5 Tips: Hormone Support in a Politically Chaotic World

Whether it’s scrolling headlines, listening to debates, or watching policies that hit close to home, no matter what side of the political aisle we find ourselves on, our nervous system is constantly responding. If you're someone who’s ever felt ragey, exhausted, sad, or hopeless in the face of what’s happening around us, locally, regionally, nationally or globally, you’re not alone!

Politics might live on screens, but your body still gets the memo.

Stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline spike, inflammation rises, and our delicate hormonal dance (hello, estrogen, progesterone, insulin) gets disrupted. 

This isn't about picking sides! It's about protecting your system when the world feels unhinged.

Here are 5 ways to support your hormones when the world feels heavy:

1. Set a media boundary and protect your mornings.

The worst thing you can do for your hormones? Starting your day with a cortisol spike and a blood sugar crash.

That’s exactly what happens when you wake up, grab your phone, and scroll straight into a dumpster fire of news, political arguments, or heartbreaking headlines.

Your first hour of the day should belong to your body.

Focus on steadying your blood sugar with protein-rich food, moving your body (even gently), and keeping your cortisol curve stable.

Hot tip: Create a separate Instagram or Facebook account just for news outlets or political updates. That way, you can check in on current events intentionally, not accidentally while trying to watch a dog video or respond to your aunt’s comment on your smoothie post.

You’re not burying your head in the sand! You’re protecting your nervous system and choosing when and how you engage.

2. Move your body, especially when you're fired up.
Your hormones love movement. Any type of movement clears stress hormones, supports estrogen detox, and steadies your mood. But you don’t need a full workout to feel the shift. At work? Try one of these:

• Walk a loop around the building or office floor while listening to music or a podcast (maybe not a political podcast…lol). Just 5–10 minutes can shake off cortisol and re-center your nervous system.

• Do a bathroom stall stretch break. Neck rolls, shoulder shrugs, forward folds. You don’t need a mat or anyone watching.

Anger, anxiety, and helplessness are physical. Get them out of your body before they camp out in your hormone pathways.

3. Stay fed and hydrated! Don’t let stress skip meals.
Stress might kill your appetite, but skipping meals kills your hormone balance.
When blood sugar crashes, cortisol spikes and your mood, energy, and cycle go down with it.

 Focus on consistent meals with protein, healthy fats, and fiber to stabilize your system. Bonus: add a pinch of sea salt or electrolytes to your water to support hydration and adrenal function.

 Need ideas?

• Meat-eater: Grilled chicken or turkey wrap with hummus, greens, and avocado

• Vegetarian: Hard-boiled eggs, apple slices, and almond butter + a handful of trail mix

• Vegan: Quinoa bowl with black beans, roasted sweet potatoes, avocado, and tahini drizzle

You don’t need a perfect meal. You need a supportive one. Hormone chaos doesn’t wait… so don’t let your meals lag either.

4. Journal what you can control.

When the world feels overwhelming, your brain starts scanning for danger and your hormones follow. Adrenaline surges. Cortisol spikes. You feel stuck, helpless, and wired.

But action, even small action, can flip the switch.

Writing down your thoughts and identifying what’s within your control restores a sense of agency, which is exactly what your nervous system (and hormone pathways) are begging for.

 Try these hormone-calming journal prompts:

• What parts of this issue are keeping me up at night?

• What can I do today that supports my values and protects my peace?

• What boundaries would feel good right now—in conversation, online, or in my environment?

• What emotions am I carrying that don’t belong to me?

• If my hormone health could talk, what would it ask me for right now?

You don’t need a 30-minute journaling practice. A few minutes of honest reflection is enough to calm the chaos inside your body and help you reconnect with your power.

5. Sleep like it’s your job.
You cannot scroll your way to justice or doomscroll your way to regulation.

 When the world feels unsafe, your body stays on high alert, especially at night. That means more cortisol, less melatonin, and way more tossing, turning, and 2am anxiety spirals.

Sleep is more than a luxury. Sleep is meant to be a hormone repair system.

This is when your body rebalances cortisol, stabilizes blood sugar, and detoxes excess estrogen. No sleep = no recovery.

 Start with these nervous system–friendly sleep strategies:

• Power down your scroll 1 hour before bed. Social media and political commentary fire up your brain and cortisol—when you need melatonin to rise.

• Support your body with calming inputs. Try magnesium glycinate, a sleep-supporting herbal tea (chamomile, lemon balm, passionflower), or a warm Epsom salt bath.

• Create a shutdown ritual. Journal your to-dos, light a candle, or listen to a grounding playlist to signal that you’re safe to rest.

Sleep is an act of resistance in a world that wants you overstimulated and overwhelmed.

Protect it like your hormones depend on it, because they do.

Don’t Forget!

The world might feel overwhelming, but your body doesn’t have to carry it all.

These tips won’t fix everything out there, but they will help you stay grounded, clear-headed, and hormonally steady while you keep showing up.

One regulated rebel at a time.