How to Support Estrogen Metabolism

💥 Not all estrogens are equal.

Maybe you’ve heard that estrogen fuels breast cancer risk.

But did you know that there are many different estrogen metabolites and some present a greater risk than others?

Also, estrogen metabolites interact with genetics, liver enzymes, antioxidants, and other biochemical pathways to ultimately determine breast cancer risk.

Meaning estrogen is only part of the puzzle 🧩

Some things we can do for healthy estrogen metabolism include:

▪️ Support estrogen elimination from the gut with fiber-rich foods, probiotics, and supplements like calcium-d-glucarate

▪️ Support estrogen metabolism in the liver with sulfur-rich foods (like onions, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts) and antioxidant supplements like resveratrol

▪️ Support production of more favorable estrogen metabolites with supplements like DIM (diindolylmethane) and I3C (indole-3-carbinol)

The best approach is one that is personalized to YOU.

If you are looking to strike the perfect balance of hormonal health today and disease risk reduction down the road, we are here to help.

🌱 Get started at our practice through the link in our bio!

#estrogenmetabolism #breasthealth #hormoneoptimization #hormonehealth

REFERENCES:

-Das S, Somisetty VS, Ulven SM, Matthews J. Resveratrol and 3,3'-Diindolylmethane Differentially Regulate Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor and Estrogen Receptor Alpha Activity through Multiple Transcriptomic Targets in MCF-7 Human Breast Cancer Cells. Int J Mol Sci. 2023;24(19):14578. [link]

-Siddiqui R, Makhlouf Z, Alharbi AM, Alfahemi H, Khan NA. The Gut Microbiome and Female Health. Biology (Basel). 2022;11(11):1683.. [link]
-Starek-Świechowicz B, Budziszewska B, Starek A. Endogenous estrogens-breast cancer and chemoprevention. Pharmacol Rep. 2021;73(6):1497-1512. [link]

When Women Ask If I Think It’s Their Hormones…

💥Female hormones start with estrogen & progesterone BUT ⬇️⬇️

They don’t end there.

If you’re dealing with period problems, PMS, mood swings, painful breasts, no libido, hot flashes, night sweats, brain fog, or anything else you suspect *might* be your hormones, this post is for you!

Yes, it might be your hormones.

AND ALSO your hormones might be out of whack because of one of these 6 contributing causes I see most often in my practice:

1️⃣ Detoxification (estrogen is metabolized in the liver)

2️⃣ Gut Health (estrogen metabolites are eliminated in everyday healthy 💩)

3️⃣ Stress (stress causes the body to favor cortisol production over progesterone)

4️⃣ Blood Sugar (spikes in blood sugar and insulin lower the levels of SHBG, increasing free estrogen and testosterone)

5️⃣ Nutrient Depletion (magnesium and B6 are especially important for hormone metabolism)

6️⃣ Xenoestrogens (everyday chemicals can mimic our hormones)

Don’t worry. It’s not your job to make sense of all this.

That’s my job.

If you want to stay informed and empowered in your health and prefer a root-cause approach, you’re in the right place.

Follow for more on Female Hormone Health.

🌱 Get started at our practice through the link in our bio!

Mental Health through the Menstrual Cycle

450.

If you menstruate, that’s about how many periods you’ll have in a lifetime.

Yet even though half the world’s population is menstruating for half their lives…we have very little research on what the hormonal effects actually are…especially in relation to the brain and mental health.

That’s why this new study 👆 is so remarkable.

Neuroscientists tracked 30 women over the course of their menstrual cycles with MRI brain scans and hormone tests—and found brainwide structural changes that correlated with hormone fluctuations 🤯🤯🤯

For example:

🔹 Just before ovulation (when estrogen is high), brains showed changes that indicated faster information transfer.

🔹 The rise of FSH before ovulation was associated with thicker gray matter.

🔹 Progesterone after ovulation correlated with decreased cerebrospinal fluid volume.

What does all this mean?

It means the hormone changes throughout the menstrual cycle influence MORE than just the ovaries and uterus. The more we learn about these hormone-brain connections, the better we can make sense of the domino effect of female hormone balance.

Is your mind blown?

P.S. this study is not yet peer-reviewed but available preprint.

Reference

Rizor EJ, Babenko V, Dundon NM, et al. Menstrual cycle-driven hormone concentrations co-fluctuate with white and grey matter architecture changes across the whole brain bioRxiv 2023. [link & news article]