Empowering Wellness: Fundamentals of Hormone Balancing During Menopause

Jade is a dedicated Holistic Nutrition Practitioner and Clinical Herbalist specializing in gut and hormone health. With a passion for integrating natural therapies and evidence-based practices, Jade helps clients achieve optimal well-being by addressing the root causes of their health concerns. Through personalized nutrition plans, herbal remedies, and lifestyle modifications, Jade empowers individuals to restore balance and vitality in their lives.

Leslie: Why is functional medicine important for women experiencing (peri)menopause?

Jade: As women get older and reach that (peri)menopause state, they don’t feel great about themselves. They are experiencing all these symptoms – hot flashes, nonexistent sex drive, etc. They feel as though their “womanhood” is over, and that is so far from the case. I want to express that women can go through (peri)menopause feeling comfortable, and it doesn’t have to be this dooming gloom that women go through. You are still in a stage where life is busy with a spouse, kids, work, owning a home, and life in general. 

Leslie: Can you discuss this topic of hopefulness in relation to (peri)menopause?

Jade: I would say that working on your hormone health is the key. There are some fundamentals of hormone health whether you are a 16-year-old girl, a 25-year-old woman, or reaching that perimenopause state. Hormones are everything, so focusing on hormone health is incredibly important. 

Leslie: When you say that “hormones are everything,” what do you mean?

Jade: They are what keeps us juicy. As women, especially when we are still menstruating, our hormones are changing throughout the entire month. Every week, hormones are changing, with fluctuating levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. During (peri)menopause, we see those estrogen and testosterone levels decrease. These hormones impact our focus, sleep, digestion, stress, appetite, and mood. These hormones are everything because they are the building blocks of how we feel each day. 

Leslie: What should a person be doing to manage their hormone health?

Jade: There are six to seven fundamentals that I like to work on with every woman when it comes to hormone balancing. The first is gut health, which, like hormones, is everything. Two keys to gut health are having a robust, balanced microbiome and digestion. Digestion is essential for successfully restoring health, whether that’s hormone health, mental health, etc. Gut health is essential for the proper absorption of nutrients and is where we are accessing the building blocks needed to build hormones. Overall, it promotes good immunity. An optimally functioning digestive tract is essential for hormone conjugation, elimination, and regulation. Additionally, gallbladder function is key because you want to have free-flowing bile. Bile is critical for fat digestion, which is essential to hormone creation. A healthy digestive tract also ensures that conjugated hormones and bile can be bound with fiber for proper elimination in the stool. Certain gut bacteria can produce compounds that either inhibit or stimulate the production of hormones, such as estrogen and testosterone. Chronic inflammation in the digestive tract can interfere with the production and regulation of sex hormones as well. For this fundamental, I would recommend digestive enzymes, digestive bitters before a meal, or a probiotic. It can also be important to take some deep breaths and chew your food properly so that you’re getting the most out of the food and nutrients you’re eating. 

Leslie: Can you further discuss how fiber can help with your hormone regulation?

Jade: Your gallbladder secretes bile, which emulsifies the fats and binds to toxins. If you’re not eating enough fiber, you may not be excreting the toxins. This goes for endogenous and exogenous toxins. Endogenous toxins are those that your body makes on its own, and exogenous are toxins that we consume, such as BPAs and pesticides. As our hormones are tossed to the bile after going through the liver, the fiber is needed to get rid of these hormones in our gut. As these hormones start in the liver, it’s important to remember that liver health is just as important as gut health. 

Leslie: What role does nutrition play in hormone health? 

Jade: Our hormones need nutrients like the rest of our body. Zinc is incredible for the production of luteinizing hormones (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormones (FSH). Oysters and grass-fed beef are great sources of zinc. Copper is also important and can be found in beef liver and bee pollen. Magnesium is needed to help make progesterone and to aid in liver detoxification. You get some magnesium through your food, but it’s one nutrient that I like to use supplements for. Calcium helps with PMS symptoms and is found in dairy and dark, leafy greens. Amino acids and proteins are needed for liver detoxification. Cholesterol is the building block of hormones and is found in healthy fats such as meats, avocados, and fatty fish. Lastly, Omega-3s are essential and come from fatty fish like salmon or sardines. 

Leslie: How do these nutrients directly affect our hormones? How would we feel if we weren’t getting enough of them?

Jade: Magnesium is one of those items that I would take to an abandoned island because it is a game-changer for me. It relaxes your muscles, so it can help with period cramps and/or restless leg syndrome. As I struggle with restless leg syndrome, I can’t go to sleep if I don’t take my magnesium. Additionally, it aids in mitochondrial health and liver detoxification, but those are things you can’t really feel.

Leslie: What are some symptoms of hormone imbalance?

Jade: For menstruating women, symptoms would be heavy bleeding, PMS, painful menstrual cramps, weight gain, especially around the midsection, insomnia, unwanted facial hair, hair loss, low libido, pain with intercourse, headaches/migraines, chronic fatigue, depression, lack of motivation, and ovarian cysts and fibroids. All these symptoms are why I say that hormones keep us juicy. 

Leslie: If someone has tried everything and is still suffering, what should they do?

Jade: First and foremost, I would tell them to go see their doctor or gynecologist; however, some cases may be more complex and require additional testing to determine what is truly going on. Seeing a functional practitioner who can run functional labs can go such a long way because many doctors just run a simple blood test to look at hormones. You can’t see much with a blood test, especially for menstruating women, because their hormones are changing throughout the month. Therefore, doing a one-day blood test won’t show what is going on in the other phases of our cycle. I love the DUTCH hormone test, which is also amazing for post-menstruating women because it shows estrogen, progesterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), testosterone, cortisol, and estrogen metabolites. For cycling women, I use the cycling female hormone panel as it shows the same information as the DUTCH but also luteinizing hormones and follicle-stimulating hormones. These hormones are important as they reveal if the woman is ovulating. In addition, the GI map for stool testing can help determine if there are any pathogens in the gut. 

Leslie: Are these measurements taken throughout the month? 

Jade: The cycling women test is done throughout the month in order for us to see where their hormones are from the first day of the cycle to the first day of their next cycle. For men and postmenopausal women, the DUTCH is great and is a four-sample urine test. With this test, we can get a full reading for twenty-four hours. 

Leslie: What do you do with the information you receive from these tests?

Jade: Everyone’s results are different, and no test will be identical. Some women may need hormones through their doctor and others just need some more support. This support could look like additional herbs for high or low cortisol levels, fish oil, or other items to help with the function of hormone production. It’s also important to focus on the fundamentals because supplements won’t help you without working on the fundamentals. 

Leslie: What are these fundamentals? 

Jade: (1) Healthy microbiome, (2) Healthy blood sugar management, (3) Identifying all sources of inflammation, such as food, poor sleep, over-exercising, chronic stress, etc. (4) Proper hormone metabolism and detoxification, (5) Balanced nutrition and hydration, (6) Stress management, and (7) Proper sleep.

Leslie: Where can people find you if they want to learn more about your services?

Jade: My website is eternal-origins.com. You can also find me on Instagram at @eternalorigins_ and TikTok at @jademesqhealth.