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ESTROGEN DOMINANCE
Donna D. Hale © 2001 - InnerFitness Spa.  All Rights Reserved.
ESTROGEN DOMINANCE

Estrogen dominance is a term coined by Dr. Lee in his first book on natural progesterone.  It describes a condition where a woman can have deficient, normal or excessive estrogen, but has little or no progesterone to balance its effect in the body.  Even a woman with low estrogen levels can have estrogen dominance symptoms if she doesn’t have any progesterone.

Most conventional doctors still tell women that menopause and menopause symptoms all result from a drop in estrogen production.  In their view the solution is estrogen supplementation, or HRT, usually with synthetic hormones. 

In contrast, many alternative practitioners believe that women have too much estrogen, leading to a condition known as “estrogen dominance.”  In men, the condition known as estrogen dominance may lead to:

  • Infertility:  decreased fertility due to low sperm count

  • Sexual problems like erectile dysfunction

  • Baldness

  • Weight gain

  • BPH (Benign prostate hypertrophy)

Prostate Health in 90 Days without Drugs or Surgery:  Clapp, Larry, PhD, JD Hay House, 1997.

All men need both estrogen and testosterone in the correct balance.
Common Causes of Estrogen Dominance
•Stress (excess cortisol displaces progesterone)
•Xenohormone exposure (Use of oral or injected contraceptives, white sugar)
•Adrenal fatigue
•Poor diet (usually high in carbs, low fat)
•Consumption of trans-fats
•Nutritional deficiencies  (esp. Mg. Zn, Cu, B’s)
•Obesity (estrogen is made in the fat cells;
•Excess fat cells make excess estrogen.)

Coffee contributes to estrogen dominance.  The way that it contributes may be by making the body more acid.  Once our bodies are too acid, the production processes of all hormones are altered; and we all know how dependent women are on hormones for their health and happiness.

It seems that when a woman’s body is too acidic,  it produces too much estrogen not enough progesterone.  Dr. Michael Lam of the American Academy of Anti-Aging Research reports that in a small study of 500 women, those who consumed four or five cups of coffee per day had 70% more estrogen than those who drank less than one cup per day.

Is coffee the only cause of estrogen dominance?
No.  There are other causes:
  • Xenoestrogen exposure – pesticides, herbicides, beauty products, solvents,
     adhesives, birth control pills, etc.
  • Eating non-organic meat which is  fed estrogen to plump it up
  • Stress
  • Obesity

Is coffee the only cause of acid-base imbalance?
No.  Much of the American diet causes an acid-base imbalance:
  • Carbonated drinks
  • Excessive protein in the diet, insufficient vegetables
  • Artificial sweeteners

ESTROGEN DOMINANCE SYMPTOMS
The symptoms and conditions associated with estrogen dominance are:

•Acceleration of the aging process
•Allergies, including asthma, hives, rashes, sinus congestion
•Autoimmune disorders such as lupus erythematosis and thyroiditis, and possibly
  Sjoegren’s disease
•Breast cancer
•Cervical dysplasia
•Cold hands and feet as a symptom of thyroid dysfunction
•Copper excess
•Decreased sex drive
•Depression with anxiety or agitation
•Dry eyes
•Early onset of menstruation
•Endometrial (uterine) cancer
•Fat gain, especially around the abdomen, hips and thighs
•Fatigue
•Fibrocystic breasts
•Foggy thinking
•Gallbladder disease
•Hair loss
•Headaches
•Hypoglycemia
•Increased blood clotting (increased risk of strokes)
•Infertility
•Irregular menstrual periods
•Infertility
•Irregular menstrual periods
•Irritability
•Insomnia
•Magnesium deficiency
•Memory loss
•Mood swings
•Osteoporosis
•Polycystic ovaries
•Premenopausal bone loss
•PMS
•Prostate Cancer
•Sluggish metabolism
•Thyroid dysfunction mimicking hypothyroidism
•Uterine cancer
•Uterine fibroids
•Water retention, bloating
•Zinc deficiency

ESTROGEN
Maintaining estrogen balance can be difficult for many.  For many decades of a woman’s life circulating estrogens are fluctuating and cause both good and bad influences.  The primary role of estrogen is to maintain the growth and function of the uterus so that the sex organs can become adult sized, and prepares the uterine lining to accept an egg.  Additionally, estrogen affects skeletal growth, skin, fat and protein deposition, and electrolyte balance.  Men also produce a certain amount of estrogen.

PROGESTERONE
Progesterone is the building block for many other major hormones.  Other sex hormones are formed from progesterone, including the corticosteroids, which are essential for stress response, electrolyte balance, blood pressure, and lastly, survival.  Cortisol, DHEA, testosterone and estrogen are all made from progesterone in a process that begins with cholesterol.  Progesterone is the primary hormone of fertility and pregnancy. It is essential to the survival of the fertilized egg, then the embryo, then the fetus.  In pregnancy, it prevents the shedding of the uterine lining.  A drop in progesterone can result in miscarriage.  Some health care professionals are beginning to make a connection between low progesterone levels and symptoms of fibromyalgia.

Causes of Estrogen Dominance
Estrogen dominance is generally not caused by one factor, but often many factors, including:
•Hormonal imbalance
•Hormonal therapy
•Environmental estrogens
•Stressful lifestyle
•Glandular dysfunction

To read more about estrogen dominance and its causes, please read Dr. Lee’s books, "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You Natural" progesterone as an estrogen dominance supplement corrects hormone imbalance by opposing many of the effects of unbalanced estrogen.

It’s all about balance
Estrogen has many wonderful qualities.  It creates our fertility, protects our health in myriad ways, and serves as a powerful anti-inflammatory.  But we are very concerned about environmental estrogens.

Xenoestrogens
What our bodies are not designed for is exposure to the many endocrine disruptors in our environment, among them the family of chemicals known as xenoestrogens.
Many of these xenoestrogens are proven carcinogens.  They are also well known for their ability to damage the immune system and interrupt hormonal balance.  Our cells can’t always distinguish fully between our own estrogen and xenoestrogens.
Pesticides are perhaps the biggest source of xenoestrogens
A second major source of xenoestrogens is the many growth hormones given to livestock and poultry, most of which contain fat-soluble estrogens.  When we consume those animals or their milk, we ingest that estrogen.

FACTORS THAT CAN CAUSE WOMEN’S HORMONES TO BECOME IMBALANCED
Estrogen dominance can occur as a result of an excess of estrogen and a deficiency of progesterone.  Too much estrogen may be caused by:

•Foods that have hormones added to them, such as commercially produced meat, eggs, and dairy products, and/or a diet high in estrogenic foods
•Herbs that have an estrogenic effect in the body, such as licorice black cohosh, and damiana
•Birth control pills and other hormone replacement therapy that have high levels of estrogen
•Xenoestrogens (environmental toxins that mimic the action of estrogen); the largest source of xenoestrogens is pesticides
•Exposure to radiation, which increases estrogen levels in the blood
•Chronic constipation, which interferes with the body’s ability to eliminate estrogen properly; estrogen then builds up in the colon and can be reabsorbed by the body
•Liver toxicity preventing metabolism of estrogens
Too little progesterone may be caused by:
•An underactive thyroid gland (Hypothyroidism)
•Chronic stress
•Ovarian dysfunction such as frequent menstruation without ovulation
•An underactive pituitary gland
•The aging process (after age 35 in women)

Estrogen Dominance References

Progesterone in Orthomolecular Medicine by Raymond Peat, PhD.

What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Breast Cancer, by John R. Lee, M.D., David Zava, Ph.D,and Virginia Hopkins, 2001 Cahners
What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About PreMenopause, by John R. Lee, M.D. with Virginia Hopkins, 1996, Warner Books.

Comparison of Progesterone and Estrogen
Natural Progesterone
(Thyroid has similar effects)

•Decreases bleeding, prevents PMS
•Anti-tumor, anti-aging hormone. Shrinks fibroids of breast and uterus, cystic ovaries; effective in some types of cancers, such as cervical & breast cancers & estrogen-induced tumors.
•Inhibits prolactin (which stimulates breast milk production).
•Increases body supply of oxygen, prevents hypoxia
•Cardioprotective
•Improves circulation, brain structure and function, including memory
•Mimics estrogen if needed or inhibits excess estrogen
•Helps regulate edema
•Increases intelligence of fetus by 35 points, protects against hypoglycemia by normalizing blood sugar
•Sedative in large doses; stops seizures, regardless of the cause
•Protects fetus from aborting (probably by keeping blood sugar up) and helps prevent toxemia of pregnanacy
•Decreases fat storage (oxidizes fat)
•Anti-Aging to skin.  Makes aged, atrophied skin thicker, more regular.  Increases pigment cell size and branching, but doesn’t cause young healthy skin to thicken.  Thus, offsets damage of catabolic hormones and replaces deficient hormones.
•Helps prevent and reverse bone loss, even in women in ERT
•Inhibits fibrocystic breast disease by inhibiting estrogen or balancing estrogen/progesterone ratio.