Basic Steps to Optimize your Hormones

1. Drink plenty of water-quality water. Tap water can contain many endocrine disrupting toxins. So get yourself a good water filter. Try drinking a half ounce of water per pound you weigh. So for example someone who weighs 180 lbs. should drink 90 ounces of water over the course of the day. You can read more about the need for water in Dr Batmanghelidjs book "Your Body's Many Cries for Water". 

2. Get quality sleep. Melatonin is also the body's strongest antioxidant. To get quality sleep, black out your bedroom from any light when you sleep. Keep to a sleep schedule. Don't sit in front of electronic screens for around an hour before bedtime. Get sunlight within 20 minutes of waking. 

3. Eat carbohydrates. research shows that low carbs can drive down testosterone. Don;t eat the sugary carbs, rather the healthy kind. 

4. eat protein for the amino acids that the body uses for so many things. Meat, poultry and eggs are great sources of protein. Dairy also has protein, some people however don't tolerate it so well. You can also get protein in small amounts from nuts and seeds and bean and whole grains. 

5. Be careful with possible endocrine distributors, which can be found in some laundry detergents, sunscreens, plastics, food coloring's and shampoos. Many of these lab made chemicals can be endocrine disrupting, throwing your hormones off wack. There over 90,000 man made chemicals in the environment and that is growing every day. Even in natural foods there can be hormone disrupters. Soy if it is not fermented contains lots of estrogen. Hops which is found in most beers can reduce libido. Flax seed may cause excess estrogen. There are also various herbs which have high estrogen content. Heavy metals can lead to estrogen dominance. Heavy metals can get into your body from fish, tap water, cookware, deodorants, drugs, pollution, amalgams, and much more. Produce grown in heavily polluted regions like many places in china, tend to have higher amounts of heavy metals. It  may not be enough just limiting exposure. It could be helpful to detox the excess estrogens. Eating cruciferous vegetables may help. 

6. Stress hormones like cortisol lower testosterone. When under stress the building blocks necessary for producing Testosterone are being used to make cortisol. Try meditating, breathing exercises, walking and laughing to lower your stress. Also don't over exercise. it may be tempting, but too much-intensity, too long too often is not good. 

7. Ground. Sink your feet into grass, dirt or sand. When your feet are in contact with the ground the body soaks up negatively charged electrons from the earth. Grounding can neutralize free radicals in the body that were generated by stress, infection or toxins. Grounding is a simple and inexpensive way to restore health. If you can't find the time to walk barefoot outside, you may want to invest in grounding devices such as grounding pillows or sheets that connect to the grounding socket in your homes wall. You can check out the ones I use over here. 

So good luck getting your hormones back on track.