Foods for an Easier Flow: 7 Foods to Help Balance Your Hormones and Reduce Menstrual Frustrations
By Carly Wertheim, MS
As a nutritionist and trained chef, I view food as a foundation for balanced health and vibrant living. Every time we eat, we offer our bodies information. This information informs the way our bodies make hormones, breakdown or build tissues, and create energy. When we eat in accordance with our hunger, prioritize whole foods that are minimally processed, center plants and high-quality proteins, and minimize toxins, our nourishment supports the systems of the body to function optimally, as they are designed to do.
Menstrual pain, heavy bleeding, and irregular cycles can be a sign of a system out of balance. When clients come to me describing periods that have them popping Advil for days, barely leaving the house, or waiting months for a period to come, I encourage a holistic approach that incorporates a food, herbs, and lifestyle medicine.
When it comes to hormonal health, there’s no fast fix. (I ask clients to follow our plan for a minimum of three months to see the impact.) But a nourishing, balanced way of eating is a vital start in helping to balance estrogen, support detoxification, and minimize inflammation. You may, however, notice more immediate benefits like improved energy and better bowel movements in as short as a few weeks!
Excited to use food as medicine? Here are seven foods that I recommend featuring as a part of a hormone-balancing eating plan.
- Broccoli
Eating broccoli – and other plants in the brassicacea family – helps to boost liver detoxification and support estrogen metabolism. High estrogen can be the culprit behind heavy periods, cyclic breast tenderness, and menstrual migraines. Brassicacea foods help keep estrogen levels in check by offering the liver nutrients it needs to deactivate excess estrogen and package it for excretion out of the body.
Here’s How: Preheat oven to 400F, chop broccoli into medium-sized florets, and place broccoli a parchment-lined baking sheet. Coat broccoli with ample olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Roast for 25 minutes until tender and slightly crisp.
- Flax seeds
Ground flax seeds are an excellent source of soluble fiber, which helps to bind and excrete excess estrogen after it’s deactivated by the liver. Flax supports a balanced gut microbiome by feeding beneficial flora, improves blood sugar (a vital piece of hormone balance!), and also helps bring down LDL cholesterol levels. Perhaps most importantly, flax supports regular bowel movements.
Here’s How: Each week, grind ½ cup of flax seeds in a spice or coffee grinder. Store freshly ground flax in the fridge or freezer and add 1-2 tablespoons to your breakfast porridge or smoothie.
- Oats
Oats and other whole grains offer complex carbohydrates. Because they take longer to be broken down, whole grains help keep blood sugar steady and cortisol balanced. Balanced cortisol means more stable moods and the available raw materials to make sex hormones. (Cortisol and sex hormones are both made from cholesterol.) Make sure you’re eating enough complex carbohydrates before your period for reduced PMS cravings.
Here’s How: Enjoy a bowl of oat porridge with berries and walnuts for breakfast. Don’t forget to add in those ground flax seeds!
- Salmon
Salmon is a fantastic source of omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA. These nourishing fats are key if premenstrual pain is a main complaint. Omega-3 fats are known to improve ovulation and progesterone levels, support fertility, and decrease PMS symptoms by reducing inflammation within the uterine lining.
Here’s How: Try marinating your salmon in some lemon juice, minced garlic, and fresh chopped herbs, and baking at 400F until cooked through. Batch cook a few pieces of salmon to add to salads and grain bowls or top an avocado toast.
- Eggs
Eggs are one of the most nutritious, balanced, and convenient foods out there. Their perfect combination of protein and fat helps to improve insulin sensitivity, leading to more stable blood sugar, especially when eaten along some fiber-rich plant foods.
Here’s How: Eat the egg yolks along with the whites for all the fat-soluble vitamins, and choose “pasture-raised” eggs for 30% more vitamin A, double the vitamin E, 2.5x more omega-3s, and 3-6 times more vitamin D than commercially-raised hens.
- Beans
Plants make hormones too! Beans (as well as flax seeds and leafy greens) contain phytoestrogens, which can bind to and block human estrogen receptors. This protects us from xenoestrogens, toxins that mimic estrogen in the body and wreak havoc on the endocrine system. Beans also improve blood sugar and contain nutrients needed for detoxification.
Here’s How: Try soaking a pound and cooking a big pot of beans from scratch. It’s surprisingly easier than you’d think! Add extras like fresh or dried herbs, whole garlic cloves, olive oil, chili flakes, or mineral-rich kombu.
- Dandelion Greens
Dandelion greens offer a bounty of anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory phytochemicals, bitterness to stimulate digestion and support liver detoxification, and the prebiotic fiber inulin. Prebiotics feed the beneficial bacteria in the gut to support the microbiome, which, amazingly, also regulates estrogen levels in the body.
Here’s How: Cook a batch of dandelion greens by sautéing them in olive oil and adding some minced garlic, a pinch of salt, and a squeeze of lemon juice. Eat a few bites at the start of a meal to optimize digestion.
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Carly Wertheim, MS is holistic nutritionist centering nourishment for the childbearing continuum. Through her practice Monarch & Milkweed, Carly works with people preparing their bodies for conception, during pregnancy, and in their postpartum period, using food, herbs, and everyday rituals to support this tremendous lifecycle moment. Carly’s unique and personal approach to health integrates evidence-based nutrition science with time-honored kitchen wisdom. Her practice is rooted in deep gratitude and respect for the natural world and belief in the body’s innate ability to heal and find balance.