What Foods Are High In Estrogen
The food you eat can impact the way your body produces hormones or even contain hormones. Different vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, animal products, and even herbs have chemicals in them that contain, engage with, or imitate hormones.
Phytoestrogen is a common compound that imitates estrogen in foods. This is because phytoestrogens are essentially the plant version of estrogen. Human bodies will process them the same way as regular estrogen, but it is weaker than synthetic or natural estrogen.
Another source of estrogen in foods is animal estrogen. Products like eggs or milk contain high estrogen levels because they are produced in parts of the animals body that regulate its hormones.
Eating high estrogen foods can help people who suffer from various conditions related to low estrogen levels. Conversely, there are some health scenarios in which eating foods high in estrogen can be harmful. Knowing what foods are high in estrogen helps either situation limit or increase your intake of those foods intentionally.
What Are The Health Concerns Of Excess Estrogen
Excess estrogen in men is linked to a number of serious health concerns that can impact short-term and long-term health.
Estrogen dominance is a toxic condition. Estrogen is the hormone that promotes growth and development. Too much estrogen is linked to the growth and spread of cancerous tumors. Researchers have especially studied the connection betweenexcess estrogen and breast cancer in both men and women. Excess estrogen may also increasethe risk for testicular and prostatic cancers.
Read:Does My Husband Have Prostate Cancer?
High levels of estrogen are also linked to weight gain. Estrogen likes to hold on to fat cells, which can make weight loss a challenge. Excess estrogen also upsets insulin levels. Insulin metabolizes sugar when insulin is out of whack, it doesnt fully process these sugars. If insulin cant remove sugar from the bloodstream, the body starts storing that sugar as fat. This creates weight gain and eventually can lead to insulin resistance andtype 2 diabetes.
Reducing estrogen levels andincreasing testosterone levels can increase muscle mass and decrease fat mass.
Excess estrogen can also causethyroid concerns anddepress the immune system. Other health concerns from thishormone imbalance include:
- Sexual dysfunction
- Depression
Use An Infrared Sauna:
Your skin is your largest organs and one of your most important detoxifying organs. Its way of detoxification is through sweating. While being outside on the summer heat is a great way to sweat, it is not the most effective. The sun is not available year-around and you have to be careful with the ultraviolet light and skin damage.
Infrared sauna, on the other hand, is a sauna that releases infrared light. Infrared light is safe and goes deeper into your body allowing to release fat-soluble toxins, lower toxic burdens, and even enhance internal detox pathways as well. Here is a helpful article on how to use an infrared sauna for detoxification.
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Testing Blood Estrogen Levels
A blood test will usually measure estradiol levels which is the stronger version of estrogen but some labs will also measure serum estrone and serum estriol levels.
A blood test is accurate for measuring estrogen and progesterone levels but it will not measure the estrogen metabolites and methylation of estrogen.
A blood test will show whether you have high oestrogen levels but it will not show why the levels are high like the DUTCH test.
Improve Your Gut Motility:
Improving bowel movement frequency and consistency is a key detoxification concept. If you arent moving your bowels well, you are recirculating bad estrogens and microbial endotoxins that drive up more inflammation and impair liver function.
Consuming an anti-inflammatory diet with good fiber sources such as chia seed and flax seed, using bone broths, fermented foods and probiotics will improve bowel motility. You should be moving your bowels a minimum of 1-2 times per day to clear out all the waste from the day before.
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Your Homework: Follow The Top 5
Now that you have a basic knowledge of the hormones that make you a man, try following our top 5 tips. Dont worry about trying to follow them all at once, however. Thats how plans fail.
Instead, pick just one strategy from below the one that sounds the easiest to you and practice it for two weeks without missing a day.
Give it a few days and you may just feel like a brand new man.
- Get at least 7-9 hours of sleep every night.
- Do a stress-reducing activity like meditation or yoga every day.
- Perform regular, high-intensity exercise with short rest periods.
- Drink a protein/carbohydrate drink within an hour after working out.
- Eliminate or significantly reduce your intake of caffeine, alcohol, nicotine and other drugs.
About the Author: Calvin Buhler is a Scrawny to Brawny Coach. You can find him on .
How To Get Your Estrogen Back With Benefits
If youre a perimenopausal woman wondering if you should be using hormone replacement therapy, you might like to know that since 2002, there is increasing new evidence regarding its overwhelming health benefits. And those benefits are supported by peer-reviewed scientific literature.
But benefits and risks vary depending on how youre getting your hormones.
Lets look at these benefits and any potential risks, and how you can get started feeling better by improving your hormone levels.
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Normal Estrogen Levels In Women
As levels fluctuate throughout the month this is going to depend on when you do your hormone test.
Hormone testing is usually done around day 3 or 21 of your cycle depending on what you want to assess.
If you are measuring serum hormones, then measuring estradiol along with LH and FSH on day 3 is a good idea to assess PCOS and the brain-ovarian connection.
Estrogen levels peak around day 14 so testing at this time along with progesterone can help assess ovulation.
The reference range for serum hormones varies a lot, so it is important to assess all of your hormones along with signs and symptoms.
The DUTCH test measures the hormones in the luteal phase. This is a better time to assess the hormones when trying to work out if you have estrogen dominance.
The DUTCH hormone test will also give you the optimal hormone reference ranges.
Foods That Increase Estrogen Level
There are several estrogen-rich foods that may help boost your estrogen level. These foods contain phytoestrogen, which is a plant-based estrogen that mimics estrogen once it is processed by the body.
The following is a list of foods that are known for containing excessive amounts of phytoestrogens. It is important to keep in mind that estrogen rich foods may have unwanted effects in men.
Soybean products: Soy is a rich source of phytoestrogen and comes in a variety of easy to consume forms like soy milk, tofu, or edamame. Soy products are the greatest source of isoflavones, a class of phytoestrogen that can be easily consumed in your diet. Soy is also a great source of protein, making it an ideal meat substitute for vegans and vegetarians.
Flaxseeds: These little seeds contain up to three times the phytoestrogens of soybeans, but your body will not reap their benefits unless they are cracked or ground prior to consumption. Also high in fiber, flaxseeds will make you feel full and may aid in weight loss and in the reduction of cholesterol.
Sesame seeds: Whole seedsor even sesame oilcontain lignans that possess phytoestrogens. The seeds are also loaded with fiber and are a great source of minerals.
Beans: They are relativity high in phytoestrogens, but they dont get much attention. Beans are known for having a high fiber content, which helps to control cholesterol levels. Types of beans include peas, pinto bean, and lima beans
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How To Balance Hormones And Estrogen
The body is always working to maintain hormone balance, but in todays environment, most people could use some help. Environmental toxins,lack of exercise, dietary influences, and other factors can throw your hormones out of balance. Hormone imbalances can cause issues and symptoms that affect quality of life, and over time, increase the risks of hormone-related health issues, reproductive problems, unhealthy weight, and more. Heres what you need to know about balancing hormones and estrogen and prioritizing your hormonal health.
What Causes Estrogen Dominance
There are two ways your body can experience higher levels of estrogen in relation to progesterone. Firstly, your body can create too much estrogen endogenously or struggle to properly eliminate natural estrogen through the liver and bowel.
Secondly, exposure to exogenous of estrogen-like substances can increase estrogen levels in the body. These substances are often referred to as endocrine-disrupting chemicals and act similarly to estrogen in our bodies.
For the majority of women in my clinic, it is a combination of these factors that contributes to estrogen dominance over time, rather than one specific cause.
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How Should This Medicine Be Used
The estradiol cypionate and estradiol valerate forms of long acting estrogen injection come as a liquid to inject into a muscle. These medications are usually injected by a health care professional once every 3 to 4 weeks. When the estradiol valerate form of estrogen injection is used to treat the symptoms of prostate cancer, it is usually injected by a health care professional once every 1 to 2 weeks.
The conjugated estrogens form of estrogen injection comes as a powder to mix with sterile water and inject into a muscle or vein. It is usually injected by a health care professional as a single dose. A second dose may be injected 6 to 12 hours after the first dose if it is needed to control vaginal bleeding.
If you are using estrogen injection to treat hot flushes, your symptoms should improve within 1 to 5 days after you receive the injection. Tell your doctor if your symptoms do not improve during this time.
Ask your pharmacist or doctor for a copy of the manufacturer’s information for the patient.
Reduce Exposure To Environmental Estrogens
Environmental contributors to estrogen dominance include xenoestrogens and endocrine disrupting chemicals . To reduce your exposure to these toxins and naturally lower your estrogen levels, consider these simple tips:
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Prioritise organic fruit and vegetables – these products do not contain pesticides and growth agents which contribute to the toxic load in your body. If buying all organic is unaffordable, follow the Environmental Working Groups Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen list
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Use glass containers for storing and reheating food, instead of plastic
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Use stainless steel water bottles instead of plastic
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Choose organic meat and dairy where possible. If this is not possible, avoid eating the fatty parts of meats of conventionally raised animals as this is where most toxins are stored
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Consider an inexpensive water filter
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Slowly swap out regular personal care products with low-tox, natural alternatives.
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Avoid using cling-wrap and other soft, flexible plastics – opt for natural beeswax wraps or paper bags as an alternative for storing and wrapping foods
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Minimise consumption of foods from tin cans, and choose BPA-free labelled cans where possible
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Slowly swap out regular cleaning products in your home with low-tox, natural alternatives
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Consider ditching the birth control pill or other hormone replacement therapy after consultation with your primary care provider. Speak to a holistic practitioner about natural alternatives to hormonal birth control and HRT
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Preventing High Estrogen Levels
While improving detoxification, reducing the activity of the aromatase enzyme to optimize your estrogen levels, you have to look at some lifestyle factors to reduce estrogen levels.
Reducing alcohol consumption can help reduce estrogen levels in men and women. For some people, this means reducing alcohol consumption. For other people, it may be necessary to fully eliminate alcohol for a period of time in order to improve liver function.
Estrogen in the environment is also a major problem. They can be found in plastics , cleaning products, personal care products, factory-farmed meats.
Estrogens are so widely used by many industries, that it is extremely hard to avoid them. Nevertheless, we can reduce our exposure and improve our detoxification.
Promote Estrogen Elimination Through The Gut
After your liver has broken down estrogen, it is sent to the gut to be packaged up with your stool and eliminated. In a healthy gut, the estrogen and other hormones are efficiently removed in your stool.
An unhealthy microbiome can cause estrogen to be uncoupled and reabsorbed into circulation instead of being eliminated. This reabsorption contributes to high estrogen levels in the body.
If you are suffering from sluggish bowels, constipation or incomplete emptying, metabolised estrogen has more time to be reabsorbed into the body, rather than quickly being eliminated.
Addressing gut elimination of estrogen requires a healthy microbiome and regular, daily stools. To promote a healthy microbiome, enjoy probiotic-rich foods daily and avoid unnecessary antibiotic use.
To promote daily stools, ensure you are eating plenty of fibre. Fibre is essential to feed the good bacteria in your gut and keep you regular. If you struggle to go to the toilet daily, try 1 teaspoon of psyllium husk in a large glass of water after dinner or add 1-2 Tbsp of ground flax seeds or chia seeds to your breakfast or smoothies.
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Limit Or Avoid These Foods And Drinks To Naturally Regulate Estrogen In Your Body:
Coffee
Limit to one cup or shot of espresso daily or replace with green tea to reduce the burden on your liver to metabolise caffeine
Alcohol
Just one glass of wine can dramatically increase estrogen levels in the body. This is because alcohol changes the way that the body breaks down estrogen. The effect is increased with the amount of alcohol you consume, to aim to limit alcohol to special occasions and stick to maximum 3 glasses in one sitting
Conventional meat and dairy products
Animal products that are not organic often use growth hormones, antibiotics and pesticides in their products, some of which still remain in the final product you consume. Opt for organic, grass-fed or pasture raised where possible
Refined sugar, processed foods and refined carbohydrates
Products like cakes, cookies, white bread, white pasta and deep fried foods promote unstable blood sugar which contribute to and worsen hormonal imbalances due to insulin instability
Non-organic soy
If you choose to consume soy products, opt for strictly organic and unprocessed forms. Soy is one of the most heavily sprayed crops and has been shown to retain significant levels of pesticides and herbicides like roundup. Consume unprocessed, organic soy products in moderation . For most of my estrogen dominant clients and students in Hormone Harmony Academy, I find its best to avoid more processed forms of soy like soy milk, tofu and vegetarian meat substitutes.
How To Eliminate Estrogen Dominance Naturally And Confidently
In a previous post we looked at the top 10 causes and symptoms of estrogen dominance. Now, its time to take things to the next level by diving into how to eliminate estrogen dominance naturally.
All of the tips in this post focus mainly diet and lifestyle because they are the fastest way to reducing estrogen naturally.
- supplements
- stress management
- personal care and beauty products
Note: this post contains some affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you use them.
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Be Mindful Of Xenoestrogens And Other Hormone Disruptors
As we saw at the beginning of this article, there are various ways in which we are unknowingly exposed to estrogen.
So, when it comes to eliminating estrogen dominance naturally, incorporate as many of the following suggestions as you can:
- Switch to less toxic skin care and makeup brands. Two that I really like are S.W. Basics and AnnMarie Skin Care.
- For feminine care products like pads and tampons, make the switch to brands that use organic cotton. Two brands that I use and enjoy are Cora and Natracare.
- Eat more wild-caught fish instead of farmed fish.
- Add more organic produce into your diet. If budget is a concern, start by following the Clean 15 and Dirty Dozen lists. These lists are released every year and they show the 15 foods that are lowest in pesticides and the 12 that contain the most pesticides .
- Use a water filter such as the Zero Water filter to remove toxins.
- Since the estrogen in soy can be problematic for some women, try eating more fermented forms of soy: natto, miso, tempeh, Tamari sauce .
- Explore non-pill forms of birth control, such as condoms, the diaphragm, or fertility awareness methods.
The Function Of Estrogen
Estrogen is the hormone that is primarily responsible for the sexual development in girls as they reach puberty age. Other functions of estrogen include:
- initiates changes in breast tissue during adolescence and pregnancy
- helps to regulate menstrual cycles
- regulates bodyweight by helping to control metabolism involved in the development and growth of healthy bone tissue
- may play a role in promoting healthy cardiovascular activity, according to the American Heart Association
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How To Reduce High Estrogen Levels
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Estrogen dominance is one of the most common hormonal imbalances, this article will guide you on how to reduce high estrogen levels.
Excess estrogen can have a negative impact on the quality of your life and cause a great number of health issues.
If you have high estrogen levels, this article is for you. You’ll find out how to naturally reduce high estrogen levels and gain control over your health.
Estrogen dominance can affect both women and men.