Oestrogen Dominance – it’s worth considering

Whether it’s extra inches (especially) around the middle, ongoing fatigue, skin issues, trouble sleeping, PMS, PCOS, fibroids or fertility issues you may have a hormone imbalance.

Hormones can effect your size and shape and may be the reason you’ve struggled with losing weight and keeping those extra inches off. Too much fat below the belly button, hips and buttocks may indicate you have a hormone imbalance, in particular oestrogen dominance.

As oestrogen levels rise, controlling your weight becomes really difficult, because fat cells also produce oestrogen. So the more fat cells, the more oestrogen is released into your body, and the more your fat cells grow.

What can cause oestrogen excess?
Oestrogen is a vital hormone for many functions in your body, but if it’s not in it’s natural form or at the right level for you then it will interfere with your hormonal activity.

According to the work of Dr. John Lee, the balance of your body’s natural hormones are disrupted because we are living in a ‘sea of oestrogens’ as a result of:-

• Eating non-organic animal foods with high levels of hormones i.e meat, diary, chicken.

• Increased synthetic oestrogens found in things like plastics (BPA), medications, synthetic hormones (the pill and HRT) and chemicals from beauty products and chemicals in your environment.
• Pesticides that mimic oestrogen in your body and send messages to the hypothalamus that it needs to keep producing more and more oestrogens.

There are some simple changes you can make to your diet and lifestyle that may be just what the Doctor ordered.

5 Steps To Reduce Oestrogen Dominance & Balance Your Hormones

1. A hormone balancing diet with:
   Plenty of complex carbohydrates and fibre from beans, lentils, wholegrains, vegetables and fruit. Fibre helps your body eliminate excess oestrogens. That’s why the saying ‘An apple a day keeps the doctor away’, is still so relevant to you today.Eat moderate amounts of protein – legumes, fish, eggs & chicken. Good fats such as nuts, seeds, oily fish and cold pressed vegetable oils.Eating enough fats and protein are key to ensuring the correct hormone levels in our body.
2. Help your body detoxify daily by supporting your liver. 
   Eat ‘a cup a day’ of cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussels sprouts and kale ) to help your liver produce enzymes and provide sulphur needed for the livers detoxification processes. These cruciferous vegetables contain a chemical called indol-3-carbinol, which is what helps you liver remove the bad oestrogens and keep the good ones.Milk thistle is also an excellent herb for the liver as it not only supports detoxification but it also repairs liver cells.
3. Do some exercise
   Moderate to high intensity exercise helps your body maintain normal levels of oestrogen – according to research.Do a mixture of exercise, including aerobic and try increasing your muscle mass by doing strength building exercise.
4. Avoid the following
   Alcohol – it impairs the optimum functioning of your liver by making it difficult to metabolise and remove excess oestrogen.Pesticides – Wash if You Can or Go Organic. There are a variety of chemicals and pesticides found in your food or drink that exert oestrogen like activity when absorbed into the body. These are found on non-organic fruits and vegetables as well as animal products.Plastics – these are also similar in structure to oestrogen and confuse the body’s hormone balance because they mimic the body’s own oestrogen. Use BPA-free plastic, glass or metal containers for water.
5. Reduce the following
   Body fat because it stores chemicals, if you carry excess fat around the middle you will tend to have higher oestrogen levels.Chronic stress – any form of stress (nutritional, physical, chemical, mental, environmental) can increase your cortisol levels and disrupt hormonal balance. Cortisol becomes the predominant hormone and starts to reduce other hormones like progesterone and thereby increasing oestrogen levels.

The great news is that you CAN shift your hormones back into balance by following these steps, and reduce not only the inches but also the detrimental effect of excess oestrogen.

Something else to consider: Is your body trying to tell you something, because Toxins are unavoidable, maybe your body needs a cleanse. So every once in a while it’s a good idea remove them with the structure and support of a fresh food detox!

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