Oestrogen Dominance – What is it?

Oestrogen dominance is causing havoc in most of our lives, it affects women and men and its symptoms can be devastating. Endometriosis is just one of the dis-eases you can acquire with oestrogen dominance.

Oestrogen is found naturally in our diet but more worryingly xeno-oestrogens, which are foreign oestrogens, are mimicking our own natural oestrogen and having huge disruptions, creating imbalance to our hormones and our health.

When the environment we live in was free from oestrogen pollutants 70 years ago there were only 21 reported cases of endometriosis the current number in North America alone in 5.5million. A study in 1993 showed monkeys that had been fed a diet containing xeno-oestrogens over a four-year period developed endometriosis and a thickened uterus.

In the UK 1 in 10 women, that’s around 3.2million have endometriosis, it takes around 7 years for a diagnosis so these are numbers that we know of! 176 million women have this around the globe, which is 10% of the world’s population THAT WE KNOW OF! This is an epidemic.

Endometriosis is known for being the silent disease – I call bullshit – the only silence is the not talking about how we are getting sick from all the rubbish that we are exposed to. Our bodies are talking to us – look at the EVIDENCE your period is giving you, the symptoms in your body what is it saying?

I will say this until I am blue in the face – periods aren’t meant to hurt, neither is ovulation. You aren’t meant to have a tsunami of blood rush out of your body every month. You have the right and the capacity to help yourself achieve what is right and normal FOR YOU.

So many girls and women are being fobbed off with disbelief of the amount of pain they are in. Being told to basically suck it up, it’s all part of being a woman. It isn’t. Women and their periods need to be listened to; the struggle is real for many women in awful amounts of pain, and completely debilitated by this illness.

So what is oestrogen dominance? It is as the name suggests when there is too much oestrogen in the body. During our cycle hormones swing oestrogen being in the driving seat for the first half of the cycle and progesterone in the second.

• Oestrogen can be left higher if we don’t ovulate, as the progesterone is unable to balance things out as she would normally.
• Environmental factors.
• Low fibre diet – our body will start to reabsorb toxins in our faecal waste if it’s in our bodies too long.
• Stress – living on our adrenals and wringing them out creates an all over hormonal imbalance.

Avoiding xeno-oestrogens isn’t something we can completely veer away from now adays, and you could become neurotic trying. But there are things you can put in place for sure, small changes that can make a BIG difference.

Xeno- estorgens are found in the following products.

• Pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers
• Car pollution,
• Some deodorants, anti-perspirants (Aluminium)
• Shampoos and skin creams – (parabens)
• Most sun tan creams
• Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)
• Fuels and car fumes
• Polycarbonate plastic bottles including some babies bottles,
• Plastic food containers
• Cling film

Phyto-eoestrogens are naturally occurring in our foods. They come in three main catagories

• Coumestans – split peas, pinto and lima beans. Alfalfa and clover having the hire amounts of coumestans.
• Lignans – High fibre foods cereal brans, beans and flax seeds.
• Isoflavanoids – Soy beans and all soy based food products.

The consensus of research done is that an increase in the diet of phyto-oestrogens is unpredictable to the effect on the body. However in my mind being oestrogen dominant, i don’t want to put any thing into my body that has a high oestrogen content.

The effect is cumulative in the body, of both types of ‘outside oestrogen’. Organs in the body like the breasts, uterus and thyroid have oestrogen receptors that are very sensitive, they don’t want to be over loaded with any more hormones!

What does mean to be oestrogen dominant? Well here is a range of symptoms that you can experience. This isn’t a definitive list.

Mild –

• Premenstrual headaches/breast tenderness/ fluid retention/
• menstrual cramps.

Moderate –

• Irregular menstruation
• Adrenal gland fatigue
• Heavy periods with clotting
• Dry eyes
• Hair loss
• Thyroid dysfunction.

Severe –

• Fibroids
• Endometriosis
• Breast cysts
• Adenomyosis
• Anxiety
• Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS).

Along with the physical side of looking at these symptoms the emotional side needs to also be addressed.  It’s different for everyone and its certainly isn’t a one sized glove fits all. As a well woman specialist I look at the whole picture, how you feel about your body and any stories you have that contribute to you health.

This is information for you to choose and make your own decision on I’m just presenting what I know. What I know is – get educated about your choices! There is always another way.