Help for Estrogen Dominance
Are you a woman in her 40s-50s struggling with PMS, mood swings, weight gain, heavy or erratic periods or low libido? If so, you could be dealing with a hormone imbalance where you have too much estrogen. This is known as estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance is not only linked to a set of frustrating and uncomfortable symptoms; it also puts you at risk for a whole host of chronic issues.
From fatigue and irritability to IBS, autoimmune conditions, thyroid dysfunction and cancer, estrogen can wreak havoc on your body if it’s not in proper balance with your other reproductive hormones, such as progesterone.
And here’s the hard truth: estrogen dominance is at an all-time high because of changes to our food supply, chemicals such as plastics and pesticides and other toxicants. We’re seeing the rates increase dramatically across the board, in both women and men, across age ranges. And the rates of cancers and chronic illnesses linked with an overload of estrogen are on the rise right along with it.
I know this because I struggled for most of my late 30s through my 40s dealing with symptoms of estrogen dominance. That’s why I’m more passionate than ever about arming you with the knowledge you need to make smart choices for yourself and your family. Betty
We all naturally produce the hormone estrogen in our adrenal glands and our fat tissue, especially in the belly area. Additionally, women produce it in their ovaries and men produce it in their testes. Estrogen is necessary for many important functions such as childbearing, mental function, cardiovascular health, keeping cholesterol in check and protecting bone health.
However, when your estrogen levels get out of balance with your other hormones-leading to estrogen dominance-you can experience a number of issues.
- Weight gain, mainly in hips, waist and thighs
- Menstrual problems such as light or heavy bleeding or erratic periods
- PMS
- Loss of sex drive
- Depression or anxiety
- Fatigue
- Sleep issues
- Fibrocystic breasts
- Uterine fibroids
Weight Gain and Weight Loss Resistance
Obesity is the greatest epidemic we are facing today contributing to an increase in diabetes, cardiovascular disease and cancer. Probably the most common but most complex and little-understood issue related to estrogen dominance is the endocrine- disrupting activities to other hormones and the metabolic derangement that occurs in estrogen dominance.
Excess estrogen increases fat stores and fat production as well as increases insulin resistance, leptin resistance leading to weight gain and an inability to lose weight.
By far the biggest risk associated with estrogen dominance is hormone-dependent cancer. These cancers include breast cancer in both women and men, uterine and ovarian cancers in women, and prostate cancer in men. Breast cancer specifically is more rampant than ever. One in eight women will get breast cancer in her lifetime.
Hormonal cancers are associated with stored fat, which produces the most potent form of estrogen, estradiol. This type of harmful estrogen is more difficult for your body to detoxify, leading to more circulating estrogen and “bad” estrogen metabolites.
Women are diagnosed with autoimmune conditions 10 times more than men. In some autoimmune conditions, high levels of estrogen can enhance the inflammatory response of the immune system. This response increases the antibodies that attack your body’s own tissues.
However, it’s not entirely a clear-cut issue. Estrogen helps protect against some autoimmune conditions, such as multiple sclerosis (MS).
It may be that fluctuations in estrogen levels, such as those that happen around childbirth, perimenopause and menopause may contribute to the onset and severity of autoimmunity.
There is also evidence that men’s higher levels of androgens DHEA and testosterone provide some protection from autoimmunity.
It seems that it may all be about the dose and the balance of estrogen relative to other hormones.
Because women tend to be more susceptible to estrogen dominance, they may are more susceptible to autoimmune conditions. That’s why autoimmune conditions are so much more common among women.
Excess estrogen increases levels of thyroid-binding globulin (TBG). This is the protein that allows your thyroid hormones to travel through your bloodstream. Think of this as the taxicab that drops off estrogen to get used by the cells.
When thyroid hormones are attached to TBG they remain inactive. In this case, your thyroid hormones can’t be stored in your tissues or converted to their active form to fuel your body and metabolic processes.
Conventional medicine tells us that it’s your lifelong exposure and the total amount of estrogens that pose a problem and cause cancer. This may also be relative to the balance with other hormones such as progesterone. For instance, if you started your period at a young age, or had children late in life or not at all, you would be at a higher risk for cancers such as breast and ovarian cancer.
We Can Help
If you have estrogen dominance, Betty Murray can provide the natural help you need to get your health back on track. Call our office today to book an appointment!
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