By incorporating more fermented foods and a potent probiotic, women can more easily detox estrogen, which helps balance hormones—in less than two months. By four months, eating a hormonally-supportive diet makes an impact, slowing the aging process and protecting fertility.
If your doctor suspects that you might have high estrogen, they'll likely order a blood test to check your hormone levels. A trained professional will collect a sample of your blood to be tested in a laboratory. The results will indicate if your estrogen levels are too low or too high.
Women often experience hormonal imbalance at predictable and naturally occurring points in their lives (menstruation, puberty, pregnancy and menopause). Certain medical conditions, lifestyle habits, environmental conditions, and endocrine gland malfunctions can be other causes of hormonal imbalance in females.
B Vitamins
Because B vitamins play a vital role in the creation of estrogen, low levels of B vitamins can result in reduced production of estrogen. Vitamins B2 and B6, in particular, are associated with healthy estrogen levels.
A Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center study involving postmenopausal, overweight, and obese women who took 2,000 IUs of vitamin D daily for a year found that those whose vitamin D blood levels increased the most had the greatest reductions in blood estrogens, which are a known risk factor for breast cancer.
Blood tests – At-home estrogen blood tests are quick and easy. You just need to prick your finger and collect a small blood sample in a vial. After that, you can send your sample to a lab for testing. Urine tests – Estrogen tests that use urine take a little longer to administer.
Health conditions: Some health conditions have an association with or lead to estrogen dominance. These include polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), uterine fibroids, endometriosis, and certain cancers. Insulin resistance also increases estrogen levels.
Most people will experience at least one or two periods of hormonal imbalance during their lifetime. Hormonal imbalances are more common during puberty, menstruation, pregnancy, menopause, and aging. But some people experience continual, irregular hormonal imbalances.
What foods cause high estrogen? Foods that reportedly increase estrogen include flax seeds, soybean products, chocolate, fruit, nuts, chickpeas, and legumes. Before we delve into why these foods are said to increase estrogen, we need to look at two important definitions; phytoestrogens and lignans.
Magnesium promotes healthy estrogen clearance
By supporting the COMT enzyme (catechol-o-methyltransferase) in the liver, magnesium promotes the healthy excretion of estrogen (9). This may reduce the risk of the estrogen excess conditions (such as fibroids) associated with low COMT function (10).
Magnesium is Essential to Balancing Hormones
Magnesium is one of the most essential minerals to help balance hormones. While you can take a supplement, and even spray your skin with magnesium spray, there's no better way of getting the magnesium you need than from the foods you eat.
For most hormones, having too much or too little of them causes symptoms and issues with your health. While many of these imbalances require treatment, some can be temporary and may go away on their own.
Raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries are all hormone balancing foods packed with great nutrients. Berries are rich sources of vitamin C, which regulates your progesterone levels, particularly during the luteal (PMS) phase of your cycle [1].
Your fat cells in your body secrete estrogen. The more sugar you eat, the more fat cells you create, the more estrogen they secrete. This estrogen adds to the estrogen your endocrine system produces.
Aromatase inhibitors such as anastrozole, exemestane, letrozole etc. stops the enzyme aromatase from converting androgens into estrogen. Also, certain medications like Zoladex and leuprolide stop the ovary from producing estrogen.
When estrogen is too high or too low you may get menstrual cycle changes, dry skin, hot flashes, trouble sleeping, night sweats, vaginal thinning and dryness, low sex drive, mood swings, weight gain, PMS, breast lumps, fatigue, depression and anxiety.
The same goes for stress as the body uses up more progesterone to manufacture the stress hormone cortisol and in turn leaves us with an excess of estrogen.