Supporting Healthy Estrogen Levels

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Estrogen together with progesterone are the two main hormones responsible for women’s reproductive function. While estrogen is a dominant reproductive hormone in women, imbalances in estrogen can affect both men and women.

There are three types of naturally occurring estrogens that our bodies as women make - estradiol, estriol and estrone.

ESTRADIOL

Estradiol is the primary reproductive estrogen responsible for ovulation. It’s levels peak just before ovulation. During our reproductive years, our ovaries are the main source of estradiol, however it is also produced in the breasts, liver, adrenal glands and other tissues. Estradiol is a very powerful hormone. I often refer to it as the super glue that holds us together during our reproductive years and allows us to do and be everything for everyone else, during that very intense and demanding phase of our lives, in order to ensure the survival of the species.

ESTRIOL

During pregnancy, the main circulating estrogen is estriol, produced by the placenta from hormonal precursors from the developing fetus. It is generally seen as a very safe and protective form of estrogen.

ESTRONE

Estrone is produced primarily in our ovaries and our fat cells. It is the main estrogen available to us during menopause, together with the small amounts of estradiol that continue to be produced in the adrenal gland.

WHEN ESTROGEN BECOMES A PROBLEM

While estrogen has many benefits, estrogen accumulation or inefficient breakdown of estrogen can lead to health problems in both men and women. This is especially significant if we

1. Experience symptoms of estrogen excess or dominance - see below

2. Have a family history of estrogen dependent cancer

3. Take estrogen by prescription either in the birth control pill, a hormonal IUD or for hormone replacement purposes.

There is a popular urine test available called the DUTCH test that shows us many things relative to our hormones, including how well our body is metabolizing estrogen. Standard medical tests do not offer up this kind of information. If you have a family history of estrogen dependent cancer or are taking hormone replacement therapy I think it is worthwhile to undertake this kind of testing to make sure your body is efficiently metabolizing estrogen and not accumulating high levels of the damaging breakdown products of estrogen metabolism gone awry. If you are interested in this test, please reach out to me so I can help you access it.

ESTROGEN EXCESS or ESTROGEN DOMINANCE

Estrogen excess or estrogen dominance are two terms commonly used to describe a situation where the body is experiencing problematic symptoms associated with “too much estrogen”.

In women, symptoms associated with this excess of estrogen may include PMS, endometriosis, fibroids, ovarian cysts, breast lumps, and breast cancer. 

In men, excess estrogen is associated with increased belly fat, an increased risk of prostate cancer, growth of breast tissue and reproductive issues including infertility. Increased belly fat favours the conversion of testosterone to estrogen.

Most often these states of estrogen excess are due to high levels estrogen, estrogen breakdown products or environmental toxins mimicking estrogens in our bodies. However, estrogen dominance symptoms may also come about from a relative progesterone deficiency. Estrogen and progesterone balance each other out. A state of relative estrogen excess may manifest itself in conditions of progesterone deficiency. Let’s look at the factors that contribute both to excess estrogen in the body as well as those factors that may interfere with adequate progesterone production.

ESTROGEN EXCESS

States of excess estrogen can come about from a number of contributing factors:

• We may have difficulty properly metabolizing and excreting our body’s naturally occurring estrogens which may lead to a state of relative estrogen excess. Not only can this lead to increased levels of estrogens, it can also lead to the accumulation of estrogen breakdown products that are more toxic than estrogen itself, further increasing the risk of estrogen dependent cancers and other conditions associated with estrogen excess. This breakdown process is affected by various epigenetic and lifestyle factors

• Another significant factor contributing to symptoms of estrogen excess are related to our overall exposure to xenoestrogens from our environment. Xenoestrogens are synthetic industrial chemicals that mimic estrogen in destructive ways. To learn more about xenoestrogens and how we can avoid them see this post.

• The use of hormonal methods of birth control can increase our levels of problematic synthetic estrogens, as can the use of hormone replacement therapy if its use is not adequately monitored.

PROGESTERONE DEFICIENCY CAN MIMIC “ESTROGEN EXCESS”

• During our reproductive years, our main source of progesterone comes from the corpus luteum produced during ovulation. We need to ovulate in order to make progesterone. Many women have issues with ovulation. Make sure you are ovulating.

• Stress is a significant contributing factor to our ability to make progesterone. Work on building up your reserve energy as discussed in THIS post.

• Low carb diets and calorie restriction can create a stress response that signals the body to block ovulation and inhibit progesterone production. Women who tend to deficiency are particularly vulnerable to this.

• Hormonal methods of birth control block ovulation and therefore block the body’s natural production of progesterone. The types of progesterone found in hormonal birth control, including most IUDs, are associated with health risks and do not offer the same benefit as the natural progesterone that is produced in your ovaries.

SUPPORTING HEALTHY ESTROGEN METABOLISM

Estrogen is metabolized and excreted out of the body through various stages or phases. There are numerous critical points along the way that, if not working optimally, can interfere with this process and lead to the accumulation of not only estrogens but even more significantly, toxic estrogen breakdown products. The problematic symptoms of excess estrogens are often associated with these toxic breakdown products which are potent growth promoters in the body favouring the growth of unhealthy cells or tissues.

While there are numerous supplements on the market that focus on estrogen detoxification, it is best to first address the following areas before jumping into taking supplements geared to specific detoxification pathways. Everyone’s body is unique and you may have an issue in a particular area of toxin metabolism. If we don’t support the overall big picture of elimination in the body, we can create a bottleneck effect at our weakest link, leading to an accumulation of metabolic breakdown products that are even more problematic than the estrogen itself.

These are the most important areas to address - in this order - to support estrogen breakdown and elimination.

1. First of all, we need to reduce our exposure to xenoestrogens - the toxic industrial chemicals that mimic estrogens. To learn more about xenoestreogens see THIS post. The more we avoid these xenoestrogens, the more we reduce the total body burden in metabolizing and excreting these toxic substances. Overall toxic burden on the body significantly impedes optimal estrogen breakdown.

2. Next, we need to make sure that are bowels are working well. If your bowels are sluggish and not moving daily this needs to be addressed. Most estrogen breakdown products are excreted from the body through the stool. If these estrogen breakdown products are hanging out in the bowel for too long before being excreted, they are “unpacked” and reabsorbed into the body.

3. This unpacking process that occurs in the bowel is referred to as glucuronidation and is influenced by overall microbiome health. We can improve the likelihood that these estrogens destined for excretion actually make it out of the body by supporting optimal digestion and eating a whole foods diet, high in fruits, vegetables and soluble and prebiotic fibers including legumes and flax seeds.

4. In many cases it may also be necessary to address the overall balance of the microbiome. The part of the microbiome that influences estrogen breakdown is called the Estrobolome. The healthier the microbiome, the more likely these estrogen breakdown products will be effectively excreted out of the body. We will be discussing microbiome health over the coming months.

5. Support overall drainage and elimination in the body. Eat a whole foods diet, fast at least 12 hours overnight, stay active, drink plenty of pure water, practice deep breathing, keep the bowels moving etc These things all support normal elimination in the body. We can provide additional support through the use of specific herbs and homeopathic remedies that address liver, kidney and lymphatic drainage. We will be going into much greater detail on supporting drainage and elimination over the coming months. Stay tuned!

6. The elimination of wastes out of our cells requires healthy cell membrane function. In addition to overall support of drainage and elimination, the most significant things we can do to improve cell membrane function is to swap out unhealthy fats for the healthy ones and increase our intake of choline rich foods. Egg yolks are one of the best sources of choline.

7. Excess inflammation and blood sugar issues interfere with proper elimination and aggravate issues with estrogen dominance. Keep inflammation and blood sugar in check by focusing on a whole foods diet, choosing healthy fats and fasting 12 hours overnight. We will go into further strategies to address inflammation and blood sugar issues in future posts.

8. Once we have supported overall elimination and drainage, we may need to support specific phases of detoxification in the body. There are numerous foods that can be supportive. Refer to the food chart HERE for a list of the following food families. Increase your intake of cabbage family vegetables (important source of sulfurophanes, DIM and Indole 3 carbinol), parsley family vegetables, herbs and spices, leafy greens, sulfur rich vegetables including the onion and garlic family and mushrooms, as well as iodine containing foods. Other foods that have been shown to be of particular benefit in supporting detoxification including turmeric, broccoli sprouts, rosemary, artichoke, beets, citrus zest.