Five Ways to Nourish Your Hormones in Your 30’s

As modern day women, we are busy but we have to be intentional and nourish our hormones. Our 30’s are often filled with the constant juggle of advancing our careers, social lives and our relationship with our significant other. There’s also Motherhood, spending time with our ageing parents, keeping ourselves healthy and so much more. It is exhausting and depleting.

But behind the scenes, we have some interesting characters running the show, supporting us on our quest to do it all. They are called hormones. Our hormonal health is vital to our overall health but is often overlooked.

The female sex hormones, estrogen and progesterone, have the most impactful effect on women’s health from menarche (arrival of the first period), pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause and menopause. Of course, there are other hormones which affect our energy levels, mood, sex drive, fertility and weight too. 

So let’s take a closer look.

Estrogen

One of the two sex hormones, the primary source of estrogen in women is the ovaries. The levels of this hormone fluctuate over the course of your menstrual cycle. 

Progesterone 

This sex hormone is the most active in the second phase of the menstrual cycle, preparing the endometrium for the possibility of pregnancy post ovulation. 

Testosterone

This hormone in women contributes to bone density, muscle strength and libido.

Thyroid

This is a gland that sits at the front of your neck and converts iodine from foods into thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine (T3). An overactive thyroid can result in hyperthyroidism. An underactive thyroid can result in hypothyroidism, which can affect fertility, weight, energy levels, concentration and postpartum recovery. This gland can even become inflamed resulting in thyroiditis.

So now that we know more about these hormones, what exactly can we do to help our bodies?

5 ways to nourish your hormones in your 30’s:

1. Blood work: get a full blood workup ASAP to discover your baseline hormonal health and work with a qualified health practitioner to interpret the results and create a plan to nourish any imbalances.
2. Sleep: there is nothing like 7-9 hours per night to nourish your hormones. Did you know any sleep you get before midnight is extra restful?
3. Nutrition: include a range of hormone nourishing foods including seaweed, brazil nuts, oysters, sardines, bone broth and legumes.
4. Move your body daily: even a home yoga practice for 20 minutes is better than nothing!
5. Acupuncture: this ancient healing system beautifully balances hormones and you get time to yourself to peacefully lay on the treatment table.

There is so much we can do to nourish our hormones in our 30’s. In fact, if we do so, we can set ourselves up for thriving health now and also for smooth transitions later in perimenopause and menopause.

Written by Contributor Kimberley Peters, expert and massage therapist in reproductive health who provides high level and heart led support to help liberate women from menstrual and fertility disharmony. Follow Kimberley on Instagram @_kimberleypeters.