So many of our day-to-day issues are caused by hormonal imbalances. If you’ve been following Lauryn for a while, then you know how serious she is about hormones. She wrote this post on her whole experience with having her’s checked postpartum. It was life-changing.
Anyway, hormones play a vital role in the proper functioning of the body. FROM HEAD TO TOE. Obviously, estrogen is one of the most dominant hormones in females. So, that’s what we’re going to talk about today.
From the good old Oxford Dictionary, we know estrogen is defined as “a group of steroid hormones which promote the development and maintenance of female characteristics of the body.” But it does more than that. It also controls the majority of the sexual functions in women. Estrogen and progesterone are steroid hormones that play a pivotal role in the regulation of mammalian reproduction. But let’s focus on Estrogen, shall we?
There are three types of Estrogen:
Estrone E1 is the primary form of estrogen that your body makes after menopause.
Estradiol E2 is the primary form of estrogen in your body during your reproductive years. It’s the most potent form of estrogen.
Estriol E3 is the primary form of estrogen during pregnancy.
Symptoms Of High Estrogen
Having the right amount of estrogen in the body can help regulate the reproductive system and menstrual cycle. BUT, an excess in estrogen levels can cause unpleasant symptoms and have long term domino effects on your overall health. This is called estrogen dominance and this is what you don’t want. (You also don’t want to be deficient in estrogen either. But we’ll touch on that a little later.)
Signs and symptoms of estrogen dominance include, but are not limited to, irregular periods, trouble sleeping, bloating, weight gain, hair loss, decreased sex drive, and headaches. Studies also found that excess estrogen increases breast size by stimulating growth of breast tissue. You can find a comprehensive list of symptoms, here.
As you can see, the symptoms of estrogen dominance are not fun. And, more importantly, if left unchecked these symptoms can cause some serious & lasting effects. So, that’s why we’re dedicating a blog to HOW TO FLUSH OUT EXCESS ESTROGEN & say HELL NO to these side-effects.
Let’s dive right in, shall we?
How To Flush Out Excess Estrogen
♡ Focus on your gut health
The health of your digestive system, or more specifically your gut microbiome, is directly tied to your estrogen synthesis and regulation. Building up good gut bacteria will help your body get rid of excess estrogen and ensure that your gut doesn’t reabsorb any spent estrogen.
You can promote healthy gut bacteria by consuming probiotics and eating a nutritious diet full of fruits, vegetables, and other plant foods (like seaweed).
Lauryn loves adding Gangster Chic Inulin as a probiotic fiber to her drinks & also takes Just Thrive Probiotics every day. (Use code SKINNY for 15% off your purchase).
♡ Eat plenty of fiber
Going along with gut health, eating plenty of fiber is an excellent way to flush excess estrogen from the body. Fiber not only improves regularity, but also helps to break down and rid the body of toxins, including spent estrogen. For a list of easy ways to add more fiber to your diet, check out this blog post.
♡ Exercise on a regular basis
Establishing a good exercise routine is one of the best ways to regulate estrogen production. Exercise aids in the synthesis of new, healthy estrogen. AND, at the same time, it flushes out old estrogen by increasing your blood circulation (which rids the blood of toxins) and pushing toxins out via sweat.
If you’re looking for a place to start, try these at-home Pilates workouts or read this post about the benefits of weightlifting for women.
♡ Establish a good sleep routine
Believe it or not, sleep and hormone regulation go hand in hand. Both lack of estrogen and excess estrogen in the body can drastically affect your sleep schedule, causing insomnia, poor sleep quality, restlessness, and so on. A good sleep schedule can help you keep a good estrogen balance by promoting better hormonal balance.
Try to get at least 6-7 hours of sleep each and every night to help keep your hormones in check. If you’re having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep at night, we’ve got PLENTY of tips for you. DEFINITELY try our beauty sleep tea. And if that doesn’t immediately help, try this nighttime routine for optimal relaxation and sleep.
♡ Consuming phytoestrogen rich foods
Phytoestrogen is basically the plant form of estrogen & it mimics estrogen in the body. So, if you’re deficient in estrogen, we recommend increasing your consumption of phytoestrogen rich foods. These foods are also good for flushing out spent estrogen. So many wins.
Phytoestrogen rich foods include: cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage), tofu, berries, peaches, garlic, sesame seeds, dried fruits, edamame, and flax seeds. P.S: for an extra kick, add bee pollen to your flax seeds. Then, add your mixture to everything (cereal, yogurt, smoothies, etc).
Even if you don’t need to increase estrogen, you could still incorporate these foods into your diet promote hormonal balance and for their other health benefits too.
P.S. Try these other hormone balancing foods.
♡ Reduce body fat
Like the gut, estrogen is both produced and stored in fat cells. Many studies support a connection between excess body fat and increased hormones. (This is why obesity increases the risk of breast cancer.)
Luckily, each and every tip on this list for flushing out estrogen is ALSO a tip for reducing body fat. Managing your gut bacteria, consuming plenty of fiber, exercising regularly, getting plenty of sleep, managing your stress, and more are all ways to promote weight loss & normalize hormone levels.
♡ Manage your stress levels
Research shows that increased stress levels can have a large impact on your estrogen levels. Too much stress (mental or physical) can reduce your peak estrogen levels AND interrupt natural estrogen metabolism in the body. More simply put, stress is no good for your natural hormone cycles.
There are tons of different ways to manage your stress. But really, it all depends on the root causes of your stressors. Here are some blogs we recommend:
+ Stress Sucks! My Favorite Way to Naturally Decompress
+ Dr. Andrew Huberman’s Ice Bath Tips & Tricks
+ Breathwork, Meditation and All The Zen, Goddess-Like Vibes You Need In Your Life
+ The Benefits of Meditation & How to Get Started
♡ Avoid environmental estrogen
Environmental estrogen is a real thing. Estrogen is naturally found in some foods, like those phytoestrogen rich foods we mentioned earlier. But, you can also find high levels of estrogen in meat, eggs, and dairy products, from animals that were given growth hormones in the production process. No thank you.
So, if you’re dealing with an excess of estrogen, it’s best to avoid these environmental sources. And a great place to start is by consuming organic. This also goes for any of you dealing with autoimmune issues.
♡ Avoid hormonal birth control
Although today’s birth control contains less estrogen than in the past, the fact remains that the estrogen found in hormonal birth control is MAN-MADE and can drastically disrupt your endocrine system (which is the bodily system that’s responsible for hormone regulation). This includes pills, patches, and vaginal rings.
If you think your hormonal birth control is disrupting your estrogen production, we recommend speaking with your gynecologist before stopping. Then, of course, you can choose to take advantage of other, non-hormonal birth controls like the male condom, the female condom, vaginal gels, a diaphragm, and so on.
♡ Limit your coffee & alcohol intake.
Research shows that high intake of caffeine is linked to low levels of estrogen throughout the body. And oppositely, other studies show that high alcohol consumption can result in increased peak amounts of estrogen. And NO, this doesn’t mean they cancel each other out.
The obvious solution here is to moderate your coffee and alcohol consumption. When it comes to coffee, don’t be afraid to try a decaf option if you need that extra cup. And as for alcohol, just don’t overdo it. And when you do indulge, keep your water bottle nearby so you can easily promote liver detoxification later.
High Estrogen Causes
High estrogen levels in the body can be a REAL problem.
Just a quick disclaimer as we close out this blog. Excess estrogen in the body can be a real problem with real AND lasting side-effects. Like we mentioned, excess estrogen can lead to estrogen dominance. And at that point, the problem will be even harder to solve.
So, we hope that these tips for flushing out excess estrogen are super helpful for those of you dealing with any of these side-effects.
HOWEVER, excess estrogen (or lack thereof, for that matter) can be caused by a variety of things. Including other hormonal issues within the body. So, if you’re sensing something is off, please contact your health care provider & consider getting your hormones checked.
x, The Skinny Confidential team
+ check out this guest blog post on fertility, hormones & weight loss.
++ stalk the ice bath benefits you need to know about.
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