A Conversation with Suzie Devine, BSN, MSN, founder of Binto,

A Practitioner’s Perspective with Suzie Devine, BSN, MSN, Founder of Binto

Everywhere you turn, someone is promising a shortcut to “balanced hormones.”

A powder.
A protocol.
A 30-day reset.

But hormones don’t work on hacks, they work on rhythm.

To unpack what’s actually happening in the body across the many phases of womanhood, we spoke with Suzie Devine, BSN, MSN, founder of Binto, a personalized supplement company designed to support women from fertility through postpartum and beyond (including peri and menopause).

Suzie’s background in nursing and women’s health, from bedside care to fertility clinics, shaped her perspective on what women actually need: support that evolves with the body, not quick fixes.

“What do women actually mean when they say they want to ‘balance their hormones’?”

Hormones are chemical messengers that move through fluids, like blood, to trigger specific actions in certain cells. They help turn things on and off! Our hormones are produced by glands, and our glands make up the body’s endocrine system.

In reality, most women searching how to balance hormones are experiencing symptoms of a broader hormonal imbalance, often influenced by stress, nutrition, sleep, and lifestyle factors (irregular cycles, mood swings, brain fog, hot flashes).

When we say we want to balance our hormones, or that our hormones are out of balance, it means much more than just the sex hormones, such as estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone.

All of our hormones work in harmony, and we have over 50 identified hormones in the human body.

Certain diseases, environmental and lifestyle factors, can all tip the balance of our endocrine system. When this balance is off, it leads to a host of symptoms in the body, such as fatigue and metabolic changes.

In other words: hormones don’t operate in isolation. They respond to sleep, stress, nutrition, gut health, and inflammation—which is why chasing a quick fix rarely works.

How Hormones Change Across Every Stage of Womanhood

Hormones are not static. They’re designed to shift across life stages, especially during major biological transitions.

Pregnancy: building + sustaining

In pregnancy, our load increases. We’re sustaining the life of a new human! How amazing is the female body? Hormone levels (estrogen, progesterone) rise to create and protect life. Blood volume doubles. The thyroid works harder. The immune system shifts. Nutritional needs dramatically increase — not just folate, but iron, iodine, choline, omega-3s. This is a high-output metabolic state.

This is why postpartum hormone health requires sustained nutritional support—not just in the first six weeks, but often for months (or years) after birth.

Postpartum: depletion + recalibration

Within 24 hours of birth, estrogen and progesterone plummet. It’s one of the most abrupt hormonal shifts a human can experience. Add sleep deprivation, healing tissue, breastfeeding demands, and emotional processing. The system isn’t broken — it’s recalibrating — but without support, women feel depleted. The postpartum period can last for two years. It’s critical to take care of yourself and be gentle to yourself during this time of life.

That depletion is real—93% of mothers experience nutrient depletion postpartum, with symptoms like fatigue, anxiety, and brain fog.

Reproductive years: rhythm + stress response

In our 20s and 30s, hormones operate in a cyclical rhythm. But modern life places women in chronic stress mode. Cortisol competes with progesterone. Blood sugar dysregulation impacts ovulation. Gut health affects estrogen metabolism. So it’s less about “fixing hormones” and more about supporting resilience.

Perimenopause & menopause: fluctuation + adaptation

Perimenopause is not a steady decline — it’s volatility. Estrogen spikes and crashes before settling lower. That fluctuation impacts mood, sleep, metabolism, and inflammation. Menopause then becomes an adaptation phase — how does the body thrive with a new hormonal baseline? This is where we need more research, and luckily we do have some clinical research and data to support the importance of HRT. Women need estrogen!

Across every phase are the same underlying factors:

• Nutrient demand
  
• Inflammation
• Nervous system regulation
  

Hormones don’t operate in isolation. They respond to nutrient status, gut health, sleep, stress, and emotional load.

That’s why we need to stop treating women’s health as episodic — pregnancy here, menopause there — and start treating it as a continuum.

That philosophy is what drove me to build care models that blend preventative support, education, and access across every stage of life.

The Role of Nutrition in Hormone Health

Before supplements. Before protocols. There’s food. 

If you’re trying to support hormone health naturally, nutrition is the first and most important lever.

• Hormones are built from nutrients. 
• Blood sugar stability affects cortisol + insulin. 
• Protein + fiber + micronutrients matter more than trendy eliminations.
• Restrictive dieting often backfires hormonally.
• Food as foundation before supplementation.

One of the biggest misconceptions we see is the belief that supplements can replace a solid nutritional foundation.

Supplements are supportive. Nutrition is foundational.

This is exactly why nutrition-forward approaches to women’s health matter—because the body needs both macro and micronutrients consistently, not occasionally.

When Supplements Are Helpful

Supplements can play an important role—but they’re not magic.

Remember, because most companies try to sell women that something is wrong and you have to fix it, that nothing is wrong with you. Your body is amazing! Sometimes, we simply need a little extra support. Supplements can help support hormone balance, fill gaps in nutrition and may support you in managing your symptoms (think postpartum depletion): personalization over one-size-fits-all formulas.

Personalized or customized supplement systems help you target your health goals and your body’s needs more directly. We’re not all the same!

And that difference matters when it comes to dosage.

If you’re actively trying to conceive for instance, you may need 600mg of CoQ10 if you’re in your 40’s, but most over-the-counter and one-size-fits-all options only contain 100-200mg of CoQ10. That’s not enough to improve egg quality.

Testing can also help guide support.

Lab tests certainly give us more information and insight with specific numerical values and data points. However, if you want to get started and do not have up-to-date labs, Binto can help you build your customized supplement routine to target your needs/symptoms.

Ultimately, the goal isn’t to hack the body—it’s to support it.

Daily Habits That Actually Support Hormones

Beyond food and supplements, consider the environment we live in.

The products we use daily—and the environments we live in—impact our hormones more than we think! While, of course, this is, in many ways, completely out of our control, we can do a few things to mitigate our risks from endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

Some small shifts can make a meaningful difference:

Stop using plastics at home. Use glass containers or at least switch to BPA/BPS free products.

Shop for organic, NON-GMO foods. 

Start buying chemical-free products when you run out of your old ones. The big hitters being laundry detergent, make-up/skin care, and cleaning products.

Small changes. Long-term impact.

The Takeaway

Hormones are not something to fix. They’re something to support.

That means:

• nourishing the body with real food
• stabilizing blood sugar
• managing stress
• prioritizing sleep
• and using supplements thoughtfully

Because women’s hormone health isn’t a moment. It’s a lifecycle.

That means nourishing the body with real food, managing stress, prioritizing sleep, and using supplements thoughtfully. 

About Suzie Devine

Suzie Devine, BSN, MSN is the founder of Binto, a personalized supplement company designed to support women through fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, and beyond. After working in fertility clinics and experiencing IVF and pregnancy loss herself, she set out to create vitamin systems that evolve alongside women’s needs.

Suzie has shared a special offer for Mamaland readers: Get 25% off your first Binto order with code MAMALA25

And when it comes to your daily foundation? Supplements are supportive. Nutrition is foundational.

That’s where Mamala comes in.

Our Support Snacks™ are designed to complement your supplement routine—delivering the real, whole-food nutrients your body needs during life’s most demanding stages.

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