What is Estrogen Dominance?
Estrogen Dominance is categorized as a disease that causes hormonal imbalance in both men and women. It is a much more dangerous disease when it occurs in women, because it can easily lead to infertility. When it comes to men, this hormonal imbalance is not that feared since it rarely induces serious diseases. The most it can cause is a fragile bone health and sometimes gynecomastia, the disease that causes unusually enlarged breast development among men and occurs due to Estrogen Dominance.
The hormones involved in Estrogen Dominance are the primary female hormones: estrogen and progesterone. The issue is in fact, an imbalance between these two that determines the overall health state of the woman, on every level: psychological, sexual, physical. Whenever the ratio between these two feminine hormones is in favor of estrogen, the estrogen dominance occurs in one of its two forms: the form when the estrogen level increases abnormally and the other one when the progesterone levels seriously drop.
Between the two forms of estrogen dominance, the one in which the progesterone levels drop first and estrogen levels start to increase gradually is the most common, especially in menopausal women. This is, in fact, the reason why women having normal estrogen levels and going through menopause can be diagnosed with estrogen dominance (the progesterone readings are so down and this diagnose is established).
What are the estrogen dominance’s symptoms?
There are many symptoms that might be the effects of estrogen dominance:
1. Fatigue
2. Mood swings that might go to anxiety and depression
3. Thyroid problems
4. Low libido
5. Vulnerability to breast cancer
6. Fat gain in the abdominal and lower body areas
7. A sensation of dry vagina
8. Hair thinning and even hair loss
9. Insomnia
10. Temporary infertility
11. Occurrence of other diseases such as: bone problems and even osteoporosis, uterine fibroids, PCOS or Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
What are the causes of estrogen dominance?
There are many causes of estrogen dominance; however, you don’t need to worry about having the disease if you check your estrogen levels before or after the menstrual cycle. These are periods of time when the estrogen levels are naturally higher. Increased attention needs to be paid among women whose estrogen levels remain chronically increased.
The main causes of estrogen dominance are onset of menopause (since it often causes a severe dip in the progesterone levels.), fiber deficient diets (due to the fact that estrogen is secreted in the body’s toxin-removal chambers – the bowels – and the constipation caused by a fiber lacking diet leads to estrogen-carrying feces to be stored in the bowels from where they are often transferred into the bloodstream, raising estrogen levels) and going through hormonal replacement therapies, which lead to severe hormonal imbalances and may cause estrogen levels to rise sharply.
What are the environmental causes of estrogen dominance?
Toxins in the industrial waste and alcohol are external factors that might raise the estrogen levels in both men and women. Most of the men diagnosed with gynecomastia are usually alcoholics. SO be sure to check your estrogen levels.
what is estrogen
- estrogen dominence increase from progesterone
- physical body proportion of estogen dominance
