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4 Simple Tips for Supporting Healthy Ovulation and Hormonal Health
Whether you are trying to improve your hormonal health or thinking about getting pregnant, one of the key things you need to do is make sure you have healthy ovulation. Because, believe it or not, ovulation (not your period) is the STAR of the menstrual cycle. As a Fertility Awareness Educator, I regularly work with women to help them to improve their hormonal health and optimize fertility, which includes having healthy ovulation. Read on to learn more about my tips on how to support ovulation.
Without ovulation, our body does not produce progesterone, and thus we don’t experience a true period. This leads to our hormones becoming imbalanced and out of control. And of course, when ovulation doesn’t occur regularly, this can lead to a lot of problems in trying to conceive.
Luckily, our bodies are incredibly wise, and there are a few things you can start doing to ensure that you’re supporting healthy and regular ovulation.
There are some different methods and tips to increase fertility, and thus increasing your chances of getting pregnant.
Here are some of my tips on how to improve hormonal health and how to support ovulation:
Be mindful of under-eating and over-exercising
Across the board, I find that my clients are not eating enough and they tend to be over-exercising. We get stuck in this trap of feeling like these two things are actually good for our body, (aka losing weight), when in reality not getting adequate nutrition and exercising too much can cause SO much stress on our reproductive system and impact our hormonal health negatively. Make sure you are getting enough nutritionally dense foods and not overexerting yourself.
So how to improve hormonal health? Don’t skimp on the carbs
In addition to not eating enough (which is sooo common), we tend to fear carbs because we have been told that keto and other low-carb diets are “healthy” for us. While keto diets may work well for men, or make you feel better in the short-term, the woman’s body does not thrive off of this type of restriction. On the contrary, our bodies love good quality carbs and so do our hormones! Carbohydrates are the body’s main source of energy, and when we deprive ourselves, our bodies can feel really stressed. Too much stress ends up suppressing ovulation, so not a good combo.
Some of my favorite healthy carbs are fruit, sweet and white potatoes, squash/zucchini, and cassava. In addition to being a good source of healthy carbs, these foods are filled with nutrients such as fiber and antioxidants, which are good for you and your body!
Keep Blood Sugar Balanced
Another way to support ovulation is to make sure to keep your blood sugar balanced. A common mistake that a lot of my clients make is to do Intermittent fasting and not eating breakfast within 60-mins of waking. This can create a total roller coaster for blood sugar levels throughout the day. It’s essential to make sure you’re giving your body good amounts of protein/fat/carbs throughout the day to help keep your blood sugar balanced. Some ideas for healthy blood sugar balancing breakfast are:
- Avocado toast with 2 eggs on sourdough bread with a side of sausage or fruit
- A loaded smoothie with 20g of collagen protein, 1/2 avocado, milk, 1/2 frozen banana, and cocoa powder
- Organic Greek yogurt with blueberries
- Coffee AFTER breakfast
Remember, a blood sugar roller coaster = stress on the body = wacky ovulation!
Prioritize stress reduction
And finally, we cannot underestimate the effects of mental and emotional stress. There are some simple stress reduction techniques that can work wonders on your cycles. Working on prioritizing even 5-10 minutes daily of mindful breathing can support ovulation and healthy hormones more than you realize. It’s truly amazing and often undervalued.
Making these diet and lifestyle changes can help to improve your hormone balance and support healthy ovulation. Make sure to increase our blog on tips to increase fertility. If you want additional guidance or think you would benefit from individualized coaching, feel free to reach out to me at NourishedwithNina.
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