Hidden Causes of Estrogen Dominance

If you’ve been experiencing symptoms like bloating, mood swings, poor sleep, or stubborn weight gain, it’s easy to feel like your body is working against you!

But once you start to understand what your hormones are doing behind the scenes, things begin to make a lot more sense.

Estrogen dominance occurs when estrogen levels are high relative to progesterone. This means it can happen when estrogen levels are normal or even low!

Because progesterone naturally declines during perimenopause, this hormone imbalance is very common during this stage of life.

While declining progesterone is the main cause of estrogen dominance, there are other less obvious causes.

Here are some of the most common contributors:

👉 Body Fat

Our fat cells contain an enzyme called aromatase, which converts testosterone into estrogen. That means the more fat cells in the body, the more estrogen is produced!

👉 Insulin Resistance

Insulin resistance (when cells do not properly respond to insulin, leading to high blood sugar) increases aromatase activity, leading to increased estrogen levels.

👉 Liver Issues

The liver is the main site of estrogen metabolism (breakdown). It's important to metabolize and eliminate "used" estrogen. If the liver is not functioning well, estrogen will be metabolized more slowly, and therefore be recirculated back in the body.

👉 Poor Gut Health

There’s an enzyme in the gut called beta-glucuronidase that causes estrogen to recirculate into the body. Overgrowth of certain unfriendly gut bacteria boost levels of this enzyme, contributing to estrogen dominance.

👉 Low Thyroid Function

Estrogen and thyroid hormones have an intimate relationship. High estrogen blocks the conversion of the thyroid hormone T4 to its more active form of T3, and low thyroid function slows elimination of estrogen from the body. This can create a vicious cycle and worsen estrogen dominance!

👉 Alcohol

Alcohol increases activity of the aromatase enzyme in the liver, contributing to higher estrogen levels.

👉 Stress

Here’s a BIG one! Did you know that progesterone and the stress hormone cortisol are made from the same precursor hormone? That means that with more stress, we produce more cortisol and less progesterone - leaving estrogen unchecked.

👉 Xenoestrogens

Xenoestrogens are synthetic chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body. They can be found in plastic water bottles, grocery store receipts, cleaning products, shampoos, and lotions - just to name a few!

Estrogen dominance is not straightforward, however many of these contributors connect directly to lifestyle and food patterns.

That means your body isn’t working against you.

It’s just responding and adapting. 💚

xoxo Kimberly