Neal D Barnard - Your Body in Balance

S ome of the most troubling health problems have a surprising solution. Weight problems, infertility, menstrual cramps, diabetes, thyroid problems, acne, hot flashes, and many others are related to the foods you eat. In each case, whether you know it or not, foods are changing your hormones, making you feel great or terrible, vigorous or lethargic, pain-free or miserable.

The key is this: You can control your hormonesand the problems they causeby the food choices you make every day. It is surprisingly easy, and I will show you how to do it.

Like many women, Robin had menstrual cramps that were off the scale for a day or two every month, until she learned of a straightforward dietary shift that eased her pain and allowed her to function again.

Elsa had given up on raising a family, until she found that her fertility had been affected by what she had been eating. After tuning up their diet, she and her husband now have three children.

Ray had assumed that erectile dysfunction was his new normal, until an easy diet change gave him back his sex life.

Nancys thyroid gland was underperforming, keeping her overweight and fatigued, until she learned a new way of getting back in balanceall based on a menu change.

Kim was chronically down in the dumps with a serious and unremitting depression, but was finally able to lift the black cloud hanging over her when she learned the connection between food and mood.

Twin sisters Nina and Randa were embarrassed about their severe acne, until a nutritional adjustment tackled it nearly overnight.

Nutrition was the surprising answer to Tonys prostate cancer, Katherines endometriosis, Mikes thyroid problems, Bobs diabetes, and Mary-Anns menstrual misery.

All of these people have something in common: Their hormonal systems had been chronically malfunctioning. Yours may be, too.

So let me encourage you to rundo not walkto a healthier way of eating. Ill show you how foods cause hormones to go haywire and how the right foods can fix that.

Your bodys hormones direct how your organs work. Like a conductor directing a symphony orchestraquicken the tempo or slow it down, more violin, less bassyour hormones turn your metabolism up or down, alter your moods, control your reproductive function, and affect how you store body fat and how you burn it.

The people I described above all suffered from hormone haywire. They had no idea what was wrong, much less how to fix it.

Their answer was in foods. Yours may be, too. Your hormonal systems respond to changes in your diet, and the range of health problems that are caused by hormonesand that can be successfully treated by using foods in a smarter wayis truly surprising. Equally surprising is how fast things can improve with a menu adjustment: Cramps gone in the very first month after a diet change. Fertility restored within a few months. Diabetes starting to improve in a matter of days. While everyones experience is different, these are all things we have seen routinely.

Estrogens and testosteronethe female and male hormonescan be ratcheted up or down based on the foods you eat. In turn, that affects fertility for both men and women, as well as a womans monthly cycle, menopausal symptoms, and the risk of certain cancers.