Estrogen dominance affects many women in ways they might not realize. For example, did you know that PMS is a form of estrogen dominance?
- What is estrogen dominance?
- How does it happen?
- How is estrogen metabolized?
- How does too much estrogen lead to cancer?
These are all questions this article will cover.
What is Estrogen Dominance/imbalance?
Estrogen is known as the female hormone, although men have it too, just in smaller amounts with higher testosterone. It is is involved in reproduction and daily functioning, affecting mood, cognitive health, our skin, bone health and so much more.
Sometimes estrogen becomes imbalanced. We might have too much estrogen compared to progesterone. Estrogen dominance happens when it starts to take the dominant role. Other factors influence this too:
- our genes
- our diet, lifestyle and environment
- our liver function
You might not even know you have estrogen dominance, because it is not necessarily about having high levels of estrogen. It could simply be that you don’t have enough counterbalancing hormones like progesterone to mitigate the effect of estrogen in your body.
How Estrogen dominance happens
Estrogen needs to be broken down and metabolized by certain enzymes in the liver and the gut before it can be safely excreted naturally. There are three pathways in which this happens. Each pathway determines whether estrogen will be converted into a good or a bad metabolite.
The 2-OH is the good pathway, allowing good estrogen metabolites that support a healthy mood, libido, and reproductive health. This is the pathway we want to encourage our body to use and has the least associated health risks.
The 4-OH and 16 OH pathways are considered bad pathways because they produce estrogen metabolites that can cause cancer, low mood, PMS, PMDD and more.
We are exposed to synthetic estrogens on a daily basis, called xenoestrogens. These are fake estrogens that mimic real estrogen. Your body does not know how to tell the difference. These are found in our diet (hormones and antibiotics that animals are given; preservatives and food dyes; pestisides and fungicides on food; caffeine, alchohol) our lifestyle (certain medications, HRT, birth control pills) environment ( plastics, chemicals, pollution, skin and body products, household cleaning products, perfumes, sprays, sunscreen)
These xenoestrogens are often stored in fat cells. The more fat you have, the more estrogen you are likely to have. Especially the fat on your midsection and thighs. Fat loves to absorb estrogen and elevated estrogen levels encourage your body to make more fat cells which leads to vicious cycle.
When the body can’t metabolize estrogen, it gets stored in fat cells where it can recirculate and cause estrogen dominant symptoms (Such as estrogen related cancers, endometriosis, fibrocystic breasts, fibroids, PMS)
Genetic variants involved in Phase 1 and 2 of estrogen metabolism
As I mentioned, estrogen is broken down in the liver and the gut by various enzymes.
Methylation: COMT and MTHFR
COMT stands for catechol-O-methyltransferase. It breaks down certain neurotransmitters and estrogen. When the activity of COMT is slow, it means you are likely to have higher levels of estrogen in your body, which is great if it stays balanced. Estrogen gives you glowing skin, it increases dopamine and thus helps you to feel motivation and pleasure and it acts as natural anti-depressant. The problem lies in our diet and lifestyle and our exposure to those xenoestrogens. The more you take those in, the more they build up and the slower this enzyme works. The result? Estrogen dominance. Estrogen dominance can make you feel irritable, annoyed, aggressive and argumentative and anxious.
MTHFR
MTHFR decresed activity has been associated with long duration of estrogen exposure. Someone with this enzyme can end up with two different kinds of estrogen and their metabolites circulating in their bloodstream. This is seen in an increased risk for premenopausal breast cancer.
CYP450 enzymes
These gene variants are involved in phase 1 liver detoxification that identify and convert fat soluble compounds coming in through our diet, lifestyle and environment into water soluble so that they can be excreted safely. However when there is altered activity in these enzymes, it can lead to the estrogen getting metabolized down a harmful pathway, which can cause health issues. (everything you eat, breath in and put on your body needs to go through this process)
Oxidative Stress enzymes
This is known as your intermediate phase, Once the enzymes in phase 1 have identified and converted the compounds, they wait to be processed by phase 2 enzymes, but during this waiting period they are potentially harmful and cause oxidative stress. Oxidative stress means free radicals are generated . Free radicals are a potentially harmful by product that can damage cells and cause illness and accelerate aging. We need the help of antioxidants from nutrients to neutralize them.
GST enzymes
These enzymes are involved in phase 2 detoxification where they neutralize the potentially harmful compounds and get them ready for excretion. There are a few different processes that make this happen and one of them is using glutathione which is a powerful antioxidant to neutralize free radicals.
Phase 3: elimination
Phase 3 is the last phase that relies on the gallbladder, intestines. Your liver packages waste products into bile, stores them in the gallbladder, and releases them into the intestines upon fat consumption, eventually exiting the body through stool. Waste is also removed by sweat and urine. Your body does not rely on enzymes alone to do this. It needs the right nutrients coming in through your diet (antioxidants).
If you you are exposed to many xenoestrogens through diet, lifestyle and environment, if you have genetic mutations and if you have a poor diet, this will all affect your body’s ability to detox estrogen properly, which means estrogen dominance.
Take Action
As you can see this is an important part of a woman’s health that needs attention. If you are struggling with being overweight, poor sleep, diet, stress and you noticed from this article that you could be exposing yourself to high amounts of xenoestrogens, and if you are are battling or have battled with various estrogen dominant conditions as mentioned, then it is advisable to look into DNA testing. This can help reduce your risk of estrogen related cancer.
The DNA health covers detoxification, methylation and oxidative stress, all genes involved in estrogen metabolism. To get a broad picture, you will need both these tests. Contact me for more information.