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Is Estrogen Dominating You?

Writer's picture: Ricky TrigaloRicky Trigalo

Stubborn weight, acne, low libido, restless sleep and struggling to build muscle are just some common characteristic when estrogen is dominating your body.  Estrogen doesn’t discriminate. It’s just as much of an issue these days with both men and women.

 

Recently I’ve worked with a 45 years old woman who is a perfect case in point.

 

For most of her adult life, she was able to manage her body weight with the simple calories in versus calories out equation. When the scale started to tip, she simply cut back on her food intake and exercised more.

 

That was, until estrogen took control.

 

The older she got, the harder it became to manage her weight through diet and exercise, and one day it just stopped working all together. Not only was she not able to lose weight, but one day she stepped on the scale and had actually gained weight despite her efforts to work out harder and monitor her food intake.

 

For an engineer and scientific-minded person, this scenario was mind boggling.  She applied the equation of calories in versus calories out and it did not produce the outcome it was supposed to.

 

There’s a million things I could say about the broken calories in versus calories out equation (you can read more of that here), but let’s stay focused on estrogen.


There was obviously something more at play keeping my client from managing her weight, so we set out to run the right type of hormone test and to collect some clues.

 

Clue #1 - A possible genetic predisposition.  A few years ago, her mom had been diagnosed with the estrogen driven type of breast cancer called ER-2. About 80% of all breast cancers are “ER-positive”, meaning the cancer cells grow in response to estrogen.

 

Clue #2 - A Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH) revealed estrogen metabolites (estrone and estradiol) were very high outside the functional range and testosterone was within range.  These values can not be seen on a blood test, so they had been routinely missed.

 

My client had a classic case of underlying estrogen dominance that was keeping her from losing weight.

 

What is estrogen dominance?

 

In women, it’s commonly evaluated based upon the ratio of estrogen to progesterone,


In men, it’s usually determined when estrogen levels are relatively high in comparison to testosterone.  Meaning testosterone levels could be normal or low, and estrogen is high relatively high to whatever that number is.

 


In general, when estrogen levels are relatively high to other hormones, it’s not good.

 

I, too, fell victim to estrogen dominance back in the day.  My weight climbed by 10 pounds, I broke out with acne for the first time in my life, I had painful and heavy periods, didn’t sleep great and couldn’t keep my emotions under wraps- all because estrogen had taken over.  And I’m almost certain estrogen was a tipping factor towards my Hashimoto’s.

 

In this blog, I dive into more detail about what contributes to estrogen dominance and what actions you can take to keep it or get it back under control.

 

The good news is that estrogen dominance doesn’t happen overnight. It’s preventable and reversible in almost any case. 

 

But if estrogen gets out of control, it can lead to more health issues beyond stubborn weight, acne and pain in the ass periods.

 

Estrogen dominance can also contribute to:

●      Hormone driven cancers such as the ER-2 breast cancer

●      Autoimmune conditions such as Hashimoto’s

●      Yeast and bacteria overgrowth such as Candida

 

So how can you keep estrogen within its normal playing field?

 

Making sure estrogen doesn’t start dominating the field means tackling it from a couple of different angles.

 

Angle #1 - Sort out estrogen sources

One of the biggest reasons why estrogen is on the rise is due to a classification of toxins known as Xenoestrogens.  These toxins have the ability to mimic estrogen in the body or block hormone receptor sites resulting in elevated estrogen levels.  Common sources of estrogen promoting toxins can be found in:

●      Plastic food, water or other types of containers

●      Lotions, shampoos, conditioners, deodorant or other personal care products

●      Metal substances such as as cadmium, lead, and mercury

 

Aim to swap out your plastic containers for glass or stainless steel and use the EWG’s Skin Deep Database to find non-toxic personal care products.

 

Other estrogen elevating sources also include:

●      Non-organic foods containing pesticides or added hormones

●      Tap water (yes, even though it’s deemed “safe”) contaminated with pesticides/toxins

●      Intestinal parasites, bacteria and yeast that elevate toxic enzymes and trap estrogen

●      Excess body fat that absorbs, stores and synthesizes estrogen

●      Synthetic hormones found in hormone replacement therapies and/or birth control

●      Water damaged buildings with mold growth

●      Unrelenting mental or emotional stress

 

Some actions you can take action to tackle these sources by eating organic, drinking and cooking with only filtered water, properly addressing water leaks and mold and taking time to meditate or de-stress daily. 

 

To sort out the synthetic hormones and/or intestinal pathogens, seek a functional health practitioner (like myself) to assist you with proper and personalized strategies.

 

Angle #2 - Love your liver

The reality is, we can’t control our exposure to estrogen driving toxins 100% of the time.  But our liver does play a major role in getting rid of excess estrogen that might be circulating in the body, and that’s something you can get behind.  By supporting liver function, you can kill two birds with one stone: eliminate toxins you’ve been exposed to that might raise estrogen levels, and excrete existing excess estrogen.

 

To support your liver, you can:

●      Take a daily liver support supplement with nutrients such as milk thistle

●      Eat naturally detoxifying foods such as beets, grapefruits, lemons and dandelion greens

●      Occasionally do castor oil liver packs, dry body brushing or an infrared sauna

 

Do all of the above and give more power to your liver!

 

Angle #3 - Eat and drink anti-estrogenic

The great news is, you can combat estrogen on a daily basis with little effort.  Simply aim to eat anti-estrogenic foods, known as cruciferous vegetables, and drink clean, filtered water (from a glass or steel bottle of course!).

 

Some of the best estrogen regulating foods to consume include:

●      Broccoli

●      Cauliflower

●      Kale

●      Brussel Sprouts

●      Arugula

●      Cabbage

●      Bok Choy

●      Radishes

●      Collard Greens

 

By taking action from all three angles, estrogen will be neutralized and will play nicely.

 

However, in some cases even if you’re adamantly working to lower estrogen levels, there still might be something stopping you from getting where you want to be.

 

My client was another perfect case of this.  Even after months of taking action to reduce estrogen, her levels only moderately decreased.  It certainly wasn’t for lack of effort, but a genetic predisposition became more clear.

 

Remember, clue number one in her story was her mother’s history of estrogen driven breast cancer.  We were able to correlate her family history clue with her repeated test results to see from a genetic standpoint, her body actually needed more support than most people to keep estrogen under control.

 

Today I’m happy to report that with the proper diet and lifestyle choices, my client has lost over 30 pounds.  She easily maintains her weight while taking more days off from exercising than ever before and she is proactively preventing a future battle with estrogen driven cancer.

 

 

 If you suspect estrogen might be dominating you, and you want to get your hands on the right lab tests and resources to get it under control, then schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here today.




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