Can Managing Stress Improve Your Hormonal Health?
In our modern world we experience stress all the time in many different circumstances. We often think of stress as situational or emotional (like difficulties at work or caring for a sick family member), or psychological (like dealing with anxiety or feeling afraid), but it can also be physical…whether that’s due to an illness, a consistently poor diet, or exposure to different environmental stressors and irritants. For many people, stress is coming at them in more than one form multiple times a day. And for many women, chronic stress can be an important player in their hormonal imbalances that is often overlooked.
To put it very simply, when our body is under chronic stress, it doesn’t believe it is safe to reproduce, and because of that, producing and regulating hormones is not a priority and our hormonal health can suffer.
We all know that too much stress is “bad,” but what can we do about it? Just “stressing less” isn’t usually an option.
What can you do?
1. Practice different stress management tools
Experiment with different techniques and find what works for you! Maybe that’s meditation, journaling, yoga, or taking a long walk. Perhaps it’s practicing things like daily affirmations or engaging in regular self-reflection. Maybe it’s getting really strict about saying no and setting boundaries. Get in there and really play around with multiple different approaches! Find something you can use daily, and especially in moments of stress, to find a sense of peace and calm.
2. Get a good night’s sleep
Our bodies need an opportunity to rest and recover, and that is especially true when you’re experiencing chronic stress. Aim for at least 7-8 hours to give your body ample opportunity to replenish and restore.
Extra credit: practice good sleep hygiene by going to bed and waking at similar times each night and day, eliminating screens at least an hour before bed, and finding a before-bed ritual that helps you relax and unwind like reading, taking a bath, or listening to music.
3. Find a form of gentle movement that you enjoy enough to do regularly
If you are experiencing a high amount of chronic stress, intense exercise can actually exacerbate the problem. Things like walking, biking, yoga, and dance can be great movement forms that help reduce stress while keeping you active. But the key is that you actually like it enough to do it regularly! If you’re trying to force yourself to do something you hate, it won’t last long.
4. Support your blood sugar with fat and protein
Constant dips and spikes in blood sugar is one way our body experiences chronic physical stress… blood sugar imbalance can also be a consequence of chronic stress. Avoiding these peaks and valleys is essential for supporting our hormonal health. One key way to start supporting your blood sugar is to ensure each meal has a healthy source of protein and fat – this will lessen the spikes and keep your blood sugar stable for longer than a meal that’s primarily carbohydrates (yes, even complex carbohydrates). Stay tuned for a more in-depth look at how to balance your blood sugar soon!
5. Set healthy boundaries and evaluate unhealthy patterns
Do you find that the same situation keeps popping up and causing unnecessary or overwhelming stress? For example, do you have a pattern of procrastinating so much on certain tasks that it eats away at your for days before you finally sit down to check it off? Do you consistently make yourself available to someone who drains you? Give yourself time to evaluate these patterns and honestly ask yourself if you can set any boundaries to avoid these situations in the future. It’s hard work, but your body will thank you! We can’t avoid or change all stressors, but it’s important to evaluate what is within our control!
6. Work with a practitioner to find the right nutritional supplement support
Sometimes it’s hard to heal from chronic stress on your own, and sometimes your body needs additional support through therapeutic nutritional support or even supplemental support. Consider working with a practitioner who can help support your healing!
