Hormones regulate multiple aspects of our body’s functions and become especially important as we age or when we are under chronic stress. Perhaps the most common hormone-related symptoms include:
- Fatigue
- Hot flashes, night sweats, poor libido
- Weight gain
- Brain fog
- Sleep disruption
Traditional medicine often focuses on treating our sex and thyroid hormone symptoms with synthetic prescription drugs, such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone, plus thyroid medications. While these drugs do have clear benefits for some people, they do not address many of the symptoms related to hormone problems.
The good news is that plants also provide natural phytohormones and phytonutrients that help soothe our hormone receptors and decrease many hormone symptoms.
Consuming soy products is an example of foods that can help relieve menopause symptoms (hot flashes, night sweats, bone density, and vaginal dryness), while at the same time, decreasing breast cancer risk. The phytoestrogens in soy have both protective and beneficial properties.
Past ideas that soy products decrease thyroid function were false. Multiple clinical studies show that soy’s impact on the thyroid with normal dietary intake was a myth! Of course, the key to ensuring a benefit from soy without a harm is that you purchase soy products that are organically grown (which also makes them non-GMO). And for the 5-10% of people who have an adverse sensitivity to soy products—of course they should avoid them.
Not only do many plant foods contain beneficial phytohormones, they are also packed with phytonutrients that help us make energy, produce our own hormones, and help our bodies heal.
If you happen to be looking for help with uncomfortable hormone symptoms, my friend and colleague, Alan Christianson NMD, has written a new book, The Hormone Healing Cookbook. It is filled with 80+ delicious recipes that are designed to help relieve these five hormone symptoms.
To watch my recent interview with Alan on this topic, please below ⬇️.
One of the things that Dr. Christianson and I discussed is that beets and oats are often eaten by athletes to boost energy and blood flow before they compete. As many of you know, beets are one of my favorite go-to foods for helping our hearts, our blood flow, as well as our athletic and sexual performance.
Some of the most recent research shows that you need to eat beets fairly regularly to get all the benefits. The limiting factor is that the nitrates in beets must be converted to nitrites to form nitric oxide, the master controller of blood vessels. Yet we need the right bacteria in our gums and saliva to make this nitrate to nitrite conversion, and people should eat these foods somewhat regularly to have the bacteria present to make this conversion.
The right food with the right preparation provides many solutions to optimal aging and can also help relieve hormone symptoms in amazing ways.
I wish you the best of health!
Steven Masley, MD, FAHA, FACN, CNS
My interview with Dr. Alan Christianson
PS: I highly recommend Dr Christianson’s recent book, The Hormone Healing Cookbook, as it is packed with delicious recipes and beautiful photos—available wherever books are sold.
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