We all know about testosterone and estrogen, and how important these hormones are in everyone’s bodies.
But there are actually tones of hormones present in your body all the time that can affect your mood, your digestion, and even your appearance. It’s important to know what hormones do and where to find them, in order to reach a balanced state.
But first, what are hormones and what’s their purpose?
Hormones are chemical messengers for the body. They send messages to the many systems of the body in order to spring them into action and keep your body in smooth working order.
Here is a list of some of the hormones that have the biggest effect on your health and what they do:
- Estrogen- helps to regulate female reproductive cycles for females, helps with muscle recovery and brain health.
- Testosterone- helps to increase brain-power, muscle mass and strength.
- Insulin-plays a huge role in metabolism, and glucose absorption.
- Cortisol- is the hormone your body releases when you’re under stress.
- Growth hormone- helps to increase muscle mass and decrease body fat.
Maintaining a healthy diet and exercise routine is the best way to balance the hormone levels listed above.
How to naturally increase hormone levels when needed: 
If you’re lacking one hormone or another due to age or just life changes in general, don’t worry!
You can help your body naturally produce more of most hormones you’re lacking by simply adjusting your diet.
To naturally increase your body’s estrogen levels studies have shown that you would need to consume more plant-based foods. Such as seeds, fruits, vegetables, soy products and legumes.
To increase testosterone levels you want to focus on eating food high in fat, zinc and magnesium. Some examples of those foods are oils, avocados, nuts, shellfish, dark green leafy vegetables, low fat yogurt and bananas.
Insulin is a very important hormone to keep regulated because it helps to keep blood sugar levels in balance. If your lacking insulin you can eat a diet full of plant based foods and use olive oil as a main source of fat, while also consuming fish, poultry, and dairy in moderation.
Cortisol levels are greatly affected by your diet, and therefore so if your body’s response to stress!
To increase cortisol levels studies say to eat foods high in sugar and refined starches. To lower those levels you can do the opposite and focus on eating eggs, meats, poultry, fish and vegetables.
Finally if you’re looking to naturally increase your Growth Hormone (HGH) levels you can do so by eating a diet consisting of raspberries, raw fish, pineapple, coconut oil, soy beans, steak, and even yogurt.
When they say diet is everything, they mean it!
Even if you don’t have a weight loss goal, your diet needs to be looked at as one of the most important aspects in both achieving and maintaining a healthy mind, body and soul!
Paige Peterson