Women's hormones, gut + metabolism

Are You Estrogen Dominant?

I used to be that girl.

I went to the tanning salon, I was on birth control for 12 years, loved my MAC makeup + perfume, burned those candles, loved the smell of a clean house, drank out of plastic water bottles or tap, cooked on non stick pans, heated up my perfectly counted pre-prepped macro meal in plastic in the microwave (but I was being healthy right guys?), ate all the PUFAs + conventional foods.

No wonder why I ended up with every estrogen dominant symptom in the book! I was not only getting estrogen endogenously but also exogenously with all these external sources.

I also had gut issues galore preventing me from not being able to eliminate estrogen appropriately.

I was stressed to the max depleting my body of progesterone, the most important hormone of them all and the only thing that could keep my estrogen in check.

There are 2 types of estrogen dominance. Straight up estrogen dominance- an excess of estrogen but other sex hormones like progesterone are in normal range and relative estrogen dominance- when estrogen is high in relation to low progesterone levels.

Symptoms:
Allergies/ histamine intolerance
PMS
Dry skin
Infertility
Fibroids, cysts, cancers
Sore breasts
Low sex drive
Difficulty losing weight
Varicose veins/ cellulite
Blood sugar swings
Osteoporosis
Heavy periods
Cramps
Cyclical headaches, migraines + acne
Fatigue
Water retention
Gut issues – SIBO, IBS, Bloating
Anxiety/ depression
Thyroid dysfunction

But Laura, I got my labs and it shows i’m low in estrogen but I have all the symptoms of estrogen dominance.

Welp, girlfriend that lab doesn’t account for all that excess estrogen being stored in your tissues. If your body is stressed the F out cortisol will be high and estrogen builds up in your tissues.

If you feel estrogen dominate but your labs are normal or low, chances are that you probably are.

One thing that grinds my gears, women that are told to take DIM but never address why they are estrogen dominant in the first place or if their detox pathways are open. This is harmful.

The first thing you can do is avoid endocrine disruptors + toxins that are mimicking estrogen in your body then address elimination.

Your Metabolism Runs on Sugar and Carbs!

Yup. SUGAR, your metabolism runs on sugar and carbs! Are you shook?

I know I have talked about the importance of metabolism but here is a quick metabolism 411 and why I emphasize it.

To put it simply, your metabolism is how well you take in nutrients for energy and has absolutely nothing to do with whether or not you will be fat or skinny.

Symptoms of a sluggish metabolism:

⫸ cold hands and feet
⫸ digestive symptoms
⫸ wacky hormones + period probs
⫸ acne + dry skin
⫸ thinning hair
⫸ weak bones or teeth
⫸ frequent urination
⫸ low sex drive
⫸ brain fog
⫸ weight fluctuations
⫸ poor sleep
⫸ feeling irritated, depressed, angry, + anxious all the time

Let’s break this down real quick. We eat carbs which turns into sugar (glucose), the glucose turns into the stored form glycogen in the liver, the glycogen stored in the liver cells regulates the enzymes that convert inactive T4 thyroid hormone to active T3 hormone. The thyroid runs your metabolism which as I just said runs the show for every process in the body.

If we don’t supply our bodies with sugar then it will start eating it’s own tissues, yup it will literally start eating you alive. YUM!

This is also a super inflammatory and stressful process. Just because it is something our body can do, does not mean it should. This should be your bodies last resort and should only be used for backup in the case of famine to keep you alive.

This is why low carb diets and fasting do not work! You are starving your thyroid and liver of what it needs to help you survive and thrive!

And no girlfriend that doesn’t mean you should go face first into a box of donuts to save your liver and thyroid. We need quality carbs and sugar but we also need lots of protein, saturated fat, minerals and amino acids to support your metabolism. Nourish those cells!