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Estrogen dominance is a very common condition in today’s time, I have been witnessing far too many women as well as men suffering from this condition and unaware of its consequences.

Estrogen dominance is a very common condition in today’s time, I have been witnessing far too many women as well as men suffering from this condition and unaware of its consequences.

• Estrogen dominance is essentially too much estrogen in comparison to progesterone, there is not specific number which can define if you have estrogen dominance but is the balance of estrogen and progesterone which defines if you have estrogen dominance..
• Estrogen at healthy level is crucial for day-to-day functioning. low estrogen in women can hasten aging process and therefore symptoms like, dry atrophied vagina that leads to painful sex and urination, hot flashes, mood changes, irregular periods, brain fog etc…
• However excessive estrogen can wreak absolute havoc on whole body. It can cause symptoms such as water retention, puffiness around eyes on waking up, inability to lose weight, dark facial pigmentation, fatigue,anxiety, depression etc..
• Excessive estrogen can lead to fibroids, endometriosis, abnormal menstruation, and breast cancer.
• Conventional medicine tends to prescribe hormonal birth control to alleviate symptoms of estrogen dominance, which can have a lot of side effects and make the problem worse in the long run.
• There are ways to cope up with this condition more naturally to ensure  alleviating symptoms, and ensuring look and feel better by losing weight and getting a glowing flawless complexion.

Symptoms of estrogen dominance:

Women:

• Weight gain (particularly in hips, midsection, thighs)
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Fibroids
• Endometriosis
• PMS
• Irregular menstrual cycle
• Fatigue
• Reduced sex drive
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Bloating
• Breast tenderness
• Mood swings
• Brain fog
• Insomnia

Men:

• Enlarged breasts (gynecomastia or man boobs)
• Sexual dysfunction
• Infertility

It is crucial to identify your symptoms and work on eradicating them from the root.

Most common offenders often leading to estrogen dominance are as below:

• All canned foods (lined with BPA) cause this toxicity,  using glass or stainless steel to store food helps. It is a little-known fact that there is more BPA on cash register receipts than in plastic water bottles! Other paper products contain BPA as well, so reduce the use of paper towels and napkins, and always wash hands after handling toilet and copy paper.

• Pthalates are found in hair products, nail polish, and fragrances. Phthalates are hormone mimickers and disrupt hormone balance. Phthalates are chemical substances used to make plastics soft.
• Birth control pills
• pesticides used in large scale farming along with hormone injections given to animals to improve the produce, has disruptive effect on the estrogen and other hormone balance.
•  Slow digestion and constipation, mostly related to a) low acid in your stomach ( people popping pantocid may please note) b) lack of healthy bacterial flora in the intestines.
• Toxic heavy metal load, Chronic infections such as candida, lyme EBV, and other infections.
• Severe stress causes estrogen dominance

Estrogen and progesterone work in harmony with one another. balancing the two to prevent imbalances and risks of diseases like PCOD and cancer is crucial. if a woman has too much estrogen and too little progesterone, the body no longer functions in perfect homeostasis, and cancer risk is elevated.

When progesterone is increased, the toxic effect of estrogen is decreased. Progesterone can prevent breast cancer from occurring and even reduce the size of existing tumors, however, excess estrogen does not allow this to happen.

we offer you tips to prevent building up of estrogen leading to inability to lose weight and cause increased risk of various chronic lifestyle diseases associated with this hormone imbalance.

How to reduce excess Estrogen?

• Choose organic
• Avoid air-fresheners, candles, and other home products that contain synthetic fragrances
• Add Omega 3 fatty acids supplements can help in flushing out BPA
• Reduce toxic load and heavy metals by supporting detoxification pathways
• Remove plastics,avoid heating in plastic containers
• Reduce stress, add meditation , Yoga, Gratitude to your practice
• Natural Bio identical progesterone under medical supervision will help
• Increase physical activity
• Reduce carbohydrate intake
• Clean the gut of infections
• Avoid keeping cell phones close to skin
• Adequate sleep helps prevent estrogen build up in cells

Dr. Kalpana Shekhawat M.D.

Functional Medicine Specialist