Estrogen is a sex hormone that, where there is too much of it, can cause a myriad of health issues including breast and ovarian cancers, autoimmune diseases, irregular periods, weight gain, hypothyroidism, chronic fatigue, PMS symptoms, early puberty bloating and so much more!

Estrogen is an important hormone for your menstrual cycle and fertility amongst other things in women’s bodies such as bone strength and brain health.

Estrogen dominance is a state when the body balance of estrogen and progesterone if off – either progesterone is low and it’s making estrogen look dominant OR you actually do have too much estrogen in your body from what we call xenoestrogens – food, particles and other chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body.  When it’s in excess, it can help create things like fibroids, endometriosis, and ovarian cysts as well.

 

Top 5 Estrogen Foods To Avoid

Soy

We have learned a lot about soy over the past few decades and many of us think it’s healthy because we learned from Japanese people that eat natto, which is fermented soy.  In the US, our soy is GMO and heavily processed and is metabolized as estrogen.

Sugar and Processed Carbohydrates

The standard American diet increases estrogen and decreases progesterone with all its’ excess sugar and processed foods.  They also increased inflammation, decrease our gut microbiome, and are considered endocrine disruptors.  Better choices for carbohydrates are fruits and vegetables and if you must eat grains, choose organic white jasmine rice, gluten free oats, quinoa and sprouted grains in moderation.

Conventional Meat and Dairy

Animals are raised in the US very inhumanely.  They are given steroids, hormone injections, antibiotics, corn for food and lots of other medications to make them more profitable for large companies.  Choose meat and dairy products from local organic farmers and make sure on the packaging it says pasture-raised, grass-fed and humanely raised.  You can actually find decent sources of meat and dairy in some grocery stores now.

Plastic Products

BPA has gotten a bad rap in the recent years about it’s considered an endocrine disruptor and has been linked to certain kinds of cancer.  BPA is not the only constituent in plastic products that does this – there are many more that haven’t been under fire…yet.  When plastic is heated, it’s chemicals leach into your food and water so try to avoid that.  Choose stainless steel water bottles and glass food storage containers as much as you can.

Teflon Pans

These pans act very similar to the plastic products, so choose cast iron or “green” pans to cook on.

Ways to Detox Excess Estrogen

Eat fiber

Love your liver

• Eat cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, kale, etc.
• Drink dandelion tea
• Take milk thistle

Listen to the entire episode here on The Ali Damron Show

 

Make sure to talk to a qualified medical professional before starting supplements.