Sometimes I feel locked in a body that is too much women. Too much belly fat, too hippy, heavy legs prone to veins, heavy menstrual cycles and way too irritable. I had acne as a teenager. I have symptoms of estrogen being more predominant than progesterone and my hormones aren’t balanced.
Estradiol is a great hormone. For women, estrogen has many beneficial benefits. We get to have babies; estrogen protects our heart and bones and has an antioxidant effect on the brain. But when we don’t break down estradiol in an efficient manner, it builds up, and gets stuck in places it shouldn’t and can cause many health concerns such as:
Irregular or heavy menstrual cycles, bloating, breast tenderness, lumpy breasts or fibrocystic breasts, headaches, migraines, mood swings, weight gain (around abdomen and hips), fatigue, thyroid dysfunction, foggy thinking, insomnia, gall stones, cold hands and feet, uterine fibroids, hair loss, PCOS, endometriosis, hypoglycemia, thyroid dysfunction mimicking hypothyroidism, blood clotting, infertility, faster aging, autoimmune diseases and cancers such as breast, cervical, endometrial and uterine.
When estrogen doesn’t break down effectively, or is inappropriately stored instead of eliminated in a timely manner, then our bodies are at risk for hormone imbalances that could be as minor as weight gain and irritability or as major as hormone cancers.
Why does estrogen dominance happen?
Adrenal function: The adrenal glands are our stress system that helps to regulate blood sugar, blood pressure, some estrogen and progesterone and cortisol for energy. When the adrenal glands aren’t working, we make poor quality estrogen and not as much progesterone as we need. When a person experiences high or low levels of anxiety, their adrenal glands are in the wrong gear, they are jamming up the liver and most likely making bad estrogen.
Liver function: The liver is a very key organ in hormone regulation. Proper function is required to breakdown all hormones. It is almost always a key player is estrogen dominance. So my liver is sensitive to perfume that it give me a headache and makes me irritable, but this means I don’t have the resources to break down my estrogen in appropriately. Nothing jams up estrogen like coffee, which sucks, but is true.
Digestive system: Estrogen has to be eliminated in the digestive system for final elimination. If a person only has one bowel movement a week, versus an optimal 14-21, then is too much estrogen stored in the body that wasn’t allowed to leave. Ground flax seeds binds very well to estrogen and should be apart of most women’s diets.
Thyroid function: Is always associated with high cholesterol and can often take precious resources away from liver function, leaving hormones unable to detoxify. Thyroid conditions are also associated with estrogen dominance.
Toxicity: Is a major cause of jamming up liver detoxification of estrogen. Toxins are also associated with the cause of conditions of endometriosis which is an estrogen dominant condition.
Insulin resistance: Is a blood sugar balance issues, an inflammatory issues and causes bad estrogen to be made. For example, I can eat a chocolate bar and make dark hairs grown on my face due to my body converting sugar into estrogen, then into bad estrogen and then into testosterone. That’s a talent, I tell you, but a common trait for those that are insulin resistant. Sugar balance problems can make you gain weight and when you have too much weight, your fat converts hormones into estrogen even when you didn’t want more estrogen.
Supportive nutrients include:
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
B Complex from AOR
Extra B12 Methlycobalamin or B12
Extra folate not folic acid.
Magnesium
Selenium
Chromium
Glutathione
Avoid gluten and dairy in the diet and eat at least 2-3 leafy green vegetables a day
Essential fatty acids omega 3 and 6
So here is hoping, that I soon will become less of an irritable women and more of an individual with an even mood and balanced hormones.
Carissa Doherty ND
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