Healthy Hormone Hacks for the Holidays, Part 2

Welcome to the second half of my series on healthy hormone hacks for the holidays! At this point in the holiday season, you’re probably in the thick of things. And, as we know, the holidays can wreak havoc on health and hormones as we run ourselves ragged, overindulging, stressing out over last-minute gift shopping, and uprooting ourselves to visit family or friends.

By the end of it all, it’s common to feel wiped out, bloated, depleted, and just plain awful. As we learned in the first part of this series, it’s likely because your hormones took a hit! But if you implement these tips (along with the first six in the series), you can help combat the potential negative effects the holidays can wreak on our hormones.

Missed the first part of this series? Check out healthy hormone hacks 1-6!

7. Try Kundalini

Kundalini is a modality of yoga that is excellent for strengthening the relationship between body and mind. Certain poses, mantras or parts of the Kundalini practice are designed to stimulate specific glands to remove blocks of energy and create space for positive energy to flow so hormones can be in balance. For example, the ‘breath of fire’ meditation helps activate and heal the adrenal glands, and the phrase “sat nam” activates the pineal gland (which is responsible for brain activity, sleeping patterns, and the secretion of melatonin and serotonin).

The best part about Kundalini is how impactful it can be in such a short amount of time! You can do most of the meditations in as little as 1-3 minutes and still reap an abundance of benefits.

8. Sing, Gargle, Giggle

Any easy hormone hack that might surprise you? Let loose and lighten up, specifically by singing, gargling, and laughing, all of which can promote hormone balance. How? These activities all stimulate and strengthen the vagus nerve. Among its many jobs, the vagus nerve translates information between the gut and the brain. It is an important organ that rules activity in all the following organs:

• Brain (neurotransmitter hormones!)
• Neck (thyroid hormones!)
• Intestines (more neurotransmitter, thyroid and other hormone activity!)
• Liver (excretion of excess hormones!)
• Pancreas (insulin and related hormones!)
• Kidney (cortisol and DHEA hormones!)
• And reproductive organs (estrogen, progesterone and testosterone hormones!)

So, let those holiday tunes rip and sing your heart out! You can also gargle water daily, as loudly and for as long as you can to make it challenging. And take every opportunity to laugh. Laughter is truly one of the best medicines, for so many reasons. Stimulating the vagus nerve is just one of them.

9. Bone Broth Benefits

A LOT of hormone interactions take place in your gut, not to mention approximately 80% of your immune system is in the gut. The immune system cells also synthesize, store and secrete hormones, which are identical to the hormones of the endocrine glands (thyroid, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, insulin hormones etc.). This includes:

• The conversion of thyroid T4 to T3
• Conversion of glucocorticoids to androgens (steroid hormones)
• Neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine production

This is why what you put into that gut makes a big impact on your hormone balance. Enter bone broth.

Bone broth is a superfood for your immune system and gut health. It’s rich in minerals for immune system function, plus it has healing compounds such as glutamine, collagen, glycine, and proline, which are good for the intestinal lining. Bone broth also improves your overall gut health by boosting nutrient absorption from other foods you’re eating.

Bone broth is not your everyday chicken, beef, or vegetable stock. It is made by simmering the animal bones (commonly chicken or beef), which is where all the beneficial nutrients come from to support hormones!

Here are ways you can incorporate bone broth daily to support hormones through the holidays:

• Drink a hot cup of it with added spices - ginger, sea salt, and cayenne are great!
• Use it in any recipe that calls for any kind of stock or broth (gravy!)
• Make a simple soup of celery, carrots, sea salt, and pieces of chicken (boil, then serve)

You can grab grass-fed, organic bone broth at any health food or grocery store or snag the Vital Proteins or Ancient Nutrition bone broth powders online.

10. Turn Down the Intensity

Before diving into this hack, let’s redefine the word ‘stress.’ Typically, when we hear the word ‘stress,’ we think of mental or emotional stress that we encounter from work, relationships, or decision making.

But… stress is ANYTHING that creates a burden on the body, which means it also includes inflammatory foods, lack of sleep, toxins, and exercising too intensely when your body is already depleted.

Basically, stress initiates inflammation--the root of all dysfunction, especially when it comes to hormones.

During the holidays, we tend to overindulge in naughty and nice foods - eggnog, holiday cocktails, cookies, or other sweet treats. The common response is that we’ll “work off” all the indulgences after the holidays. Seems reasonable, right? But it has the opposite effect.

Intense exercise can stress the body even more when it’s already under a lot of stress from traveling and holiday happenings. Hitting the gym hard after a late night, getting poor sleep, indulging in holiday treats, or when dealing with a lot of emotional stress is actually the exact opposite of what your body probably needs.

In fact, intense exercise in these moments can put more strain on hormones such as cortisol, estrogen, and testosterone, leading to the exact opposite effect of what you want.

Instead of running, hitting the weights hard, or pushing yourself in a class, opt for some movement that is more restorative, such as:

• A nice long walk
• A yoga class or pilates
• Interval training with 1-2 minute breaks to recover between sets

Moving your body daily is essential for hormone balance, too; just be mindful of what your body is capable of doing on a day-to-day basis and keep in mind the collection of stressors you might have encountered over the last 24-48 hours. Simply put, don’t overdo it on the exercise.

11. Intermittent Fasting

Warning: Consult with your functional health practitioner before you give fasting a try, especially if you suffer from more severe hormone imbalances and fatigue.

Introducing intermittent fasting can help offset the intake of carbs and sugars so the body doesn’t become over saturated, thus keeping your insulin levels more normal and promoting better hormone balance.

There are various philosophies around intermittent fasting and it works differently for different people. For example, women’s hormones and people who have more severe adrenal or thyroid imbalances are more sensitive to extended fasting periods, so I always recommend easing your way into it.

Here is what I do and suggest to clients as a way to intermittently fast from carbs or sugars specifically:

• Stop eating by 8pm (if you wake up around 6am; if not, adjust earlier or later)
• Fast overnight while sleeping
• Have a bulletproof-style coffee or matcha green tea with ghee and full-fat coconut milk if you feel like you need something
• Have your first “meal” around lunch (make sure it includes carbs)

This is approximately a 12-16-hour fasting period that will give your body a break from carbs/sugars, yet the ghee and/or coconut milk will still give you some fuel.

Intermittent fasting 2-3 days a week helps your body become “fat adapted”- meaning your body will tap into fat stores for fuel and be less reliant on carbs for energy. Being fat adapted promotes better balance and utilization of the hormone leptin, which regulates fat distribution and loss.

Intermittent fasting really doesn’t require much work at all; it’s just about being mindful of what you’re putting in your body. If you overindulge, give it a try to help keep your hormones happy this holiday season!

12. Embrace Joy

Did you know that embracing joy, happiness and gratitude affects our hormone health? We underestimate the influence mindset has on our hormones or the power of genetic expression.

Our genes determine only about 20% of our health, meaning 80% are determined by our choices in life, our mindset, and our environment. You have the power to alter your gene expression and boost hormone health by keeping a positive mindset and a clean environment, and by making healthy choices.

As the year winds down to a close, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the past 365 days, find gratitude for the lessons learned (even the darkest moments), and look to the future. If you do nothing else this holiday season for your hormones, simply embrace joy and take a moment to write down at least 3 things that you’re grateful for daily.

So, there you are – all 12 holiday hormone hacks to help you through the season. Happiest of holidays and best wishes for a healthy new year ahead!