Endocrine glands in us secrete hormones. The food we consume could affect the hormonal balance in us. Chemical messengers of the body that would travel through different tissues and organs are hormones. It is true that hormones are responsible for various activities like boosting metabolism to reproduction etc. Hormonal imbalances in us could lead to various chronic or long term health issues in us and these are weight gain, irregular periods, sleep issues, brain fog etc.
Imbalance in hormones could be avoided by making few changes in the diet we consume. Therefore, it is necessary to avoid these foods to prevent hormonal imbalance.
Various foods that could lead to hormonal imbalance are
Avoid intake of red meat:
Red meat has got saturated and hydrogenated foods and they are unhealthy. Hormonal balance could get affected by eating excess red meat because it could lead to an increase in the estrogen levels. Instead of red meats it would be better to eat fish or eggs or lead meats etc. The omega-3 fatty acids in these foods would keep us healthy.
Avoid intake of stevia:
To add sweetness to drinks, many of us add stevia which is an artificial sweetener. This could lead to hormonal imbalance in us. Fertility or monthly cycles would get affected by excess intake of stevia.
Avoid excess intake of cruciferous vegetables:
When eaten in excess, cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli etc could result in inflammation in us. Our thyroid gland could get affected due to excess consumption of these cruciferous veggies. This would lead to hormonal imbalances in us. This clearly shows that all vegetables are not healthy for us.
Avoid intake of packed and processed foods:
Not many of us would be aware of the fact that intake of these foods could lead to hormonal imbalance. Many of us eat these packaged and processed foods as they are easy to get. We could get inflammation plus other issues like stress, obesity etc when we eat these foods which have sugars, salt and preservatives etc.
Avoid excess intake of caffeine:
Not only excess intake of caffeine could lead to sleep issues in us but they could lead to increase in cortisol production also. It must be taken into note that high cortisol levels could lead to stress hormones and this could affect the hormonal balance in us.
Avoid intake of milk products:
Truth is that intake of dairy products could be superb as they have plenty of nutrients. These dairy products intake must be avoided or reduced if a person has hormonal imbalance. Intake of dairy products could lead to gut infnflammation and this could affect hormonal balance. Our triglyceride levels would increase when we drink milk.
Avoid excess intake of soy products:
Many of us eat soy products these days for the sake of our health. The shocking truth is that excess intake of soy products could result in hormonal imbalances in us. Estrogen levels in us could become more when we consume excess soy products having phytoestrogen or bioactive substance.