Stress Could Be Also A Reason For Estrogen Dominance
- Indeed, stress could affect our bodys health status adversely by many forms one of them is its ability to stress out your adrenal glands! This kind of stress will directly lead to a depletion of the progesterone hormone level to a level that is too low in comparison to the estrogen level.
- As a result, estrogen dominance occurs as well as adrenal gland problems, however, this is usually occurring on the long-run therefore, it is recommended and advised not to stress yourself no matter how much problems you haveit will pass but your health problems will not pass easily.
Tips On How To Reverse Estrogen Dominance In Women
If you suspect you have estrogen dominance, this article will show you how to reverse estrogen dominance in women.
If you have an unexplained spike in weight or cannot lose weight despite adopting healthy lifestyle habits, the problem could be estrogen dominance.
Estrogen is a vital hormone in womens reproductive lives. It regulates the menstrual cycle, leads to breast growth and intermittent swelling during different times of the month. It controls your mood and regulates bone growth.
If this hormone goes out of whack then all of the above signs will intensify.
Estrogen dominance in women leads to weight gain or obesity, according to research.
This condition causes formation of lumps around your uterus and breasts and irregular or heavy periods.
Furthermore, your mood swings become so intense that you may constantly be fatigued or could develop depression.
All of these unwanted effects can disappear if you reverse estrogen dominance. You dont have to use complex methods. Sometimes, the simpler an intervention is the more effective it is.
Before we dive in, if you have a partner or friend with estrogen imbalance, forward them this guide on how to reverse estrogen dominance in men.
The Importance Of Estrogen
In women especially, the hormone estrogen is crucial to overall health, wellness, and functioning. Estrogen regulates menstruation, insulin sensitivity, hunger and satiety, cholesterol metabolism, bone density, and beyond. Without sufficient estrogen, women have symptoms like moodiness, hot flashes, brain fog, painful urination, and irregular periods. It’s important that estrogen not be too low, but high estrogen levels are an issue as well.
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Hormones That Lower Appetite And Cravings
Leptin is a fascinating hormone that was only discovered in 1994 and since then has generated much interest in the area of weight loss. Leptin is made by fat cells and will signal the brain to lower our appetite and increase metabolism. Leptin increases with weight gain, which sounds good, but similar to insulin, as we gain weight and make more leptin, we become more and more resistant to its beneficial effects. When I treat someone with insulin resistance I just assume they have leptin resistance as well and treat both.
Several hormones affect our mood, sleep, and appetite. The key players are melatonin , serotonin , dopamine , and GABA . Melatonin is our main nighttime hormone, helping to promote restful sleep and the production of other hormones such as thyroid and growth hormone. Melatonin levels decline by age 45-50 and many people start having sleep disturbances around this age.
Serotonin deficiency is the cause of low mood and certain foods such as sugar and high-glycemic foods will temporarily stimulate serotonin. Dopamine is our pleasure hormone being associated with cravings, appetite and activities such as sex. Stimulant drugs increase dopamine and lead to the high associated with them. GABA influences mood by calming the brain, balancing the effects of dopamine and serotonin, thus promoting restful sleep and a calm controlled mood. Proper support of this family of hormones will support controlled appetite and cravings.
Eat An Estrogen Balancing Diet
ESTROGEN DOMINANCE DIET PLAN
Eating foods which support hormone balance, naturally lower high estrogen levels and promote liver breakdown of estrogen are foundational to reversing estrogen dominance. Eating a typical diet of processed foods, sugar and refined carbohydrates can promote increased estrogen levels in the body, worsening estrogen dominance.
Instead, focus on eating plenty of fibre, cruciferous vegetables, probiotic-rich foods and healthy fats to naturally lower estrogen levels. Consuming phytoestrogens can also support estrogen balance in the body.
Phytoestrogens are plant foods which have a similar structure to estrogen but a much weaker effect in the body than other xenoestrogens. This can be beneficial in high estrogen conditions by blocking the effects of stronger estrogens.
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An Incredible Weight Increase Will Be Also One Of The Major Symptoms
Based on studies, it has been found that estrogen dominance has the power to turn your body into fat machine indirectly! You will notice fat gain throughout your whole body especially around the stomach and hips! In other words, estrogen dominance is able to affect certain factors within your body as a result it increases your weight as follows:
Estrogen And Weight Gain
Estrogens responsible for increasing fat storage at the hips and thighs, providing the hour-glass shape. Progesterone, when working in unison with Estrogen, normally halts the storage of fat around the waist, but factors can come into play that interfere with this harmonious partnership.
Stress can have a negative impact on progesterones action. It leads to weight gain around the belly that is very difficult to shift due to your progesterone levels being significantly lower than your Estrogen levels.
High levels of stress have been shown to negatively impact progesterone. Therefore, if you find fat accumulating around your waist, you may want to work at reducing any stress in your life and help keep progesterone levels in check.
Since Estrogen levels decline in a womans later years, which leads to the negative effects associated with menopause such as hot flushes and night sweats many of my clients think that, surely, having an excess of Estrogen is a good thing.
Unfortunately, this is not the case. If you would like to know more about the delicate balance of Estrogen and progesterone here is a good article.
When you are Estrogen dominant, the positive effects that progesterone has on the body are blocked. This happens because Estrogen overstimulates both the brain and the body.
Effects such as calmness and easing fluid retention are the two major, wonderful benefits of progesterone that are sadly missed by any Estrogen dominant, high-strung, bloated, stressed woman.
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Fat Storage Hormone #: Estrogen Dominance
Estrogen is the female hormone that gives women breasts and hips, and it keeps joints lubricated. Men have it too, but at far lower levels. But both men and women are at risk of estrogen overload, which is having toomuch estrogen in the bodyeven in menopause.
Heres one action you can take today to lower your estrogen levels and help you lose weight: Eat a pound of vegetables per day. The fiber from the vegetables will help excrete estrogen so it doesnt keep circulating in your body like bad karma. Aim for 35-45 grams of fiber per day for women, and 40-50 grams per day for men, but slowly increase in 5-gram increments each day to get to the goal without gas or bloating.
Does Estrogen Dominance Occur At Certain Age
Indeed this is an important question to askBased on studies, it has been found that estrogen dominance could occur at any time within your lifetime this is due to the fact that estrogen dominance occurrence is associated with many causes and factors that we are going to discuss below.
However, some studies show that estrogen dominance usually occurs during the mid-thirties and many women will continue suffering from estrogen dominance symptoms for 10 or 15 years, it is also noticed clearly during the premenopausal and menopausal stages.
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It Could Pose An Adverse Effect On Your Physical Health As It Causes
- Induce magnesium and zinc deficiency
- Accelerate the premature aging process
- Eye dryness, hair loss, regular headaches, and hypoglycemia
- It disturbs the menstrual cycle and causes irregular menstruation
- Increase the risk of strokes as it increases the rate of blood clotting
- Increase the breast tenderness, allergies, asthma, and fatigue all over the body
- Increase the risk of having polycystic ovaries, Cervical dysplasia, breast cancer and fibrocystic breasts
- Increase the risk of thyroid dysfunction, infertility, uterine cancer and many autoimmune and gallbladder disease
Estrogen Levels And Health
Estrogen is a hormone that plays critical roles in both female and male sexual function.
In addition to being essential to reproductive health, estrogen is involved in many other systems in the body, including the immune, vascular, neuroendocrine, and skeletal systems .
The three main types of estrogen are estrone , estradiol , and estriol . Estradiol is the most abundant and biologically active type of estrogen in women of reproductive age. The ovaries are the main producer of estradiol in the body .
Estradiol is found in both women and men, although women usually have much higher levels.
Although estrogen is an essential hormone, having too much estrogen can increase the risk of certain chronic diseases, including breast and ovarian cancer. This condition is formally known as estrogen dominance .
Low estrogen can negatively affect health as well, but this article will mainly focus on estrogen dominance.
Interestingly, research has shown that your diet and lifestyle can influence your estrogen levels.
Some diets have been linked to healthy estrogen levels and a decreased risk of diseases associated with estrogen dominance. Meanwhile, others may increase estrogen levels.
This is because diet can influence estrogen metabolism and excretion in the body .
Whats more, certain dietary patterns are linked to obesity, which can affect estrogen levels.
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What Does Estrogen Dominance Cause
Estrogen dominance causes several issues in the body, but most women will find that it can be extremely difficult, and almost impossible, to lose weight as a result of estrogen dominance.
Estrogen dominance causes fat gain, water retention, and bloating, and puts women at a higher risk for obesity.
However, once women seek treatment through bioidentical hormone replacement therapy, theyll usually find they can shed those extra pounds much more quickly.
Women will also find that their metabolism begins to pick up, their energy increases, they reduce their risk of breast cancer, and they begin to feel much better overall.
Symptoms of estrogen dominance include weight gain or difficulty losing weight, abdominal fat, irregular periods, hots flashes, mood winds, and a decreased sex drive.
Eat Liver Supportive Foods Each Day
Your liver is responsible for helping to remove all of the excess estrogen from your body. And while your body certainly has a detoxification system in place to deal with the excess estrogen, your liver is also in charge of hundreds of other functions and can become overburdened. For this reason, your liver can use all the support it can get to do its jobs more efficiently through certain liver-supportive foods. Dark leafy greens, herbs and filtered water help detoxify your liver.
The foods that help your liver detoxify more efficiently include dark leafy greens such as kale, Swiss chard, arugula, and dandelion , herbs such as cilantro, garlic, omega-3 essential fatty acids from fish oil, avocado, and in particular, vegetables from the brassica family such as broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts .
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How To Reverse And Manage Estrogen Dominance
The best approach that will generate the fastest and most profound changes is when you combine diet changes with supplements.
Diet is your foundation.
Supplements are your amplifiers and healing accelerators.
Since this article is focused on supplements, I will dive right in.
Key Products I Recommend:
#1 DIM
Ideal for you, if:
- You know that your 2:16 hydroxyestrone balance is off, this is a great product to add.
- You are high in testosterone and you convert testosterone to estrogens.
- You need Phase 1 liver detoxification support .
#2 Sulforaphane
Sulforaphane is a compound high in broccoli sprouts. It is a potent Phase II liver detox facilitator, acting on the sulfation pathway. Sulforaphane has also been linked to being anti-carcinogenic in estrogenic cancers.
#3 Calcium D-glucarate
Calcium D-Glucarate helps the elimination of excess estrogen and other toxins and protects against re-absorption. It supports Liver Phase II, glucuronidation pathway detox.
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P.S. – keen to dig deeper into what your period and hormones are trying to tell you?
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Food Items That You Should Avoid
Its very important to know which estrogen dominance foods to avoid. You should steer clear of red meats, processed food, refined carbs, and foods rich in saturated fats. These categories of foods have a negative impact on the body in general. They produce harmful metabolites and can increase the risk of diseases like diabetes, and cardiovascular afflictions.
Estrogen levels tend to be higher in individuals who eat a Western type of diet. High-fat, high-carb diets can have harmful effects on the body and cause hormonal imbalances which may lead to estrogen dominance.
Replace Hormonal Contraceptives With Natural Ones
In case you are on the pill, you could be adding to the problem. The pill contains estrogen in an unnatural state.
In your body, estrogen normally works in tandem with progesterone. Therefore, when you take it separately, it is easy for it to go out of balance.
Furthermore, because it is synthetic, it does not react well with your body.
Estrogen dominance in women can thus be reversed if you stop taking the pill. But this is only if it was causing the problem in the first place.
Some alternatives to hormonal contraception include safe days or condoms. Learn how to use these natural or non-hormonal methods safely.
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Health Concerns Associated With Excess Estrogen Levels
Today, girls as young as 9 and 10 are starting to menstruate, much earlier than the typical age of 13. Other signs of excess estrogen in women include irregular menstrual cycles, endometriosis, infertility, and hormonal headaches. A body sign of high estrogen is excess weight around the hips, thighs and low abdomen, and difficulty losing weight. For some women, estrogen dominance takes a more serious and life-threatening form, such as breast, endometrial or uterine cancer. Autoimmune disorders including lupus and thyroiditis have also been linked to estrogen dominance and other hormone imbalances.
Men may experience loss of sex drive, increased abdominal fat, enlarged prostate and prostate cancer. In fact, estrogen is a key contributor to 50% of all prostate cancer cases.
Estrogen Dominance Weight Loss Facts And Myths
As mentioned earlier, estrogen dominance means that your body is producing more estrogen than progesterone levels. Your body needs a balance of these two hormones to help you maintain your ideal body weight.
Most people who lack insight into this information tend to develop mind-boggling assumptions about the impact of estrogen dominance on weight. So in this segment, we will be evaluating and discussing the myths and facts about the effects of estrogen dominance. They are as follows:
Myth: Estrogen is a sex hormone that has nothing to do with weight gain or weight loss.
Fact: Estrogen does play a crucial role in determining if you maintain your ideal body weight. It also performs more functions in addition to maintaining a females sexual and reproductive health. One of them happens to be maintaining hormonal balance to avoid weight changes.
Myth: Estrogen dominance helps with weight loss.
Fact: Estrogen dominance leads to weight gain in women. Remember that the body needs a balance in the estrogen and progesterone levels to help maintain the ideal body weight. So, any change in the estrogen levels will make you gain weight.
You should talk with your healthcare provider to determine if you truly have an imbalance in these two sex hormones. It will entail taking a blood test. In this test, the doctor will measure your estrogen levels in picograms per milliliter .
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Eliminating Excess Estrogen From Your Body
It is important to eliminate excess estrogen daily. As a nutritionist, I recommend:
- Getting eight to nine hours of sleep each night.
- Drinking eight to twelve glasses of water daily. Make sure it’s filtered .
- Exercising several times each week.
- Consuming a variety of vegetables, especially leafy green vegetables daily.
Avoid Hormonal Birth Control
Hormonal birth control works by using substances that mimic estrogen and progesterone to prevent ovulation. This means that they can produce progesterone deficiency which may lead to estrogen dominance.
Although there are many types of hormonal birth control options, choosing the right one should always be done with the guidance of a medical specialist. But the safest bet is avoiding any method that might cause a hormone imbalance. This can be achieved by opting for other contraceptive methods such as condoms and intrauterine devices.
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Estrogen Dominance And Belly Fat
Estrogen dominance causes weight gain around the belly, butt, thighs, and hips. Worse news: fat cells produce even more estrogen. When the body is estrogen dominant:
- Hypothyroidism slows the bodys metabolism.
- Abdominal tissues retain more water causing bloating to be a constant issue.
- Unnatural insulin release results in constant hunger and food cravings for sweets.
Heres what happens when the amount of progesterone circulating within the body is elevated to a level that is sufficient to neutralize the underlying condition of estrogen dominance:
- The hypothyroid condition is eliminated. In other words, bioidentical progesterone triggers a metabolic response allowing weight loss to occur.
- When progesterone is added back into the body via bioidentical progesterone cream, it acts as a natural diuretic, thereby reducing the bloating.
- When progesterone and estrogen levels are re-balanced, insulin release is tempered.
The result: normalized blood sugar levels and reduced food cravings.