How to Support Your Hormones During the Holidays
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Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and should not be interpreted as medical advice.
The holiday season brings joy and celebration but can disrupt your hormonal health if you’re not careful. From managing stress to navigating indulgences like alcohol and sugar, it’s essential to prioritize your well-being. By focusing on hormone health, you can enjoy the festivities while maintaining balance.
In this blog, we’ll explore how to support your hormones during the holidays, including topics like the impact of alcohol, holiday stress, sugar, and skipping meals. You’ll also find tips for healthy mocktails and treats.
Alcohol and Hormones: What You Need to Know
Alcohol is a staple at holiday parties, but its impact on your hormones is often overlooked. Drinking alcohol can:
Disrupt estrogen metabolism: The liver processes both alcohol and hormones. When overloaded, it prioritizes alcohol detoxification, which can lead to estrogen dominance (think symptoms like heavy periods, painful cramps, weight gain, mood swings, etc.)
Increase cortisol: Alcohol raises stress hormones, contributing to anxiety and poor sleep.
Interfere with sleep: Alcohol reduces melatonin production, impacting your circadian rhythm and leaving you tired the next day.
What to Do:
Stick to one or two drinks and alternate with water or swap for a healthy mocktail (recipes below).
Choose low-sugar options like dry wine or vodka with soda water.
Avoid drinking close to bedtime to minimize its effects on sleep and recovery.
Holiday Stress and Hormone Support: How to Lower Cortisol Naturally
The holiday hustle often leads to high cortisol levels, which can disrupt your hormonal balance. Chronic stress lowers reproductive hormones like progesterone and affects thyroid function, leaving you feeling exhausted or moody.
How to Manage Stress During the Holidays:
Find healthy ways to recharge: move your body daily, take breaks from social media, take Epsom salt baths 1-2x per week, or try an adrenal mocktail to support stress.
Use adaptogens: Herbs like ashwagandha or rhodiola can support adrenal health and regulate cortisol levels. Be sure to check with a qualified practitioner as not all herbs are right for all women.
Sleep well: Prioritize 7-9 hours of quality sleep to maintain hormonal equilibrium.
Set boundaries: Saying no to overwhelming tasks or events is crucial for reducing stress.
Healthy Holiday Mocktails and Treats
Swapping sugar-laden holiday treats and cocktails for healthier options can help balance your hormones. High sugar and alcohol consumption often lead to blood sugar spikes, which impact insulin and cortisol levels.
Mocktail Ideas:
Cran-Apple Sparkling Kombucha: Combine Health-Ade Pink Lady Apple kombucha and Polar Seltzer Cranberry Lime sparkling water. Garnish with cranberries if desired.
Sparkling Pear Ginger: Combine 4 oz. organic pear juice, 6 oz. ginger beer (I like Reed’s regular or no sugar option), ½ lime, juiced, and club soda or sparkling water to top.
Immune Tonic: Combine a Turmeric ginger shot (I used Vive Organics) and sparkling mineral water. This easy 2 ingredient tonic is low in sugar, anti-inflammatory, and immune boosting.
Healthy Christmas Treats:
Dark Chocolate Bark: Use dark chocolate with 70% cocoa or more, adding nuts and seeds for magnesium and healthy fats.
Stuffed Dates: This sweet treat is perfect to keep in the fridge or freezer and grab when those cravings just won’t stop.
Baked Pears: A festive, nutrient-rich dessert that is perfect for the luteal and menstrual phases of the cycle.
Skipping Meals: A Holiday Hormone Disaster
Saving calories for a holiday feast might seem like a good idea, but skipping meals can wreak havoc on your hormones.
Blood sugar drops: Prolonged periods without food cause blood sugar levels to drop, leading to low energy, irritability, and potential dizziness.
When the large meal is finally consumed, the sudden influx of food, (especially if it's high in carbs) can cause a dramatic spike in blood sugar.This forces the pancreas to release a large amount of insulin to stabilize it, which can lead to a subsequent "sugar crash."
Cortisol is released to maintain blood sugar balance. Elevated cortisol disrupts many functions including hormones and can cause difficulty sleeping.
A large holiday meal after fasting can overwhelm digestion leading to indigestion, bloating, and discomfort.
Long term effects of skipping meals:
metabolism slows down to conserve energy
disrupted gut microbiome
disruption to estrogen and progesterone production which can exacerbate PMS symptoms, mood swings, and irregular cycles.
insulin imbalance: Skipping meals can lead to insulin resistance, a key driver of hormone-related issues like PCOS.
How to Avoid Skipping Meals:
Eat balanced meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber throughout the day to stabilize blood sugar. Start your day with 25-35 grams of protein.
Snack smart: Choose nutrient-dense options like energy balls, protein packed smoothies, or small snack plates (example: hard-boiled egg, tomatoes, avocado slices).
Stay hydrated: Thirst can sometimes be mistaken for hunger, so drink plenty of water.
The Impact of Sugar on Hormones
Sugar is everywhere during the holidays, from cookies to cocktails. While indulgence is part of the season, excessive sugar intake can:
Spike cortisol and insulin: Blood sugar swings increase stress and disrupt hormonal balance.
Deplete magnesium: High sugar diets reduce magnesium, a mineral essential for managing stress and hormones.
Lower immunity: Even one serving of sugar can lower your body’s immunity immediately and for 4-6+ hours after consumption. Now imagine you’re eating sugar multiple times per day. No wonder the holidays/winter are considered “cold and flu” season. It’s really sugar season!
Impact reproductive hormones: Chronic sugar consumption can increase inflammation and exacerbate conditions like PCOS by promoting insulin resistance.
Tips for Managing Sugar Intake:
Balance your plate: Pair treats with protein or healthy fats to reduce the impact on blood sugar.
Practice portion control: Enjoy a small serving of your favorite dessert rather than multiple servings.
Use natural sweeteners: Swap refined sugar for options like honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar in recipes. These nutrient-rich options provide additional minerals and benefits that plain old white sugar can’t compete with.
P.S. When talking about sugar, I feel the need to address natural sugars that come from fruit. Somewhere along the line, people became convinced that fruit is bad for you. Fruit in its whole form provides some really great vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that are great for hormone function, brain function, inflammation, gut health, and more. The best way to eat fruit to support hormone function is in its whole form (vs. juice) and paired with a protein/fat to keep blood sugar and hunger balanced.
Key Takeaways for Hormonal Harmony This Holiday Season
By managing stress, balancing blood sugar, and making smarter choices with alcohol and sweets, you can protect your hormones during the holidays. Remember, your health is one of the best gifts you can give yourself.
Whether you’re sipping a healthy mocktail or indulging mindfully in a Christmas treat, these strategies will help you feel energized, balanced, and ready to enjoy the season.
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