How To Recover From Estrogen Dominance With Whole Food Nutrition

Your Hormones can play a massive role in your overall well being. As you can probably imagine, if your hormones aren’t well balanced then it can cause all sorts of issues such as tiredness and more.

Estrogen is one of your sex hormones and it plays a big role in the menstrual cycle. High levels of estrogen can cause some major problems in women. Thankfully though, you don’t necessarily need to go right on the birth control pill to deal with your estrogen dominance issue. You can treat your estrogen dominance through exercise and diet!

How Do I Know If I Have Estrogen Dominance?

You will usually find out if you have estrogen dominance from taking a blood test. There are a couple of ways to tell if you have an estrogen dominance, however. For instance, you may notice bloating, headaches, weight gain, hair loss, decreased sex drive and so much more. One of the most common symptoms of estrogen dominance, however, is irregular menstrual cycles.

Men can also suffer from estrogen dominance too. Men need to have a healthy balance of testosterone and estrogen in the body. If one hormone is imbalanced then you may experience issues such as erectile dysfunction, infertility and gynecomastia. 

Usually, estrogen dominance will be treated by taking different medications. For instance, if you were trying to conceive then a woman may be prescribed something called letrozole – also known as Femara. Sometimes the birth control pill is also prescribed to deal with estrogen dominance.

High levels of estrogen in the body can be a major issue and it may mean that you are more likely to develop further problems. People with high levels of estrogen are often more at risk for conditions such as ovarian and breast cancer. It can also mean that you are more likely to experience stroke and blood clots. In some cases, your chances of thyroid dysfunction may also be increased. 

Medication isn’t the only answer. Here are a few natural ways that you can deal with estrogen dominance. 

Using Food To Deal With Estrogen Dominance

If you don’t want to take medication then you can balance your hormones by eating certain kinds of foods. 

If you have estrogen dominance issues then you should be primarily focusing on eating whole foods. For instance, lean meats and cruciferous vegetables. You will want to ensure that you get plenty of fiber rich foods, and foods with plenty of probiotics.

Your meats should be clean, and you need to limit foods full of saturated fats and trans fats. Eat meats that come from grass fed, pasture raised animals. Things like legumes and eggs are great sources of protein for any other meals in the day. Minimize the dairy, too.  

You should also ensure that you are drinking plenty of water as this can help to get any excessive estrogen and toxins out of the body. Try to drink 2.5 liters of water every day.

Increase your intake of foods such as kale, dark leafy greens, berries, avocado, turnip, broccoli, nuts and seeds and other whole foods. 

For fiber, try to eat lots of foods like pears, lentils, ground flax seeds, oatmeal and other natural forms of fiber. For probiotics, look for natural kombucha, apple cider vinegar, miso and organic tempeh. 

Foods to Avoid When Treating Estrogen Dominance

So, those were just a few of the foods that are good for people with estrogen dominance. So what foods should you be staying away from when you are treating estrogen dominance?

Ultimately, the main thing you want to be avoiding is eating the standard American diet. Stay away from those common bad ingredients, like artificial ingredients, sugar, wheat and dairy. 

If you are going to use soy then you should only get organic soy. For instance, you can use things like tempeh and miso.

Of course, you will also want to limit the amount of caffeine and alcohol in your system too. Your body is going to be trying to get rid of alcohol and caffeine, so its main focus is not going to be reducing estrogen. Not only that but drinking caffeine can exhaust the adrenal glands, and this can result in increased estrogen.

It’s always best to prioritize whole foods when you have an estrogen dominance.

Other Things to Do To Treat Estrogen Dominance

Leading a healthy lifestyle will help you to treat your estrogen dominance issue. But what exactly should you be doing?

Well, the main thing you should be doing is trying to reduce the stress in your life. Stress can wreak all sorts of havoc on your body, and can have a huge affect on your hormones. You can do things like exercise and mindfulness to reduce your stress.

It’s also best to try and limit the amount of chemical products in your life. Limit products with chemicals like parabens, musk, phthalates and UV sunscreen.

The chances are that you likely have unbalanced levels of progesterone too, so you should make an effort to balance your progesterone levels. You could possibly have low progesterone if you have an estrogen dominance. You can tell if you have a progesterone deficiency as you may have more intense PMS symptoms, spotting throughout your cycle and PMS symptoms that come on much earlier than expected in your menstrual cycle.

Conclusion

Estrogen dominance can cause a lot of problems for people. You may feel that it’s a dire situation, but with a few lifestyle changes, you can treat your hormone imbalance! Focus on eating whole foods and leading a healthy lifestyle and you can say goodbye to your estrogen dominance.