I’m A Hormone Expert. Here’s What I Eat In A Typical Day

Dr. Sara Gottfried is a Harvard-trained MD, bestselling author, and leading expert on hormones. That's why were thrilled to team up with her for a new series this week on balancing your hormones for better health. If you're inspired to learn more, check out her class, How To Balance Your Hormones For Glowing Skin, Deeper Sleep & Better Digestion.

I’m a board-certified gynecologist who practices functional medicine, but I’m also a regular gal—a busy working mom, constant chauffeur for my daughters, devoted wife, and spiritual seeker.

In my practice, I help women balance their hormones naturally—starting with their fork. I have a “food first” philosophy and passionately believe that food is the small hinge that swings the biggest doors when it comes to your health.

I gain weight way too easily—diabetes runs in my family, as does poor stress resilience—so I'm strategic with my food plan. I eat foods that stabilize my blood sugar and don’t cause high cortisol, including lots of fiber and no gluten.

I also choose a diverse range of foods and drinks that are high in nutrient density, so that my microbiome is happy. I have hypothyroidism, or a slow thyroid, so I try my best to avoid raw goitrogens like cruciferous vegetables and soy. I still eat broccoli, kale, collards, cauliflower, etc., but I lightly steam them to inactivate most of the goitrogens. You’ll find a lot of fermented vegetables on my meal plan because they are nature’s probiotic and help you reset your insulin so that you don’t store fat around your belly.

I also eat low-mercury, wild-caught fish almost daily because it keeps my fatty acids in balance. I have a gene called PPARG that keeps my weight down if I eat more fish than meat, so you’ll find a lot of salmon, halibut, cod, and steelhead trout on the menu.

Most of all, I eat portions that are right for my body, because I’m a recovering food addict who gains weight if I eat unmeasured food. In the spirit of transparency, I’ve included the measurements of all of my food.

I like to keep my routine as regular as possible, so that there’s time for the love and grace to seep in. My day begins at 6 a.m. and ends at 10 p.m., and I pay attention to natural rhythms like my circadian clock and Ayurvedic dosha tendencies (I’m pitta-kapha).

I start my day with a steamy mug of green tea. My current favorite is genmaicha, a combination of green tea and brown rice. I steep organic loose tea for four minutes and then add a fresh squeeze of Meyer lemon. I encourage my patients to replace their coffee with tea to decrease their intake of caffeine, which can make you feel stressed and disrupt your sleep if you metabolize caffeine slowly.

I eat around 7 a.m. with my husband and two daughters. I take three deep breaths before I eat because my old habit was to skip breakfast or shovel it in while speed-reading The New York Times. I find that distracted eating raises cortisol, your main stress hormone.

For the salad, a combination like arugula, chopped pea greens, rainbow carrots, sliced hearts of palm, and sliced black radish, topped with arugula pesto is a good example. Eating most of the colors of the rainbow each day helps to fill your micronutrient gaps.