Why BREAKFAST really is key for healthy hormones

Breakfast is also commonly called “the most important meal of the day”, and rightfully so! Many conventional doctors don’t tell us about the importance of eating breakfast at annual exams; but if you come to see an alternative health practitioner (especially one who specializes in women’s health), we likely won’t go a whole day without talking about it! It’s that important for healthy hormones.

But, not just any breakfast will suffice to get your hormones balanced and your cycle back on track. You need a breakfast that is preferably cooked and warm and full of protein, fat, and carbs and/or fiber.

When we wake up in the morning, our cortisol (stress hormone) rises to wake us up and gives us the energy to get our day going. However, if we don’t have breakfast, and instead just drink coffee alone, our cortisol and stress hormones will just keep rising to maintain blood glucose levels. By mid afternoon, we’ll still be running off pure stress hormones and adrenaline, perhaps wondering why we’re so dang irritable, shaky, and hangry and that’s TRULY a nightmare for our hormones.

Let’s talk about why:

Progesterone is made from the same hormonal building block as cortisol (pregnenolone), and if our stress gets too high, our body will start using pregnenolone to produce cortisol rather than progesterone. This is because our bodies will always prioritize survival over reproduction. The importance of reducing stress cannot be overstated, as well as the importance of fueling our bodies with the proper nutrients in order to have a healthy cycle. A healthy, balanced and regular cycle not only promotes optimal fertility and a healthy pregnancy, but is also indicative of very good health. Who doesn’t want that?!

So why protein? and why fat?

Protein is the building block for life- it repairs and creates new cells. Which we absolutely need for healthy hormones and a healthy body, and especially for anyone trying to conceive. And cholesterol is needed to make hormones and vitamin D. In other words, hormones need protein and fat, and eating a low fat diet can cause low hormone levels.

Proteins, fats, carbs and blood sugar

Eating proteins and fats with carbs help to slow the release of glucose into the blood stream, making them optimal to consume in the first meal of the day to break a long fast overnight. You shouldn’t be afraid of carbs, you should absolutely include them; however, there is research that points to how important eating protein and fat can be great for hormone health and fertility, and how eating carbs with protein and fat (rather than alone) is a great way to keep our blood sugar stable. Eating carbs alone converts into sugar and can create large spikes in our blood sugar.

We want to keep blood sugar stable, and avoid skipping meals and getting “hangry” and “shaky” to avoid our stress hormones from spiking and stealing up our progesterone. This is commonly called the “cortisol steal” amongst functional medicine practitioners. When we have low progesterone, our estrogen will then start to rise which can create estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance can cause a slew of symptoms such as abnormal cycles and heavy bleeding, hairloss, tender breasts, headaches, decreased sex drive and is also linked to fibroids and endometriosis.

Healthy Fats & Grassfed/ Pasture raised Meats

So, if your trying to regulate your hormones, please don’t avoid fats! Choose healthy fats such as avocado, olives, olive oil, tallow, grassfed butter, and nuts and seeds. And whenever possible, choose proteins that are grassfed or pasture raised, as grassfed and pasture raised meats have a higher ratio of omega 3’s and are less inflammatory than conventional meats- which are known to be higher in omega 6’s.

SO, how do I make a balanced, hormone friendly breakfast?

I advise my patients to first choose a protein for breakfast and then center your meal around that. Then be sure to add healthy fats such as avocado, grassfed butter, nut butters, olives, olive oil, and tallow. Then, you can add carbs such as roasted sweet potatoes, red potatoes, oats, or berries which are full of healthy antioxidants.

Choose from uncured, organic bacon (when possible), organic sausage, pasture raised eggs to make an omelet, or even have protein from last nights leftovers! It doesn’t have to be purely American breakfast foods! Many other cultures eat the same things for breakfast as they do for dinner or lunch :)

If you’re doing oatmeal (which is usually just a carb)- add a nut butter or grassfed butter for fat, and protein powder or collagen, and nuts and seeds for extra protein. I like this chocolate collagen powder! It has only four ingredients and also contains Reishi mushroom- which is an immune boosting Chinese herb.

If you follow @root.and.bloom.health on instagram, I will for sure be posting some examples of a healthy breakfasts, etc. and other hormone health tips.. So stay tuned!

And feel free to drop any comments or questions you have below.