After the post Essential Oils for Hormone Balancing and the video on Hormone Balance, I decided to share an interview of a hormone expert who has deep experience within hormone balancing and women’s health.
First of all, Skin at Heart would like to congratulate Robyn Srigley on the name of the website: The Hormone Diva! It’s direct and funny! Skin at Heart has seen the Happy Healthy Hormone Interview Series with Katie Bressack and it was very interesting to ear Robyn Srigley’s answers on the hormone subject. We would like to share more on The Hormone Diva‘s work with our readers in Skin at Heart. So we’ve prepared this interview:
1 – How did the idea for The Hormone Diva come up?
The idea for The Hormone Diva came up through my own struggles with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I was diagnosed during nutrition school, and it changed how I saw myself as a nutritionist. I assumed I would be a generalist, taking clients with any number of health complaints. Then going through my own journey with PCOS, I realized there were literally millions of other women suffering, and I wanted them to feel the relief I did when I used natural methods to reverse my symptoms.
2 – How can nutrition and teas support hormone balancing?
Food is simply the best way to support healthy hormones, and medicinal teas are a great bonus. This is a loaded question, and we could write a whole book on it! A few simple connections between food and hormones include healthy fats being essential to produce hormones. Fibre from things like kale and broccoli help to bind and excrete excess estrogen, with estrogen dominance being a very common imbalance among women today. Certain seeds and oils can be used therapeutically to manipulate hormone levels based on the type of seed used and the time in the cycle it’s consumed. Teas with medicinal herbs, such as the line of hormone teas I created and sell, can add extra benefit. Most women already have a habit of drinking hot beverages, and switching some of those to a tea that may help balance hormones is so easy, it’s a no-brainer! Certain herbs such as vitex and dong quai have long been used for many women’s health issues like painful/heavy periods, irregular cycles and fertility problems, as well as the mood disturbances that often come along with physical symptoms.
3 – What is the relationship between our weight and our hormones? (Meaning how come what we eat affects us?)
Again, a big question — but definitely an important one. The best thing you can do to help your weight and hormones at the same time is to eat whole foods. Nothing from a bag or box, nothing take out, frozen or pre-prepared. We often get caught up in numbers- how many calories should I be eating, what about grams of proteins, carbs and fats? True, these measures can be manipulated to increase the speed of fat loss and hormones balance, but keep it simple. Just start with whole foods. Animal and plant-based alike. Do it long enough and fat will come off the body, it’s really that simple. All those processed foods are difficult for our bodies to digest, they have little to no nutrient value and are often high in sugar and trans fats- both of which get deposited as fat on our bodies, generally in the places we hate like the belly, butt and thighs.
4 – What are the main nutrition focus when it comes to hormones and what in general would you recommend to Women or say about the subject?
The main nutrition focus is what I mentioned above- eat whole foods and nothing else most of the time. Beyond this, I really like to focus on the green and orange vegetables. Green are high fibre, high nutrient and help give our bodies what they need to both produce hormones and excrete excess hormones. Orange on the other hand are anti-inflammatory, and incredibly grounding. A lot of times when we “diet” we restrict foods and end up feeling kooky and having cravings or even fall into binging. Orange root vegetables are high mineral, and they have starch which helps to calm the nervous system and provide support for hormones. Things like winter squash, sweet potatoes and carrots should be emphasized. Beyond this, look at fats. All steroid hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, etc) are created from the same building blocks- cholesterol and fat. Eating a low-fat diet is one of the worst things you can do for your hormones, in my clinical experience. Emphasize avocados, nuts/seeds, olive oil, coconut milk and oil and fats from healthy animal meats as well.
5 – How do you create the tea blends for The Hormone Diva? (Where do you get the ingredients from, how did you come up with some of the blends, do you usually try them on yourself and other women before you come up with the final mix?)
I LOVE creating medicinal teas. I created each formula based on a need. For example, my Detox Tea is created for women with estrogen dominant issues like sore breasts, moodiness, painful and heavy periods, etc. When I create a formula, I think about the root causes of these issues. Sure, estrogen is out of balance- but WHY? So I look at the liver, uterus/ovaries, nervous system and digestive system in this case. I choose herbs that help in all of these categories and then begin to blend them both for medicinal value and of course- flavour. My goal with the teas was to make it easy- a habit you already have, and one you can enjoy because good flavour is there- it’s not like downing a gross wheatgrass shot just because you know it’s healthy.
6 – Any last words or advice you would like to share with all the Women out there based on your long experience with hormonal health?
My last advice is to keep going. Figuring out what’s wrong, and then trying to fix it is a journey. It doesn’t happen overnight, and it doesn’t happen over a month even. You must be in it for the long haul. It’s truly a lifestyle if you want to reverse hormonal imbalance naturally. Progress will come- I promise. Be consistent, find the help and support you need to be successful, and never forget WHY you want this for yourself. Having a really specific WHY behind your choices and journey will keep you on track no matter what setbacks may happen (and they will).
Skin at Heart thanks Robyn Srigley, The Hormone Diva, for this wonderful and insightful interview!
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