If you suspect you have estrogen dominance, this article will show you how to reverse estrogen dominance in women.
If you have an unexplained spike in weight or cannot lose weight despite adopting healthy lifestyle habits, the problem could be estrogen dominance.
Estrogen is a vital hormone in women’s reproductive lives. It regulates the menstrual cycle, leads to breast growth and intermittent swelling during different times of the month. It controls your mood and regulates bone growth.
If this hormone goes out of whack then all of the above signs will intensify.
Estrogen dominance in women leads to weight gain or obesity, according to research.
This condition causes formation of lumps around your uterus and breasts and irregular or heavy periods.
Furthermore, your mood swings become so intense that you may constantly be fatigued or could develop depression.
All of these unwanted effects can disappear if you reverse estrogen dominance. You don’t have to use complex methods. Sometimes, the simpler an intervention is the more effective it is.
Before we dive in, if you have a partner or friend with estrogen imbalance, forward them this guide on how to reverse estrogen dominance in men.
How to Reverse Estrogen Dominance in Women
1. Eat Brassicae foods
If you have too much of a certain hormone, the best thing to do is to consume substances that inhibit the hormone.
Foods from the cabbage family are natural estrogen inhibitors. They contain a substance known as Indole-3-carbinol.
Some of the vegetables that belong to this category include cauliflower, bok choy, turnips, wasabi, and cabbage.
2. Reduce your sugar intake
Sugar plays a significant role in causing estrogen dominance due to its association with insulin.
If there is too much insulin in your system, your body produces too much sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG). This hormone helps to keep estrogen balanced by binding with it. If there is too much of it, then estrogen production will rise and lead to dominance.
In this research, female rats experienced a surge in pre-ovulatory hormone when they ate a high sugar diet.
To undo estrogen’s harmful effects, stay away from foods with added sugars. These include cakes or pastries, cookies, granola bars, soda, bread, breakfast cereals and other refined foods.
White starches still fall under this category because when you ingest them, your body quickly converts them into glucose, which is a simple sugar.
You’re better off eating whole wheat grains and fiber-rich, natural starches like sweet potatoes, yams, corn on the cob, stevia or honey.
3. Replace hormonal contraceptives with natural ones
In case you are on the pill, you could be adding to the problem. The pill contains estrogen in an unnatural state.
In your body, estrogen normally works in tandem with progesterone. Therefore, when you take it separately, it is easy for it to go out of balance.
Furthermore, because it is synthetic, it does not react well with your body.
Estrogen dominance in women can thus be reversed if you stop taking the pill. But this is only if it was causing the problem in the first place.
Some alternatives to hormonal contraception include safe days or condoms. Learn how to use these natural or non-hormonal methods safely.
4. Consider herbal supplements
Most herbal supplements work by restoring normal liver functioning.
Your liver is linked to estrogen dominance because it eliminates estrogen metabolites. When these are not filtered out, they can accumulate and cause estrogen spikes.
Milk thistle, dandelion root / leaf and artichoke are good alternatives to consider.
5. Increase cruciferous vegetables in your diet
As I mentioned above, estrogen dominance in women is sometimes a result of liver dysfunction.
Cruciferous vegetables contain glucosinolates, which are responsible for the detoxification process in the liver.
Some of the vegetables in this category include kale, broccoli and arugula.
Just make sure the veggies don’t contain pesticide residue as it may worsen the situation. Buy organic if you can afford it.
6. Curb stress in your life
Stress contributes to estrogen dominance through its association with another hormone called pregnenolone.
This hormone is an antecedent to the stress hormone, cortisol or to sex hormone, estrogen.
Since pregnenolone has dual roles, it tends to concentrate on the function with the highest demand.
If you are chronically stressed, chances are that the pregnenolone which would have been used to produce progesterone (a complementary hormone to estrogen) now goes to make cortisol for your stress.
If there is low progesterone, estrogen tends to spike.
Try relaxation techniques like yoga. Consider not spending time with people who cause you stress. Do not have an all or nothing mentality.
Accept the things you can change, change those that you can and compromise when you can.
7. Improve your gut health
If you have a gut imbalance, it could prevent you from excreting hormones normally and lead to estrogen dominance.
Usually, gut imbalances lead to inflammation, so you want to eliminate inflammation through the following habits.
Eliminate processed foods from your fiber, sugar and dairy. Also, take probiotic supplements or foods that are probiotic like bone broth and kimchi. Eat fiber-rich food as well.
This article shares insights on how to improve your gut health.
8. Be aware of problematic foods
Estrogen dominance in women may sometimes come from consuming too many pesticides or hormones.
Meat, especially poultry and beef may contain excessive synthetic hormones.
Additionally, inorganic foods may have pesticides which could lead to estrogen excesses.
Soy and products made from it like tofu are also part of the problem. Avoid taking these foods as much as possible.
9. Lose weight
Weight loss and estrogen dominance in women is like a chicken and egg relationship.
When you have too much fat in your body, it stores estrogen and keeps it from circulating in your blood.
Your body then responds to the presence of estrogen by making more fat cells. This creates a vicious cycle.
To reverse the problem, try losing weight. In this study, it was shown that estrogen levels reduced when women lost weight. Reduce your daily calorie intake and become more active.
10. Reduce toxic loads
What’s the source of your drinking water? It may contain toxins. Therefore, consider filtering your water or purchase distilled water.
If the skincare or hair care products you use contain parabens and other toxins, you could be building up the perfect environment for estrogen dominance as these chemicals mimic estrogen and damage its hormonal pathways.
Always check the ingredient list and buy cosmetics without the following: parabens, cinnamate, camphor, benzophenone and octyl methoxycinnamate.
11. Change your environment to curb heavy metals
Heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium have qualities that mimic estrogen. This causes them to disrupt your hormonal system.
If you eat fish caught from water infested with heavy metals, this might be interfering with your estrogen levels.
Estrogen dominance in women also comes from inhaling paint or other chemicals that have the heavy metals. Interior designers and people who work with such products may fall victim.
12. Reduce plastics and BPA in your food
Plastics in the containers your use, water bottles or food wrappings contain bisphenol A (BPA). This is a hormone that mimics estrogen.
When buying items, always choose the ones that are BPA-free. Try and reduce microwaving plastics or exposing them to sunlight as this increases estrogenic activities.
Conclusion
Estrogen dominance in women is caused by stress, liver and gut dysfunction, exposure to toxins and heavy metals, consumption of hormonal contraceptives, and body fat.
To reverse it, eat organic foods, buy non-toxic personal care products, control stress, manage your fat and stack up on vegetables.
You should also start doing home workouts to reduce body fat. Use these 28 fat-blasting workouts to lose unwanted fat fast.
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