Is Estrogen Dominating You?
Estrogen dominance has been showing up a LOT lately in the consultation conversations I’ve been having and in my clients’ test results.
It’s a stealthy hormone imbalance that often goes overlooked in a typical blood test and can be related to issues such as weight gain, sleepless nights, sugar cravings, low energy, depression and insulin resistance all within both men and women, and irregular periods and intense PMS symptoms for just the ladies.
For this week’s newsletter, I’m bringing back this topic so you can elevate your knowledge in case estrogen is dominating you…
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Stubborn weight, acne, low libido, restless sleep, and struggling to build muscle are just some common characteristics when estrogen is dominating your body. Estrogen doesn’t discriminate. It’s just as much of an issue these days with both men and women.
I recently had a client dealing with this.
For the majority of his adult life, he was able to manage his body weight with the simple calories in versus calories out equation. When the scale started to tip, he simply cut back on his food intake and exercised more.
That was until estrogen took control.
The older he got, the harder it became to manage his weight through diet and exercise, and one day it just stopped working altogether. Not only was he not able to lose weight, but one day he stepped on the scale and had actually gained weight despite his efforts to work out harder and monitor his food intake.
He applied the equation of calories in versus calories out and it did not produce the outcome it was supposed to.
There are a million things I could say about the broken calories in versus calories out equation, but let’s stay focused on estrogen.
There was obviously something more at play keeping my client from managing his weight, so we set out to run the right type of hormone test and to collect some clues.
Clue #1 - A possible genetic predisposition. He had a few people in his family with “ER” dominant cancers, meaning the cancer cells grow in response to estrogen.
Clue #2 - A Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH) revealed estrogen metabolites (estrone and estradiol) were very high outside the functional range and testosterone was within range. These values can not be seen on a blood test, so they had been routinely missed.
My client had a classic case of underlying estrogen dominance that was keeping him from losing weight.
What is estrogen dominance?
In men, it’s usually determined when estrogen levels are relatively high in comparison to testosterone. Meaning testosterone levels could be normal or low, and estrogen is relatively high to whatever that number is.
In women, it’s commonly evaluated based upon the ratio of estrogen to progesterone, but as with men, it can also be evaluated when comparing testosterone to estrogen.
In general, when estrogen levels are relatively high to other hormones, it’s not good.
I, too, fell victim to estrogen dominance back in the day. After having kids I no longer could keep weight off by just adjusting my eating slightly and working out consistently. My weight climbed by 15 pounds, I broke out with acne for the first time in my life, I had painful and heavy periods, didn’t sleep great, and couldn’t keep my emotions under wraps- all because estrogen had taken over. I am almost certain that is why I had severe candida overgrowth.
The good news is that estrogen dominance doesn’t happen overnight. It’s preventable and reversible in almost any case.
But if estrogen gets out of control, it can lead to more health issues beyond stubborn weight, acne, and pain in the ass periods.
Estrogen dominance can also contribute to:
Hormone driven cancers such as the ER-2 breast cancer
Autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s
Yeast and bacteria overgrowth such as Candida
So how can you keep estrogen within its normal playing field?
Making sure estrogen doesn’t start dominating the field means tackling it from a couple of different angles.
Angle #1 - Sort out estrogen sources
One of the biggest reasons why estrogen is on the rise is due to a classification of toxins known as Xenoestrogens. These toxins have the ability to mimic estrogen in the body or block hormone receptor sites resulting in elevated estrogen levels. Common sources of estrogen promoting toxins can be found in:
Plastic food, water, or other types of containers
Lotions, shampoos, conditioners, deodorant, or other personal care products
Metal substances such as cadmium, lead, and mercury
Aim to swap out your plastic containers for glass or stainless steel and use the EWG’s Skin Deep Database to find non-toxic personal care products.
Other estrogen elevating sources also include:
Non-organic foods containing pesticides or added hormones
Tap water (yes, even though it’s deemed “safe”) contaminated with pesticides/toxic
Intestinal parasites, bacteria, and yeast that elevate toxic enzymes and trap estrogen.
Excess body fat that absorbs, stores, and synthesizes estrogen
Synthetic hormones found in hormone replacement therapies and/or birth control
Water-damaged buildings with mold growth
Unrelenting mental or emotional stress
Some actions you can take action to tackle these sources by eating organic, drinking and cooking with only filtered water, properly addressing water leaks and mold, and taking time to meditate or de-stress daily.
To sort out the synthetic hormones and/or intestinal pathogens, seek a functional health practitioner (like myself) to assist you with proper and personalized strategies.
Angle #2 - Love your liver
The reality is, we can’t control our exposure to estrogen-driving toxins 100% of the time. But our liver does play a major role in getting rid of excess estrogen that might be circulating in the body, and that’s something you can get behind. By supporting liver function, you can kill two birds with one stone: eliminate toxins you’ve been exposed to that might raise estrogen levels, and excrete existing excess estrogen.
To support your liver, you can:
Take a daily liver support supplement with nutrients such as milk thistle
Eat naturally detoxifying foods such as beets, grapefruits, lemons, and dandelion greens
Occasionally do castor oil liver packs, dry body brushing, or an infrared sauna
Do all of the above and give more power to your liver!
Angle #3 - Eat and drink anti-estrogenic
The great news is, you can combat estrogen on a daily basis with little effort. Simply aim to eat anti-estrogenic foods, known as cruciferous vegetables, and drink clean, filtered water (from a glass or steel bottle of course!).
Some of the best estrogen regulating foods to consume include:
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Kale
Brussel Sprouts
Arugula
Cabbage
Bok Choy
Radishes
Collard Greens
By taking action from all three angles, estrogen will be neutralized and will play nicely.
However, in some cases even if you’re adamantly working to lower estrogen levels, there still might be something stopping you from getting where you want to be.
My client was another perfect case of this. Even after months of taking action to reduce estrogen, his levels only moderately decreased. It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort, but a genetic predisposition became more clear.
Remember, clue number one in his story was his family’s history of estrogen-driven cancer. We were able to correlate his family history clue with his repeated test results to see from a genetic standpoint, his body actually needed more support than most people to keep estrogen under control.
Today I’m happy to report that with the proper diet and lifestyle choices, my client has lost over 30 pounds. He easily maintains his weight while taking more days off from exercising than ever before and he is proactively preventing a future battle with estrogen-driven cancer.
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If you suspect estrogen might be dominating you, and you want to get your hands on the right lab tests and resources to get it under control, then schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here today!.
-Renee
Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner
P: 415.539.5282
E: renee@megaphonefunctionalhealth.com
www.megaphonefunctionalhealth.com
(Important note: I value the time that we have together and will do my best to respect your time by being prompt and ending on time. As a common courtesy, if you have to cancel or reschedule your session for any reason, I ask that you give me 48 hours' notice and I will do my best to reschedule your session within a timely manner.)
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