Troubleshooting your period
Your period is like your monthly report card.
It's your body's way of telling you how it's doing. Ideally, it should come around the same time every month. But if it varies for more than 5 days then that's a good sign that the system has been thrown off.
Period troubleshooting:
🔸 Your blood sugar levels play a big role in your cycle. Your liver and pancreas are the ones that process your hormones. When you ovulate there is a big rush of estrogen and progesterone. Your liver then gets to work to break down those hormones. But if your blood sugar is going on a roller coaster it makes the liver work twice as hard to keep up. This then leads to an excess of hormones in the body. To avoid this eat 3-4 healthy meals throughout the day. This keeps your blood sugar levels stable. Ideally, you don't want to go more than 5 hours without snacking on something.
🔸 Keeping your digestion consistent is the foundation of healthy hormones. After the liver breaks down the hormones, they then need to leave your body. If that's not done on a regular base then your body may reabsorb those hormones and you have an excess situation again. Good ways to help your digestion is by adding fiber to your diet. Add Chia seeds to your drinks or have some Dandelion root tea.
🔸 Nutritional deficiency is one of the main culprits of hormonal imbalances. Common reasons for this are skipping meals or not having a balanced diet. But it is hard to get enough of the vitamins we need with our current agriculture. Whenever we transfer food from one place to another, most of the nutrients get lost since it's no longer fresh. As a general rule, you should always take a multivitamin. Also, look into taking some magnesium and B vitamin supplements as well.
🔸 Stress causes havoc in our systems. I'm sure you know by now that stress erodes our body. Chronic stress affects every part of our body. That makes your hormones no different. Stress builds inflammation in your gut and when there is too much inflammation in the body you get hormonal imbalances. Not only does stress affect your digestive system, it directly affects your endocrine system which is responsible for managing your hormone levels. Other conditions that occur when you have chronic stress are heart disease, stroke, insomnia, weight gain, fatigue, fertility issues, and low sex drive.
🔸 Another issue you may encounter that goes with cortisol (the stress hormone) is hormone imbalances due to over-exercising. When you work out your body naturally releases cortisol and adrenaline. If your endocrine system and adrenal system are constantly being flooded with cortisol from you working out and being stressed, it can send your hormones out of control. A good way to avoid this is by listening to your body. If you feel like you don’t have that much energy or you feel sluggish, opt to go on a walk or do some yoga instead.
🔸 Some other things to limit are alcohol consumption and sugar. I'm not saying never to have a drink or get a dessert. These are ok if they are limited. But if you have a few glasses of wine each week or get a dessert more then once a week you will see disturbances in your menstrual cycle.
Next time your period goes MIA on you, you can back track and think about what may have caused it. Did you have too much alcohol or desserts at that birthday party? Has work got you over stressed? Have you been skipping too many meals because you’re always late to leave your house? Have you been constipated for a few days? Are you going to that HIT cardio class too many times a week? Or maybe a combination of those have caused a hormone imbalance?
Knowing what can go wrong in your cycle is key to working your way backwards to find the solution and more importantly knowing what to keep in mind to keep a healthy menstrual cycle.
If you need more help troubleshooting your hormone imbalance, I offer one on one coaching to help you re-balance your hormone and keep it that way. Click the link below to learn more 👇
