Estrogen Dominance – Focusing on Xenoestrogens
By Dana Yarn, RDLD
Most of us know Estrogen dominance as a term that is related to a higher risk for certain cancers like breast & prostate cancer, but what else does estrogen dominance do to the body in terms of weight loss and achieving optimal health?
- Early onset of puberty, girls are developing faster than they should and getting their cycles earlier as low as 10 years of age
- Endometriosis afflicting 10% of all perimenopausal women
- Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS), rising and afflicting close to 30% of perimenopausal women
- Uterine fibroids affecting close to 25% of women from age 35 to 50
- As mentioned above breast cancer afflicting close to 10% of all women
- Infertility problems
- Ovarian cyst or tumors
The common denominator to the above conditions is estrogen dominance, or when the body has excess estrogen and is deficient in progesterone.? What blows my mind when I meet with clients and assess their nutrition?and?they mention that they?suffer from any of the above serious conditions?they?view it?as normal because it is so common.??Often nutrition and lifestyle strategies are never given or overlooked by conventional health professionals?or worse?they resort to serious surgeries or other invasive procedures and synthetic hormone replacement therapies before they try to modify diet, supplement and make lifestyle changes.
Here are some signs that you may be estrogen dominant:
- Holding fat in the upper thighs and back of the arms (men & women)
- Man boobs (there I said it, but it is true)
- Difficulty losing weight (men and women)
- Excess cellulite (back of arms, thighs)
- Hard time putting on muscle, despite your workout efforts you are still “soft” looking (men and women)
- Breasts are swollen and getting bigger
- Irritable (men and women)
- Excessive cramping/PMS before cycle
- Complete absence of period or they are missed frequently
- Fibroids
- Endometriosis
- Cyst in my breast
- Tired all the time (men and women)
- Low testosterone (men and women)
- Decreased libido 🙁 (both men & women)
What causes estrogen dominance?
The modern technology and poor food quality are the main culprits.
Food-we have taken our diets from clean and whole unprocessed foods to quick and fast processed foods.? The chemicals, hormones, antibiotics?and pesticides?in?conventional foods mimic estrogen in the body making us estrogen dominant.
Xenoestrogens- typically found in cosmetics, creams, lotions, shampoos, room deodorizers, cleaning products, paint, nail polish, unfiltered water, etc.? This is probably the scariest of all estrogen mimickers, because we are exposed to chemicals, unfiltered water daily and the xeno estrogens are fat soluble meaning they settle into the fat cells of the body making it hard to lose weight and can also contribute to the above medical conditions.
Synthetic Hormone Replacement Therapy- birth control also counts in this category.? When I meet with clients and look at their labs and see that their body is basically NOT producing any hormones and they are getting synthetic HRT (hormone replacement therapy) because they have “bad PMS” or “hot flashes” I cringe.? This is one of the worst things you?can do for your body, if you have practiced all of the lifestyle, supplement?and nutrition strategies? (don’t worry they are coming), and you still need some relief then see a doctor who specializes in bio identical hormone replacement therapies, this is a much better option.? Sure conventional practitioners may roll their eyes but that is because the norm in our country is synthetic hormone therapy. Find a doctor with a holistic approach to your body.
Here are other things that contribute to estrogen dominance.
- Increased consumption of caffeine, sugar, fast food, and processed foods (especially genetically modified soy products)
- Deficiency in vitamin B6 and magnesium
- Liver Disease
- Obesity
- Stress
- Exposure to industrial solvents
What can you do to detox some of that estrogen dominance?
GO GREEN! Transition your house into a xenoestrogen FREE environment. * Please note this does not have to be done overnight, it can be overwhelming to try to do it all at once, and if your family is not on board you may hit a road block in regards to budget, etc.
Start with what you put on your skin (the skin is the largest organ in the body and absorbs everything!) Some specific cosmetics items to start with make-up, lotion, soaps, shampoos, conditioners, deodorants, toothpaste, etc. Check the ingredient list and do not buy it if it has anything with Phthalates, parabens, sulfates, to name a few.
Then move onto what you eat and drink out of, ceramic, stainless steel, or glass containers to cook with, store, and drink out of.? Avoid plastics, Teflon, cans and aluminum.? Especially avoid heating up foods in these containers.? Also look into getting a reverse osmosis water filter on your house or even kitchen sink and shower heads to start with.? This will reduce your exposure to xeno estrogens through our contaminated water supply.
Finally move onto what you clean with- this was a tough one for me, sometimes the “green” products are not always the most efficient when it comes to getting the job done. Shop different brands until you find one that works for you.
Supplement with your core supplements to ensure you are not deficient in any essential vitamins or minerals that could contribute to estrogen dominance.
- High quality multi-vitamin/mineral supplement
- omega 3 fish oil (1000-2000mg of EPA+DHA)
- multi-probiotic
- vitamin D-3
- calcium and magnesium
Specifically to address the estrogen dominance take diindolyl methane, DIM this is a blend of extracts that naturally detox the hormones.