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This week, I wanted to talk about something I commonly see in my nutrition clinic, and that can be a cause of heavy periods, PMS, irregular cycles, spotting or bleeding throughout the cycle and even difficulty getting to sleep. This is oestrogen dominance.
So let me explain…
In case you do not know, oestrogen is one of our main sex hormones. In our cycling years, most oestrogen is made in the ovaries, but a small amount is also made in our fat tissue.
Oestrogen is great because it is responsible for the physical features that we associate with being female (e.g. our breasts, hips, thighs) but also performs many other functions in the body. This includes helping our brains to work well, supporting the urinary tract and pelvic floor muscles, strengthening bones, and giving us good skin and hair. A little extra oestrogen is fine and may even be helpful. The problem I see a lot in my clinic is that oestrogen is way out of balance in relation to progesterone (the hormone made in the second half of our cycle), and this leads to the symptoms described above.
Oestrogen dominance means that oestrogen is too high in relation to progesterone.
The leading causes of this are:
1. If you are not ovulating, which should occur in the middle of your cycle, you will not be producing much progesterone, and so oestrogen will be high in comparison.
2. You are not detoxifying oestrogen very well, so we need to support your liver and gut. An overgrowth of certain unhelpful gut bacteria (called dysbiosis) can lead to higher levels of oestrogen circulating in the body.
Some of the symptoms that can be caused by oestrogen dominance include:
Heavy periods/long periods lasting more than 8 days or clotty periods. One of oestrogens' roles is to thicken the uterine lining.
PMS symptoms such as mood swings, anxiety, overwhelm, headaches, and breast pain. There are other causes of PMS, but oestrogen dominance is one.
Insomnia or difficulty sleeping in the 2 weeks before your period is due (the luteal phase). This is because progesterone helps us to sleep fully and deeply, and we will not have good levels of progesterone if we are oestrogen-dominant.
Symptoms of conditions that are impacted by oestrogen, like endometriosis and adenomyosis.
So, what can you do?
First of all, I really recommend booking an appointment with me for some targeted, personalised advice. This means we can pinpoint the likely cause of your oestrogen dominance, e.g. Are your liver detoxification pathways compromised? Do you have a thyroid problem? Issues with your gut? Are you exposed to environmental chemicals that mimic oestrogen?
Here is some advice that you can implement straight away:
Eat cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage, one serving per day. These contain a substance called sulforaphane that helps your liver to clear oestrogen from the body.
Eat fibre-rich flaxseeds. These contain plant compounds called lignans that can support oestrogen metabolism. Eating one tablespoon a few times a week or every day in your smoothie or morning porridge is helpful.
Reduce (or stop completely) drinking alcohol; alcohol is awful for hormones. Drinking alcohol means that the liver stops clearing oestrogen until it has detoxified the alcohol.
We can do a lot more, and if you would like support with your specific symptoms, please get in contact. You can book a free initial chat by clicking on the button below.
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