If you find yourself nodding off at your desk or in a grumpy mood recently, OR heaven forbid, your sex drive dwindling, there’s a likely culprit– hormonal imbalance. We can trace many of our behavioral patterns back to our estrogen, testosterone, thyroid, and progesterone balance. In this particular case, we’re going to focus on estrogen.

Estrogen is what we can deem our “feminine” hormone. It keeps us curvy, flirty, and yen‘ing for sex. Yup! Now we don’t want too little OR too much estrogen floating around in our body. This is because all of our hormones work in synchronicity with one another. This means that oftentimes when one is out of whack the others follow suit. When we can find harmony, we can typically find harmony in not only our hormones, but as a result, our mood.

When our hormones are balanced we feel balanced, energized, and vivacious.

So let’s get back to estrogen. Many women suffer from excess estrogen or too little estrogen, and for many of them, a variety of both. Now it’s natural for our hormone levels to fluctuate throughout our menstrual cycle (for instance, estrogen levels peak during our menstrual cycle then drop, stimulating your hypothalamus to prepare for the next ovulatory cycle), but we do want to maintain a certain range within each phase of the cycle. This sounds almost exhausting to monitor your numbers so closely, but in reality we usually have a pretty good idea of whether or not our hormones are in check by how we are feeling.

Are you feeling energized and vivacious? Or are you feeling drained and uninspired?

Now I would love to go on about all the lifestyle and dietary changes you can make to support balanced hormonal levels, but today I wanted to talk about a cool root known as, Maca.

If you are an Arrested Development fan, you may recall George Sr. tripping out from an overdose of maca root. Don’t worry– this is a dramatization.

What is maca? Maca is a root grown natively in the Andes mountains, and used by the ancient Incans as a “miracle cure” to a range of symptoms, especially *cough* hormonal symptoms. It was used as a natural remedy for everything from hot flashes, to low libido, to low energy, to fertility, insomnia, and even depression.

This is because Maca acts to help balance out your hormones as it supports the circulation of the endocrine system. And this root is not just for the ladies! It helps men boost their libido as well! [I am man, hear me roar.]

Try adding a teaspoon to your morning smoothie! If this feels intense, try reducing it to 1/2 a teaspoon. It has a toasted malt-like taste that some like and some despise, but your endocrine system will be saying, yes, please.

Here’s a recipe for a simple, Almond Butter Maca Smoothie:

Almond Butter Maca Smoothie

Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 2 Tablespoons almond butter
• Scoop of RAW vegan protein powder 
• 1 teaspoon maca
• 3/4 cup almond milk
• Optional: Mixed greens (as little or as many as you “dare”)
• Optional: Tablespoon of raw honey to sweeten!

Toss in blender, blend, and enjoy!

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