Top 5 Amazing Essential Oils For Natural Hormone Balance

 With 80 percent of women suffering from hormone imbalance, hormonal symptoms are incredibly common. Chances are if you are reading this post, you are looking for natural solutions to your hormonal troubles. If you have never considered essential oils for hormone balance, keep reading.

Whether you have painful periods, debilitating anxiety, severe acne, or infertility, chances are your hormones are out of whack. Sadly, hormones can go haywire at any age, as they are not limited to any particular age group. 

Even though not feeling like yourself can be super frustrating, be rest assured that natural remedies do exist to help you feel better. In  combination with proper nutrition and self-care routine, I find that essential oils for hormone imbalance are very effective as they can positively affect your body’s natural hormone production. 

What are Hormones?

Most people know very little about what hormones are and how they can get out of balance. We blame them for so many of our misfortunes. From acne to bloating, mood swings, and anxiety, we point fingers at our hormones. 

So what are hormones, anyway? They are chemical messengers that your body produces to perform various functions. Your hormones use your blood to travel to tissues and organs, giving them specific instructions on performing major bodily processes. Nonetheless, when your body makes too much or not enough of a particular hormone, you can experience uncomfortable symptoms. 

How Hormones Affect You?

Your hormone health plays a role in: 

• how you feel during the day
• how you sleep a night
• how much energy you have
• how much weight you hang onto
• how ready you are to be intimate and so much more.

Impressive, right? This is just the tip of the iceberg. All that to say, your hormones have an all-encompassing effect on multiple areas of your being and daily life. 

Signs of Hormone Imbalance

Hormone imbalance can look very different from one person to another. Some of the most common hormone imbalance symptoms women suffer from are: 

What Causes Hormone Imbalance?

Imbalanced hormones are never the result of a prescription drug deficiency. Instead, the cause is likely rooted in a combination of dietary, lifestyle, and environmental factors. In fact, our nutrient-deficient diet, chronic stress, lack of self-care, sedentary lifestyle, and exposure to environmental toxins are all part of the story. While we work on tweaking our lifestyle and adopt new, hormone-friendly eating habits, we can reach for natural solutions, like essential oils, to nudge our hormones in the right direction. 

Can Essential Oils Help with Hormone Imbalance?

Many women use essential oils for hormone balance to help alleviate period cramps, PMS, and even hot flashes. However, there is much more than mere anecdotal evidence that shows the various benefits of essential oils for hormonal symptoms. As a matter of fact, numerous studies confirm how aromatherapy with essential oils can affect your hormone balance and help you cope with anxiety (1) and premenstrual syndrome (2). 

Although you can use many essential oils for hormone balance, the ones below are my favorite, with an abundance of research supporting their effectiveness. 

5 Best Essential Oils for Hormone Balance

1. Clary Sage

Clary sage is one of the top essential oils that is well-supported by clinical research. It affects the body’s hormone levels because it contains natural phytoestrogens. Clary sage is a beautiful herb that regulates estrogen levels and helps keep your uterus healthy.

Menstruating women frequently suffer from infertility issues and PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome). These conditions and various types of cancers have been linked to high estrogen levels. Clary sage’s estrogen-balancing effect makes it an incredibly helpful oil. In addition, studies also show a beneficial impact on menstrual cramps (3) (4). 

Keeping your cortisol level in check is also important. Cortisol is a hormone that your adrenal glands release in response to physical or emotional stress. It is not hard to imagine how our overly stressed lifestyles get us in trouble, making our adrenals work hard, pumping out massive amounts of cortisol. Clary sage has proven itself to reduce cortisol levels effectively. This study (5) showed a 36% drop in menopausal women’s cortisol levels by merely inhaling the essential oil. 

2. Lavender

Lavender is one of the most commonly used essential oils. Even if you are not an avid user of essential oils, you have probably heard of lavender’s ability to reduce stress, ease tension, and help you fall asleep. These are just some of the ways lavender essential oil can help make you feel better, improve your mood, and help you get a good night of sleep. 

Rubbing lavender essential oil on your abdomen when you get your monthly menstrual cramps can bring significant relief. Furthermore, headaches, PMS symptoms (2), bloating, anxiety, and depressive mood, can also be alleviated. When I am on the go, I carry a bottle of lavender essential oil and inhale it whenever it calls my name. At home I have a diffuser and love diffusing it into the air around me.

3. Thyme

Most women know thyme from their kitchen cabinet. The culinary use of this herb has a long history. Thyme has strong antibacterial properties, making it an excellent choice to cleanse and purify acne-prone skin. In addition, thyme is considered one of the best essential oils for low progesterone. 

Science confirmed thyme’s ability to support your natural hormone production by balancing progesterone levels (6).  If you wonder how to use thyme essential oil for hormone balance, it is actually quite simple. A few drops of thyme oil diluted in a carrier oil, such as coconut oil, goes a long way. Apply the mix on the bottoms of your feet. 

4. Ylang-ylang

Ylang-ylang has a beautiful floral scent and antioxidant properties. Cosmetic companies often use it in creams and perfumes for its fragrance and its nourishing properties. Ylang-ylang is rich in antioxidants and helpful in reducing wrinkles and signs of aging (7). I make my own DIY facial moisturizer using some of my favorite essential oils. You guessed it right, ylang-ylang is one of the must-have ingredients! 

Diffusing ylang-ylang into the air or applying it to the skin can help induce a sense of calm and relaxation (8). Most of us are chronically stressed. Unmitigated stress has a detrimental effect on your hormone balance. Ylang-ylang is a fantastic oil to help lift your spirit and positively affect your mood. 

Ylang-ylang essential oil can help reduce fatigue and even increase libido (9). But don’t take my word for it. Diffuse a few drops in your bedroom at night or place a drop or two on your pillow and experience it yourself.

5. Geranium

Researchers have long recognized that some essential oils can alleviate menopausal symptoms. Since menopausal symptoms, such as hot flashes and night sweats, are thought to be caused by dropping estrogen levels, inhaling essential oils that can raise estrogen levels can help. A 2017 study (10) found that it is possible to increase estrogen levels by inhaling geranium and rose otto. This is why geranium is thought to be one of the best essential oils for hot flashes. 

Geranium can also be handy during childbirth. It reduces anxiety during labor, and according to this study (11), it can be a helpful alternative to anxiolytics during childbirth.

Learn about the dangers of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) 

Feel More Balanced One Drop at a Time

I have been using essential oils for hormone balancing for several years now, and I can honestly say they have changed my life. I find it fascinating how essential oils offer us a beautiful way to benefit from plant intelligence’s infinite potential. 

Which Essential Oil Should I Choose?

If you are ready to begin your journey of natural hormone balance with essential oils, let me give you a few pointers to help you get started. Not all essential oils are created equal. The market is flooded with mediocre products that are neither pure nor therapeutic grade. Essential oils are powerful and potent, but only when they contain the constituents that give them their unique properties, contain no fillers, are extracted the right way, and come from the right sources.

Would you like to learn more about essential oils and other natural solutions to get your hormones back on track?

References:

1. A multi-center, double-blind, randomised study of the Lavender oil preparation Silexan in comparison to Lorazepam for generalized anxiety disorder, Phytomedicine, 2010 Feb;17 (2):94-9.

2. Effect of aromatherapy on coping with premenstrual syndrome: A randomized controlled trial, Complement Ther Med.  2018 Feb;36:63-67.

3. Pain relief assessment by aromatic essential oil massage on outpatients with primary dysmenorrhea: a randomized, double-blind clinical trial, J Obstet Gynaecol Res. 2012 May;38(5):817-22.

4. Aromatherapy massage on the abdomen for alleviating menstrual pain in high school girls: a preliminary controlled clinical study, Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2012;2012:187163.

5. Changes in 5-hydroxytryptamine and cortisol plasma levels in menopausal women after inhalation of clary sage oil, Phytother Res. 2014 Nov;28(11):1599-605.

6. Estrogen and progestin bioactivity of foods, herbs, and spices, Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1998 Mar;217(3):369-78.

7. Potential of native Thai aromatic plant extracts in antiwrinkle body creams, J Cosmet Sci. Jul-Aug 2015;66(4):219-31.

8. Relaxing effect of ylang ylang oil on humans after transdermal absorption, Phytother Res. 2006 Sep;20(9):758-63.

9. Evaluation of the Harmonizing Effect of Ylang-Ylang Oil on Humans after Inhalation, August 2004Planta Medica 70(7):632-6

10. Effects of essential oil exposure on salivary estrogen concentration in perimenopausal women, Neuro Endocrinol Lett. 2017 Jan;37(8):567-572.

11. Effect of Inhalation of Aroma of Geranium Essence on Anxiety and Physiological Parameters during First Stage of Labor in Nulliparous Women: a Randomized Clinical Trial, J Caring Sci. 2015 Jun 1;4(2):135-41. (11)