Nutritional Influences On Estrogen Metabolism

Estrogen is responsible for stimulating the growth of tissues such as the breast and uterus and provides for the secondary sex characteristics of a female. In excessive forms, it is also implicated in many conditions characterized as estrogen dominant, including fibroids, endometriosis and certain types of cancers. Estrogens exert their effects by binding to cell receptors and after completing their action they are sent to the liver to be metabolized and excreted from the body. Many nutrients improve its metabolism, reduces dominance and promotes more hormonal balance.

Cruciferous Vegetables

Cruciferous vegetables are the family to which broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, collard greens, kale and mustard greens belong. This family is known to harbor the natural substance, indole-3-carbinol, also referred to as I3C or DIM. This substance, according to the Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute, has profound effects on improving estrogen metabolism. They notes that I3C, DIM and the food sources of these nutrients have the potential to shift the way estrogens are metabolized in the liver. The shift changes the more stimulatory and potent form of estrogen, 16OHE1 to its less potent form. The 16OHE1 form was noted by the Linus Pauling Institute to be associated with certain types of breast cancer.

Calcium-D-Glucarate

Calcium-d-glucarate is not another new fangled form of calcium to improve bone health. Instead, a 2002 "Alternative Medicine Review" journal article notes that this natural substance is a form of acid, named glucaric acid, found in foods such as oranges, grapefruit, apples and cruciferous vegetables. This substance helps to regulate estrogen metabolism by inhibiting an enzyme that would otherwise allow inactivated estrogens to break free from their excretion route and travel back to the bloodstream in an active form. The 2002 article notes that large doses of calcium-d-glucarate have been able to decrease blood estrogen levels in rats studies by 23 percent.

Fiber

There are many different types of fiber. Fiber can be categorized as viscous and non-viscous, fermentable and non-fermentable and soluble and insoluble, according to the Linus Pauling Institute. Total fiber, or the sum of all of the fiber taken in a day, is suggested in the range of 25 g per day for women and 38 g per day for men, under the age of 50 years old. Over 50 years of age, the recommendations are decreased to 21 and 30, respectively.

Fiber helps with the quantity and quality of stool excreted from the body and in this role contributes to improving estrogen metabolism. The Institute notes that in doses of 25 to 40 g of fiber per day, estrogens can be increasingly excreted and metabolism to less stimulating forms can also be accomplished. Furthermore, lignans, a type of fiber found in concentrated form in flaxseeds has been noted by the Linus Pauling Institute to also improve estrogen metabolism and provide protection from estrogen dependent cancers in post-menopausal women, specifically.

B vitamins

The B-vitamin family, specifically folate, B-6 and B-12 may have a role in influencing estrogen metabolism, according to a 2008 "American Journal of Clinical Nutrition" article. These nutrients lend carbon structures known as methyl groups to the detoxification processes taking place in the liver as it metabolizes hormones like estrogen. These vitamins are also called methyl donors. By contributing to this process, they play a role in estrogen metabolism in the body.