Estrogen Dominance for Women
You may have heard of estrogen in the context of menopause, gender development, and hormones, but have you ever heard of the hormonal imbalance, estrogen dominance? In this blog, I do a deep dive into what estrogen is and how it naturally fluctuates for menstruating women, what estrogen dominance is, and the signs, symptoms, causes, and steps to reverse estrogen dominance.
Evaluating your individual hormone levels (like estrogen and progesterone) through tests such as the DUTCH Test that I offer in my Hormone Health Intensive program is the first step into understanding and determining if you have a hormonal imbalance. Let’s dive in!
What is Estrogen?
To state simply, estrogen is a group of steroid hormones that are primarily associated with female characteristic development during puberty and regulating reproductive systems in adulthood. Depending on the life stage of a woman, there are three types of estrogen that will vary in amounts.
Estrone (E1): This is common in menopausal women. After menopause, the body stops making estradiol (menstruating women) and estriol (pregnant women) and will only make estrone.
Estradiol (E2): Arguably, this is the most common context in that estrogen is used because of its role in menstruating women for an overall healthy menstrual cycle.
Estriol (E3): Once a woman becomes pregnant, estriol production increases.
How Does Estrogen Fluctuate Throughout the Menstrual Cycle?
Throughout the menstrual cycle, it is normal for estrogen to fluctuate alongside other hormones such as testosterone and progesterone. When menstruating (or bleeding), estrogen is low. This dip in estrogen can create symptoms such as fatigue, bloating, cramping, irritability, and mood swings. It begins to rise during the follicular phase as the body prepares to release an egg and thicken the uterine lining, peaks during ovulation, and begins to drop going into the luteal phase.
You can read more about my menstrual cycle series here!
What is Estrogen Dominance?
Estrogen is essential to a woman’s body for reproductive, cardiovascular, bone, and overall health, but hormonal imbalances such as estrogen dominance can create a myriad of negative symptoms.
Estrogen dominance occurs when there is too much estrogen in the body compared to progesterone. Estrogen and progesterone work hand-in-hand to thicken the uterine lining; they keep each other in check! There are two main types of estrogen dominance:
Estrogen dominance: The body produces too much estrogen
Relative estrogen dominance: The body doesn’t produce enough progesterone, and estrogen compensates by producing higher levels
Our bodies tend to be a lot smarter than what we give them credit for when it comes to health. Knowing the signs and symptoms of conditions or imbalances is key to getting to the root causes of issues like estrogen dominance.
Signs and Symptoms
Irregular, heavy, and/or painful periods
Fluid retention
Breast tenderness
Weight gain
Mood swings
Hair loss
Infertility
Brain fog
Common Causes
Stress
In response to stress, the body produces cortisol, a steroid hormone that helps prepare the body and adapt to a stressful situation by increasing blood sugar, providing energy, and suppressing bodily functions that are non-essential during that time. Cortisol is a great regulatory tool, but it comes at the expense of progesterone. If you are experiencing stress over long periods of time, it could deplete the amount of progesterone in your body, leading to estrogen dominance.
Adipose tissue
Adipose tissue, or fat tissue, is where estrogen is secreted. Because of this, having a high body fat percentage can lead to higher estrogen levels.
Liver
As the natural detoxifier to the body, the liver breaks down estrogen and eliminates it. If the liver is not functioning correctly, estrogen buildup can occur. As a powerhouse organ, our liver not only aids in detoxification and hormone health, but also in digestion and immune system regulation, and it supports blood sugar levels.
Check out my mini-series about the liver! Here is Why You Should Love Your Liver and Unlocking Liver Health: Deep Dive into Function, Detox, and Optimal Wellness.
Estrogen-mimicking chemicals
Environmental toxins, known as xenoestrogens, include household cleaning products, fragrances, beauty products, PFAS in cookware, and plastics in food containers. Xenoestrogens act like estrogen once they’re in the body which can increase overall levels.
Anovulatory cycles
An anovulatory cycle is where ovulation does not occur. To be classified as anovulatory, it typically includes months without ovulation. If ovulation does not occur or there are issues with having adequate progesterone levels during the luteal phase, estrogen dominance can occur.
How to Reverse Estrogen Dominance?
Focusing on gut health and diet
Excess estrogen or an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone can cause digestive issues such as constipation, diarrhea, and even irritable bowel syndrome because these hormones play significant roles in metabolism and gastrointestinal regulation.
Previous research has demonstrated that steroid hormone (estrogen and progesterone are examples of steroid hormones) levels are correlated with microbiome diversity.
Increasing gut microdiversity of the “good” bugs in our gut through increasing fiber and eating a diet rich in plants and fermented foods will help strengthen the gut lining and the metabolism of estrogen.
Focusing on fiber-and-plant-focused foods such as fruits, vegetables, peas, beans, nuts, and seeds and fermented foods such as sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt (plain and unsweetened), kefir, and miso, will help encourage excretion of excess hormones through fecal.
Manage Stress
Stress is so important to regulating and balancing hormone levels! Cortisol, one of the main stress hormones, slows the function of nonessential bodily functions if there is a perceived threat. Nonessential functions include the digestive system, reproductive system, and growth processes. Therefore, being in chronic stress creates lasting impacts on your hormones and overall health.
Focus on sleep quality
Hormones play a vital role in sleep quality and vice versa! Stable estrogen levels maintain a normal body temperature and support serotonin production (a neurotransmitter important for sleep) when sleeping. Progesterone supports sleep quality by increasing the production of GABA, a chemical in the brain associated with sleep.
Focus on liver health
When we neglect our liver health and therefore its ability to eliminate excess hormones such as estrogen, it can lead to recirculated hormones in the bloodstream. This can manifest in imbalances that affect mood, metabolism, skin, and menstrual health.
Eat liver-supporting foods such as cruciferous and bitter vegetables, broccoli sprouts, apples, foods high in flavonoids and beta-carotene (beets, carrots, red onions, and eggplant), and b-complex vitamins.
Testing
My philosophy is, “Test, don’t guess” when it comes to your health!
When assessing hormone imbalance, my Hormone Health Intensive includes the DUTCH Test to evaluate estrogen and progesterone levels in full depth. It measures all estrogens (estrone, estradiol, and estrone) and progesterone metabolites and provides a detailed analysis of estrogen metabolism.
Working 1-on-1 with me, we dive into your individual levels and create a personalized protocol for balancing and healing your hormones. Read more about the DUTCH Test here!