Many of us struggle with hormone imbalance. Women especially experience lots of fluctuating hormones throughout their lifestyle during their menstrual cycles, pregnancy, peri-menopause and the transition to menopause. And while these are often expected or normal changes to walk through for women, it isn’t always pretty and can definitely impact the quality of our lives.

Hormonal imbalances can lead to weight gain, fatigue and low energy, depressed mood, increased anxiety and blood sugar imbalances. It can also lead to inflammation in the body.

Which is why eating an anti-inflammatory or low inflammatory diet is essential to stabilizing those hormones so we can feel our best. What does an anti-inflammatory diet look like? It includes lots of colorful fruits and vegetables (eat the rainbow 🌈), whole grains like brown rice, quinoa and whole wheat, legumes like chickpeas, black beans and others, flaxseeds and chia seeds, walnuts and almonds, as well as herbs and spices. In general, eating a more plant forward diet or following the Mediterranean diet principles are the best ways to eat a low or anti inflammatory diet. And the more fiber, the better.

Other foods can trigger accelerate the inflammatory process and can increase our risk for disease and illness. Things like refined carbohydrates like white bread, pastries and pasta, french fries and other fried foods, soda and other sweetened beverages, red and processed meats like burgers, steaks, hot dogs and sausage, as well as margarine shortening or lard can increase inflammation in our bodies and should be limited or avoided.

Not only do these high inflammatory foods impact our hormones, but they put us at an increased risk for diabetes and heart disease due the inflammation they cause in our bodies. They also lead to weight gain, which also increases inflammation in our body.

So the short story is this…whether you’re struggling with hormone balance, weight gain, fatigue, depression, anxiety, or a chronic health condition like diabetes, heart disease or cancer, following a low or anti inflammatory diet helps a ton. It can improve our symptoms and help us to feel and function at our very best.

What else would you like to know about hormone balance and eating an anti inflammatory diet?