Salad for balanced hormones, gut health and liver support
A hormone balancing, gut healing and liver supporting salad of nutritious greens and veggies, healthy fats and fermented foods. Greens which are full of antioxidants and fibre that helps your digestion. Dark leafy greens are also among some of the most magnesium dense foods available. I’ve talked about the importance of magnesium before and a diet rich in natural food sourced magnesium can effectively help balance hormones as magnesium is involved in the production of progesteron, testosteron and estrogen in addition to regulate and affect houndreds of other processes in the body. The greens which contain the highest amounts of magnesium are swiss chard, spinach, beet greens and kale.
Healthy fats which is crucial for propper hormone function. Healthy fats are the fundamental building blocks for hormone production and for them to be working properly. When you eat fats you stabilize and improve the function of your hormones including the ones that control hunger, fullness and food inntake. My favourite food sources are hempseeds, olive oil and avocados, avocados which are rich in healthy fats that helps our body absorb and use nutrients. They are also full of fiber, potassium, magnesium, vitamin E and B-vitamins, all essential for maintaining hormonal balance in the body.
Fermented food which contain beneficial probiotics, digestive enzymes and health boosting nutrients. Eating fermented foods can lead to a stronger immune system and a more diverse and healthy microbiome. Sauerkraut has a variety of beneficial effects on human health, it boosts digestive health, aids circulation and fights inflammation. Fermented foods can help reduce estrogen dominance (which is an elevated estrogen to progesteron ratio) as they improve digestive function and aids in repairing your gut lining and therefore assist the body in removing excess estrogen more efficiently via the intestinal tract. Fermented foods and its probiotic will also help balacing and helping in the production of many hormones in general as a big part of our hormones are produced in our guts.
Pomegranate which works as a cleansing and healing agent, fighting off free radicals with its high antioxidants content. Pomegranate is especially good for cleansing the liver as it aids cell-renewal and rebuilding processes of the organ, so that the liver can eliminate toxins.
Herbs like cilantro which is a major liver detoxifiers and a powerful medicinal food. It helps detox the liver and it is rich in vitamin K, excellent for the skin and hair, as well as lowers blood sugar levels, helps balance the hormones in the cycle and reduce PMS symptoms.
And last but not least, eat as much organic as possible, because pesticides in our food disrupt the bacterial balance of our microbiome because of the synthetic estrogen component of the pesticides, but also because of how pesticides destroy our innate ability to break down estrogen that leaves us vulnerable to hormonal damage. Essentially, when you eat nonorganic food, it impairs the body’s ability to break down estrogen, and high estrogen levels are often responsible for the symptoms around hormonal imbalaces. Eating cilantro, especially when ovulating as this is the time in our cycle where our estrogen levels are highest, can help our body to process and eliminate the estrogen and prevent mood swings, bloating, acne, fatigue and insomnia.
Ingredients
Organic Salad like spinach and arugula
Sweet potato
Sprouts
Mushrooms
Sauerkraut
Pomegranate
Avocado
Cilantro
Lemon
Balsamic vinegar
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Hemp Seeds
Oatly Creme fraiche (or other plantbased alternatives, but preferably not soy)
Himalayan salt
Instructions
1. Chop and bake sweet potato in the oven for about 1 hour on 200C.
2. Cut and fry mushrooms with some salt until their golden.
3. Chop and cut the rest of the ingredients as you like and spread everything out over a plate.
4. Blend lemon, olive oil and balsamic vinegar to a dressing and pour over salad.
5. Sprinkle with salt, hemp seeds and creme fraiche.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25568828