By Dana Yarn, RDLD

There are several symptoms of estrogen dominance that may go unnoticed for years such as, weight gain, chronic headaches, disordered sleep, water retention, poor libido, fatigue, depression, enlarged prostate, heavy menses, to name a few.

The most common health concerns associated with estrogen dominance in women are endometriosis, fibrocystic breasts and breast cancer.? In men with estrogen dominance, we see weight gain with the over development of breasts and upper thighs, mood changes, and increased risk for benign prostatic hyperplasia (enlarged prostate which makes urinating more difficult) and prostate cancer.

Estrogen is an important hormone, with estradiol being the main estrogen.? Estradiol is primarily responsible for the development of the breasts and uterus, though it also influences things like bone health, blood sugar regulation, and thyroid.  This is why small amounts of estradiol are also important in men.? But if estrogen is dominant in the body, it can wreak havoc causing blood sugar problems leading to weight gain of course and more seriously cancer.

To be specific estrogen dominance is not always high amounts of estrogen.? Sometimes actual measured levels of estrogen are not abnormally high, but levels of its compensating hormone, progesterone, are too low.  It’s the ratio of the hormones that’s important.

Excess estrogen production in men, occurs when a substance called aromatase can cause them to make too much estrogen.? Aromatase is an enzyme that gets made in belly fat that believe it or not converts testosterone to estrogen, and it’s now known that both aromatase and high estrogen play a role in prostate cancer. ? Reducing belly fat is an essential weapon to reducing estrogen dominance.

Since women need more estrogen, it is not typically that they are making too much estrogen but that they are not breaking it down well, and it remains active in the body.

Nutrition is key to breaking down or metabolizing estrogen.?? Cruciferous vegetables have extracts in them that help the liver make enzymes that naturally detox the body from excess extrogen.  A supplement diindolyl methane (DIM) and indole-3-carbinol (I3C) also help the liver make enzymes that neutralize estrogen.? ?For best results both supplementing with DIM and eating a diet rich in cruciferous vegetables is most beneficial.  Diets high in fiber and beneficial flora promote good estrogen metabolism.

If you feel like you may be estrogen dominant, get your hormone levels tested and seek out a health practitioner who will help you optimize your levels. Control your weight, especially if you have belly fat, and find out if you have blood sugar imbalances.? Finally eat a nutrient dense, high fiber diet and make sure to take in beneficial flora in the form of a probiotics.