As breast cancer is affecting over 200,000 women in the U.S every year, it is now the most common cancer in women.
We’ve also started to notice that adolescent girls are gradually reaching their stages of puberty as early as 8 years old. Now, most woman can say they’ve experienced PMS, and most often along with ovarian cysts, fibroids, and endometriosis. So what do all of these conditions have in common? Overly high levels of estrogen!
What is Estrogen?
Estrogen is one of the two main sex hormones in women, as the other is progesterone. It peaks in the first half of a woman’s menstrual cycle to help trigger ovulation while the progesterone works to rise if there is a pregnancy, or fall to trigger the next menstrual cycle.
For women, both hormones of estrogen and progesterone should have a consistent ratio of 30:1. This means that when women have a deficiency of progesterone or excessive levels of estrogen, she goes into a state of estrogen dominance. Over 50% of women over age 35 are estrogen dominant. This is due to the fact that many women have very low progesterone levels or contain high estrogen levels.
What are the symptoms of Estrogen Dominance?
Those who have estrogen dominance have symptoms that may include:
a) Heavy bleeding or clotting
b) Painful menstruations
c) Swollen fingers and feet
d) Sore, tender breasts
e) PMS
f) Irregular periods
g) Ovarian cysts
h) Hair loss
i) Fat gain
j) Breast cancer
k) PCOS
l) Endometriosis
m) Dry skin
n) Low thyroid function
o) Early menarchy
What are the causes of Estrogen Dominance?
Everyone is exposed to too much estrogen everywhere we go. Environmental estrogen is actually the main cause of estrogen dominance today as we are commonly exposed to a high level of xenoestrogens, which belongs to a family of chemicals and considered to be endocrine disruptors that have the ability to completely throw off hormonal balance.
Xenoestrogens
Our bodies can’t tell the difference between our own estrogen and xenoestrogens as it mimics the shape of our natural estrogen for immediately opens up. Eventually, over exposure to xenoestrogens can lead to a variety of health problems like sinus problems, headaches, arthritis, asthma, premenopausal symptoms, and even cancer.
Pesticides
Pesticides are one of the most common sources of xenoestrogens as they have a chemical structure that highly resembles estrogen. Cultivated fruits and vegetables on these market also contain some degree of pesticides, and even meats and poultry that are commercially raised contain harmful pesticides are given a growth hormone, which are then passed on to us when we eat them.
How to Avoid
The best way known to avoid these estrogenic chemicals is to eat less produce and animals that are commercially raised. Look for organic products and try to stay away from high levels of caffeine as it will also increase your estrogen levels dramatically. Ultimately, you can’t avoid xenoestrogens altogether but you can keep your body in a healthy condition and avoid most of the xenoestrogens around you.
Stress
One of the leading causes of estrogen dominance is stress. It not only decreases progesterone levels but also causes adrenal gland exhaustion. Excessive exposure to estrogenic chemicals can make estrogen levels high from the foods we eat.
When your body eats poor quality food along with a lack of sleep or exercise, and drinking excessive amounts of alcohol – all of these will contribute to high levels of stress and release cortisol into your body.
Liver Congestion
Your liver works to metabolize hormones and get rid of excess amounts from the body. It is very important to keep your liver healthy and function properly to help maintain proper balance and avoid estrogen dominance. Try detoxing your body at least twice a year to cleanse your body and keep your liver functioning at its prime.
What else can cause estrogen dominance?
1. Obesity
2. Lack of Exercise
3. Birth Control Pills
4. Lack of B vitamins
5. Improper Hormone Replacement Therapy
How Does Estrogen Dominance Affect Female Enhancement Pills?
Estrogen dominance is a bit tricky when it comes to female enhancement pills like breast enhancers. This is because most of the products on the market work by increases your levels of estrogen. Using phyotestrogneic supplements are proven to be very effective for female enhancement, but will not work if you are estrogen dominant. That is because you need more progesterone to balance your hormones and promote growth in your breasts.
Progesterone activates the estrogen receptors so estrogen can easily bind to them and build up fat storage in the breasts.
How Do You Get More Progesterone?
You can use progesterone in a cream form, though it is only recommended for those who are estrogen dominant. This is not something you should try in attempts to make your breasts larger as it is both ineffective and dangerous.
Make you attempt to try progesterone cream, ask your doctor for a hormone test. You can alternatively do it yourself with home tests which include the measures of 5 hormones in the comfort of your own home and takes around 2 weeks to find out the results.
If your results show that you have a progesterone deficiency, meaning you are estrogen dominant, start with the safest way by balancing your hormones through a healthy diet. Make sure to include more fresh fruits and vegetables into your meals and get the adequate protein along with healthy fats – which is contained in fish, seeds, nuts, avocados, and healthy oils like flax and olive oil.
What Can I Do to Decrease High Levels of Estrogen?
Aim to eat clean, organic foods and avoid processed foods when you can. Make sure to get enough daily exercise to keep your body running healthy and maintain an ideal body weight. When your body has excess fat, it will start retaining more estrogen. Include dietary fiber as passing efficient stools is vital to your digestive system as estrogen and toxins will get reabsorbed and move back into your system if you become constipated.
Eat foods like fenugreek, fennel, soybeans, sunflower seeds, and herbs like alfalfa as they have been proven to reduce high levels of estrogen while protecting the estrogen cell receptors from more xenoestrogens.
Make sure to keep your body hormonal levels checked to make sure you have a hormonal imbalance and if so, how severe it is. Aim for healthy lifestyle habits with proper nutrition to help in with estrogen dominance.
References:
https://www.glozine.com/lifestyle/health/top-female-enhancers.html
https://medium.com/@vaileriadennis/how-is-a-woman-s-body-going-through-w...
Margaux Diaz is Health and Beauty Expert. According to her “Health is the first muse, and sleep is the condition to produce it.” She has interest in building knowledge and self – confidence of people who really want to improve their Life by proper Health guide and stay fit for life time. She is an inspirational writer and has written numerous Articles related to Health and Beauty. She is contributing to Consumer Health Digest since five years.