5 Shifts I Prioritized to Reverse My Hormone Imbalance

No quick fixes, just lifestyle changes

If you're expecting one big turning point (a supplement, a prescription, a magic pill), that's not how mine went. My last blood work came back normal, and it came down to actually prioritizing and changing the way I lived: how I eat, what I touch every day and how I move. None of these shifts are complicated on their own. Together, they added up to more than I expected.

1. Low-carb food and giving my body a rest

I cut out the sugar-laden snacks and refined carbs that kept spiking my system, and built my meals around real, nourishing food instead: healthy fats, good protein and fresh greens. I still eat healthy, complex carbs, just in much smaller quantities now, and not even every day, more of an occasional thing, especially in my luteal phase. I also started giving my digestion a proper overnight rest, leaving 12 to 14 hours between dinner and breakfast. Early in my cycle, when my body can handle it, I'll stretch that out into an 18 hour fast.

Once the constant sugar crashes stopped, my body finally had room to calm down and find its own balance. I've written the full story of that shift, the fast that started it and the two and a half months it took, if you want it in detail.

2. Reducing daily plastic exposure

I swapped my plastic food storage containers, cookware and water bottles for glass and stainless steel, and stopped reheating anything in plastic altogether. We cook most of our food at home, but every so often we do get takeout, and avoiding plastic there is nearly impossible. Even something as simple as buying coffee, matcha or tea comes wrapped in it. That's just the world we live in.

I learned how much plastic actually ends up in our bodies from a documentary on Netflix about plastic detoxing. If you haven't watched it, I really recommend it, it was a genuine eye-opener.

Plastics can act like fake hormones inside the body, interfering with the ones you actually make. Once I stopped using them daily, it felt like quiet stress taken off my liver, one less thing my body had to process every single day. One more step toward balancing my hormones.

3. Using non-toxic self-care products

I've never really used deodorant (no judgment, please, I've just never had smelly armpits). I also stopped wearing perfume about two years ago, once I learned how toxic those ingredients actually are. Once I knew that, I couldn't go back to using any of it.

For years I spent a lot of money chasing sensitive-skin, fragrance-free or "non-toxic" shampoo, face wash and body soap. But once I actually looked into the ingredients, almost all of them had some kind of toxic ingredient hidden in there anyway. So I went looking for alternatives that actually worked for me.

One of the biggest problems I had was hair falling and thinning. I stopped using shampoo, conditioner and even hair masks, and replaced all of them with these instead:

• Herbal shampoo, body wash and face wash (sidr powder). Take the right amount, mix it with lukewarm or warm water, let it sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then apply.
• Herbal shampoo, conditioner and hair mask pack. Five herbal powders, each with its own benefit. I mix all five together for a hair mask, or just one or two at a time. Hibiscus powder is the one I reach for on its own, as a simple exfoliator.
• Batana oil, my newest addition. I use it as both a hair oil and a hair mask, it gets rid of frizz, and I even use a little to style my hair with. I love it.
• A bamboo comb. I used to use a plastic one. Plastic builds up static as it runs through your hair, and that static is what makes strands snap and break instead of gliding through, on top of the rough seams left over from moulding, which catch on the hair shaft and cause more damage over time. A bamboo comb glides through far more gently, doesn't create the same static, and is naturally antibacterial, so it doesn't hold onto product buildup the way plastic does.

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The shampoo and the powder pack are obviously very different from the products we're used to. They're gentle and 100% natural, so the texture and the lather feel different too, there's no scent, just a herbal paste. But I genuinely love it, because I know I'm not putting anything with harsh chemicals on my body. My hair falling has slowed down a lot, and I can see a real improvement in the health of my hair.

Whatever goes on your skin goes into your body. It was one of the easiest changes on this list, and one of the most effective, because it stopped me overloading my system every day without having to think about it again.

4. Gentle daily movement

I stopped forcing myself through exhausting, high-stress workouts that left me more depleted than before. On the days I don't feel like a heavy strength training session, I don't force it, especially since I live in Dubai, where summer makes it hard to stay active at all.

Instead: simple 20 to 30 minute Pilates, stretching, walking, even just walking in place, especially right after meals. Most days, I aim for 10,000 steps.

Walking let my body use up energy naturally, without tipping my nervous system into more stress. Sometimes the gentler option is also the more effective one.

5. Swapping synthetic fabrics

The last shift, and the one I almost didn't think to look at, was my wardrobe. I went through my clothes and pulled out anything that was 100% polyester and other synthetic fabrics, including underwear, and replaced it with natural, breathable fabrics like cotton and linen.

Funny enough, I assumed getting rid of the synthetics would mean going shopping all over again. But once I actually cleared them out, I still had plenty left, because I've always leaned toward cotton, comfortable fabrics anyway. For underwear I always buy cotton, my go-to brand is Amante (I do wish they made more cotton bras).

Polyester is essentially plastic sitting directly against warm skin, all day, every day. Letting my skin breathe in natural fabric was a small change, but it lowered my daily toxic load even further, on top of everything else.

Healing is the whole picture

It wasn't an overnight change. It came down to what was on my plate first, and then what touched my skin all day and how I moved my body.

If you're looking at this list feeling overwhelmed, start with one. Pick whichever feels easiest right now:

• Real food and healthy fats
• Glass over plastic
• Non-toxic self-care products
• Natural fabrics like cotton
• Daily post-meal walks

Your body is listening, and it knows how to heal when you give it the right environment.

I write about this as someone living it, not as a doctor. Nothing here is medical advice. Please talk to a professional who knows your history before changing anything about your treatment.