Our sex organs (the ovaries in women and testes in men) pump out our estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone. These hormones are so important for balancing our mood, libido, skin, irregular menses – basically everything – but we primarily think of them when it comes to fertility or “period problems” as I like to call them.
For women, a healthy estrogen and progesterone balance is key. In my current practice, I often see women with estrogen dominant symptoms such as irregular menses, low libido, and breast tenderness to name a few. This imbalance can happen from a variety of scenarios such as excess stress, extended birth control use, or hormonal disruptors in our environment. Depending on the case, estrogen dominance can happen because of low progesterone levels OR from truly elevated estrogens.
Getting this ratio back into balance can make a world of a difference in how someone feels and definitely helps improve their chances of conception. As previously mentioned in part 1 of these blogs, taking a look at the whole picture is really important for finding that balance (see picture below).
Notice that cholesterol is at the top of the chain. Hence, this is where a diet with lots of healthy fats is really important. If stress is high, cortisol will pull cholesterol away from making progesterone and estrogen. If our detox pathways aren’t working then we can get a build up of estrogen causing dominance or excess. …… can you start to see how intertwined everything is?
To complicate things a little further, each of these steps requires a host of cofactors such as B vitamins, zinc, magnesium etc to work properly. So if the body is deficient in one of those nutrients, it can clog the system and create further imbalances.
So what’s the take home message
The big kicker here is that there are many factors that can impact our hormones – that’s why they are so interesting! But, remembering the basics is always helpful.
Hopefully having a better appreciation for all the different processes happening for your hormones, helps give more motivation to eat a widely coloured, vegetable heavy, diet. All those important cofactors are hidden in your salad. Add some pumpkin seeds for zinc, some avocado for fat and you can feel good about supporting your hormones.
If detoxification is your issue, enjoying raw Brassica veggies (ie broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage etc) helps encourage healthy estrogen metabolism. Ground flax seed is a great fiber source that holds onto detoxified metabolites in the gut getting them out of the body and preventing their recycling.
Not to get too repetitive here, but working on stress management is a must. This is a toughy but worth figuring out a strategy that works for you. Deep breathing, exercise, acupuncture, meditation can all be awesome options.
And never forget the benefit of sleep and how significant an extra 30-60min can be. I encourage all my patients to get to bed earlier (and if you need to wake up earlier) as those hours before midnight are more satisfying than sleeping later in the day. Keep your bedroom dark and free of electronics to help your brain turn off and get into that deep sleep stage.
To happy hormones!
Dr Chanel Cresman, ND
Awesome articles Dr. C. !!