What Vitamins are Good for Women’s Hormones?

Hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, and mood swings. If you’re a woman who’s either experienced menopause or suffered from an equally dramatic change in your hormone balance, you’re probably a lot more familiar with these symptoms than you’d care to be. Estrogen levels dictate numerous factors of our hormonal health and can heavily impact the way we feel on a day-to-day basis. However, did you know that aspects of life unrelated to menopause—such as anxiety levels, sleep patterns, and diet—can cause hormonal issues as well? Wellness vitamins are a great way to combat these changes. Keep reading to learn what vitamins are good for women’s hormones!

Common Symptoms Of Hormonal Imbalance

There’s a wide variety of symptoms of hormonal imbalance that go beyond what’s more readily recognized including:

• Allergies (new ones appearing unexpectedly can be caused by hormonal shifts)
• Anxiety
• Changes in your sex drive
• Depression
• Dry or oily skin (one or the other becoming a new issue)
• Fatigue
• Growth of unusual facial and body hair
• Hair loss
• Insomnia
• Irritability
• Osteoporosis
• Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS)
• Urinary tract infections
• Water retention
• Weight gain

Of course, even this list is incomplete. If you’re experiencing any unusual symptoms, be sure to discuss them with your doctor to see if they could be the result of a hormonal imbalance. Anything from changes in the cortisol produced by your adrenal glands to the hormones produced by your thyroid gland could be contributing to an imbalance, and those levels can be monitored by your doctor. In the meantime, there are plenty of safe ways to improve your hormonal health through vitamin supplements and other natural means.

What Vitamins Help Balance Hormones?

As with many conditions, hormonal imbalances can be caused by deficiency in a necessary vitamin or mineral. Even if the cause isn’t a deficiency, a supplement can help alleviate the symptoms of the imbalance and improve your quality of life by supporting your endocrine system’s natural functions. Below are a handful of vitamins and minerals that have been found to help balance hormone levels.

Magnesium and B Vitamins

Magnesium is one of those minerals that can have a huge impact on your overall well-being. For example, magnesium deficiency has been linked to high anxiety levels, and we all know that stress wreaks havoc on the human body in myriad ways. Throwing a woman’s hormonal health off-balance is one of those ways, so taking magnesium supplements to reduce stress can have a notably positive effect on a woman’s body. Eating magnesium-rich foods like dark leafy greens, pumpkin seeds, and legumes are a great natural way to improve magnesium levels as well.

Many magnesium-rich foods (particularly leafy greens) are also excellent sources of B vitamins, such as Vitamin B6 (which helps maintain the balance of estrogen and progesterone levels in the body) and Vitamin B12 (which helps support thyroid function). The thyroid gland is responsible for a wide variety of bodily functions, as thyroid hormones help maintain your body’s metabolic rate, heart function, digestive health, and more.

Vitamin D

The aptly named “Sunshine Vitamin” is another one that improves multiple aspects of a person’s health, and most people tend to be deficient due to lack of exposure to the sun. However, you might not know that Vitamin D is actually a hormone itself! It communicates with several other hormones in your body (including estrogen and progesterone) and plays a key role in maintaining hormonal balance. D3 supplements are generally the preferred method of adding a sufficient amount of Vitamin D to your diet, but it can also be found in fatty fish, red meat and liver, and egg yolks.

Omega-3 Fatty Acids

Fish oils–a primary source of Omega-3 fatty acids–are high in anti-inflammatory properties that aid in our immune function and gastrointestinal and hormonal health. Fatty acids help create hormones and are crucial to cell function, making them an important supplement to include in your diet. Thankfully, these are easy to find in foods such as fish, oysters, chia seeds, hemp seeds, walnuts, and soybeans. However, if you have dietary limitations that exclude the easier sources of fatty acids, supplements are always a viable option.

What Foods Help Balance Female Hormones?

Aside from the foods listed in the sections above, there are several foods that have been shown to naturally improve a woman’s hormonal health. Below are some of the most popular additions to a woman’s diet when she suffers from hormonal imbalances.

Soy Isoflavones

Soy is naturally high in estrogen-like plant hormones and has been shown to mitigate some of the more uncomfortable symptoms of menopause, such as hot flashes, night sweats, fatigue, and even anxiety. It has anti-inflammatory properties that make it a top choice, and the sheer number of foods and food products available with soy as a primary ingredient make it extremely easy to add as a focal point to your diet. However, keep in mind that the effects from soy can vary depending on the level of hormones in your body. For example, if a premenopausal woman has a much higher level of estradiol, the soy is more likely to act like an anti-estrogen.

Black Cohosh

Black cohosh is gaining popularity in treating symptoms of menopause thanks to components called phytoestrogens, a plant-based form of estrogen that’s similar to the hormone we produce. It’s shown to help ease such symptoms as hot flashes and night sweats, and when combined with St. John’s Wort, it has also seen some success in mellowing mood swings.

Red Clover

Similar to black cohosh and wild yams, red clover also produces plant-based estrogens that help supplement what women’s bodies already produce. It can help alleviate some of the symptoms that come with either menopause or other conditions caused by hormonal issues.

How Can a Woman Balance Her Hormones Naturally?

If you haven’t quite gotten to the point that you need supplements yet, but you’d like to take the initiative toward balancing your hormones, there are plenty of natural dietary options available to achieve your goals, some of which are listed above. Additionally, changes to your daily routine can help mitigate stress levels, improve sleep quality, and maintain healthy hormone levels through exercise and other healthy practices. Since stress and sleep are such major factors in a woman’s hormonal health, taking active steps to reduce stress and getting plenty of restful sleep can dramatically improve your body’s immune function and hormonal balance.

And, as always, be sure to have an open discussion with your doctor about any concerns regarding hormone health. Your body has its own set of unique needs, and while there’s plenty you can do on your own to take care of them, professional medical advice is always helpful to find out what vitamins are good for women’s hormones.