Hormone imbalance and estrogen dominance By Debi Hopkins I believe that such things as PMS, menstrual cycle disorders, perimenopause and menopausal symptoms that cause us to suffer, are not a normal or natural part of "being a woman"; they are warning signals of an underlying imbalance in our body, and our bodies way of telling us "Help, I need attention!". Many medical researchers believe that the cause of this rise in female hormonal disorders stems from a medical condition known as "Estrogen Dominance". Some of the Causes of Estrogen Dominance Include: 1. A diet high in estrogenic foods like meat and poultry products that are not organicly raised and have high levels of residues of hormones and other drugs. (Note: Many modern day livestock producers use grain that is geneticly modified and treated with pestisides to ensure a profitable outcome. This practice, though profitable to the farmer, is detrimental to human health, not to mention what it does over time to the health of the livestock.) 2. Hormones that are given to livestock to increase their milk or egg output cause our bodies to have hormonal imbalances. 3. Exposure to estrogen-mimicking chemicals that are increasingly prevalent both in our food and in our environment. Once in our body, these chemicals act like estrogen. The result of this estrogen onslaught is that we are left with an excess of estrogen in our bodies, giving us too much estrogen in relation to the level of progesterone. This condition is often referred to as estrogen dominance, and it is this condition that underlies many of the health problems women have to deal with today. These modern day maladies were not common to women just a generation or two ago, and much research is ongoing today, as the medical community tries to gain a complete understanding as to the cause and cure for hormonal imbalance and how it affects todays female population. How the Imbalance Happens What causes the imbalance between the two hormones? One major factor is believed to be estrogen-mimicking chemicals. It is believed that these chemicals upset the natural hormonal balance in our body. Such things as certain industrial chemicals in our food, water, and air, and heavy metals, herbicides, pesticides, plastics, and many other poisons, mimic estrogen once they enter our body. Our body is fooled into thinking it is real estrogen and acts as if there is an estrogen excess in the system, creating an imbalance. A second factor that leads to hormonal imbalance is liver health. When a woman's liver is not functioning properly, it is unable to eliminate the majority of estrogenic chemicals and natural estrogens from the body as it is meant to do. Then both kinds of estrogen end up being reabsorbed through the intestines back into the bloodstream. The body now has more estrogen than it needs, which causes havoc. In our culture, most men and women age 40 and older probably have some degree of liver dysfunction due to the toxicity in our environment. If the liver's detoxification systems are working properly, then estrogen levels will decline in the ten days before bleeding starts. But if they are not, that means the uterine (and breast) glands continue under estrogen stimulation; this is often further magnified by too little progesterone being produced. Facts About Estrogen: Estrogen is one of the female "sex" hormones, and it is produced mainly in our ovaries, but a small portion is also stored in our fat cells. Estrogen is the hormone that regulates the menstrual cycle. Estrogen is important for adolescent sexual development. Estrogen prepares the uterus for receiving the fertilized egg by stimulating the uterine lining to grow. Estrogen affects all the body's cells. Estrogen levels decline after menopause. ' Estrogen slows down bone loss, which leads to osteoporosis, and it can help reduce the incidence of heart attacks. Estrogen also improves skin tone, reduces vaginal dryness, and can act as an antiaging factor. Hold the Estrogen, Please! There is a dramatic lack of understanding in mainstream medicine of this progesterone/estrogen imbalance and its significance and dangerous effect on female tissues. Consequently, many women are not getting the help they need. Many of the reproductive problems women experience, including PMS and many menopausal symptoms, are not a deficiency of estrogen, but instead an excess of estrogen relative to the level of progesterone A perfect example is the way so many physicians immediately put women on estrogen replacement therapy the minute they start complaining about perimenopausal (nearing menopause) symptoms. Many natuopathic physicians believe that hormone testing is essential, before any hormone replacement therapy is begun, and that hormone levels should be monitored as an ongoing part of treatment. For many women, supplementation of progesterone, in a natural form, is the treatment of choice in releaving many of the symptoms that they are suffering from. There are natural, safe, and healthy alternatives to birth control pills, hysterectomies, and estrogen replacement therapy as a way of making a healthy transition from being a menstruating woman to being a menopausal woman. Taking Premarin, Estraderm, or Estrase (the three estrogens most commonly prescribed) further upsets your estrogen/progesterone imbalance and only invites more problems. Doctor's once promoted and prescribed estrogen as a part of a woman's mid-life drug treatment plan. It was theorized that she would benefit by looking and feeling younger. Today, we know this is unhealthy at best, and can even be dangerous, as estrogen causes a woman to retain fluids which plump up her skin and in turn, this causes weight gain. This weight gain is caused by excess water retention, which can also be retained in the brain, causing brain fog and irritability. It can also be retained in the breasts, making them swollen, lumpy, and tender. It can also stimulate excessive, potentially dangerous glandular growth in the colon, breast, and uterus. Restoring Progesterone Naturally Many physicians are seeing declining levels of progesterone in their female patients starting as early as age 30. Mainstream medicine many times does not understand the importance of progesterone, and tends to focus on progestin in the form of products such as Provera, Agest, and DepoProvera. These progesterone-like synthetic chemicals don't have all the good effects and benefits, such as stimulating bone growth and preempting osteoporosis, that you get from natural progesterone. Instead, they have many negative side effects including water retention, depression, and the increased risk of blood clots. Progesterone cream delivered through the skin (transdermally) or sublingually (under the tounge) are the prefered means of treatment by most naturally minded physicians, as they have found that their patients benefit more from that form of delivery. When a woman takes female hormones orally, 90% are destroyed by the liver and only 10% get into your blood. The burden on the liver and gallbladder is known to increase the risk of gallstones, gallbladder disease, and liver cancer. The doses and periods of application vary according to what the natural progesterone is being used for (PMS, fibroids, or menopause) and the strength of the product. Generally, women are advised to apply a half-teaspoon twice a day from ovulation to the day before bleeding. Many naturopathic doctors recommend that you rub it on your abdomen below the navel, over your uterus, on your breasts, and perhaps a tiny amount on your arms and face. Naturopathic physicians who use nautural hormone therapy in their practice report that 80% of the women they treat with a natural form of pharmecutical grade progesterone find that it helps lessen or totally eliminate their symptoms. What are some other things we can do to help restore our body's natural hormone balance? Change Our Diet! A healthy diet that is comprised of organic, unrefined, unprocessed, whole foods that are high in fiber, should be the mainstay of our daily diet. Sugar, bad fats, and white flour are notorious for increasing the symptoms of hormonal imbalances. ("What?" you may ask, "There is such a thing as a good fat?" The answer is a resounding Yes!, more on that topic in a bit....) Mood swings and the irritability that comes with PMS, uterine fibroids and fibrocystic breasts, are all symptoms of hormonal imbalance that can be exasperated by a poor diet. The greater your discomfort, the cleaner your diet must be. Raw milk in it's natural form---- unpasteurized and unhomoginized, is a great source of nutrients. Unfortunately, many of us don't have access to this wonderful food in our modern society, unless we raise our own livestock, and know for certain what has gone into nourishing that animal. Therefore, any milk product from an unorganic source should be completely eliminated from your diet, regardless of your symptom status, because of the potential for the unnatural hormones they contain to wreak havoc with your system's hormone levels. According to research from Frank Oski, M.D., of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, milk products from unorgainc sources, and can help cause health problems like osteoporosis, heart disease, and allergies. Milk is probably one of the most concentrated sources of harmful pesticides and environmental estrogen-like chemicals. These mimic and exaggerate the activity of natural estrogen in a person's body. Supplementing Your Diet Taking a vitamin supplement is as important as changing your diet. That's because we get fewer nutrients in our depleted standard American diet; the soil our food is grown in is gravely deficient in nutrients, so even healthy foods have fewer nutrients than they used to; and our absorption and digestion become less efficient as we age. Vitamin B6: Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine) may be the "ideal nutrient" for women with PMS, according to Alan Gaby, M.D. In one study, 25 women whose PMS symptoms ranged from moderate to severe took vitamin B6 daily for three months; then they took a placebo (an inactive substance) for three months. Of these women, 84% experienced a far greater improvement in their symptoms with vitamin B6 than with the placebo. In another study of 70 women with PMS who took vitamin B6, 60% of those who had reported depression with their PMS said they were cured or markedly improved. Among those with headaches, 81% said they felt better; for bloating and swelling, 60%; for irritability, 56%; lethargy, 52%; and breast tenderness, 52%. A third study involving 434 PMS sufferers showed that taking 25-100 mg of vitamin B6 twice daily (adjusting dosage on an individual basis) contributed to overall symptom relief in 82% of participants. Reducing or eliminating all together the use of caffeine from sources like coffee, soft drinks, or chocolate, can help reduce or eliminate breast tenderness. Increase your intake of vitamins B6, B12, and the entire B complex as deficiencies in these nutrients are associated with high levels of estrogen. Also helpful for the liver in its job of inactivating estrogen are vitamins C and E and the minerals selenium and magnesium. Calcium should also be a part of your supplement regime, taken at bed time with magnesium, to help induce a calm, restful nights sleep. Calcium citrate or microcrystaline hydroxypatite (MCHA) are great forms of calsium that are much more absorpable than some of the cheaper forms of calcium. Detoxify! Many of the problems women experience can be alleviated by cleansing the liver. The liver is the largest filter in the body, responsible for processing all hormones and toxins; it must also deal with thousands of toxic substances that routinely enter the human body. First, take the pressure off your liver by lowering the amounts of oils (except olive oil, flax oil and coconut oil) and fats in your diet, especially fried fats because these do more damage to the liver than any other single food. As a rule of thumb, use coconut oil if you need to heat a food, like for pan frying. Use olive oil for salad dressings and marinades. Use flax oil in smoothies, and as a substitute for melted butter over such things as steamed vegetables. Well, that is enough to ponder for this month, next month I would like to delve a bit deeper into the area of good fats and bad fats! I hope you have found this information to be of help, but I encourage you to research the topic for yourself, I'm sure we have much more to learn on all health topics, as there is new information coming forward all the time. Until next month, may God bless you and your family on your family homestead. Debi <>< |
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