How to Eat for Your Hormones After 40

Discover how eating nutrient-dense, whole foods after 40 supports hormonal balance, weight management, and overall health while fostering a deeper connection to the food we eat and the land it comes from.

How to Eat for Your Hormones and Optimize Your Energy Levels After 40

As women move through their 40s and beyond, hormonal changes and hormonal imbalance can significantly impact energy levels, weight management, and overall health. From estrogen fluctuations to shifts in cortisol and thyroid hormones, the body undergoes many transitions that can lead to symptoms like weight gain, mood swings, hot flashes, and night sweats. From my own experience, after 45, everything started to shift in my body, and I knew that I was in a perimenopausal stage in my life. Read more about hormones here.

The good news is that adopting a thoughtful approach to nutrition can help balance hormone levels, reduce the risk of heart disease, and support long-term health goals.

Understanding the Hormonal Shifts After 40

Before diving into the “how” of eating for hormone health, it’s important to understand why these changes happen. Perimenopause—the transitional phase before menopause—typically begins in your 40s. During perimenaopuse your ovaries start producing less progesterone and estrogen, while fluctuations in testosterone can affect muscle mass, libido, and energy levels. These hormonal shifts can lead to symptoms like:

• Fatigue and low energy levels
• Weight gain, particularly around the midsection
• Mood swings and increased stress
• Brain fog or cognitive decline

Your diet significantly influences how your body adapts to these changes, impacting how you feel daily.

Why Eat Whole Foods

Eating healthy food, first and foremost, is one of the most important things you can do for your health. Food impacts every bodily function, from hormones to cardiovascular health.

Healthy eating after 40 is not just about managing hormonal changes, weight, and overall health—it’s also about deepening your connection to food, the land, and how it’s produced. Choosing nutrient-dense, whole foods supports hormone balance, heart health, and weight management while providing essential nutrients for strong bones and mental clarity. Beyond physical health, understanding where your food comes from and how it’s grown fosters a greater appreciation for the land and the natural cycles that nourish us. By choosing local, sustainably grown foods, you support both your body and the environment, reinforcing the connection between what we eat and the world around us. This mindful approach to eating ensures that as we age, we stay healthy, energized, and grounded in the source of our sustenance.

How to Eat for Balance Hormones and Optimize your Energy Levels After 40.

Protein: The Foundation of Sustained Energy

Protein is crucial for hormone production and maintaining muscle mass, especially as declining testosterone levels can result in muscle loss. Protein also helps regulate blood sugar, which is directly tied to your energy levels. When blood sugar spikes and crashes, so does your energy.

What to eat:

• Animal-based proteins: Grass-fed beef, free-range pastured chicken, wild-caught fish, and pasture-raised eggs are excellent sources of high-quality protein.
• Plant-based proteins: Legumes like lentils, chickpeas, and beans are great alternatives, especially when combined with grains like quinoa for a complete amino acid profile.

Tip: To maintain stable energy levels throughout the morning, try starting your day with a high-protein, savory breakfast like a veggie omelet or a smoothie with protein powder, greens, and chia seeds.

Healthy Fats: The Building Blocks of Hormones

Your body needs fats to produce hormones, making healthy fats essential for women over 40. Good fats help produce sex hormones like estrogen and progesterone, support brain function, reduce inflammation, and provide long-lasting energy.

What to eat:

• Omega-3 rich foods: Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines), flaxseeds, chia seeds, and walnuts are anti-inflammatory and help reduce the risk of hormone-related conditions.
• Monounsaturated fats: Avocados, olive oil, and almonds support heart health and hormone production.
• Saturated fats (in moderation): Grass-fed butter, coconut oil, and ghee also help provide the cholesterol needed for hormone synthesis.

Tip: To increase your healthy fat intake, drizzle olive oil over your salads, snack on a handful of nuts, or add avocado slices to your meals.

Read this to learn what oils to use for cooking.

Fiber-Rich Carbohydrates: The Hormone Balancer

Fiber is a woman’s best friend after 40. It helps regulate digestion, supports healthy blood sugar levels, and aids in the detoxification of excess hormones, especially estrogen. Foods rich in fiber prevent the common issue of estrogen dominance, which can exacerbate perimenopausal symptoms like bloating, weight gain, and mood swings.

What to eat:

• Vegetables: Leafy greens (spinach, kale), cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts), and root vegetables (sweet potatoes, beets) are all high in fiber and essential vitamins.
• Whole grains: Quinoa, brown rice, milet provide slow-releasing energy without spiking blood sugar.
• Fruits: Berries, apples, and pears offer a good amount of fiber along with antioxidants.

Tip: Aim to fill half your plate with vegetables, especially cruciferous ones, as they contain compounds that support liver detoxification, which is essential for metabolizing excess estrogen.

Magnesium: The Stress Reliever and Energy Booster

Magnesium is a powerhouse mineral for hormone health, especially for reducing stress. Chronic stress leads to high cortisol levels, which can throw other hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and thyroid hormones off balance. Magnesium helps calm the nervous system, reduce anxiety, and improve sleep, which are key to maintaining energy levels.

What to eat:

• Dark leafy greens: Spinach, Swiss chard, and kale
• Nuts and seeds: Almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
• Legumes: Black beans, lentils
• Dark chocolate: A fun and delicious way to increase magnesium intake!

Tip: Consider a nightly ritual of warm almond milk with a dash of cinnamon and cacao powder to relax your mind and boost magnesium before bed.

Adaptogens: Herbs to Rebalance Hormones

Adaptogens are herbs that help the body manage stress and support the adrenal glands, which play a key role in hormone production and energy regulation. These herbs have been used for centuries in traditional medicine and are especially helpful for women navigating hormonal shifts.

What to take:

• Ashwagandha: Balances cortisol levels, helps with stress management, and supports thyroid function.
• Maca root: Known for boosting energy, libido and balancing hormones, particularly in menopause.
• Rhodiola: Enhances physical and mental endurance, reducing fatigue and boosting energy.
• Nettles: Nourishing and rich in minerals that we are lacking.

Tip: Add a teaspoon of maca powder to your morning smoothie or sip on ashwagandha tea in the evening to promote calm. Drink nettle tea every evening.

Hydration: The Often-Overlooked Energy Booster

Dehydration can easily masquerade as fatigue, so staying hydrated is one of the easiest ways to maintain energy levels. Water helps transport nutrients to your cells, aids in detoxification, and keeps your metabolism humming.

What to do:

• Aim for 8-10 glasses of water a day.
• Add hydrating foods like cucumbers, watermelon, and citrus fruits to your diet.
• Infuse your water with raspberries, blackberries, lemon, mint, roesmary, or cucumber for added flavor and hydration benefits.

Phytoestrogens: Natural Estrogen Support

Phytoestrogens are plant compounds that structurally similar to hormone estrogen (can mimic the effects of estrogen in the body) , helping to ease symptoms of declining estrogen levels, such as night sweats, hot flashes, and mood swings. While these aren’t a replacement for hormone therapy, they can be a gentle way to support your body’s natural hormone balance.

What to eat:

• Flaxseeds: Rich in lignans, which have estrogen-like effects.
• Soy: Choose non-GMO, fermented soy products like tempeh and miso for better digestion and hormone support.
• Legumes: Chickpeas, lentils, and peas are also good sources of phytoestrogens.

Tip: Grind flaxseeds and add them to smoothies, oatmeal, or yogurt for a hormone-boosting benefit.

Incorporate Cruciferous Vegetables and Leafy Greens

Cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli, radishesh, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts, bok choy, arugula, contain compounds that support the liver in detoxifying excess estrogen, which can help prevent estrogen dominance and promote hormone balance. These veggies also support gut health, which influences the gut microbiome and is critical in hormone regulation. A well-balanced diet rich in fiber from sources like vegetables and whole grains can help eliminate excess hormones from the body.

Leafy greens like chard, mustard greens, spinach and kale are high in B vitamins, essential for managing menopausal symptoms, reducing mood swings, and supporting overall mental health. These nutrient-dense vegetables also contribute to bone health.

Support Liver Detoxification Through Food

Your liver is crucial in metabolizing and eliminating excess hormones, especially estrogen. Supporting liver health is vital for your hormone balance.  

How to Support Liver Detox:

• Cruciferous vegetables: As mentioned, these veggies enhance the liver’s ability to detoxify hormones. Aim to include them daily.
• Drink plenty of water: Proper hydration helps flush out toxins and excess hormones.
• Add liver-supporting herbs: Dandelion root, milk thistle, and turmeric are excellent for supporting liver detox and hormone metabolism.

Action Tip: Drink a dandelion root tea or add a turmeric shot to your morning routine for liver support.

Support Gut Health for Hormonal Balance

Your gut plays a major role in regulating hormone levels. A healthy gut ensures proper digestion, nutrient absorption, and the elimination of excess hormones, particularly estrogen.

How to Support Gut Health:

• Eat fermented foods: Foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir contain probiotics that support gut health and hormone balance.
• Take a probiotic: A high-quality probiotic supplement can support healthy gut flora, aiding in hormone regulation.
• Increase fiber intake: Fiber promotes regular bowel movements, helping to remove excess hormones from the body.

Action Tip: Add fermented vegetables to your meals and consider a daily probiotic supplement to support gut and hormone health.

Balance Blood Sugar

Blood sugar spikes and crashes can lead to insulin resistance, a key factor in hormone imbalances, particularly affecting cortisol and estrogen. Keeping your blood sugar stable helps regulate energy levels and prevent hormonal disruptions.

Blood Sugar Balancing Tips:

• Eat balanced meals: To prevent blood sugar spikes, make sure each meal includes a combination of protein, healthy fats, and fiber-rich carbs.
• Avoid refined carbs and sugars: Processed foods can cause rapid blood sugar fluctuations, leading to energy crashes and hormonal imbalances.
• Eat smaller, frequent meals: This can help maintain stable blood sugar throughout the day.

Action Tip: To keep your blood sugar levels steady, try eating smaller, well-balanced meals every 3-4 hours.

Avoid Process Food

Avoiding processed foods, artificial sweeteners, bad oils, and refined sugars, which may disrupt hormone levels and contribute to insulin resistance, is crucial at this stage of life. Your body simply cannot metabolize toxins the same way.

Connect with the Farmer

In addition to focusing on what you eat, building a deeper connection to where your food comes from can profoundly impact both your health and your appreciation of food. Visiting local farmers’ markets and connecting with farmers is one of the easiet way tosupport farm stands. You can also join local farm share. These are excellent ways to ensure you’re eating fresh, seasonal, and sustainably grown produce. By developing relationships with the people who grow your food, you can gain a better understanding of how it’s cultivated and harvested, which often leads to healthier, more mindful eating habits.

Local, farm-fresh foods are typically higher in nutrients and flavor, as they’re picked at peak ripeness and haven’t traveled long distances. Eating seasonally also aligns with your body’s natural rhythms (more about eating seasonally here ) helping to balance your hormone levels and energy. Buying locally grown produce supports the environment by reducing the carbon footprint of food transportation and strengthening your connection to the land and community.

This closer relationship with food enhances your diet and encourages a more holistic approach to well-being and healt by nurturing your body and your sense of purpose and place in the world.

Eating for your hormones and optimizing your energy levels after 40 is all about making thoughtful lifestyle changes. By incorporating healthy fats, lean proteins, whole grains, and cruciferous vegetables, you can support hormone balance, reduce weight gain, and improve overall health. Regular exercise, stress management, and proper hydration will further enhance your hormonal health and energy levels. These changes in your daily routine can improve your physical and mental health and enhance your quality of life as you navigate this critical stage.

More About Hormones

Health Hazards of Fragrances In Women’s Health

Estrogen Dominance In Perimenopause

8 Best Teas For Menstrual Cramps To Try

Best Practices For Breast Health

Seed Cycling for Hormonal Balance

References:

FACTS I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT MENOPAUSE. https://www.azlinamin.com/post/facts-about-menopause

Adopt These Nutrient-Rich Plant-Based Foods. https://doctor.ndtv.com/webstories/health/adopt-these-nutrient-rich-plant-based-foods-21673

What does “organic food” really mean? | TAKINOA. https://www.takinoa.com/magazine/what-does-organic-food-really-mean

Boosting GLP-1 Levels Naturally: A Guide to Improving Insulin Sensitiv – DrFormulas. https://drformulas.com/blogs/news/boosting-glp-1-levels-naturally-a-guide-to-improving-insulin-sensitivity-and-overall-health

The Link Between Hormones and Cravings: American Hospital Association’s Perspective – American Hospital Association’s Physician Leadership Forum. https://www.ahaphysicianforum.org/health/link-between-hormones-and-cravings/

Researchers Discover a Super Simple Secret to Healthy Aging: Good Hydration!. https://www.top-info.net/2023/01/researchers-discover-super-simple.html

Early Menopause Treatment : Different Options, and Benefits of It. https://hermantra.co/menopause/treatment-menopause/early-menopause-treatment

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