Eating For Hormone Balance

In This Article

• Diet & Hormonal Imbalance
• Essential Oils Can Help Restore Balance
• Magnesium & Hormone Health
• Thyroid Health
• Vitamin K2 7
• Vitamin D3 & vitamin K2 & Hormonal Imbalance
• Resolving The vitamin K2 & vitamin D3 Issue
• Health Benefits Of Healthy Fats
• Health Benefits Of Animal Proteins
• Anti-Inflammatory Fats
• Fat Doesn’t Make Us Fat
• How vitamin K2 Is Made & Obtained
• Inflammation Causes Endocrine Disruption
• Omega 3 Fatty Acids Reduce Inflammation
• Sources Of Omega 3 Fatty Acids
• Other Sources Of Omega 3
• Omega 6 & 9
• Hormone Health Part 4
• Hormone Imbalance Causes Stress, Anxiety & Depression

Diet & Hormonal Imbalance

Nutritional insufficiencies directly impact our hormones, or endocrine system…

In fact, hormone imbalances are one of the first side effects of insufficient nutrients in our diet.

But, even those eating plenty of veg are at risk of not getting enough nutrients for the subtle balancing of our hormones. Not only are we dealing with much greater levels of pollution, which robs the body of nutrients and places an ever-increasing toxic burden on our bodies, but our food is being grown in depleted soil, which is also burdened with toxicity from petrochemical fertilisers, and the burning of fossil fuels etc.

Poor quality soil due to over-farming, and the use of petrochemical herbicides, larvicides and insecticides etc, mean that we’re not getting the nutrients we need from conventionally produced food whilst at the same time taking on a toxic burden which bioaccumulates, leading to serious health concerns further down the road.

But, we can avert all of this if we mend our ways today. One of the most important things we can do is switch to organic food or actually start growing our own.

This is because there’s a lot of nutrients, which are vital to our hormonal health, that have been robbed from our soil over the last few decades because of the intensive farming methods used.

These include iodine and Selenium which are essential for Thyroid health. But, there are other nutrients which are almost completely absent from our diet these days. This article will concentrate on two of them :: vitamin K2, or more specifically vitamin K27, and vitamin D.

Essential Oils Can Help Restore Balance

As essential oils are derived from plants, it’s not a hard stretch to imagine how they may positively influence our hormones. However, whilst there are a lot of essential oils which help support hormone health, there’s also three essential oils which can potentially negatively impact hormone levels; Sweet Fennel Essential Oil, Star Anise Essential Oil and Myrtle Essential Oil.

Most essential oils help to reduce systemic inflammation, which has a positive impact on hormone health.

There’s many articles on the Wild As The Wind website which reference how effective essential oils are for restoring hormone balance, but the two main ones are:

We are all pretty much deficient in magnesium these days… mainly due to the quantities of sugar we are consuming, a lot of it hidden in processed food, as well as from alcohol. *It’s important to remember processed carbs are converted into sugar immediately in the body, so white bread etc, is equivalent to eating sugar. It’s also important to remember we lose minerals, as well as waste products, through the skin… so, excessive exercising or excessive water consumption, and even cigarette smoking can negatively impact magnesium levels.

Magnesium is vital for hormone health. For example, without sufficient Magnesium we cannot maintain healthy Thyroid function. Our Thyroid is like the master controller of our endocrine system, (aka hormonal system), and so insufficient Magnesium soon results in hormone havoc. Learn more about Magnesium in Sleep & The Mineral Connection.

A lot of us are deficient in vital minerals like Magnesium due to digestive issues, which are largely brought about by a poor diet and excessive stress.

A dysfunctioning gut means we can’t absorb vital minerals, particularly Magnesium. And, because most of our hormones are produced and regulated by our guts, it’s important to understand how to achieve and maintain good digestive health.

We need Magnesium for thousands of vital functions within the body, and without it our health cannot be maintained. Luckily, we can absorb Magnesium through our skin, transdermally, whilst we go about fixing our gut health.

You may have been alarmed to read that three essential oils may adversely affect hormone balance… but when you realise there’s literally thousands of items in your home and work environment which can potentially seriously negatively impact hormone health you’ll be able to put the three essential oils into a much better perspective! Please read Hormone Disrupting Substances for more information.

Thyroid Health

Our Thyroid is the master controller of our endocrine system, but it needs very specific nutrients to function properly, some of which are very hard to find in the modern diet.

Because our soil has been degraded by industrial scale farming and mono-cropping as well as the use of synthetic fertilisers etc, we are not getting the nutrients we need from conventionally produced food. Even organic food is severely compromised due to large scale production of organic foods.

Because Western Medicine pays very little attention to vitally important nutrients which support our health, hundreds of thousands of people each year are diagnosed with Graves Disease and Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis, who simple had a nutrient deficiency. They are then placed on prescription meds, like Thyroxine for the rest of their lives. It’s very lucrative for Big Pharma… but devastating for those on the drug.

There are no tests for nutrient deficiencies prior to diagnosis in the UK.

The nutrients needed for the proper function of our Thyroid are:

• Selenium
• Magnesium
• Iodine
• Zinc
• Tyrocine
• Co Q10
• Vitamin A
• B Vitamins

Vitamin K2 7

One of the key nutrients which is not so readily available in our diets, that many of us are deficient in is Vitamin K2 which is vital for our hormonal health. Vitamin K2, and more specifically Vitamin K2 7 is profoundly important… here’s why…

We need Vitamin K2 to absorb other vital nutrients, like Vitamin D3 for example, but sadly, practically all of us are deficient in Vitamin K2.

Vitamin D3 is actually not a vitamin at all, even though we all refer to it as one… The reality is that Vitamin D3 is actually an hormone.

So… we cannot absorb Vitamin D3 without Vitamin K2.

Eating Vitamin K2 rich foods or taking Vitamin K2, rather than consuming Vitamin K1 in any form, will be helpful in assisting us in absorbing Vitamin D, however, it is really Vitamin K2 7 which we need most of all.

Eating Vitamin K1 rich foods or taking Vitamin K1 supplements will not be helpful in improving Vitamin D absorption.

Vitamin D3 & Vitamin K2 & Hormonal Imbalance

We mainly get Vitamin D3 from the sun, but UK dwellers, and anyone on the same latitude on the map, are deficient in Vitamin D3 for half of the year. This is because the sun is not high enough in the sky for us to obtain the beneficial rays of sunlight that deliver the D3 we need.

From April to October people on the same latitude as the UK can obtain sufficient Vitamin D from the sun within 15 minutes of full exposure. The Vitamin D is best obtained via skin which is rarely exposed to the sun. ***We cannot absorb the suns rays through clothing. The skin must be directly exposed to the sun.

But, discussions about Vitamin D3 are rendered moot by the fact that without Vitamin K2, and more specifically Vitamin K2 7, we can’t absorb any of the Vitamin D3 we get at any point in the year. And, the Western diet is all but devoid of this essential nutrient!

There are Vitamin D3 receptor sites on every single cell of the body, as with Thyroid hormone. This is only true of these two hormones…

In my opinion, doing a Vitamin D test twice a year is invaluable, because when you have low Vitamin D, any and every cell in your body is at risk of not working properly, so any disease, any dysfunction may be contributed to by a Vitamin D insufficiency or deficiency.

So, if you think you tanked up on Vitamin D3 during the latest heatwave, then you’re sadly mistaken. What high exposure to Vitamin D3 actually does is use up all of our meagre Vitamin K2 reserves, which can also contribute to acute liver issues, but also long-term bone issues… like Osteoporosis

Vitamin K2 is needed because it decalcifies the body. It’s the only nutrient that can do this. We obtain way too much calcium in our diet through eating dairy products, so Vitamin K2 is more important than ever!

Vitamin K2 is needed in the liver to create the clotting cascade within the body so when we are wounded we don’t bleed to death.

The liver absorbs all the Vitamin K it needs and the rest goes to extra-hepatic tissue, which simply means the rest of the body beyond the liver. It’s in the extra-hepatic tissue that the Vitamin K deficiencies occur, leading to bone, arteries and cartilage deficiencies… and, as I believe, to significant endocrine disruption!

But, we also know that Vitamin D3 is vital for bone health… so, we can surmise that the amount of Osteoporosis, which is so prevalent in Western societies, is a big indicator of the D3 and K2 issues we are suffering from.

Resolving The Vitamin K2 & Vitamin D3 Issue

One of the best ways of resolving the Vitamin K2 deficiencies is to eat less carbohydrates and replace them with healthy fats.

Eating a variety of foods which are high in short, medium and long-chain fatty acids is vital for hormone health. For example, organic butter contains 14.5mcg of K2 per 100g serving as well as vitamins A and D… although we need around 50mgs per day, and it’s unlikely that anyone is going to eat over a block of butter per day.

***Butter contains very little calcium.

Cheese is another fatty food with vitamin K2, but it’s full of calcium, which isn’t good.

***Calcium from dairy products actually robs calcium from the bones so that the body can process the calcium sourced from dairy products. Here’s a 7.5 minute video with a lot of advice on where to find K2 in our food.

We Need Magnesium For Vitamin D3 Absorption

Many nutrients that are critical for the healthy functioning of our hormones can be found in saturated fats and cholesterol. Plus, there’s another bonus; these essential fats are not only the fundamental building blocks for hormone production, but they also keep inflammation to a minimum, whilst also boosting our metabolisms which leads to healthy weight loss.

Refined carbohydrates, like sugar and anything that quickly converts into sugar after it’s been eaten, like white bread and alcohol, will very quickly lead to inflammation in the body.

Sugar is also the most pernicious neurotoxin there is. But, it’s the inflammation we are primarily concerned about when it comes to hormones, because inflammation can really disrupt our endocrine system.

Healthy fats, on the other hand, have the opposite effect because they contain small amounts of K2 for the assimilation of the hormone Vitamin D3, (I know, it’s confusing isn’t it!?!), as well as reducing inflammation in the body.

Health Benefits Of Animal Proteins

Then there’s pasture raised organic meats, eggs and fermented foods, all of which contain Vitamin K2.

But, eating chicken liver pate three times a week is the best source of Vitamin K2 we have.

*This is something that Terry Wahl advocates for rectifying the mitochondria, and I believe she’s absolutely right.

Chicken liver has good amounts of Vitamin K2. There’s a recipe for dairy-free chicken liver pate on the Recipes page.

It is ESSENTIAL to eat organic liver and NOT conventionally reared liver. Our livers store toxins. Because conventionally reared livestock and poultry are routinely fed all manner of drugs, even antibiotics to fatten them up, as well as GMO corn, the toxic burden on the livers of conventionally reared animals is WAY TOO HIGH.

 

 

Here’s a 50 minute video on Vitamin K2

And, a very useful 9 minute video on Vitamin K2 if you don’t have time to watch the more lengthy video above.

Anti-Inflammatory Fats

Anti-Inflammatory fats are vital for our health. These include; avocados, coconut oil, ghee and fatty fish like sustainably sourced line-caught wild Alaskan salmon.Or small fatty fishes like Mackerel or Sardines.

Don’t forget to check out the Wild As The Wind essential oil based hormone balancing blend Thieves Oil 2020 to help you to restore your hormone balance in a purely natural way.

Fat Doesn’t Make Us Fat

There’s no reason to worry about eating fat because fat doesn’t make us fat…!

It’s sugars, poor sleep and environmental toxins that makes us fat…

Coconut oil even helps with burning off our fat!

Avocados also have lots of health benefits, like improving heart health, lowering inflammation, and controlling appetite, thereby averting weight gain in another way.

How Vitamin K2 Is Made & Obtained

Whilst Vitamin K2 7 may be converted from K1, which is a lot more abundant in our diet, it’s believed this doesn’t significantly contribute to our Vitamin K2 stores. (The conversion from Vitamin K1 to Vitamin K2 7 occurs in the colon, using Escherichia coli bacteria. So, there needs to be good quantities of this friendly flora for this process to occur.

However, a lot of us suffer from diminished gut bacteria because of the use of antibiotics, the chlorine in our water and the poor quality of our diets. For the full story of why a healthy gut is essential for healthy hormones read Hormone Health Part Two

Inflammation Causes Endocrine Disruption.

Chronic inflammation within Western society has reached epidemic proportions.

We are eating a madly inflammatory diet which is drenched with sugar, grains and saturated fats, all of which cause persistent inflammation. And, chronic inflammation leads to physical disability and pain which then leads to it’s ultimate conclusion, Early Onset Dementia and Alzheimer’s *I will be covering the causes of Dementia and Alzheimer’s and how we can easily reverse these conditions in a future series of articles dedicate to gut health. Please subscribe to this blog if you are interested in reading the rest of the articles in this series dedicated to Hormone Health, as well as the series on Gut Health.

Omega 3 Fatty Acids Reduce Inflammation

Omega-3 fatty acids are critical for reducing inflammation within our bodies. Inflammation not only causes debility and pain… it also causes endocrine disruption.

Omega-3 fatty acids are also a significant constituent of brain-cell membranes and thus they are important for cell-to-cell communication within the brain, thus protecting against hippocampal neuronal loss.

Despite the vital function of Omega-3 fatty acids in our diets Westerners tend to be chronically deficient.

Sources Of Omega 3 Fatty Acids

Salmon is one of the best sources of omega-3 fatty acids, along with Mackerel, and, to a lesser extent, Sardines.

However, there is a real benefit to eating smaller fish for the omega 3 content as it isn’t economically feasible for small oily fish to be farmed. Farmed fish are possibly the most toxic food we can put on our plates!

Because small oily fish, (which are full of the vitally important Omega 3 fatty acids), live shorter lives than larger Omega 3 rich fish, like Salmon, they have less time to accumulate the increasingly burdensome toxic load from the sea.

*Fatty fish are known to lower inflammation and help with our cognitive function.

** Peppermint Essential Oil is being used to boost immunity in farmed fish to help them deal with everything from the stress of living in horrendously cramped living conditions to fighting off the large parasitic lice that infect factory farmed fish populations.

***Factory farmed salmon in Scotland, which is often farmed in open water using netted areas, are so toxic to migrating wild salmon, that they die in considerable numbers from just swimming past the netted dungeons of the factory farmed fish!

Other Sources Of Omega 3

Fatty fish are the best source of Omega 3, but Flaxseed, Walnuts and Organic, Grass-Fed sources of animal protein are also good.

Chia Seeds provide a good supply of Omega 3 as well, but Steven R Gundry reckons that seeds in the diet are causing a lot of our problems!

Omega 6 & 9

The other Omega Fats, (Omega 6 and Omega 9), are important, but a balance needs to be struck. This is very far from the reality of the modern Western diet, which is hopelessly high in the wrong kind of Omega 6 as well as Omega 9, whilst being woefully deficient in Omega 3. *The form of Omega 6 to avoid is obtained from seeds and legumes like, sunflower, corn, soybean and peanut. These are bad news and have been linked to neuro-cognitive dysfunction and early-onset dementia etc… This may be the real reason behind Steven R Gundry’s observation that seeds are not very good for us actually bares out… even if his reasoning doesn’t actually hit the nail on the head!

Omega-6 fat that’s good for us is called GLA and it’s found in Evening Primrose Oil, Borage Oil, and Hemp Seeds. GLA, (gamma-linoleic acid), is vital for healthy progesterone levels.

Hormone Health Part 4

In Hormone Health Part 4 I cover more dietary requirements for hormone health as well as the major role Adaptogenic Herbs can play in helping to restore hormone balance… as well as eliminating the stress, anxiety and depression that hormone imbalance inevitably causes…

Hormone Imbalance Causes Stress, Anxiety & Depression

Hormone imbalance causes feelings of:

• • Stress

• • Anger

• • Anxiety

• • Hopelessness

• • Lethargy

• • Depression

Hormone imbalance could be the reason behind your outbursts of rage and your inability to keep your temper in check.

It can also be the root cause of anxiety and depression.

Adaptogenic Herbs are becoming more of a necessity than they have even been before.

Learn how to restore your hormone balance using adaptogenic herbs.

Please Help Others Get Well…

Please share this article on social media and with friends and family members who will benefit.

Please also share your personal experiences, and let me know how the advice you are finding on this Wild As The Wind Information site is helping.

I really want to encourage an open discussion about hormone health so that we all don’t feel so alone in our suffering. Plus, in commenting on this and other posts you are helping others to find this information online. Interactions with articles tend to boost visibility in Google and other search engines.

So, please comment and get involved!

But please don’t email!

Emails demand a personal response and are invisible to others, so no-one else benefits from the valuable insights other than you. This means that I repeatedly have to answer the same questions over and over again, using precious time I could be spending writing other important articles. I do not have the time for this, and it is detrimental to my health and to Wild As The Wind in general.

An open discussion is the way forward for everyone to benefit, and it will give you access to free expert opinion without needing to pay for a professional consultation with a practitioner.

Don’t forget to check out the Wild As The Wind Thieves Oil 2020 for hormone balance to help you to restore your endocrine health in a purely natural way.  

Plus, I highly recommend you read the follwing brilliant article by Dr. Jockers

5 Body Signs of Nutritional Deficiencies

And then watch these really important videos make by Dr Osborne

Disclaimer

The information provided is not intended to replace the medical directives of your healthcare provider. This information is not meant for the diagnosis of health issues. If you are pregnant, have serious or multiple health concerns, consult with your healthcare provider before using essential oils or associated products. If you experience any complications or adverse reactions contact your healthcare provider.

Deepen your knowledge by using the Wild As The Wind Recommended Resources

Another resource you may find useful can be found by following the link below. *Please note, I use sources from the Recommended Resources list as well as sources from the Healthcare and Skincare Information Sources list when researching articles for the Wild As The Wind Blog.

Best Healthcare and Skincare Information Sources.

Wild As The Wind use a number of resources when deciding which essential oil formulas to put together for optimal healing and efficacy, as well as to support any health claims we may make.

We use the industry ‘bible’ on essential oil safety: Essential Oil Safety: A Guide for Health Care Professionals [2nd Edition] by Robert Tisserand and Rodney Young, to establish the safety of the Wild As The Wind formulations.

We owe a particular debt to GreenMedInfo, and, of course, the teachings of Penny Price and Patricia Davis.

Many of the scientific studies used to inform the claims made on this website are via GreenMedInfo, as well as via Dr. Josh Axe, Ty Bollinger on the Truth About Cancer website as well as, on the odd occasion, Dr. Eric Zielinski

Other resources include:

• • PubMed

• • WebMD

• • Robert Tisserand

• • Dr. Robert Pappas

• • Dr. Mercola

• • AromaWeb