I recently started a blog series on balancing hormones naturally.
I have five simple solutions I recommend to women who have issues with hormone health.
I like to call these Hormone Helpers…
And I want to discuss the fourth one with you today.
Hormone Helper #4: DRINK TEN GLASSES OF WATER
Hydration. Hydration. Hydration.
Hydration, and water intake in particular, is an important part of hormone health.
Fluid intake is often disregarded as a key part of overall health…
But proper hydration positively affects many key body processes [1].
Additionally, if you consume more fruits and vegetables…
You obviously consume more fiber.
Fiber needs water in order to avoid staying in your digestive tract.
The easy answer is to drink more water so your digestive system operates smoothly.
When your body is operating at peak performance…
Excess hormones, like estrogen, are broken down by the liver in a two-step detoxification process.
Once leaving your liver, the excess hormones are passed to the gallbladder and finally to the large intestine.
This process eliminates inactive hormones, which stay in your body and recirculate unless removed [2].
Water can seem blah and plain compared to the vast array of current alternatives out in the market.
If you don’t particularly enjoy the taste of water, here are a few suggestions to help make water taste less bland:
- Citrus fruits: limes, oranges, grapefruits, lemons; squeeze fresh juice or slices
- Cucumber slices in your water
- Ginger slices mixed in hot water; also helps with inflammation
- Mint: break apart the leaves for the best infusion taste
- Slice up some peaches for your water
- Mixed Fruit: mix and match fruits for a unique, flavorful combination
- Fresh berries
As you can see, the possibilities are endless!
Don’t limit yourself to the above list.
Find what works best for you and your body so you’re increasing your fluid intake and giving your body the water it needs to stay healthy.
A note of caution: modern drinking water has a number of harmful contaminants and chemicals [3].
This could make your drinking water significantly less beneficial.
Aim for filtered water to make sure you’re hydrating with the best type of water.
So now you’ve been eating more berries…
Temporarily removed red meat…
Eating more vegetables…
And drinking your water…
What else is there left to do?
I’ll let you know next time.
If you want to know more about nutrition and hormone health, I go in much more detail in my program, Best of You. What you eat has such a profound effect on your body, and especially your hormones, that I spend much more time going over the solutions to better hormone health inside my program.
[1]Johnson RJ, García-Arroyo FE, Gonzaga-Sánchez G, Vélez-Orozco KA, Álvarez-Álvarez YQ, Aparicio-Trejo OE, Tapia E, Osorio-Alonso H, Andrés-Hernando A, Nakagawa T, Kuwabara M, Kanbay M, Lanaspa MA, Sánchez-Lozada LG. Current Hydration Habits: The Disregarded Factor for the Development of Renal and Cardiometabolic Diseases. Nutrients. 2022 May 15;14(10):2070. doi: 10.3390/nu14102070. PMID: 35631211; PMCID: PMC9145744.[2]Grant DM. Detoxification pathways in the liver. J Inherit Metab Dis. 1991;14(4):421-30. doi: 10.1007/BF01797915. PMID: 1749210.[3]Wee SY, Aris AZ. Endocrine disrupting compounds in drinking water supply system and human health risk implication. Environ Int. 2017 Sep;106:207-233. doi: 10.1016/j.envint.2017.05.004. Epub 2017 May 25. PMID: 28552550.
