10/27/2025
Q: Beyond hormone therapy, what lifestyle changes do you recommend for women to help manage hormonal imbalances?
A: Diet can hugely impact hormone receptors like sugar or excess alcohol interfering with or contaminating the receptors. Clean eating and a clean lifestyle can improve hormone messaging by keeping our receptors clean. There are many endocrine disrupting chemicals we are exposed to daily such as plastics, pesticides, phthalates, fertilizers, heavy metals, just to name a few and these can further contaminate our hormone receptors or worse, they can alter the gene expression hormones are creating. Evidence of this hormone disruption are girls are starting their menstrual cycle earlier, women are having heavier menstrual bleeding and more cramping than our grandmothers did, and certain cancers are increasing. I recommend regular detoxing through exercise, clean eating, clean living, and certain supplements.
Furthermore, for women, our muscle mass declines more rapidly during perimenopause and menopause and can hinder weight loss and make us more susceptible to injury. Strength training with heavier than expected weights is recommended while reducing the time between intervals or sets to get a cardio workout as well but in half the time. Sweating during exercise is a great detox method. Use of an infrared sauna is also an excellent detox method. Also ensuring we have at least one bowel movement daily to clear excess waste and prevent reabsorption of chemicals or even estradiol is essential.
Regarding supplements, I recommend 2 key supplements in addition to a few other basic supplements that are essential for all women like calcium, vitamin D3, magnesium, and the correct combination of iodine/iodide. Supplements can be overwhelming, but I have my few recommendations, and I try to keep it very simple for my patients with my supplement Rx and organizer.