Estrogen Dominance: Foods that help you balance your reproductive hormone

How to lower estrogen dominance ?

The main reproductive hormones are estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. They are responsible for pregnancy, puberty, menstruation, menopause, sex drive, sperm production and more. These hormones are produced in the ovaries (in females) and testes (in males). The ovaries, which produce a woman’s eggs, are the main source of estrogen from your body. Fat tissue and your adrenal glands, located at the top of each kidney, make small amounts of this hormone.

Why is estrogen important?

Estrogen helps bring about the physical changes that turn a girl into a woman. The role of estrogen goes beyond fertility and sex-related functions. It includes protective effects on mood and mental health, bone strength, and even heart health.

The underlying purpose of your menstrual cycle is to prepare your body for pregnancy. When you don’t get pregnant during a monthly cycle, your uterus sheds its lining and you get your period. Estrogen is the hormone responsible for building up the lining of your uterus every month in preparation for pregnancy.

What is estrogen dominance?

Estrogen and progesterone work well together to prevent the lining of your uterus from getting too thick. Some people’s bodies don’t make enough progesterone, leading to what’s called unopposed estrogen.

Without progesterone’s balancing influence, estrogen can work overtime in your body and cause cell overgrowths, like tumors in your uterine lining.

Some research suggests that it’s more likely that your estrogen levels are high because of medications you’re taking. For instance, you may have a low sex drive because of high estrogen levels, but this is most likely caused by your birth control pills — not your body’s natural estrogen.

Signs of High Estrogen:

• Weight gain, mainly in your waist, hips, and thighs
• Menstrual problems, such as heavy bleeding
• Fibrocystic breasts (non-cancerous breast lumps)
• Fibroids (noncancerous tumors) in the uterus
• Mood swings
• Feeling depressed or anxious
• Breast swelling and tenderness
• Low sexual desire

In case you are not taking medication, elevated estrogen is most likely caused by PCOS prior to menopause. After menopause, high levels are more common if you have overweight/obesity.
Observing your color discharge and texture during your period can help you validate if you have high estrogen levels. Usually dark red period with clots showcases high estrogen levels.

Other causes of high estrogen include:

• Body fat: Fat tissue secretes estrogen. Having a high percentage of body fat can lead to high estrogen levels.
• Stress: Your body produces the hormone cortisol in response to stress. Producing high amounts of cortisol in response to stress can deplete your body’s ability to produce progesterone. The estrogen in your body is left unchecked by progesterone.
• Alcohol: Drinking too much alcohol can increase your estrogen levels and reduce your body’s ability to break down (metabolize) estrogen.
• Liver problems: Your liver breaks down estrogen and eliminates it from your body. If your liver’s not functioning correctly, too much estrogen can accumulate. Too few digestive enzymes, too much bad gut bacteria (dysbiosis), low magnesium levels and too little fiber in your diet can prevent your liver from removing excess estrogen.
• Synthetic xenoestrogens: Synthetic xenoestrogens are chemicals found in the environment that act like estrogen once they’re inside your body. They can increase your estrogen levels. Xenoestrogens include bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates. Both of these chemicals are used in various plastics. Xenoestrogens can also be found in pesticides, household cleaning products and some soaps and shampoos.

How to treat high levels of estrogen?

• Relieve stress. Decreasing the amount of stress hormones (cortisol) in your body produces can help keep your estrogen and progesterone levels balanced.
• Eat a healthy diet: Eating a low-fat, high-fiber diet with very little processed sugar and minimize alcohol to make it easier for your liver to process estrogen.
• Decrease your percentage of body fat. Decreasing your body fat can reduce the amount of estrogen that your fat cells secrete.

Which foods to consider:

• Add certain phytoestrogenic foods into your diet, including cruciferous veggies, berries, some root vegetables, healthy Omega-3 fats, and even dark chocolate.
• Probiotics or Enzymes to heal gut microbiome and balance enzyme levels.
• Lacto-fermented foods and drinks. Lacto-fermentation is the process by which bacteria break down the sugars in foods and form lactic acid. In a nutshell, LAB fermentation transforms sweet (simple carbohydrates) into sour (acid). Lacto-fermented foods include yogurt, sauerkraut, kimchi, and pickles. Top fermented foods include: Yogurt, Cottage Cheese or Farmer’s Cheese, Kefir, Fermented Vegetables, Tempeh, Sauerkraut, Kimchi, Kombucha, Sourdough bread (low gluten)

Lastly, how to test my estrogen levels?

There are three types of estrogen that your body makes. An estrogen test can measure all three: estrone (E1), estradiol (E2) and estriol (E3). Your provider will do a simple blood draw and send it to a lab for analysis.

• Estrone (E1) is the primary hormone your body produces during menopause and postmenopause. It’s a weaker form of estrogen than estradiol (E2).
• Estradiol (E2) is the primary hormone your body produces in your reproductive years.
• Estriol (E3) is the primary hormone your body makes during pregnancy.

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/22363-high-estrogen

https://www.verywellhealth.com/what-is-estrogen-and-what-does-it-do-to-my-body-4142677

https://www.healthline.com/health/high-estrogen

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/323280

https://www.thecandidadiet.com/probiotic-foods/

https://myfermentedfoods.com/probiotic-foods/

https://www.novaivffertility.com/fertility-help/what-causes-high-estrogen-women