How to Balance Hormones: Separating Myths from Facts

“The 3 foods I eat to balance my hormones!” 

“Here’s how to fix hormonal imbalance in 30 days!” 

“I stopped doing this workout because it threw my hormones out of whack!” 

Does any of this sound familiar? If you’ve been anywhere near TikTok these days, you know that wellness influencers are obsessed with the idea of “how to balance hormones.” So we don’t blame you if you’re starting to ask yourself, Do I have a hormonal imbalance?  The truth is that “hormonal imbalance” is a common and real concern among women, but it is an inaccurate term. How we talk about hormonal health needs to change. 

To cut through the confusion, we’re here to break it all down for you. Plus, find out how hormone replacement therapy (HRT), sometimes referred to as menopause hormone therapy or MHT, can help support hormonal health for women in midlife.

What Does “Balancing Hormones” Really Mean?

First, we should dive into what hormones are, because they’re not just one thing. In fact, you have more than 50 hormones in your body. These are chemical messengers that help regulate your metabolism, sexual function, reproductive health, mood, and more, according to the Endocrine Society. 

Examples of hormones include: 

• Estrogen
• Testosterone
• Progesterone
• Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)
• Prolactin
• Insulin
• Serotonin
• Melatonin
• Ghrelin
• Leptin
• Vasopressin
• Vitamin D (yes, really!)

Hormones aren’t stagnant—they change constantly, often by the hour depending on what time of day it is and what you’re doing. (Kind of like your mood sometimes, right?) For example, cortisol—famously known as “the stress hormone”—is a key player in your sleep-wake cycle. It peaks before you wake up to give you the get-up-and-go you need for your day. Insulin, on the other hand, will increase in response to eating in order to manage your blood sugar. When ghrelin rises, you feel hungry. When leptin goes up, you feel full. So, you get the idea…hormonal changes are key to how our bodies function. They signal different things at different times, a delicate dance that helps you feel balanced even when your hormones are anything but. 

Estrogen is another biggie. It rises and falls all throughout your menstrual cycle (think: PMS mood swings making you feel miserable, crazy cravings right before your period arrives). Estrogen levels rise and fall twice during the menstrual cycle. They rise during the mid-follicular phase and then drop precipitously after ovulation. There’s a secondary rise in estrogen levels during the mid-luteal phase with a decrease at the end of the menstrual cycle. And once perimenopause starts, the hormonal swings of estrogen get irregular along with your cycle overall.

So to think that we need to step in and learn how to regulate hormones on our own at all times is a total misunderstanding of how hormones work, and medical experts tend to shy away from the term ‘hormone balance’ for good reason. It’s an oversimplified concept that doesn’t give your body the self-regulation credit it deserves. 

However, sometimes there are underlying health problems that are causing true hormonal imbalance, and you’ll likely experience symptoms alongside those things. Common examples are: 

• Autoimmune conditions like Hashimoto’s or Graves’ disease, in which the body attacks the thyroid, a gland that releases thyroid hormones that regulate your metabolism. When this happens, thyroid hormones (and there are many) may be higher or lower than the healthy reference range. 
• A noncancerous growth on your pituitary gland, a gland that releases hormones like prolactin, which affect breastfeeding and fertility. Prolactin also has a healthy reference range that you can strive for. 

If you suspect you’re dealing with one of these conditions, it’s worth seeking out a diagnosis and treatment to get your affected hormones back in range. We’ll talk more about this below.

Debunking Myths About Hormonal Imbalance

Given there are so many hormones in your body and they are continually changing, we can’t really achieve perfect hormonal balance. (What would that even mean, anyway! How would we know?) 

That doesn’t mean that something can’t go wrong or be “off.” As we discussed above, there are times when there is a real health problem—one that is affecting the levels of one or more hormones. If that’s the case, then that’s something that your clinician needs to test you for, diagnose properly, and put you on a treatment plan to manage. 

But for many of us, we’re dealing with natural and normal hormonal fluctuations. One key issue is that so much of our health info comes from dubious sources on social media. There are lots of products and programs that claim to blindly balance your hormones without a diagnosis, put everyone on the same plan, feature only supplements, or crow about the healthy choices that are secretly wrecking your hormones—and these should raise your Spidey-sense that’s something is fishy and that the advice is unlikely to be what your unique body needs.

Your best bet is to work with a healthcare professional, like a Midi clinician, to understand what’s happening in your body—and why—so you can come up with a plan to feel your best. 

Causes and Symptoms of “Hormonal Imbalance”

What you may be terming a “hormonal imbalance” is more likely a natural fluctuation in hormones. We expect hormones to go up/down/change throughout our lives.

Hormonal Changes During Perimenopause/Menopause

Certain life stages, notably puberty, pregnancy, and perimenopause and menopause come with huge hormonal changes. What you may think of as imbalances are actually normal and expected, and something that every female will go through, although at varying times. It doesn’t mean you won’t have symptoms but these changes don’t make you “broken.” Hormone level changes in estrogen and progesterone during the menopausal transition can affect your sleep, your mood, your libido—heck, there can be head-to-toe symptoms, and everyone will experience perimenopause and menopause differently. 

Lifestyle Factors That Trigger Hormonal Changes

If you’re undergoing chronic or severe stress, not sleeping enough, or eating a poor diet, these can lead to an increase in cortisol levels. While you always have cortisol rising and falling—it’s typically higher in the morning and lowest at night—if you’re experiencing excess stress, your levels will remain high throughout the day, leading to a range of symptoms. 

Underlying Health Conditions Affecting Hormones

If you have PCOS, there are several hormones that will be elevated, especially male hormones called androgens. Thyroid disorders (thyroxine, thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and triiodothyronine), diabetes (insulin), and obesity  (insulin, cortisol) are three other conditions that can involve hormone levels that need to be monitored or treated.

When it comes to hormonal imbalance symptoms in women, the list could be very long. Hormones control everything in your body. Here’s a short list to get you started:

• Irregular menstrual cycle
• Mood swings
• Skin changes like acne
• Low libido
• Sexual function issues
• Problems sleeping
• Unexplained weight changes
• Excess abdominal fat
• Hot flashes and night sweats

Addressing Hormonal Imbalance Naturally

A healthy lifestyle is the base for good hormonal health. And despite what people may say on social media, it doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s what to focus on:

Dietary Changes

Your food choices can influence your hormonal health. Research in the journal Nutrients shows that eating too many calories or lots of high-glycemic foods (think sugary treats, white bread, and processed snacks) can throw off hormones like insulin, cortisol, and thyroid hormones, causing things like obesity, diabetes. The good news? A Mediterranean-style approach with colorful fruits and veggies, wholesome grains, beans, lean proteins, nuts, seeds, olive oil, and fatty fish are the best choices for a healthy diet. Instead of hunting for that one magical "hormone-balancing" food (which isn't really a thing!), focus on your overall eating pattern. And if hot flashes are bothering you, try incorporating foods like whole soy, juicy pineapple and melon, cruciferous veggies, berries, whole grains, legumes, oily fish, and olive oil into your meals—many women find these helpful!

Lifestyle Adjustments

There are many small tweaks you can make that can have a big impact on how hormonal fluctuations impact you.

• Exercise boosts levels of endorphins, which are feel-good hormones. (That’s why you might not feel great during a run, but you sure do afterwards.) Physical activity also keeps your metabolic health in check by improving your body’s insulin sensitivity and helping manage your weight.
• Stress management helps buffer you against the problems that come with chronic stress (i.e. lots of circulating cortisol all the time, as opposed to the natural rise and fall that is typical). Meditation, breathing exercises, yoga, or pursuing hobbies you love that give you a break from the grind are all great options.
• Prioritizing sleep can do wonders for helping you feel your best. General recommendations are for at least 7 hours per night, but everyone’s needs are individual. When you get enough sleep, your hormones—while not “balanced” are performing optimally, so your mood, hunger levels, and other basic functions don’t feel out of whack. Poor sleep affects your hunger hormones the next day, driving you to eat more. Doing what you can to maintain a regular sleep-wake schedule, setting up a pre-bedtime routine, and sleeping in a cool, dark room are all healthy sleep habits to establish.

Supplements and Herbal Remedies

Supplements may be something you want to explore, alongside possible medical treatments and making some key lifestyle tweaks—depending on what’s going on with your body. Meaning: One-size-fits-all hormone-balancing protocols will not work because everyone’s needs are different. For example, if you have a diagnosed vitamin D deficiency, then your clinician may recommend a vitamin D supplement. Many nutrients are critical for the production of various hormones, and if you’re low in one, your clinician may also recommend supplementing (or focusing on certain foods). Plus, there are herbs that aid in your stress response like ashwagandha that you may also find helpful. Always consult your clinician before adding these and choose supplements that are third-party tested.

Medical Approaches to Hormonal Imbalance

During perimenopause and menopause, hormone changes can make you feel imbalanced, and “off.” Thankfully, there are ways to lessen how wide those swings are, and in later menopause, you’ll be adding back some hormones that are now steadily lower and no longer going to rise back up. It’s not so much of a perfect balance as it is helping smooth out the ups and downs that may be making you feel uncomfortable. Symptoms like insomnia, hot flashes and night sweats, fatigue, mood, irritability, and anger, weight gain, low libido, vaginal dryness, are not things you have to live with. Consider this: Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) relieves hot flash symptoms by up to 90 percent, making it the most effective treatment for vasomotor symptoms 

HRT supplies your body with small amounts of estrogen to help relieve the estrogen deficiency that’s contributing to these symptoms. If you have a uterus, clinicians will add progesterone to mitigate the risk of uterine cancer that comes from using estrogen. That said, HRT is not “balancing hormones,” it can more accurately be described as hormone supplementation. You’re simply adding back small amounts of the hormones your body naturally produces, but the idea of a perfect balance is misguided.

If your hormonal concerns are not menopause related, then your clinician will talk to you about treatments for underlying health conditions. That might include medications to help manage thyroid disease, PCOS, insulin resistance, or obesity. Going on hormonal birth control may be another option to regulate your cycle, depending on your age and stage of life. Hormonal birth control may also be part of a care plan to manage perimenopausal symptoms and prevent pregnancy.

When to Consider HRT

Although the average age of menopause is 51, the hormonal changes begin years earlier. Women typically start perimenopause in their mid-40s, and this stage is about four years, but can last up to 10 years. However, some women will start as early as their 30s or as late as their 50s. If you’re dealing with symptoms of menopause that are disrupting your life—you’re not doing things you love to do, you’re not having the sex you want, you’re gaining weight and are uncomfortable with it—then talk to your clinician about HRT.

Hormone therapy is considered the most effective treatment for hot flashes, night sweats, genitourinary symptoms (vaginal dryness, urinary incontinence), and the prevention of bone loss and fracture, according to the The Menopause Society. There are numerous ways to take HRT, such as pill, patch, gel, or vaginal ring, and a clinician can put together a care plan that takes your health background, symptoms, and preferences into account.

How to Talk About Hormonal Health With Empathy

Hormones make a huge difference in how you feel. Just ask any of us who have absolutely melted down for no reason, felt the crushing weight of brain fog, didn’t understand why our body shape was changing, or who dragged through the day exhausted. On average, women experience about 11 symptoms of menopause, but just half feel equipped to manage them, according to research. Four out of 10 women didn’t seek help because they felt menopause wasn’t a good enough reason to do so.

We’re here to tell you that it’s a good enough reason. If you have symptoms that are causing you any distress for any reason, seek out care from a knowledgeable menopause clinician like one at Midi. No matter who you see, it’s important that you feel okay to be open and honest about what you’re going through—no one wants to talk about vaginal dryness, but you’re in the right spot if you feel okay about doing it! Feeling shut down or stigmatized? Time to go elsewhere. There is a clinician who’s a better fit for you. Education, like reading up on menopause symptoms, can also help you advocate for what you need during an appointment. 

The Takeaway

• Hormones are chemical messengers in your body that regulate processes like metabolism and fertility. There are more than 50 hormones in your body.
• Hormonal imbalance is a misnomer. It is often used to sell supplements or other products that don’t get at the root of the problem. 
• Underlying health conditions like diabetes, PCOS, thyroid disorders, pituitary tumors, and many more can cause disturbances in hormone levels. 
• Natural life stages, such as puberty, pregnancy, and menopause can also cause hormonal fluctuations.
• You can support hormonal health with healthy lifestyle habits. Treat health conditions, if diagnosed. If you are in perimenopause or menopause, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) may be recommended to supplement your body with the hormones it needs to help you feel like yourself again.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How do I fix my hormonal imbalance?

You’ll first need to know if you have a hormonal problem. This can be done with a clinician who reviews your symptoms and recommends additional testing like blood or saliva tests to analyze hormone levels, as well as other testing to identify underlying health conditions. Treating the underlying health condition, like a thyroid issue or diabetes, will help in addressing hormonal health.

What are the signs of hormonal imbalance?

Although hormonal imbalance is largely a misnomer, there are many signs that you may have a health problem that is affecting one or more hormones. Some signs and symptoms may be a change in your body weight, hot flashes or night sweats, changes in your period, acne or extra body hair, infertility, among many others.

What can I drink for hormonal imbalance?

Unfortunately, there is no product that you can drink to correct a hormonal imbalance. If you are having symptoms that you think are linked to a hormonal problem, make an appointment with a healthcare professional who may recommend certain tests to check hormone levels or diagnose other underlying conditions.

How do I know if my hormones are out of whack?

You might experience certain symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats, insomnia, fatigue, excess hunger or thirst, weight loss or weight gain, cold intolerance, mood swings, frequent urination, vaginal dryness, problems getting pregnant—and many more. Talk to a healthcare professional if your symptoms are causing you distress.

How do you detox your hormones?

There are more than 50 hormones, which all have their own roles in controlling systems throughout the body. There is no way to detox your hormones—nor is this necessary. In fact, the body regulates your hormones on its own. While it’s true that you can have a medical condition that causes a problem with one or more hormones, trying to detox your hormones will not treat any condition. Proper treatment and maintaining a healthy lifestyle will support good hormonal health.