10 May Health Hormone Tips from Dr. Erin Kinney
This post originally appeared on eden.com in June 2019.
Introducing the fabulous, Erin Kinney. Naturopathic Doctor, business owner, mom of two girls, wife, and trusted resource to Eden’s Medical Advisory. We are so excited to have her on board! We caught up with Erin to discuss her favorite strategies for feeling good and staying balanced.
Eden: As an ND how do you help your patients improve their hormone health?
Dr. Kinney: NDs are trained to understand the root cause of a patient’s symptoms. Poor diet, environmental factors, genetics, and nutrition gaps are some of the leading factors that contribute to hormonal upheaval. Once I’ve identified the problem I can create a plan to adjust how the body responds to stress through nutrition guidance, supplements and herbs, and lifestyle choices.
Eden: What do you think are the most common misconceptions about hormone health?
Dr. Kinney: The first things that people think about is PMS or hot flashes. But hormone imbalance can manifest in a multitude of ways such as fatigue, irritable bowels, depression, and anxiety. Another big misconception in Western Medicine is a bit of a knee jerk reaction that many hormone ills can be helped by going on the birth control pill. However, if low estrogen isn’t the problem, the pill is not going to help. Again, it’s about the root cause. There are better ways of getting back into a rhythm without risk of side effects.
Eden: What are some changes someone can adopt today to improve their hormone health?
Dr. Kinney: Lots of things! Choose safer personal care products, eat organic produce and hormone free animal protein, and eat at regular intervals to keep insulin stable. Schedule in some time every day to connect with breath, meditate, or just rest. Even 5 minutes can make a big difference in keeping cortisol levels quiet.
Eden: How can supplements play a role in improving hormone health?
Dr. Kinney: Even those with the best diets can have a hard time absorbing all the nutrition necessary to balance hormones. Multivitamins and herbal supplements contain cofactors for building hormones and assist the liver to break them down. Supplementing every day helps to top up minerals and cofactors not easy to get from food alone. Antioxidants calm immune systems and combat stress so it doesn’t impact hormonal health. We can’t always change stressors, but we can do our best to support hormones to combat the stress.
Eden: What are your personal health rituals?
Dr. Kinney: I begin my day with a 15-minute meditation while I’m still in bed. It makes me feel clear and focused on my intentions for the day ahead. I’m always running around in the morning with my girls so I make myself a giant smoothie full of veggies and take my daily supplements. I love yoga and I make time in between appointments to reconnect with myself and breathe.