It is possible to balance hormones with food. This concept may seem strange because you can’t actually eat hormones. What people often don’t understand is that all parts of the body are tightly intertwined. When something is wrong in one area, it can have a dramatic affect on every other area of the body. Nutrition is often the underlying cause of many health problems seen today.

The body’s hormones are balanced by the multiple glands. For instance, the pituitary, thyroid, and adrenal glands all have major impacts on how the body operates and functions. When these glands do not operate as expected, this can cause a variety of health problems in the body.

A lack of vitamins, minerals and general nutrition causes our body’s glands to not operate well. Since these glands don’t have the proper support they need in the form of nutrition, they have a more difficult time doing their job of maintaining the various health functions of the body. Simply by choosing healthier foods and lifestyles, the various glands in our bodies can be managed and maintained.

So the very first step in helping to balance hormonal problems is to start eating better. You hear the same mantra time and again for almost any type of health related problem, and the reason you keep hearing it is because it truly does make a difference.

Sugars and simple starches wear down your body with malnutrition. They also add excess body fat, and make all areas of your body have to work harder to clear out the added blood sugars you’re feeding
it.

Fiber rich foods, particularly fruits and vegetables, are very high in many types of nutrition that our bodies desperately need. Just the small step of adding more fruits and vegetables to your daily food intake can make a huge difference in how your body feels on a daily basis.

Now, if you have a difficult time adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet, you can get some very healthy doses of those vitamins and minerals by taking herbal supplements. Essentially, herbal supplements are like having vegetables in a pill. Most herbs contain a wealth of vitamins, minerals and essential nutrients our bodies are sorely lacking.

By boosting your nutrition with food and herbs, you’ll help your body’s thyroid and other glands begin to operate properly again, and this will in turn start regulating your hormone levels naturally.

Flatulence. Farting. Gas. Whatever you call it, it’s socially unacceptable. Nevertheless, it’s a very common occurrence for both men and women. Although many males grow up believing females don’t pass gas, some individuals have more problems with flatulence than others. Oftentimes this is caused by dietary habits or sensitivities to certain foods.

Many people will become gassy if they’re lactose intolerant, and they eat milk-based foods. Some will have the problem when eating grains such as wheat or rye, and still others will experience gas when they eat heavy carbohydrate meals. People who have chronic gas, however, often have an imbalance of digestive flora and bacteria. Specifically, they usually have too much Candida yeast flourishing inside their bodies.

There are many herbs which can neutralize gas, and many others which can force it to be expelled from the body. Which one you need will depend on your particular level of discomfort. Some people who get very bad gas for instance, feel quite bloated and swollen, and sometimes their stomach areas are a bit tender too. When this is the case, it’s usually easiest and fastest to neutralize the gas if you can. Neutralizing herbs are excellent for babies with gas and bloated, tender stomachs as well.

One of the best ways to deal with stomach aches caused by gas is with peppermint or spearmint. Both will expel gas from the colon, and calm vomiting too. This is a very common remedy used for babies particularly, because they like the sweet taste of these herbs. Simply put a small peppermint candy in a baby bottle with distilled water, or make a weak peppermint tea and put that into their bottle.

Any herb which is high in chlorophyll is excellent for neutralizing gas too. Standard green teas for instance, or Parsley and Alfalfa supplements work wonderfully.

Garlic will expel gas from your digestive tract as well, and this herb is particularly important for people who have chronic gas problems. Since chronic flatulence is a sign of having an overgrowth of yeast bacteria in your digestive tract, taking garlic for several days will help kill the internal yeast infection, and re-balance the proper flora within your body.

If however, you notice that you seem to get more gassy after eating certain foods, you may want to try experimenting with what you’re eating. Cutting down on certain milk products for instance, could solve your primary gas problems, as can cutting down on wheat, rye or gluten.

Some people have found excellent results by simply lowering their intake of sugars and simple starches, and this probably works so well because it effectively starves the candida yeast bacteria.

Couples dealing with infertility describe it as a devastating and frustrating experience. No doubt the process of procreation can be a heart-wrenching process for some. In order to conceive, a couple’s timing must be perfect. In fact, many doctors will not treat you for infertility unless you’ve tried to conceive a child (unsuccessfully) for over a year. During the process of trying to conceive, many couples search the Internet for natural remedies on how to quickly conceive a child.

There are several herbal remedies advertised as being helpful in for couples dealing with hormone imbalance, PCOS, low-sperm counts, or low sperm motility. These remedies vary in multiple ways. Some regulate the menstrual cycle, some increase the amount of cervical fluid, and others help build the uterine lining and assisting with hormone levels.

Before you go stock up on natural herbs, be aware that pursuing the natural path to fertility is not going to provide an immediate fix and positive pregnancy test. Many natural remedies take up to 3 months before any improvement will be noticed. Incorrectly utilizing a combination of herbs can cause the opposite effect. Make sure to contact a naturopath or herb-friendly physician to help you select the correct dosage and supplements for your needs.

Popular Herbs to Help With Conception

Vitex (chasteberry tree) acts as a hormone regulator and helps if you have irregular periods or if you are not ovulating due to a hormonal imbalance.

Evening Primrose Oil (EPO) helps women to produce fertile quality cervical fluid also known as “egg white cervical mucus”.

Dong Quai, a hormone regulator that alleviates cramping and pre-menstrual distress. It can assist a weak uterus by promoting metabolism within the organ, regulating hormonal control and improving the rhythm of the menstrual cycle.

Licorice helps women with elevated testosterone and low estrogen levels, as commonly occurs in polycystic ovary disease.

Red Clover may promote fertility, particularly in women who are deficient in estrogen.

False Unicorn Root helps prevent threatened miscarriage.

Baby Aspirin helps with blood flow to the uterus and ovaries. Prevents clotting and assists with the development of the uterine lining.

Combination pills are now on the market that combine the various vitamins and herbs. These vitamins are sold as fertility pills. If cervical mucus is part of your problem, you may want to research a product called pre-seed. It has gotten excellent reviews as a fertility aid. There is also some new research that indicates that acupuncture may be a way to naturally boost your fertility.

The important thing to remember as you are deciding on an herbal remedy approach is that these herbs are not regulated by the FDA. Some can be detrimental to your baby should you become pregnant while using them. Always seek a naturopath or other expert before experimenting with these remedies.

Welcome to a three part series on herbs and hormones. There are many common health problems that have a hormonal imbalance as their root cause. This series will take a look at how herbs can help with these problems.

Numerous health problems, symptoms, and conditions are related to, or caused by, hormonal imbalances in a woman’s body. In fact, so many things are caused by hormonal problems, that many of the complaints are dismissed as psychosomatic complaints by doctors who don’t know any better.

Just a few of the problems caused by hormonal imbalances include acne, night sweats, chronic fatigue, vaginal dryness, mood swings, depression and anxiety, headaches, fuzzy thinking, and water retention or swelling in various parts of the body.

More severe problems are also caused by hormonal imbalances though. Some of these include infertility, Endometriosis, fibroids, heart palpitations, urinary dysfunction and infections, breast pain, and irregular periods.

These problems, however, are not limited to women entering menopause which is the common belief of both men and women. In fact, many problems which affect teenage girls, young adult women, and middle aged women are all caused in whole or in part by hormonal problems.

Teenage girls often experience heavy acne problems when their body is going through puberty, and this is known to be caused by the hormonal changes happening within her body. Unfortunately many young women never get their hormones balanced properly though, so they continue to struggle with acne throughout their lives. Even older women can suffer from acne which again, is due to hormonal imbalance.

Very painful periods and heavy blood flow is another symptom or side effect of hormonal imbalances of women at all ages. In fact, a common prescription remedy for these symptoms for years has been to prescribe birth control pills, which are known to adjust the hormone levels in a woman’s body.

Women’s bodies create two hormones naturally: estrogen and progesterone. Both hormones play important roles in a woman’s body, and the balance needs to be kept in order for everything to work properly. Many things can throw the balance of these hormones off however, including stress, poor nutrition, or proper exercise.

Doctors and medical scientists will often be concerned primarily with estrogen–primarily because a woman’s body produces less of this hormone as she ages. The link between the two hormones, and the full importance of the progesterone’s role in a woman’s body is not fully known. Most often, treatments simply try to replace estrogen in as a woman’s body produces less of it.

The natural approach however, is to restore the balance of the hormone levels in the body. This in turn relieves the myriad of conditions and symptoms caused by an imbalance, and helps improve a woman’s overall health in the process too.

There are many herbs and herbal remedies which actually help to regulate the body’s blood pressure. Whether you have problems with high or low blood pressure, some of these herbs can help with both issues. Other herbs specifically help either lower or raise blood pressure too, so they’re good to know about for general information. Because if you choose to use an herb for other ailments, but you have problems with low or high blood pressure, you’ll need to know that these can cause unintended side effects.

So knowing which ones do what will help you to avoid accidental problems, and this is especially important if you’re taking prescription blood pressure medications.

So let’s look at some herbs that are wonderful for helping with blood pressure problems.

Cayenne – This is an excellent herb that is used in many remedies because it’s a great healer and it’s high in many vitamins and minerals. You’ll often find cayenne included in many infection fighting herbal combinations, because it stimulates the body to heal faster. For blood pressure alone though, Cayenne is a regulating herb. It will normalize the blood pressure, so it can be used for both high or low blood pressure problems.

Side Note: Cayenne will also stop bleeding internally and externally. If you have an external wound for instance, that will not stop bleeding, sprinkle a bit of Cayenne on it.

Garlic – Another herb that’s used for many different things because it’s so powerful and versatile. Garlic will also regulate the blood pressure, so it can be used for high or low blood pressure problems as well. You’ll find garlic is used in many infection fighting remedies, as well as fungus killing herbal remedies too.

Hawthorne – This is known as a heart herb because it can strengthen and regulate the heart. It is a good herb for lowering blood pressure because it relaxes the blood vessels. Hawthorne is useful for people under a lot of stress, and it can help alleviate heart enlargement problems as well as heart fibrillation problems.

Dandelion – This herb is used for a wide variety of things, but it’s quite useful for anemia problems, and it’s an excellent choice to use for low blood pressure problems.

Valerian Root – This herb is commonly used to quiet spasms, and has a calming effect on nerves. It normalizes heart palpitations and is good for the circulatory system. It can be used for low blood pressure, to raise it.

Like most herbs, comfrey grows wild or cultivated as a perennial plant in various places of the world. There are several varieties of this herb, and the most useful for medicinal purposes is the Russian Comfrey, or Symphytum x uplandicum. While internal uses of comfrey are considered controversial even among practicing herbalists, it is not necessary to ingest comfrey to reap its greatest medicinal benefits.

Used externally, comfrey is completely safe, even for babies, and it is in its use as a wound dressing that comfrey’s magic shines through. The next time you get a wound, sprain your ankle, burn yourself, or even break a bone, turn to comfrey for comfort.

The nickname knitbone is one key to just how powerful this particular herb can be for particular external uses. Specifically, comfrey contains a natural compound known as allantoin, which is able to quickly speed up the replacement of cells in the body. This means it’s able to produce rapid healing for broken or sprained bones, and cuts, bruises, or other open wounds.

Comfrey has restricted uses in many countries, the United States, Canada, and the U.K. included. The restrictions are generally related to internal uses only, and they’re in place because comfrey contains substances known as hepatotoxic pyrrolizidine alkaloids, or PAs. These PAs can cause a liver disease which could in turn cause liver failure.

Some practicing herbalists feel that the internal use of comfrey is quite safe, while others feel that some variations of the herb are safe while others should be avoided. And there are those who simply use comfrey for external applications as well.

The external applications alone are quite amazing to anyone who has never encountered them before too. Simply mixing a bit of comfrey with oil, aloe vera, or even beeswax or petroleum jelly will create an instant useable salve which does wonders for a variety of common health problems.

Staph infections for instance, which are caused by Staphylococcal bacteria, are quickly killed by simply applying comfrey directly or comfrey salve directly to the infected area. Open wounds heal extremely fast – usually within 24 hours or less – and usually leave no scar behind as well. Broken bones are known to heal faster when comfrey is applied outside the affected area, and torn ligaments and tendons also heal quite quickly when a comfrey salve or poultice is applied externally too.

Not only does comfrey start the healing process quite fast, it also helps relieve pain as soon as it comes into contact with the injured area. It’s also excellent for bringing down swelling and reducing inflammation.