What is Estrogen Dominance?
Estrogen dominance is one of the most common hormonal imbalances in women. Dr. Lam calls it “Hormonal imbalance of the 21st century”. It is a very close subject to me since I’ve suffered from Estrogen Dominance for years. Estrogen dominance is a condition where a woman can have excessive, normal or deficient estrogen while having little or no progesterone to balance its effects in the body. Even a woman with low estrogen levels can have estrogen dominance symptoms if she doesn’t have enough progesterone.

How to diagnose estrogen dominance?
It is best to do hormone test (saliva or dried urine are best) but also pay attention to the symptoms you are experiencing as well as looking at family history.

Below are the symptoms if estrogen dominance you might be experiencing:

• Decreased sex drive
• Hair loss
• Bloating (water retention)
• Heavy menstrual bleeding
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Ovarian fibroids
• Irregular or otherwise abnormal menstrual periods
• Breast swelling and tenderness
• Headaches (especially premenstrually)
• Painful period
• Memory loss
• PMS
• Depression
• Foggy thinking
• Endometriosis
• Blood clotting
• Gallbladder issues
• Sluggish metabolism
• Breast cancer
• Fatigue
• Trouble falling asleep or insomnia
• Mood swings, irritability, and anxiety
• Weight and/or fat gain around the abdomen and hips
• Cold hands and feet (a symptom of thyroid dysfunction)
• Thyroid dysfunction and more!
I know that is a big list of symptoms right? If you are experiencing four or more of the above, there is the possibility that you might suffer from estrogen dominance.

Conditions associated with too much estrogen
* Endometriosis
* Fibroid Breasts
* Infertility
* Uterine Fibroids
* Uterine Cancer
* Depression
* Weight Gain
* Breast Cancer Risk
* Insomnia
* Thyroid Imbalances

How do our female hormones work?
Our two primary female hormones are estrogen and progesterone secreted by the ovaries. They offset tone another and maintained optimal balance in our body at all times. When one hormone is one of balance, it can create problems in the body.

I will explain very simply what their role is in our body to help you understand estrogen dominance.

Estrogen, as I mentioned above, is produced in the ovaries. It is responsible for the development of female characteristics during puberty, like the development of the breast and pubic hair. Estrogen also regulates the menstrual cycle. Estrogen is a growth-promoting hormone. There are three primary components of estrogen in our body: estrone (E1), estradiol (E2), and estriol (E3) that should be 15/15/70 mix. Also, there are also more estrogens in women body that need to be studied.

Our body is perfectly designed to thrive in homeostasis. If there is too much of estrogen, the body has another hormone to offset and counterbalance the effects of estrogen. It is called progesterone.

Progesterone is a pro-gestation hormone. There can be no successful pregnancy if we don’t have sufficient amount of progesterone. Progesterone protects us against the “growth effect” of estrogen. Progesterone is made in mainly in the ovaries and also in the adrenal glands. Progesterone is made from pregnenolone, which comes from cholesterol.

The table below shows both of those hormones balance one another:

Source: Dr. Lam.com

How does the estrogen dominance occur?

1: The ratio of progesterone to E2 is too low- our body does not produce enough progesterone, and that’s why the E2 estrogen becomes too dominant.

2. There is too much estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2), which are the “aggressive estrogen”, in comparison to estriol (E3), a “protective estrogen.” This is called the “Estrogen Quotient” and it can be measured with a saliva or dried urine test.

What are the causes of estrogen dominance?
Our sex hormones decline with age gradually. From age 35 to 50, there is a 75% reduction in the production of progesterone in the body. During this time, estrogen declines about 35% only. When our body reaches menopause, we hardly make any progesterone, while we still have about half the amount of estrogen.  When progesterone drops, it can’t counteract the estrogen.

This state is called estrogen dominance, and it can happen as early as in our mid-thirties and get worse during perimenopausal and menopausal years. In addition to that estrogen can be received transdermally from external sources. These are called Xenoestrogens. These are fat-soluble and non-biodegradable in nature. The primary sources of these Xenoestrogens are pesticides, detergents, petroleum products, plastic products, cosmetics, spermicides used for birth control, condoms and in vaginal gels.

Additional reasons for estrogen dominance is excess body fat, chronic stress, poor digestion, poor liver function, impaired immune function, eating non-organic food, drinking too much alcohol and coffee, and low fiber diet.

How to Decrease Estrogen Dominance
Here’s what you can do to reduce estrogen dominance:

1. Follow a hormone-balancing diet:
* Eat lots of fresh fruits and vegetables
* Eat healthy fat
* Eat enough protein

2. Balance your blood sugar:
Sugar is one of the causes of highs and lows in mood and energy. Sugar can also disrupt one of the most powerful hormones in the body: insulin. Insulin is connected to all of the other hormones in your body, including estrogen and testosterone.

When we experience insulin spikes, usually after a meal high in carbs or sugar, this might lead to the lesser availability of an essential protein known as sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). The role of SHBG is to bind excess testosterone and estrogen in the blood, but when the SHBG is low, then these hormone levels increase. Estrogen and progesterone ratio is the disrupted which leads to estrogen dominance symptoms. You can balance blood sugar by eating protein/fats/fiber during each meal and having breakfast one hour within of awakening.

As I mentioned estrogen is processed by the liver, but it is also processed partly by gut flora and excreted through the digestive tract. It is crucial for our hormones health to heal the gut for a proper excretion of estrogen. Latest funding shows that we also have a set of bacteria in the gut called estrobolom which helps metabolize estrogen. If our gut functions poorly, it could be one of the reasons for estrogen dominance as well.

3. Get enough fiber.
The bowel excretes estrogen; if stool remains in the colon, estrogen will be reabsorbed, and it will become more toxic.

4. Improve liver function
The liver is our filter, which helps detoxify harmful toxins. The liver also helps us excrete metabolized estrogen. When the liver focus on elimination of toxins such as alcohol, drugs, caffeine, then the liver is not focusing on cleansing the blood of estrogen. If estrogen can’t be detoxified, it recirculates in the body and estrogen builds up in the body.

5. Decrease stress
Stress reduces the production of progesterone in the body. When we are stressed, our adrenal glands “steal” the precursor to progesterone and instead use it to produce cortisol, the stress hormone. This process is called “pregnenolone steal”.

7. Limit chemical estrogen exposure 

Xenoestrogen is found in creams, shampoos, cleaning supplies, lotions, soaps, perfumes, hair sprays, and more.
You can find them also in paint, dry-cleaning, pesticides, plastic, aluminum cans, chemicals, car exhaust, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides; nail polish; glues and paint removers.
You can evaluate the quality and pureness of your cosmetics on here www.ewg.org.

8. Quit alcohol
Alcohol increases estrogen in the body in men and women and disrupts blood sugar regulation, which creates stress on our body. Alcohol even in moderation can tip the scales for estrogen dominance. Studies have found a link between alcohol consumption and high levels of the potent estrogen—estradiol. This process is happening because your liver is breaking down and clearing toxins and other substances your body doesn’t need from the bloodstream, including alcohol and estrogen. When you drink alcohol, your liver becomes preoccupied with eliminating the alcohol toxins, which impacts the liver ability to clear estrogens from your system.

9. Decrease body fat
Fat cells produce more estrogen via aromatase enzymes that convert testosterone into estrogen. Building a lean body mass and decreasing body fat are necessary steps to reduce estrogen levels in the body.
Nutrients which help with decreasing aromatase process are zinc, melatonin, green tea, selenium and citrus flavonones (found in the skin on citrus fruits).

10. Skip the caffeine
When we drink caffeine, it stimulates the adrenal glands causing them to release cortisol and other stress hormones for preparation to fight the perceived threat. Drinking caffeine every day can exhaust your adrenal glands, and can cause them to stop releasing adequate levels of essential hormones. One of those hormones is insulin, which can cause blood sugar fluctuations and lead to chronic inflammation. In addition to that your thyroid gland, which is responsible for the production of many essential hormones relies on your adrenal glands for proper functioning, also begins to weaken. This process increases inflammation even more, and the result is a reduction in sex hormones like progesterone and testosterone, which are required to keep estrogen in check.

Where can I start? Detox your body!

Introducing my new Gentle Winter Detox Program – an online clean eating experience that will help you ditch the diet, detox your body, make your liver work better, drop the last few pounds, feel more energized than ever – over the course of 14 days. Click on the image!

That wasn’t a typo – in 2 weeks time you can change your life and hit the reset button on your health just by making this ONE simple decision to put yourself first.

http://www.nickdelgado.com/5-hidden-but-common-causes-of-estrogen-dominance-revealed/#_ednref1http://www.drlam.com/articles/estrogen_dominance.asp?page=1