Hormone-balancing vegan brownies

by Viola Brugnatelli · Published October 28, 2015 · Updated February 27, 2017

This recipe is intended for women but it is so good that men would want to have their share too!

The ingredients of these brownies reduce painful periods, heavy bleeding, irregular menstruation as well as hot flushes and other side effects associated with hormonal imbalances, PMS and menopause.

Mode of action

Chia and lineseed contain Omega 3 and 6, and phytoestrogens.

Omega-3 fatty acids consist of EPA (Eicosapentaenoic acid), ALA(Alpha-linolenic acid) and DHA (Docosahexaenoic acid).

The synergic effects of these compounds reduce inflammation, which is often the cause to hormonal disbalances. (1)
They are also important for proper hormone production in general and normalisation of the menstrual cycle.

Linolenic acid (ALA) converts to GLA, which is essential for healthy progesterone production.

Moreover, lineseeds contains phytoestrogens of the category of phytoestrogenic substances called lignans. (2)

The common belief (browse the internet for plenty of myth-based truths) is that women with hormonal unbalances should not consume phytoestrogens.

This could not be further from the truth, unless you have a known thyroid disease, in which case I would advice against consumption of raw phytoestrogens, as they are often goitrogens (worsening your thyroid dysfunction).

As a molecular neuroscientist I look at ligand-binding and signaling pathways: In the case of phytoestrogens they have a similar enough chemical structure to oestrogen to bind to oestrogens receptors.

The ability to bind to a receptor of a given compound is called “affinity“, which differs from “efficacy”, the physiologic response.

In broad terms, a compound may bind with high affinity to a receptor, but does not necessarily initiate the downstream signalling that give rise to the physiological effects.

This is true for phytoestrogens: yes they bind oestrogen receptors with good affinity, but they are not very efficacious, making them actually pretty good at maintaing hormonal homeostasis.

As they bind to the oestrogens receptors, they prevent these same receptors to be activated from our endogenous oestrogen, lowering the cause hormonal-related issues.