What Your Hormones Are Made Of: The Nutrients Behind Hormones and Mood

Part two of three. Hormones and brain chemicals are built from what you eat, and it shows when supplies run short.

Last time, we talked about the weird little signs that you might be low on something: the cracked lips, the restless legs, the nails that bend instead of snap. Today I want to go one layer deeper, dear reader, and look at what those same nutrients are doing on the inside.

Because your body can't make a hormone or a neurotransmitter out of thin air. It builds them from what you eat, using enzymes that only work when certain vitamins and minerals are on hand.

I think this is one of the most empowering things a woman can understand about her body. Your hormones aren't a mysterious force that descends on you. They are physical molecules, assembled in your tissues every single day, out of materials you supplied at breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

The 3 Types of Hormones and What They're Made From

It helps to know that "hormones" aren't one kind of thing. They come in three broad families, and each is built from something different.

• Steroid hormones (estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and cortisol) are made from cholesterol.

• Amino acid hormones (thyroid hormone, adrenaline, and melatonin) are made from single amino acids, the building blocks of protein.

• Peptide hormones (insulin, and the brain signals that tell your ovaries and thyroid what to do) are short chains of amino acids linked together.

So two of the three families come directly from protein, and the third comes from fat. All three need vitamins and minerals to be assembled. Which is a long way of saying that hormones are made of food.

Nutrients Needed to Make Thyroid Hormone, Estrogen, and Insulin

Here are the examples I come back to constantly in my practice.

Thyroid hormone. It's built from the amino acid tyrosine plus iodine, and the enzyme that assembles it needs iron. Your thyroid releases mostly T4, which is a storage form. Converting T4 into active T3 takes selenium and zinc. This is one reason a woman can have thyroid numbers that look fine on paper and still feel cold, tired, and foggy.

Estrogen, progesterone, and cortisol. All of them start from cholesterol, most of which your own liver makes. From there, cholesterol is converted step by step through a chain of enzymes. Those enzymes are iron-containing, and they rely on B vitamins, magnesium, zinc, and vitamin C to do their work. When energy intake drops very low, the body turns down reproductive hormone production to conserve resources, which is why cycles so often go missing with under-eating.

Insulin. It's a peptide hormone, stored in the pancreas bound up with zinc. Magnesium helps your cells respond to it, and low magnesium is associated with insulin resistance.

Melatonin. Your sleep hormone is made from serotonin, and serotonin is made from the amino acid tryptophan. So good sleep sits two steps downstream of adequate protein.

Notice how the same names keep appearing: iron, zinc, magnesium, B vitamins, protein. When the outside of your body is showing a shortage, the inside is usually feeling it as well.

How Protein and Amino Acids Make Serotonin and Dopamine

We talk about vitamins and minerals constantly, and protein gets treated like a gym topic. But protein breaks down into amino acids, and amino acids are the literal starting material for your neurotransmitters:

• Tryptophan becomes serotonin, and serotonin becomes melatonin.

• Tyrosine becomes dopamine, then norepinephrine, then adrenaline. (It's also the backbone of thyroid hormone.)

• Glutamine feeds the production of GABA, your main calming signal.

• Glycine works as a calming neurotransmitter in its own right.

So vitamins and minerals are the tools, and amino acids are the lumber. You need both. A woman who skips breakfast, grabs a salad at lunch, and finally eats a real meal at 7pm may be asking her brain to make a full day of serotonin and dopamine out of very little.

I don't want to oversimplify this. Eating more turkey won't cure depression, and your neurotransmitter levels depend on far more than one meal. But a brain that is chronically short on amino acids, iron, and B6 is working with one hand tied behind its back.

This is one reason I'm so insistent about protein at breakfast. It's often the simplest change with the biggest effect on mood, cravings, and sleep.

Vitamins and Minerals Needed for Neurotransmitter Production

Amino acids don't turn into neurotransmitters on their own. Each step is run by an enzyme, and each enzyme needs a helper nutrient to work.

• Vitamin B6 is the workhorse. It's needed for the final step in making serotonin, dopamine, and GABA.

• Iron runs the first, slowest step in making both serotonin and dopamine. This is one reason low iron can feel like low mood, poor focus, and restless legs all at once.

• Folate and B12 keep a process called methylation running. Your body uses it to make melatonin and adrenaline, and to recycle a helper molecule that serotonin and dopamine production depend on.

• Vitamin C and copper convert dopamine into norepinephrine.

• Magnesium takes part in hundreds of enzyme reactions, including making the cellular energy all of this runs on.

• Zinc supports the production and signaling of several neurotransmitters, and it's needed to activate thyroid hormone.

This is why I rarely think about one nutrient at a time. The whole assembly line only moves as fast as its scarcest part, so a woman with plenty of protein and very low iron can still come up short.

Symptoms of Running Low on These Nutrients

Nobody walks into my office saying, "I believe I'm low on the cofactors for dopamine synthesis." What I hear sounds more like this:

• A flat mood, or less joy in things that used to be fun.

• Anxiety that doesn't seem attached to anything.

• Trouble falling asleep, staying asleep, or both.

• An afternoon crash, with strong cravings for sugar or caffeine.

• PMS that's worse than it used to be.

• Poor focus and a short fuse.

• Feeling cold and tired no matter how much you sleep.

Every item on that list has other possible causes, and none of them proves a deficiency. But when several show up together, especially alongside the outside signs from part one, I start by checking the supplies.

Key Nutrients for Hormone Balance

Here's the short version of what each one does, and what it tends to look like when it runs low.

Iron. Your thyroid needs iron to make thyroid hormone, and your brain needs it to make dopamine and serotonin. Low iron can look like fatigue, anxiety, restless sleep, and hair shedding.

Magnesium. It helps muscles relax and supports sleep and the stress response. When it runs low, you may get cramps, twitchy legs, and that wired-but-tired feeling at bedtime.

Zinc. It plays a role in thyroid hormone metabolism, skin repair, and hair growth. Low zinc tends to show up on the outside first: skin, scalp, and hair.

B vitamins. B6, B12, and folate help build the brain chemicals that steady your mood. They also support the pathways your liver uses to process estrogen (more on that next time).

Vitamin D. It behaves more like a hormone than a vitamin. It matters for mood and immunity, and it matters more for your bones as estrogen declines.

Omega-3 fats and vitamin A. Both keep your skin barrier healthy, and omega-3s help calm inflammation.

Protein. Hair, nails, and muscle are all built from it, and muscle gets harder to hold onto in midlife.

Best Foods for Hormone and Neurotransmitter Support

The biochemistry is complicated. The eating doesn't have to be.

• Protein at every meal, starting with breakfast: eggs, fish, poultry, meat, Greek yogurt, tofu, lentils, and beans.

• Iron-rich foods paired with vitamin C: lentils with a squeeze of lemon, or red meat with peppers or greens.

• B vitamins from leafy greens, legumes, eggs, and animal foods. B12 comes almost entirely from animal foods, so if you eat mostly plants, it's one to supplement.

• Magnesium from pumpkin seeds, almonds, dark leafy greens, beans, and dark chocolate. (You're welcome.)

• Zinc from oysters, beef, and pumpkin seeds.

• Healthy fats from olive oil, avocado, nuts, and fatty fish, which also bring omega-3s.

• Iodine and selenium from seafood and eggs. A Brazil nut or two covers selenium for the day, and more isn't better.

• Enough food overall. Your body won't prioritize making reproductive hormones if it thinks there's a famine.

If you'd like a head start, The Women's Reset is my guide and 7-day meal plan for balanced hormones.

The Bottom Line

You don't need to memorize a single pathway. What I hope stays with you is simpler: your mood, your sleep, and your cycle are built out of your meals. When those feel off, it's worth asking whether the supplies are getting through before assuming your hormones have gone rogue.

Next time, in part three: how your liver clears hormones, which nutrients it needs to do that, and why all of this starts long before perimenopause.

Chelsie Moore, MS, CNS, LDN, is a functional medicine clinician and integrative nutritionist at Moore Integrative Health in Portland, Oregon.

This post is for educational purposes only and isn't a substitute for individualized medical advice. Please talk with your provider before starting any supplement.