As we already know, hormones don’t just influence our bodies, they orchestrate our minds. Your thoughts, energy, focus, mood, memory, and resilience all reflect the intricate relationship between your brain, hormones, and nutrition.
In functional nutrition, we look upstream. What’s really driving hormonal imbalance, brain fog, anxiety, or fatigue? The answer often starts with what you’re feeding your cells, and what’s getting in the way. Let’s break it down together!
Your brain and hormones rely on nutrient messengers. Without the right building blocks, your body can’t produce or regulate neurotransmitters or hormones effectively. Here are some powerful nutrient pairings for optimal brain-hormone balance:
Even your cooking matters: pairing rosemary with meat can reduce harmful compounds (heterocyclic amines) created during high-heat cooking. Turmeric + black pepper supercharge curcumin absorption for brain and insulin support.
Your gut and brain are in constant communication. This gut-brain axis is where many imbalances begin. To support brain and hormone balance:
Want a diverse microbiome? Eat a variety of whole foods, don’t toss the stalks and stems! That’s where fiber and phytonutrients live.
Hormones cannot function optimally if your body is burdened with toxins. We are all exposed to phthalates, plastics, mercury, arsenic, and pesticides, even from seemingly harmless sources like fish, non-organic greens, and household items.
Functional detoxification starts with avoiding as many toxins as you possibly can. This means things like not heating up food in plastic containers, prioritizing organic (especially the Dirty Dozen), and skipping GMO soy and farmed fish.
The next step is to support your detox pathways. You can do this in a number of different ways such as dry brushing, lymphatic massages, vibration plate therapy, red light therapy, sweating, and making sure you are having regular bowel movements.
But you can also support your detox pathways by incorporating a few supplements like glutathione, which is the master antioxidant and detoxifies mercury, balances inflammation, and protects your brain.
Some other requirements include B vitamins, sulfur-rich foods, and methylation support (think: broccoli sprouts, milk thistle, NAC, alpha-lipoic acid). Toxins like mercury can cause anxiety, insomnia, and even mimic neurodegenerative conditions. If you suspect exposure, hair analysis can help.
Your mitochondria are responsible for producing the energy your brain and hormones depend on. When mitochondria are damaged, your entire system suffers, leading to an increase in inflammation, depression, fatigue, insulin resistance, and even cognitive decline.
Brain tissue has the highest concentration of mitochondria, meaning energy production and mental clarity are directly linked.
Here are some of my favorite top Mitochondria-Supportive Nutrients:
And the best part? All of these mitochondria-supportive nutrients can be found in my Everyday Essentials multi-vitamin, which makes getting all of these nutrients super easy.
You can also focus on cutting out fried foods, damaged vegetable oils, heavy metals, and inflammatory ultra-processed foods. The Standard American Diet (SAD) contains too many calories, has a reduced nutrient intake, and oftentimes contains no phytonutrients. This is why I would also highly encourage you to add in omega-3s, zinc, selenium, and colorful vegetables for antioxidant and mitochondrial protection.
One powerful tool I recommend for gaining deeper insight into your brain health is the Brain Scan from CBH Energetics.
This non-invasive scan evaluates energetic imbalances in key areas of the brain, offering clues about neurotransmitter activity, inflammation, toxicity, and even emotional stress patterns that may be impacting your mental health. It’s especially helpful if you’re dealing with brain fog, mood changes, memory issues, or simply want to better understand how your brain is functioning.
The Brain Scan helps identify where support is needed most, allowing me to create a highly personalized nutrition and lifestyle protocol to restore balance and optimize your brain’s performance—naturally and holistically.
You are not broken. Your brain is asking for help. Start by feeding it well.
