your digestion, by keeping them happy with probiotics it will help keep your hormones in check as well.
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