The Hormone Guide
Your cycle is a monthly report card from your body.
Your period isn't just something that happens once a month. It can give you a lot of information about what's going on with your hormones, nutrition, stress levels and overall health.
Here are some of the things I pay attention to when I'm looking at the bigger picture.
What Your Period Can Tell You About Your Hormones
Short cycles → Low progesterone
Painful periods → Impaired detox
Heavy periods → Estrogen dominance
Light bleeds → Low estrogen
No period → Stress
Brown colour → Stagnation
Cramping → Inflammation
Clotting → Excess estrogen, congestion or low essential fatty acids
Spotting → Low progesterone
PMS → B6, zinc + magnesium deficiencies
Period migraines → Histamine issues
Hormonal acne → Excess androgens
Your cycle is giving you information every month. The more you pay attention to the patterns, the more you can start connecting the dots.
The Hormone Foundations I Come Back To
Hormones don't exist in isolation.
Food, minerals, light, sleep, stress, movement and your environment all send signals to the body. These are some of the foundations I come back to for myself and with the women I work with.
1. Get Outside In The Morning
I get outside as soon as I wake up, ideally within an hour of sunrise. At least five minutes of natural light with naked eyes, rain or shine. I'm out there grounding and getting that morning light.
Morning light is one of the simplest ways I support my circadian rhythm, and your hormones follow your body clock.
2. Eat In The Morning
I aim for carbohydrates and protein within about 30 minutes of waking. I wasn't hungry in the morning for a long time either. When you've been running on stress hormones for a long time, appetite can disappear.
So start small.
For me, that might look like raw milk, then adding some raw honey and egg yolks as I was able to digest them. From there, I work toward a solid breakfast within an hour of waking, with around 50g of protein, plenty of carbohydrates and naturally accompanying fat.
3. Give Your Body Minerals
I drink around 1–2 quarts of herbal tea or broth throughout the day. Your hormones rely on proper mineral hydration, not just drinking a lot of plain water.
The herbs I use vary depending on mineral deficiencies and imbalances. This is one of the reasons I use HTMA testing with my clients. It gives me another piece of the puzzle when deciding what someone may need.
4. Move After Meals
Movement doesn't have to mean a workout. Walk after meals. Play with your kids. Do the dishes. Go outside.
I like simple movement throughout the day, especially after meals.
5. Eat Enough
This was a big one for me. I eat enough. I don't try to survive on tiny portions or undereat just because I'm not hungry. My body needs enough food to support everything it's doing.
I don't fear carbs. I eat plenty of animal-based proteins, pasture-raised when possible, grass-fed butter, legumes, plenty of steamed or sautéed leafy greens, vegetables and root vegetables that are local and seasonal to me.
I also drink plenty of herbal infusions.
Your body needs enough energy and nutrients to support everything you're asking it to do.
6. Support Your Evening
In times when I need a little more support (especially luteal phase), I incorporate a bedtime snack. One of my favourites is warm raw goat milk with nutmeg, cardamom or cinnamon, a little gelatin and raw honey or a date and nut butter with my warm milk (best combo).
Sometimes giving your body a little more fuel before bed can make a big difference in how you sleep through the night.
7. Pay Attention To Your Evening Light
This is one I didn't appreciate enough for a long time. We are exposed to artificial light from our phones, TVs, laptops and the lights in our homes long after the sun has gone down.
Your body is taking in all of these environmental signals, and light is one of the strongest signals your circadian rhythm uses to know what time it is. Ideally, I'd love to have no phone before 8 AM and after 6 PM.
Realistically, I know that's not always possible. When I can't completely control my light environment, I use blue-light harmonizers. I've been using VivaRays as one of my tools because I want to reduce the amount of disruptive light I'm exposed to in the evening without having to completely give up my evenings.
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What I Actually Do
None of this is about following a perfect hormone routine.
These are the foundations I come back to for myself and the women I work with: enough food, enough minerals, morning light, movement, sleep, a supportive evening environment and understanding what your body is actually asking for.
And this is where I go deeper with my clients.
I don't just look at one symptom and try to fix it. We look at the bigger picture and start connecting the dots between nutrition, minerals, digestion, stress, sleep, hormones and the environment you're living in.
I've used these foundations in my own life and with hundreds of women.
Your cycle is your report card. Start reading it.
If you want to work together, you can learn more about my approach and how I work with clients here.
