What Dairy Does to Hormones and Mood

How a hormonally active food affects skin, cycles, and emotional stability

I often work with people who have already made significant changes to their diet. They eat whole foods, plenty of vegetables, minimal sugar, and they are thoughtful and intentional about what they put into their bodies. And yet, they still feel emotionally volatile. Their skin flares before their period. Their mood drops sharply. PMS feels heavy, or PMDD feels unmanageable. When everything looks right on paper, this can be deeply confusing.

What I see repeatedly is that dairy is often the missing piece. Not because it is indulgent, but because it is hormonally active in ways that are rarely explained clearly or honestly.

This matters particularly for anyone with hormonal sensitivity.

Dairy is designed to drive growth, not balance

Milk exists for one biological purpose. To promote rapid growth in a newborn of another species. That growth signal is not incidental. It is the point.

One of the key compounds involved is IGF-1, insulin-like growth factor. This is not a contaminant or a farming issue. It is intrinsic to milk itself. When humans consume dairy, IGF-1 activity increases, signalling cells to grow and divide.

In a developing calf, this makes sense. In an adult human, especially one with hormonal vulnerability, it creates unnecessary stimulation.

Growth signals do not act in isolation. They interact with insulin, oestrogen, and androgen pathways. When these systems are already sensitive, the result is often instability rather than nourishment.

Understanding oestrogenic load

Dairy contributes to what is known as oestrogenic load. This does not simply refer to blood oestrogen levels. It describes the total amount of oestrogenic activity the body must process, metabolise, and clear.

Unlike plant foods such as soy, dairy contains bioactive mammalian oestrogens. It also influences how the body produces and recycles its own hormones. This increases the workload placed on the liver and gut, which are central to hormone clearance.

When that load becomes excessive, symptoms appear. Breast tenderness. Fluid retention. Heavier or more uncomfortable cycles. Acne. Emotional reactivity. Premenstrual anxiety or low mood.

These patterns are not random. They are predictable responses to hormonal congestion.

Acne is a hormonal signal, not a skin problem

One of the most consistent findings in nutritional research is the association between dairy intake and acne. This relationship shows up across age groups and populations.

The mechanism is well understood. Dairy increases IGF-1 activity, which in turn increases androgen signalling and sebum production. The skin responds accordingly.

This is not about vanity. Acne is an external expression of internal hormonal communication. When breakouts follow a cyclical pattern, they are often mirroring what is happening beneath the surface.

Topical treatments rarely address the cause. The signal is coming from inside.

Hormones and mood are inseparable

Hormones do not only influence the reproductive system. They directly affect neurotransmitters such as serotonin and GABA, which play central roles in mood regulation, emotional resilience, and anxiety.

When oestrogen fluctuates sharply, serotonin availability can fall. When progesterone is poorly supported, calming pathways are compromised. Add inflammatory signals into this mix and emotional stability becomes fragile.

Dairy amplifies these fluctuations. It increases hormonal volatility and inflammatory signalling, particularly in people who already experience mood changes across the cycle.

This is why removing dairy often results in emotional steadiness before any other improvement becomes obvious. People tell me they feel calmer, less reactive, less emotionally hijacked. Nothing else changed. Only dairy was removed.

The gut-brain connection matters more than most people realise

Mood is not created solely in the brain. It is shaped continuously by what happens in the gut.

Dairy proteins can provoke inflammatory responses in the digestive tract. This does not always show up as bloating or pain. Low grade inflammation can be quiet and persistent, affecting gut permeability and microbial balance.

When the gut is inflamed, communication between the gut and brain becomes distorted. Neurotransmitter production is affected. Stress resilience drops. Emotional responses become amplified.

Someone may feel no obvious digestive discomfort at all, yet still experience anxiety, irritability, or mood swings. The gut brain axis does not require dramatic symptoms to be disrupted.

The pattern I see again and again

There is a familiar sequence I encounter frequently.

Someone improves their diet. Energy lifts. Digestion settles. Concentration improves. They feel proud of the changes they have made. And yet their mood still crashes premenstrually. Acne still flares. Emotional sensitivity still feels out of proportion.

Dairy is often the last thing to be questioned, precisely because it is so normalised. Milk in coffee. Yoghurt for protein. Cheese for comfort. It rarely registers as something that could be disruptive.

When dairy is removed, the shift is often striking. Cycles feel calmer. Skin clears. Emotional reactions soften. People describe feeling more like themselves again.

Not lighter. Not thinner. Steadier.

Why dairy hits harder in PMS and PMDD

PMS and PMDD reflect heightened sensitivity to hormonal shifts. The nervous system and brain respond more intensely to changes in oestrogen and progesterone.

When external hormonal signals are added to an already sensitive system, symptoms escalate. This is not weakness. It is biology.

For someone with PMDD, even small hormonal disturbances can feel overwhelming. Removing hormonally active foods reduces the background noise the body is trying to manage.

I often say that when hormonal sensitivity is present, the margin for error is smaller. Dairy pushes the system beyond that margin.

Removing dairy is not a nutritional loss

One of the most persistent concerns I hear is fear of deficiency. Calcium. Protein. Iodine. Fat.

In practice, nutritional adequacy often improves when dairy is removed and replaced intentionally. Leafy greens, legumes, seeds, tofu, tempeh, fortified plant milks, sea vegetables, nuts, and whole grains provide minerals in forms the body can regulate more effectively.

Plant based calcium does not arrive packaged with growth hormones. Protein comes without inflammatory baggage. The body is supported rather than pushed.

The key is replacement, not restriction.

Emotional stability is a biological signal

Mood symptoms are not inconveniences to be managed. They are communication.

When emotional volatility reduces after dairy removal, the body is giving clear feedback. The hormonal environment has become quieter. The nervous system no longer needs to brace itself.

As Hippocrates observed, healing begins when we stop interfering with the body’s attempts to restore balance.

This is not about purity. It is about listening.

A final reflection

If you have improved your diet and still feel hormonally or emotionally unsettled, I encourage curiosity rather than self criticism. The answer is often not another supplement or protocol. It is removing what does not belong.

Steadier mood rarely comes from adding more. It comes from reducing the signals the body is struggling to process.

When the hormonal load lightens, clarity returns. And with it, a sense of calm that feels earned, not forced.

Camilla Clare is a naturopath and holistic health practitioner specialising in plant based nutrition, metabolic health, and mind body medicine. Her work integrates nutritional science with clinical experience to support long term vitality and disease prevention.