Estrogen dominance is a term used for situations where people have a hormonal imbalance that leads to higher levels of estrogen relative to progesterone in the body. It can occur because of decreased progesterone production, increased estrogen production, or compromised estrogen metabolism.
It is essential that you aim for hormonal balance in all areas of life for your overall well-being. Excess estrogen can lead to various health concerns, and addressing the estrogen dominance symptoms as soon as you notice them is crucial.
Understanding Estrogen Dominance
Estrogen dominance can happen to anyone at any time but is most likely to happen when you have decreased progesterone production from things like PCOS or menopause, increased estrogen production from obesity or environmental toxins, or poor estrogen metabolism. If you struggle with estrogen dominance symptoms, it's important to understand natural ways that you can balance your hormones.
What Is Estrogen Dominance?
Estrogen dominance is when you have high levels of estrogen. This can happen to any woman at any age, and it means there are high levels of estrogen relative to progesterone.
Common Estrogen Dominance Symptoms
When you have estrogen dominance, it can cause a series of problematic estrogen dominance symptoms, including:
- Irregular periods
- Low libido
- Weight gain
- Breast tenderness
- Fatigue
- Uterine fibroids
- Higher risk of cancer
These symptoms can impact all areas of daily life, but with the right treatment plan and lifestyle changes, you can restore proper balance.
What Causes Estrogen Dominance?
One of the leading causes of estrogen dominance is hormonal disorders like PCOS. Recent studies found that women between 15 and 45 in Dubai diagnosed with PCOS have risen notably since 2020, up from 1.19% to 2.72%.
These increases in hormonal disorders like PCOS are often tied to being overweight or obese, both of which are growing among young adults in Dubai.
That said, there are other causes, too, including:
- High levels of stress
- Diets high in sugars and processed foods
- Exposure to environmental toxins
If you are struggling with estrogen dominance, it is important that you consider healthy, natural ways to normalize your metabolism and hormonal production.
How to Reverse Estrogen Dominance Naturally
So, what are the ways you can learn how to reverse estrogen dominance naturally?
Estrogen Detox and Liver Support
Estrogen is produced in the fat tissue, ovaries, and adrenal glands. After it has performed its functions, it's broken down in the liver and eliminated through the digestive system. That is why it's important to start with detox and liver support.
If your liver is not functioning the way it should, it could be a major player in estrogen imbalances. Detox and liver support can take the form of avoiding or detoxing from alcohol, but it can also include eating certain foods that support estrogen metabolism in your liver.
- Selenium: This is a trace mineral that protects your liver cells and it is found in grains, beans, nuts, eggs, and seafood.
- Glycine: This is an amino acid that helps clear out toxins and it can be found in almonds, beans, eggs, seeds, and red meat.
- Magnesium: Magnesium is a micronutrient that helps improve liver function and it can be found in dark, leafy greens as well as seeds or through supplements.
- Sulforaphane: This is a compound rich in sulfur that helps boost liver function, and it can be found in cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts.
With any of these, it is best to find natural sources through your food, but if that's not possible, you can get nutrients from supplements.
The Estrogen Dominance Diet: Foods to Eat & Avoid
Once your estrogen is broken down by the liver, bacteria in your gut break it down further until it is eliminated. If you are struggling with frequent constipation, you might not have the digestive enzymes you need to properly process estrogen and eliminate it as waste. This means it can get trapped in your gut and get reabsorbed instead of eliminated.
For this reason, it's important to support your gut health with fiber-rich foods, hydration, and even probiotics where you need it.
If you are struggling with estrogen dominance, you can try the Estrogen Dominance Diet. This is a diet plan that helps you balance estrogen naturally.
Foods to Eat:
- Fiber: Fiber is essential to your hormonal health and your gut health, allowing your digestive system to absorb the nutrients you need and process or eliminate those that you don't. A lot of fiber is found in things like fruit and vegetable skins, so try to avoid juicing or smoothies and instead eat the fruit and vegetables whole.
- Cruciferous Greens: Cruciferous greens contain special sulfates that support your liver health and your hormonal balance. You can add one to two cups of cruciferous vegetables to your diet every day, like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, or Bok choy.
- Probiotics: Probiotic foods can help with estrogen detoxification, specifically yogurt, miso, kefir sauerkraut, and kimchi.
- Vitamin C: Vitamin C can increase progesterone, which can help balance estrogen levels and it's found in things like bell peppers, citrus fruits, and kiwi fruit.
- Phytoestrogens: Phytoestrogens are plant-based compounds that can help bind to estrogen receptors and reduce the levels of estrogen in your body. You can find them in prunes, dates, Mung beans, chickpeas, fennel seeds, garlic, green tea, sesame seeds, and miso.
- Lean Protein: It is best to swap out processed and red meats with high-quality plant protein or animal protein like fish and poultry, as this can help regulate your hormone production and boost your liver health.
- Healthy Fats: Healthy fats can come from avocados, olives, walnuts, sardines, ghee, salmon, and coconuts, and these can reduce inflammation and help moderate excess body fat, which is often a contributor to excess estrogen production.
Foods to Avoid:
- Refined cards
- Processed foods
- Heavy sugar
- Alcohol
- Red and processed meat
Using the estrogen dominance diet is best when combined with detoxification and mindful living. These lifestyle changes can help your diet be more effective.
Lifestyle Changes
Some key lifestyle changes include a focus on hydration, reduced stress, and awareness of environmental toxin exposure.
With hydration, you need water to flush excess estrogen from your body and to help with fiber digestion. If you are changing to the estrogen dominance diet, make sure that you drink half your body weight in ounces every day.
Alongside this, you should exercise regularly to help regulate hormones. This type of exercise should be something within your comfort level and doesn't have to be extreme.
Reducing stress is important, and this can be achieved through mindful living and meditation.
In terms of pollutants, you can avoid plastic containers for your food and drink, use natural cleaning products, and avoid exposure to things like BPA or PCBs.
Starting a Personalized Hormone Plan
You can learn how to reverse estrogen domination with specialized hormone treatment plans. With a Hormone Imbalance Treatment Plan from Yutopia, you can get specialty testing such as:
- A comprehensive blood test that checks for biomarker imbalances
- A DUTCH test to assess your hormones and their impact on energy
The right treatment plan will include personalized recommendations based on your hormonal markers with things like supplements, nutraceuticals, peptides, and bio identical hormone replacement therapy.
Summing Up
Overall, estrogen dominance has many causes and unfortunate symptoms. That said, you can take proactive steps to balance your hormones through diet, detoxification, and mindful living. If you need additional measures, personalized hormone tests and treatment plans are available.
