If you suffer from fibroids, endometriosis, adenomyosis or PCOS, you’re most likely producing too much estrogen.  In addition to these diseases, estrogen dominance overstimulates both the brain and body. All of these symptoms are exacerbated by stress. Many women in their thirties and early forties find that they experience moderate to severe symptoms of estrogen dominance as they approach perimenopause.  Additional symptoms are:

• Decreased sex drive
• Irregular or otherwise abnormal or painful menstrual periods
• Bloating (water retention)
• Breast swelling and tenderness
• Fibrocystic breasts
• Headaches
• Mood swings (most often irritability and depression)
• Weight and/or fat gain (particularly around the abdomen and hips)
• Cold hands and feet (a symptom of thyroid dysfunction)
• Hair loss
• Thyroid dysfunction
• Sluggish metabolism
• Foggy thinking, memory loss
• Fatigue
• Trouble sleeping/insomnia
• PMS
• Leaky Gut

 Estrogen dominance has been linked to weight gain, leaky gut, allergies, autoimmune disorders, breast and uterine cancer, infertility, ovarian cysts, and increased blood clotting, and is also associated with acceleration of the aging process.

 What Causes Estrogen Dominance:

 When a woman’s menstrual cycle is normal, estrogen is the dominant hormone for the first two weeks leading up to ovulation. Estrogen is balanced by progesterone during the last two weeks. In industrialized countries such as the United States, there can be many other causes, including:

• Excess body fat (greater than 28%)
• Too much stress, resulting in excess amounts of cortisol, insulin, and norepinephrine, which can lead to adrenal exhaustion and can also adversely affect overall hormonal balance
• A low-fiber diet with excess refined carbohydrates, soy and guar that is deficient in nutrients and high quality fats
• Impaired immune function (MTHFR)
• Leaky Gut
• Environmental agents
• Constipation
• A diet high in soy, refined sugar and wheat
• Using skincare and makeup that contain endocrine disruptors
• Drinking from plastic water bottles (plastic contains xenoestrogens)
• Heavy metal toxicity
• Cleaning supplies
• Low levels of progesterone
• Inability to ovulate

 Ways to Decrease Estrogen Dominance:

***THIS IS THE WAY WE PERSONALLY DECREASED ESTROGEN DOMINANCE.  WE ARE NOT DOCTORS, THEREFORE ALWAYS CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR FIRST AND THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN REGULATED BY THE FDA.

1. Increase nutrients in the diet: Take a high potency multivitamin/mineral combination. The following supplements are imperative to cut estrogen: DIM, a multi vitamin B, and D3 combined with K2.
2. Follow a hormone-balancing, anti inflammatory diet such as AIP or Keto:

• Eat lots of fresh and vegetables (6-9 cups per day, particularly cruciferous vegetables)
• Adequate protein from organic sources
• Cut all refined sugar, gluten and soy
• Moderate amounts of healthy fat
• Minimize the amount of fruit you are eating
• Minimize your intake of eggs, nuts, seeds and dairy
• Eliminate coffee and chocolate
• Avoid flax, it is estrogenic 

3. Remember to get enough fiber. Estrogen is excreted by the bowel; if stool remains in the bowel, estrogen is reabsorbed. Monthly colonics and probiotics help significantly.  Eating 6-9 cups of vegetables per day will also help.
4. Use transdermal bioidentical progesterone cream ( If you have adenomyosis, natural progesterone usually makes the symtoms worse. Consult with your doctor first.
5. Lose excess body fat and get regular exercise
6. Detox your liver: The liver’s capacity to cleanse the blood of estrogen is compromised when it is overloaded with xenoestrogens and heavy metals. You can detox the liver by:

• Starting your day with a glass of hot water and lemon
• Eating cilantro daily
• Take an organic sulfur supplement every day
• Take a multi vitamin B supplement
• Take a DIM supplement
• Take a high dose of vitamin C
• Avoid canola oil
• Avoid alcohol
• Consistently using castor oil packs on the liver and stomach will not only detox the liver, it will also shrink fibroids and adenomyosis.  They must be used consistently and results are only shown after 6-9 months of daily use aside from the week you are menstruating

7. Only purchase natural household cleaning supplies, makeup and skincare products
8. Avoid aluminum antiperspirant and stop cooking with aluminum pots, pans and foil. Aluminum is an endocrine disruptor that wreaks havoc on hormones and contributes to estrogen dominance.
9. Decrease stress: When you are stressed, the body makes more estrogen. It is so important to meditate, stay calm and practice yoga or another relaxing exercise.
10. Sweat!  Preferable in a steam room.  Sweating detoxes the body.
11. Avoid the following xenoestrogens:

• Commercially raised meat and dairy such as beef, pork, chicken, milk, butter, cheese and ice cream
• Food that is not organic, which contains pesticides
• Tap water
• Parabans in skincare products
• Plastic water bottles
• Phthalates aka soft plastics used in wrapping foods. Avoid drinking hot liquids in Styrofoam cups and only store food in glass containers
• Artificial sweeteners and MSG
• Dryer Sheets
• Birth Control Pills and HRT
• Menstrual products that are not organic

11. Lastly, if you’re estrogen dominant, it means you aren’t producing enough progesterone. You can boost your progesterone levels with the following supplements:

• Vitamin B6 is proven to increase progesterone production and reduce blood estrogen levels, leading to improvements in PMS symptoms, as well as fertility. It’s considered one of the best vitamins to boost progesterone.
• Vitamin C is an ascorbic acid that assists the ovaries in the ovulation process. At a dose of 750 mg/day, vitamin C has been shown to raise progesterone levels in women with both low progesterone and a luteal phase deficiency (when the second half of the menstrual cycle is 10 days or less, or if progesterone level is low on day 21 of the cycle, or both).
• Vitamin E is an important antioxidant to help protect sperm and egg DNA integrity. A study conducted at John Hopkins University showed that vitamin E (at a dose of 800 IU/day for 10 weeks) corrects the progesterone-estrogen ratio, increases a woman’s libido, and normalizes her menstrual cycle.
• Magnesium influences the pituitary gland, which releases FSH (follicular stimulating hormone), LH (luteinizing hormone) and TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone). These hormones, in turn, regulate the production of estrogen and progesterone.
• Zinc is another mineral that supports fertility. It stimulates the pituitary gland to release FSH, which triggers the production of estrogen and promote ovulation. And ovulation will, in turn, signal the increase of progesterone.
• L-arginine is an amino acid that helps widen and relax arteries and blood vessels, increasing blood flow in the body. At a dose of 6 grams per day, it’s been shown to improve the blood supply to the corpus luteum (the egg follicle that releases progesterone