Better living through chemistry?
Most people don’t actively monitor their hormone levels — they may dismiss fatigue, weight gain or mood swings as simply “getting older.”
But hormones regulate key bodily functions like growth, development, metabolism and reproduction.
These chemical messengers, produced by glands in the endocrine system, travel through the bloodstream to trigger cellular changes.
The good news is that there are ways to optimize your hormones for better sleep, metabolism and mood.
Dr. Gaurav Mandal, a board-certified endocrinologist and internist with Catholic Health, outlines six major strategies to support hormone balance — no prescription needed.
Catch the morning rays
Sunlight activates hormones essential for mood, sleep and reproductive health — that’s why it’s important to go outside when you wake up.
If you struggle to get natural morning sunlight, you could use a light therapy lamp or maximize bright indoor lighting right after rising.
Cortisol levels naturally peak roughly 30 to 45 minutes after you wake up, which makes the morning hours ideal for tackling your most important tasks.
Cortisol is the body’s primary stress hormone. Your levels gradually decrease throughout the day, reaching their lowest point around midnight.
Hit the gym with the larks
Take advantage of high cortisol levels earlier in the day for high-intensity training or fat-burning sessions.
Morning workouts foster consistency, regulate circadian rhythms for better sleep and boost mood through the release of endorphins.
Endorphins are natural peptide hormones that block pain signals and ease anxiety.
Time your food and caffeine intake
Mandal recommends limiting eating to a 10-hour daily window, say from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
“Eating in between this period [has been] shown [to] improve your insulin sensitivity,” he explained.
Gut hormones — primarily GLP-1 and GIP, which inspired weight loss and diabetes drugs like semaglutide and tirzepatide — are crucial for regulating insulin sensitivity. Time-restricted eating may help restore and optimize the natural secretion and balance of these hormones.
Poor insulin sensitivity, also known as insulin resistance, triggers fluctuations in blood sugar, which can fuel anxiety, brain fog, irritability and fatigue.
Eating an earlier dinner also optimizes ghrelin, your hunger hormone, and leptin, your satiety hormone, thereby reducing evening cravings.
And don’t have a big dinner, either. Mandal said it’s best to front-load calories by consuming most of them at breakfast and lunch for better weight management, metabolic health and energy.
When it comes to coffee, while you may be tempted to drink it all day, you should save it for breakfast or at least cut it off by early afternoon.
“Caffeine blocks a molecule called adenosine that actually promotes sleep,” Mandal said.
Clock in for three meals a day
Restrict your eating window — but don’t skip meals.
Missing breakfast or lunch can slow your metabolism and increase fat storage, potentially paving the way for extra pounds.
It can also reduce levels of the “feel-good” hormones dopamine and oxytocin because the body needs consistent fuel for a stable mood.
Mandal instead suggests regularly consuming the Mediterranean diet, which emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts and healthy fats like olive oil and allows for moderate intake of fish, poultry and dairy.
Make sure to wash it down with at least seven to nine 8-ounce glasses of water to promote satiety, lower calorie intake and help metabolism.
Proper hydration controls appetite because the brain often confuses thirst with hunger.
Hug your spouse
This is an easy one. Squeezing a loved one for even just 20 seconds releases a potent surge of oxytocin, which decreases stress to enhance mood and sleep.
If you don’t have a spouse, hug your children or a pet or make an effort to socialize more with friends and coworkers.
Power down screens before bed
“Try not to watch TV at least an hour, an hour-and-a-half before you go to bed,” Mandal advised.
“That will increase your melatonin — that helps with getting a better sleep.”
And it helps if you fall asleep earlier. Mandal pointed to studies that have found that hitting the hay before midnight, particularly between 10 p.m. and 11 p.m., optimizes the release of melatonin and other restorative hormones because this timing aligns with the body’s natural circadian rhythm.
“Sleep definitely affects your metabolism,” Mandal said.
“Poor sleep can also increase your cortisol level.”
We need cortisol to be lowest at night to allow our body to rest, repair and recover.
Besides elevating cortisol, restless nights increase ghrelin and reduce leptin, driving the midnight munchies.
“Good sleep, I would say [is] seven to nine hours,” Mandal said.
