How to Balance Period Hormones

By Phia

How to Balance Period Hormones

How to Balance Period Hormones

Imbalances in our hormones can significantly impact many sectors of our lives, including appetite, mood, and overall well being. And when it comes to menstrual hormones, any woman out there will tell you they are in a league of their own.

The good news is, you’re not alone. Period hormones are a beast of their own, which countless women worldwide battle every month.

Thankfully, there are a few different methods on how to naturally balance period hormones that have proven effective, especially during that time of the month. Not surprisingly, these techniques focus on diet, exercise, and mental health.

Diet

With so many fad diets and trends constantly emerging, it can be challenging to stay on top of the latest in terms of consuming a healthy, balanced diet. Not surprisingly, though, diet plays a huge role, both beneficial and detrimental, in hormone balance in your body.


There are a few different techniques you can try out in terms of your diet to help balance out some of your period hormones. For those with endometriosis, an anti-inflammatory diet can be especially beneficial on and off your period.

Women's Menstrual Cycle Period Hormones Diet

Protein

Proteins provide your body with amino acids that it can’t create on its own. These amino acids are critical to the maintenance and overall health of your skin, muscle, and bone.

Having the proper amount of protein in your diet can also help increase the following:

  • Feelings of fullness
  • Fat burning
  • Metabolism

As a rule of thumb, healthcare experts believe you should aim for 20-30 grams of protein in each of your meals.

Sugar and Refined Carbs

Both sugar and refined carbs, such as white flour, white rice, and pizza dough, can negatively impact our monthly hormonal functions. Even though your period, or PMS, might have you craving all of the sweets and carbs you can imagine, it’s best to try to fight that off as best as you can.

While sweets and refined carbs might help to make you momentarily feel better and satiated, in the long run, you’re potentially ruining your hormone function, making your period even more insufferable.

Overeating and Undereating

Along these same lines of curbing period cravings comes managing your over and under eating habits. Sometimes you may want to eat everything in sight, and other times you could be feeling so uncomfortable that you lose your appetite altogether.

Regardless of what your situation may be, always try to opt for a diet that consists of 1,200 calories per day.

Exercise

We all know that exercise is critical in maintaining our health, but especially in balancing out hormones. Regular exercise can be especially beneficial during your cycle, but it’s important to take into consideration hormone fluctuations and adjust your exercise schedule as needed.

Healthline has released a general rule of thumb in terms of possible exercises based on your hormone fluctuations throughout your cycle.

Women balancing period hormones by exercising

Menstrual - Light Movement

Your menstrual phase lasts approximately 1 to 5 days and marks the beginning of your cycle. During this time your uterus lining, or endometrium, sheds, resulting in what we know as our good ol’ Aunt Flow. 

Since estrogen and progesterone levels are very low during this time, it is best recommended to stick to light movements.

Follicular - Light Cardio

Following your menstrual phase is your follicular phase, which lands right around 6 to 14 days in your cycle.

In the follicular phase of your cycle, your estrogen and progesterone levels are gradually rising, but still relatively low. Generally, you may experience low stamina with minimal testosterone levels, so light cardio is a solid exercise option.

Ovulatory - High-Intensity

Next up is your ovulatory phase, which many of us know as ovulation. Your ovulatory phase occurs somewhere around day 15 to 17 of your cycle.

Hormone levels continue to rise, including testosterone and progesterone, during your ovulatory phase. Estrogen levels peak during this time causing a general increase in energy levels. Since you are at optimal energy it is a good time to get in your circuit or other high-intensity exercises.

Luteal - Light-to-Moderate

The final part of your cycle concludes with the luteal phase, which occurs anywhere between day 18 and 28 of your cycle.

During your luteal phase, your hormone levels are still high, including estrogen and progesterone. If your egg has not been fertilized your levels will begin reducing and you will begin your cycle all over again.

Since your body is preparing for another period during this phase you might experience lower energy levels once again. It is recommended you stick to low or moderate exercises during this stage of your cycle.

Mental Health

Hormone imbalances can directly impact your mental health. Many of the hormones that are key players in your reproductive system, including oestrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, can all impact your memory and cognition

Taking these things into consideration, properly managing your mental health to the best of your abilities can help to balance out some of your period hormones.

Take a Chill Pill

Stress can be incredibly detrimental to your body, mostly because of the role it can play on balancing, or imbalancing, your hormones. Learning and practicing stress reducing techniques can be especially helpful during your time of the month. A few ideas to consider incorporating into your monthly routine might be:

  • Journal
  • Listen to music
  • Socialize
  • Massage
  • Laugh
  • Yoga
  • Meditation

Woman Relaxing on her period

You should always try your best to dedicate at least 10 to 15 minutes a day towards any stress relieving activity you choose, but especially during your period.

If You Don't Snooze, You Lose

That’s right. There’s no typos here. While you might be familiar with the age old saying, if you snooze, you lose, here at Phia Cup we believe in the contrary, actually. If you don’t snooze, you lose.

Regardless of how on point your diet and exercise may be, none of it matters if you aren’t getting the proper amount of restorative sleep each night. Lack of quality sleep can cause hormonal imbalances.

According to the National Sleep Foundation, you should aim to get between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night. Keep in mind that other factors, such as health and general activity levels, may directly impact the amount of sleep you need in a night.

It’s All About the Balance

Just like nearly everything else in life, it’s all about finding your perfect balance. Keep in mind your balance might look very different from the next woman’s and that’s perfectly normal. The best we can do is try out different techniques to see what is the best fitted for us.

Finding a balance in your everyday life helps to keep things balanced throughout your monthly cycle.