The holiday season is a magical time of year—filled with joy, celebrations, and precious moments with loved ones. But let’s be honest, it can also bring its fair share of stress, overindulgence, one too many cocktails, and late nights. The result? Low energy, mood swings, and those relentless cravings which can throw your hormones off balance.

This year, let’s flip the script! With a little mindfulness and proactive planning, you can stay energized, balanced, and at your best—all while fully enjoying the festivities. Here are 12 tips to support your hormones and health this holiday season.

1. Snack Smarter

Healthy snacks like fresh fruit, nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, and dates can satisfy your sweet tooth while keeping your blood sugar stable. These nutrient-packed options also provide essential vitamins and minerals to support overall health.

Quick Tip: Create a holiday snack board with these ingredients for a festive and healthy option at gatherings.

2. Add Cinnamon to Your Day

Cinnamon isn’t just a holiday favourite—it’s also great for stabilizing blood sugar and curbing sugar cravings.

How to Use: Sprinkle it on coffee, yogurt, oatmeal, granola, roasted sweet potatoes, baked apples or holiday desserts for a natural and delicious health boost.

3. Take a Festive Walk After Meals

A walk after meals helps improve digestion, lower cortisol levels and regulate blood sugar.

Tip: Turn it into a family tradition by exploring holiday lights or enjoying a walk in the fresh winter air.

4. Sip on Green Tea

Green tea has an abundance of anti-inflammatory effects which can positively impact your hormones and digestive health.

Tip: The polyphenols in green tea can also promote a healthy metabolism and provide a gentle energy boost without the jitters.

5. Choose Healthier Holiday Drinks

Skip the alcoholic drinks & sugary cocktails and opt for mocktails instead.    Alcohol increases cortisol levels which disrupts the body’s ability to manage stress and balance other hormones.  Alcohol also disrupts your sleep, increases inflammation, dehydrates you and impacts blood sugar levels energy crashes and increased sugar cravings.  Sparkling water with fresh fruit, cucumber slices, cranberries, ginger tea, or peppermint tea are festive and hormone-friendly alternatives.

Mocktail Idea: Mix sparkling water with cranberry juice, a splash of lime, fresh mint and a few cranberries.

6. Prioritize Magnesium

Magnesium is the queen mineral and is essential for reducing stress, improving sleep, and supporting hormone production.   Magnesium is needed for over 300 biochemical processes throughout the body and is one of the first minerals to be depleted when we are under stress which in turn puts further stress on the body.

Foods to Add: Dark leafy greens, almonds, cashews, pumpkin seeds, black beans, lentils, quinoa, oats, salmon, avocado, banana and dark chocolate are excellent sources.     I also love Magnesium lotions and epsom salt baths as a source of getting in more magnesium.

7. Boost your Hydration

Staying hydrated is so important for your energy levels and hormone balance. Add a pinch of Celtic sea salt or electrolytes to your water to enhance hydration by optimizing your body’s ability to absorb and retain fluids.

Holiday Twist: Try infused water with orange slices, cranberries, and rosemary for a festive touch.

8. Start the Day with a Protein-Packed Breakfast

Protein helps stabilize blood sugar and reduce cravings later in the day.  Aim for 25-40 grams.

Breakfast ideas: Scrambled eggs with cottage cheese and avocado, a smoothie with protein powder & greek yogurt, protein pancakes, greek yogurt power bowl.

9. Make Sleep a Priority

Sleep is essential for hormone regulation. Poor sleep can disrupt cortisol and hunger hormones like ghrelin and leptin causing fatigue and making sugary foods harder to resist. Every 1 hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of rest. So aim for a 10pm bedtime.

Tips: Create a calming bedtime routine with dim lights, herbal tea, and a gratitude journal to wind down. Turn off all electronics one hour prior to going to bed.

10. Sip on Bone Broth

Bone broth is a superfood for your immune system and digestive tract. It is rich in collagen, amino acids, and minerals that support gut health, reduce inflammation, and promote hormone balance.

How to Enjoy: Sip it as a warming drink or use it as a base for soups and stews.  It's easy to make, boil some chicken bones, add onion, celery and carrots, sea salt and pepper. When I don't have time to make my own I love Kettle & Fire bone broth.

11. Incorporate Fermented Foods

Gut health plays a key role in hormone regulation, and fermented foods are packed with probiotics to support digestion and estrogen metabolism.

Examples: Add sauerkraut as a side to everything....with scrambled eggs, salads, bowls, kimchi to grain bowls, or sip on kefir or add it in a smoothie.

12. Manage Stress Effectively

The holidays can be busy and stressful, and managing stress is key for balancing hormones. Practices like gratitude journaling, meditation, and deep breathing can really help lower cortisol levels.  It doesn’t have to be a time consuming practise, try starting with 5 minutes a day and grow from there. 

Quick Stress Relief: Try deep breathing- Inhale for 5 seconds, hold for 5 seconds and exhale for 5 (repeat 7-10 times), inhale an essential oil you love or write down three things you’re grateful for when you feel overwhelmed or anxious and this will help to bring cortisol and other hormones back to balance.

The holidays don’t have to a time where you derail from your health goals and start over again in the New Year. Try being intentional and incorporating these 12 hormone-friendly tips into your routine so you can enjoy the season while staying balanced and energized. Remember, small changes can have a big impact!

Which tip will you try first? 🎄✨

Best wishes for a happy & health holiday season,

Richelle