Are you tired all the time? Do you suffer from anxiety or depression? Are you battling to sleep at night, while the pounds seem to gather at your hips, and you don’t know why? You may be suffering from estrogen dominance, and one of the best ways of dealing with this hormone imbalance naturally is by using herbs for estrogen dominance.
What Does Estrogen Dominance Mean?
In a nutshell, estrogen dominance refers to a condition whereby your body’s estrogen hormone levels are higher than that of your progesterone hormone levels. This does not necessarily mean you have high estrogen levels. Your estrogen levels could be normal while your progesterone levels are low. It is the ratio between estrogen and progesterone that causes estrogen dominance.
Many factors may lead to estrogen dominance, including your lifestyle, stress, diet, medications, liver function, and exposure to external factors ranging from cleaning products to the foods you eat. Dealing with all these possible causes puts a lot of stress on your body which could lead to adrenal fatigue and estrogen dominance.
Signs of Estrogen Dominance
Estrogen is a hormone that plays a role in many bodily functions including fertility, cardiovascular health, immune function, blood sugar regulation, and bone health. Estrogen dominance may cause several symptoms that negatively affect your quality of life.
Common symptoms associated with estrogen dominance include:
Anxiety
Depression
Irritability
Endometriosis
Weight gain for no particular reason
Constant fatigue
Fluid retention
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS)
Heavy bleeding during menstruation
Infertility
Insomnia
A lowered sex drive
Breast cancer
Conventional medicine, unfortunately, usually seeks to address the various symptoms associated with estrogen dominance. You may be asked to take medication for insomnia or anxiety, for example, without looking at the root cause of your issues.
If you suspect you are suffering from estrogen dominance, please have yourself checked out so that your hormone imbalance can be addressed. You may also consider taking herbs for estrogen dominance. If so, please talk to your primary healthcare provider who may recommend the herbs most appropriate for you as well as their dosage.
Your Complete Guide To Estrogen Rich Foods
Herbs for Estrogen Dominance
Nature has provided us as humans with a plethora of herbs and other natural remedies that may benefit our health. When it comes to herbs for estrogen dominance, nature has supplied several herbs for estrogen dominance that can work very well if taken correctly.
Chaste Tree Berry
Chaste tree is also known as Monk’s Pepper because monks would chew the berries and leaves to reduce their sexual urges. This implies that large doses of this herb could negatively affect your sex drive.
This herb supports pituitary gland function and increases your progesterone and luteinizing hormone. In so doing, the levels of these hormones go up without affecting your estrogen levels in any way. The herb may help with issues like headaches, depression, bloating, and constipation. It may also help with menstrual cycle regulation.
Dandelion Root and Leaf
This is a very bitter herb often used as a tea. The plant stimulates bile production and helps with the liver’s detoxification process. This, in turn, helps with the natural removal of estrogen from your body via your normal excretory processes. A gentle laxative, the herb also stimulates increased bowel movements.
Burdock Root
Much like dandelion, burdock root is one of the herbs for estrogen dominance that works as a diuretic, helping to get rid of any excess estrogen in your body via your body’s natural elimination process. The herb is usually taken as a tea.
Passionflower
This plant has high quantities of a natural flavonoid called chrysin. Chrysin may lower estradiol levels, the latter being a form of estrogen. Passionflower is often of great use to women undergoing perimenopause because it has mild sedative properties that promote sleep.
Milk Thistle
Milk thistle may support liver function and thus help with the metabolism and excretion of excess estrogen. The herb may also promote bone health while addressing high cholesterol levels and the negative effects of an estrogen imbalance on breast and uterine tissue.
Raspberry Leaf
Raspberry is one of the herbs for estrogen dominance, usually used in the form of a tea. High in ellagic acid, a powerful antioxidant, the herb may alter estrogen metabolism and reduce your risk of cancer resulting from a hormone imbalance.
Maca
Maca is an herbal adaptogen that supports your overall health and helps to balance hormones. Long term use of this herb may see an increase in your progesterone levels.
Licorice
Licorice has a long tradition of use in treating coughs and colds, reducing the risk of certain cancers, and helping with certain issues relating to menopause like hot flashes. This herb may decrease your estrogen production. However, because estrogen dominance may not necessarily mean higher-than-normal estrogen levels, prolonged use of this herb may interfere with a woman’s fertility.
Brassicas
Leafy green vegetables like broccoli, kale, and cabbage all originate from an herb commonly referred to as brassica or the wild mustard plant. According to studies, these leafy greens help with your liver’s detoxification process and the filtering of estrogen metabolites out of your body. The presence of the compound sulforaphane means these vegetables may also help address thyroid issues and inhibit the growth of cancer.
Artichokes
Artichokes promote liver function because they boost your bile production. This helps with the removal of any excess estrogen, while at the same time having a beneficial effect on your cholesterol levels.
Seeds
While not strictly speaking falling under the category of herbs for estrogen dominance, different seeds may reduce your estrogen dominance symptoms while at the same time increasing your nutrient and vitamin uptake.
You could also try seed cycling. This is when you use certain seeds during a different type of the month because it may help balance your hormones during your cycle. Here you would consume progesterone-boosting seeds during ovulation and estrogen-boosting seeds during the 14 days before.
Seeds that boost your progesterone levels and help address estrogen dominance include sesame and sunflower seeds.
Seeds that boost your estrogen levels include pumpkin seeds and flaxseeds.
Other Supplements to Consider
Besides using herbs for estrogen dominance, you could also consider vitamin and mineral supplements.
Vitamin D3
This vitamin plays a very important role in estrogen regulation as well as supporting your immune function.
Vitamin B6
A vitamin B6 supplement may help boost your body’s progesterone production, thereby counteracting any excessive estrogen. It is also great at supporting liver function.
Magnesium
Magnesium plays an important role in determining enzyme responses affecting your hormone balance. Important for proper liver function and detoxification, magnesium helps get rid of any excess estrogen.
Probiotics
Gut health affects your hormones and overall health. Probiotics support gut health by promoting the growth of good bacteria, while at the same time discouraging the growth of bad bacteria. They play a vital role in helping to balance your gut flora.
Why Balanced Hormones Matter
Your hormones are largely secreted by the various glands making up your endocrine system. In women, the three most important hormone-secreting glands are the thyroid gland, ovaries, and adrenal glands. Control over hormone production starts in the brain. Specifically, the hypothalamus, part of the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis, sends chemical messengers to parts of your body indicating which hormones to produce, how much to produce, and when.
Each and every one of the hormones in your body has a certain specific task to fulfill. Often, one hormone relies on another to fulfill its task. At the same time, some hormones act as precursor hormones for others. If for some reason, something happens and too much or too little of a specific hormone is made, your entire hormone system and myriad bodily functions can be affected. This leads to multiple preventable symptoms and health issues.
In the case of estrogen dominance, or even progesterone deficiency, the end result could be various symptoms that are closely related to those of adrenal fatigue. In fact, a hormonal imbalance is one of the many symptoms of adrenal fatigue, a common condition related to chronic stress.
In the later stages of the condition, adrenal fatigue can become debilitating and even life-threatening. Therefore, looking after your hormonal health is an important step in protecting the health of your adrenals and body overall.
In Closing
There is no need to suffer the many symptoms related to estrogen dominance in silence. Taking certain supplements or herbs for estrogen dominance may help rectify the situation and address some of the issues associated with it.
If you are suffering from estrogen dominance, here are a few things you can do to help alleviate the situation.
Try herbs for estrogen dominance like chaste tree berry, maca, and milk thistle.
Increase your intake of leafy green vegetables such as kale, broccoli, and cabbage.
Explore the use of different vitamin and mineral supplements.
Whatever course of action you decide to take, however, please do so with the guidance of your healthcare practitioner who will assess a supplement’s benefits for you as well as recommending the correct dosage.
