Why hormones need more airtime

Nutritionist Lola Ross breaks down her functional medicine approach to using food, supplements, and lifestyle changes to positively affect hormonal cycles.

As a nutritionist, I see women in my practice for a wide range of concerns—impaired fertility, digestive issues, psycho-emotional imbalances, menstrual irregularities—and while the reasons for these conditions vary by individual, hormone dysfunction is usually involved in some way. For many women I work with, this connection between illness and hormones is surprising new knowledge. This is why hormones need more airtime. When it comes to health, like so many things, knowledge is power. The more we know about around the role of hormones, the interconnectedness of the endocrine system and its role in health and well-being, and the better we understand how hormones can be both positively and negatively influenced through our environment, diet and lifestyle, the more power we have to better support our health potential. 

For example, we know that stress has significant impact on health—but the hormonal connection is often ignored. Understanding the link between stress, its potentially negative effect on the endocrine system and the benefit of removing stressors can be health changing. 

Some years ago, I saw a 30-year-old female patient who was trying for a baby and doing “all the right things” but in 18 months had not conceived successfully. Her menstrual cycle was unchanged, following a healthy rhythm, and a recent blood test and ultrasound scan had ruled out any significant underlying conditions. I have seen the knock-on effect that stress can have on ovarian function, soI wanted her to focus her attention on stress reduction. Through our work together I helped her to identify the effects her stress levels were having on her endocrine system and got her engaged in solutions to help reduce stress and restore balance. We incorporated a dietary and supplement plan to support adrenal and thyroid function and mind and body exercises, all with the goal of restoring hormone harmony. Five months later she became pregnant.

I approach hormonal imbalances with the lens of what’s called “functional medicine,” which seeks to address the underlying causes of disease, as opposed to treating just symptoms. Although nutrition therapy is my foundational treatment, I also often recommend integrating exercise, mindfulness techniques and in some cases, dietary supplements to help my patients with hormonal conditions.  

However, personalising your diet around your unique health needs is key. Not everyone has access to a nutritionist, but tracking your moods in order to uncover your unique hormonal patterns and making informed dietary changes to manage them is something anyone can do. Having data about your experiences and making connections between moods, hormones, diet, and lifestyle will also allow you to work more productively with health practitioners—a situation where, sadly, many women are doubted or dismissed.  

The concept of “mood food” is now becoming part of our health language—showing that there is an emerging understanding that the foods we eat can affect how we feel. I encourage my patients, and all women, to tap into the intelligence of their body and listen to signals and respond accordingly. The power of owning your own experience, combined with learnings about hormones, nutrition, and moods, is a revolutionary step in women’s health. We need to take the conversation on, and make the power of hormones part of our everyday language, too.

Lola Ross

Qualified BANT and CNHC nutritionist, specialising in women's health

Holding over eight years of experience working as a nutritional therapist in London, Lola Ross is Moody’s in-house nutritionist. Working directly into the technology and the web platform, she has built a unique way of thinking about nutrition, tailoring advice and recommendations to support women’s cycles, and the moods and symptoms they experience each month.