Many women now more than ever deal with hormonal imbalances even as early as the start of puberty (many are starting sooner than in the past). The conventional first line of treatment for issues that arise from hormonal imbalances is often using synthetic hormones that can stop the cycle from happening at all or cause all sorts of other symptoms. More about birth control and female HRT here. Read on to learn how to balance female hormones naturally.
Estrogen/Progesterone imbalances can cause a myriad of symptoms and conditions in women. PMS, joint pains, TMJD, PCOS, PMDD, cramping, bloating, headaches, acne, fatigue, low libido, breast tenderness, hair changes, skin changes, depression, fibroids, mid-cycle spotting, heavy bleeding, absent periods, hot flashes, night sweats, infertility, cancer, and even miscarriages. All of this and more are a sign that at least one part of a women’s cycle is an imbalanced and needs to be addressed.
None of this is normal and none of this should be ignored. What else can be done to naturally balance female hormones without birth control, hormone replacement therapy, or medications? A lot actually…
Get a Baseline To Naturally Balance Female Hormones
A cycling female hormone panel is a good starting point to see how hormones are changing throughout the month. 11 saliva samples are collected at different points throughout the month. Saliva samples are better than blood because they represent the free hormone levels that are actually being used by the body. Rather than hormones that are bound to protein and therefore not in use. Often individuals will have symptoms during one part of their cycle so this allows us to see if there is an imbalance in estrogen, or progesterone during that time. Most often the issue is estrogen dominance, but this can be due to high estrogen or low progesterone.
If estrogen/progesterone balance is the issue it will be due to one of 3 things:
- Low progesterone
- Poor estrogen detoxification leading to high estrogen
- Excess estrogen production
Low Progesterone
Low progesterone will typically be due to:
- Excess stress
- Improper nutrition
Stress causes what is known as the “pregnenolone steal” where instead of converting pregnenolone into progesterone, pregnenolone is converted into cortisol. If there is a major life stressor happening that needs to be addressed however possible. There are numerous stress management strategies that you can find. Exercising, walking, breath work are all great options. The best option is a healthy option that works for you. Eating nutrient dense foods will help to ensure you have the vitamins and minerals needed to a balanced stress response. Adaptogenic herbs such as ashwagandha, tulsi, or rhodiola also work well to support the adrenal glands and reduce excess cortisol.
Nutrition is a necessity to naturally balance female hormones. Steroid hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone require cholesterol to be synthesized. In order to make cholesterol you need healthy fats, so a low fat diet is not a healthy diet by any stretch of the imagination.
Other important nutrients for progesterone production include:
- Iodine
- Vitamin E
- Vitamin A
- Selenium
- Zinc
A portion of progesterone will then be converted into estrogen, and testosterone. So, low estrogen is almost always due to low progesterone.
Poor estrogen detoxification
Estrogen can go through several different processes to be detoxified from the body. This includes cytochrome P450, methylation, glutathione, glucuronidation, sulfation, or acetylation. Making sure that you are consuming and using clean products without unnecessary, toxic ingredients will help keep you liver functioning better. There are many micronutrients needed to make sure all of these pathways are working smoothly. Make sure to eat nutrient-dense whole foods to ensure you are getting the micronutrients you need. Supplements are often needed to help bring everything back into balance, but eating whole foods helps to ensure when everything is back up to par that you don’t need to take many supplements at all to feel fantastic.
The 2 most common pathways I see deficient for estrogen detox are:
Sulfation
Through cysteine as a sulfur donor. Sulfur can be depleted when taking NSAIDs for the pain associated with PMS pains, thus making the issue worse. This also creates a “double whammy” effect to connective tissue since sulfur is needed to repair and grow connective tissue, and excess estrogen creates excess laxity in connective tissue. This would explain increased joint pain during certain times in a woman’s cycle. Most cysteine in the body is made through methylation. Cysteine can be found in a variety of food (meats, eggs, fish, dairy, cruciferous veggies, etc.).
Glucuronidation
Glucuronic acid helps to make estrogen more water soluble so it can be excreted through the urine or bile. Often used a lot in the breakdown of other medications such as, antibiotics, NSAIDS, or birth control pills. A good source of glucuronic acid is artichoke extract, eating more artichoke may also help improve estrogen detoxification.
Excess Estrogen
The body won’t make too much estrogen when everything is going right, but there are several factors that can drive high estrogen.
- Excess body fat – estrogen makes more body fat and body fat makes more estrogen.
- Go for a walk or do 30-60 minutes of physical activity everyday, and do moderate to intense exercise at least 2x/day.
- Eat whole foods, when we are missing micronutrients we eat more. When we eat high sugar foods we eat more.
- Pytoestrogens – Soy in particular acts like an estrogen in the body limit your soy intake, especially any highly processed soy products.
- Xenoestrogens – Are manmade chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body and disrupt your normal balance.
- Plastics like BPA are difficult for the body to quickly detox.
- Pesticides found in most conventional produce, at least avoid the dirty dozen found here.
- Personal care products like lotions, makeup, and other creams very often have synthetic hormones added that companies aren’t required to disclose.
I hope this helps to give you some action steps to help improve your health and hormone balance. Eat whole foods as much as possible, exercise often, and cut out the toxic ingredients in your food and household products. Hormones can be tricky at times so it would be best to work with a holistic doctor that will help you find the true cause behind your condition.
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