How does What I Eat affect my Hormone levels?

The best thing to do for your hormone balance is to eat a diet that is high in fiber and low in sugar. Eating 4 tablespoons of ground flaxseeds daily is an easy way to increase your Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG) and decrease the available circulating estrogen. These can be consumed easily mixed in a water, yogurt, applesauce, or cooked oatmeal. Eating more fiber decreases the free estrogen available in your blood, which improves your estrogen to progesterone balance.  The insoluble type of fiber will also help to bind and carry toxins out of your body. 

Lots of vegetables and fruits will contribute to more balanced hormone levels. Cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage increase the metabolism of hormones, toxins, and carcinogens from the body by boosting liver enzyme activity. Focus on getting vegetables with every meal and try to get a good variety of colors...it's not all about green. Try for purple, red, orange, yellow, and green. 

Substituting unhealthy oils like margarine, shortening, and vegetable oils with healthy oils like olive, almond, avocado, and coconut will help decrease inflammation and improve hormone balance.

Avoiding foods that have been exposed to pesticides and insecticides can also decrease our exposure to very potent outside sources of estrogen that may be throwing off our hormone balance.