In his 1996 book "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause," John R. Lee, M.D. described estrogen dominance as a condition of low progesterone. Heavy menstrual bleeding, hot flashes, uterine fibroids, vaginal dryness, breast cancer, prostate cancer (men only), and many other symptoms of perimenopause, menopause, and aging can result from an imbalance of estrogen and progesterone. Three main causes of low progesterone or high estrogen are intestinal dysbiosis, blood sugar imbalances, environmental toxicity and stress.
Digestive Causes
Intestinal dysbiosis is a condition in which suboptimal bacteria, yeast or parasites colonize the intestines. This can be caused by poor dietary choices--such as sweet and highly processed foods--repeated antibiotic use, birth control pills, or chronic stress. Unhealthy gut bacteria contribute to estrogen dominance in two ways. The first cause involves the way that excess estrogen molecules are packaged in the liver and sent to the intestines to be eliminated. Some bacteria are able to modify the package so that the estrogen is reabsorbed into the blood to continue to act in the body. Secondly, many of the toxins produced by unhealthy bacteria and parasites can have estrogen-like effects in the body.
Blood Sugar Problems
Excess sugar in the diet is converted to fat for storage. Fat tissue is a highly efficient form of energy storage. However, fat is an active tissue that is able to convert testosterone, a fat-burning hormone, to estrogen. The more obese a person is, the more estrogen her body is able to make.
In addition, a diet high in sugar wreaks havoc with the hormones that control blood sugar. One of the consequences of these hormonal imbalances is a loss of normal ovarian function. High blood sugar hormones like insulin can stop ovulation--a situation that leads to low progesterone and relatively high estrogen.
Environmental Toxicity
In the past century, over 70,000 artificial compounds have made their way into the environment and food supply. The largest documented effect of these compounds on the human body are a disruption of the hormonal system. Although the compounds are able to mimic many hormones, the most common effect is estrogenic. In other words, pesticides, water pollution, and industrial ingredients can create estrogen dominance by stimulating estrogen receptors in the body.
Chronic Stress
Emotional and physical stress directly impacts the adrenal glands--the part of the body that responds hormonally to emergencies. In an emergency, increased amounts of cortisol are released. The adrenal glands are designed to temporarily elevate cortisol. After the emergency is over, the cortisol levels drop. However, in a state of chronic stress, the cortisol levels are not allowed to recover to normal levels. According to endocrine expert, Dr. Datis Kharrazian, these high levels can slow down ovarian production of progesterone.
The adrenal glands also produce progesterone. This isn't a big deal for a woman for most of her life, but after menopause, this adrenal progesterone production becomes much more important. However, after years of chronic stress, the adrenal glands may be too depleted to perform this vital hormonal function.
Considerations
Typically, hormone prescriptions for women center around increasing blood levels of estrogen. However, for many women this strategy will only make symptoms worse. In fact, as Dr. Tori Hudson describes in "Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine," prescribing estrogen without combining it with progesterone can increase a woman's chance of having uterine cancer. This is due to the uterus's sensitivity to the condition of estrogen dominance. Therefore, for optimal health, it is important to consider hormone balance as whole, not just as a single hormone prescription.
References
- "What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Menopause"; John R. Lee, MD; 1996
- "Rakel: Integrative Medicine, 2nd ed."; David Rakel MD; 2007
- "Our Stolen Future"; Theo Colburn, Dianne Dumanoski, John Peterson Myers; 1996
- "Impacts of Estrogen on the NeuroEndocrine-Immune Axis"; Datis Kharrazian, DC, DHSc, DACNB; 2009
- "Women's Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine"; Tori Hudson ND; 2007.
