Many hormonal symptoms such as PMS, mood swings, irritability, painful or heavy periods (to name just a few), can be due to hormonal imbalance. Every system in our body is connected, and our gut health is intrinsically linked to our overall health and hormonal balance.
Signs & Symptoms of High Oestrogen
Excess oestrogen, (or estrogen) , also known as oestrogen dominance, can lead to a variety of health symptoms and conditions. Here are some common signs and symptoms associated with too much oestrogen in the body
Menstrual Irregularities:
Heavy, prolonged, or irregular periods
Severe PMS (premenstrual syndrome) symptoms
Weight Gain:
Increased fat around the hips, waist, and thighs
Difficulty losing weight
Mood Swings:
Anxiety, Depression &/or Irritability
Breast Changes:
Tender or swollen breasts
Fibrocystic breast changes (lumpy, painful breasts)
Fatigue:
Persistent tiredness or lack of energy
Hair Changes:
Thinning hair or hair loss
Sleep Issues:
Insomnia or difficulty sleeping
Headaches & Migraines
Frequent headaches or migraines, often related to the menstrual cycle
Digestive Issues:
Bloating & Water retention
Decreased Libido:
Endometriosis:
Painful condition where tissue similar to the lining inside the uterus grows outside the uterus
Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS):
Hormonal disorder causing enlarged ovaries with small cysts on the outer edges
Fibroids:
Noncancerous growths in the uterus that can cause heavy bleeding and pelvic pain
Infertility:
Difficulty conceiving due to hormonal imbalances affecting ovulation and menstrual cycles
Causes of Excess Oestrogen:
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
Birth control pills
Environmental oestrogen's (xenoestrogens) found in plastics, pesticides, and personal care products
Obesity (fat cells produce oestrogen)
Stress (can disrupt hormonal balance)
Poor liver function (the liver metabolises and removes excess estrogen)
Oestrogen & Progesterone Balance
One example is how oestrogen can often be dominant, meaning there is an excess of oestrogen in the body relative to progesterone. Oestrogen plays a beneficial role across many body systems, including reproductive and hormonal health, however also in our cardiovascular, bones, brain, skin and hair for example. However, as the saying goes ‘Can you have too much of a good thing?’ The answer is yes you can, and can often lead to a variety of health problems.
How can we support our bodies to balance our hormones and remove excess oestrogens?
Our liver and digestive system prepares and deactivates our used hormone oestrogen for excretion via the digestive system and the kidneys. Therefore, ensuring our digestive system and bowel elimination is optimal is essential.
Here are my top 3 tips for improving your oestrogen clearance!
1. Include a wide variety of vegetables in your diet, these will provide you with fibre to aid your digestive system and prebiotics to feed your gut, and of course many essential nutrients, vitamins and minerals needed to for hormonal health and balance.
2. Ensure you are hydrated. The digestive system and bowel require a good supply of water to move food along the tract, soften stools and keep you regular.
3. Reduce your sugar and alcohol intake. These often make for an unhappy gut and can feed pathogenic bacteria and yeasts leading to dysbiosis of the gut (AKA an unhappy gut). This places extra burden on the liver and other body systems vital for detoxification and elimination.
Claire's approach is to investigate the underlying issues and help support hormonal balance. Nourishing our hormonal health can improve these symptoms significantly with our aim to support, educate and return our hormones to balance and to optimal function.
Although not always necessary, diagnostic testing is available to help us understand your presenting picture and look at contributing factors to help address getting you back into balance. Other testing such as genetic testing may also be helpful to determine gene variants that may contribute to your symptoms.
If you want to know more, and start feeling your best, book a FREE discovery call with Claire.
I am a Nutritional Therapist offering one-to-one, in-person, or online consultations.
My Specialist areas include:
🥦 Menopause & Perimenopause
🍎 Female Hormonal Health
🥑 Migraines & Headaches
🫐 Digestive & Gut Health
🍋 Food Sensitivities & Special Diets
🍉 Energy & Vitality (including fibromyalgia & chronic conditions)
Naturopathic Nutrition's holistic approach to health & wellness recognises the interconnection between diet, nutrition, lifestyle & overall wellbeing to support the body's natural healing processes & provide necessary nutrients to help you optimise your health, & feel your best!
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