Awhile back I promised an article on how xenoestrogen’s (synthetic oestrogen-like compounds) can affect our bodies – here is that article! Sorry, it’s all a bit controversial I guess, this was hard to write. Rather scary isn’t it? -B xx
WHAT IS OESTROGEN?
The two main sexual hormones that women have are oestrogen (or estrogen if you live in America) and progesterone. Our hormonal system is SO complex much research is still to be done on how everything connects together in our body! No two women are the same and they will have different levels of hormones that can affect them in many different ways due to so many variables! Hormone levels can also fluctuate rapidly throughout a woman’s monthly cycle. Oestrogen is what is responsible for female characteristics – breast growth and reproductive capabilities. The control and release of oestrogen is also what starts the process of puberty in females. A large issue that we are currently facing is the early onset of puberty in very young girls. Throughout history girls rarely would have got their period before the age of 13. In the last one hundred years particularly the average age had been creeping downwards to sometimes as early as 7-8. Having young girls be sexualised in this way when they are not physically or emotionally ready for it is obviously a huge problem. Early onset of puberty has strong links with xenoestrogens in our environment, a high-fat western diet and a sedentary lifestyle.
Oestrogen moves through our blood around the body and also affects our cholesterol levels, bone health and brain (particularly our moods) and also our heart, skin and tissues (1). Our bodies make three types of oestrogen; Estriol (mainly during pregnancy), Estradiol (mainly during childbearing age) and Estrone (After menopause) (1). If you suspect a hormone imbalance and visit your doctor they often will only test Estradiol so it is important to ask to get tested for all three. Because of the large amount of synthetic hormones and xenoestrogens that our bodies are being exposed to many women are facing symptoms of oestrogen dominance.
OESTROGEN DOMINANCE SYMPTOMS:
Low oestrogen has links with irregular and lessening of periods and symptoms of menopause. Today we are mainly going to discuss the symptoms of excess oestrogen and there are many! This site contains a very comprehensive list of oestrogen dominance symptoms and here are a few of them:
-Mood swings
-Irregular periods
-Low energy
-Weight gain
-Low libido
-Migraines
-Decreased thyroid function
-Many degenerative diseases (particularly ones that involve the breasts and reproductive organs).
Oestrogen dominance occurs when your body has little to no progesterone to balance out the effects of the oestrogen. Normal ageing and high levels of emotional, physical and chemical stressors can cause our bodies to lose progesterone (2). Woman’s bodies are also exposed to high levels of synthetic oestrogens more than ever before. Synthetic hormones enter our bodies and can cause confusion and imbalance. Our bodies do not seem to recognise the difference between natural and synthetic hormones and synthetic hormones attach to hormone receptor sites blocking the flow of the naturally occurring hormones (2). They can also attach at the wrong time and affect developmental timing in girls (2). This, of course, can also affect how fertile we are throughout our childbearing years. Synthetic oestrogens are hard to get rid of and they may take our bodies months or years to clear even when we have tried to limit exposure (3).
It is not any ONE chemical that is a problem. It is the repetitive exposure to different kinds of chemicals that can collect and interact in our body in different ways. No studies have been done on the cumulative effect of all of these different types of chemicals in our bodies. Constant exposure to artificial hormones puts great stress on our liver which is our main organ involved in detoxifying our bodies and keeping our blood clean. When our liver is overburdened chemical toxins can then get collected in fat cells (2). A stressed liver can also then lead to many digestive issues and can affect our ability to absorb the proper nutrients from our food (2).
OESTROGEN DOMINANCE CAUSES:
MEAT/ANIMAL PRODUCTS:
In my recent clear skin post, I mentioned how dairy is chock full of oestrogen because all of the cows are kept pregnant therefore the dairy that is produced is going to be much higher in oestrogen. Meat is also full of pesticides, hormones, antibiotics, and many other bacteria and toxins. Many animals in some parts of the world are injected with growth hormones to make them grow faster – it’s all about the bottom line for producers! If you eat meat always do your research and only consume small amounts of grass-fed and free range meat. Animals crammed together are often going to be sick as it is not their natural way of living. There is nothing healthy about eating sick animals pumped up on drugs!
This clip for Nutrition Facts suggests that animal oestrogens may be a more significant problem to our bodies and the environment than even the synthetic xenoestrogens.
THE PILL:
Although the pill has many benefits to our society it does not ‘protect’ your body against getting pregnant like is widely advertised. It actually tricks your body into thinking that it is already pregnant by using synthetic hormones. Having your body run on synthetic hormones for years on end can mean that your body does not know how to make the right levels of natural hormones when you finally come off it.
HRT (Hormone Replacement Therapy):
Over the last fifty years, big pharma has managed to convince women that menopause (a naturally occurring event in a woman’s life) is now a ‘disease’ that needs HRT to treat. Synthetic HRT is linked to a higher risk of many cancers, here is some interesting info. from Cancer Research UK.
CHEMICAL EXPOSURE:
There are many chemicals in our environment that could be potential sources of xenoestrogens:
Pesticides: Pesticides are probably the largest and worrying source of xenoestrogens. They are in the air we breathe and the water we drink. Farm animals are also heavily exposed to pesticides and will store them in their fat tissues. It is important that we try and support organic growing methods wherever possible!
Water: Can contain excess oestrogen from the birth control pill and pesticide run off. Get a great filter!
Dry cleaning: The dry cleaning process uses two chemicals that are horribly toxic, perchloroethylene and tetrachloroethylene. Try to purchase clothes that don’t rely on dry cleaning.
Plastics: All plastics have been treated with phthalates to make them more pliable. The super bendy plastics or ‘one use’ plastics are the absolute worst, particularly when heated or when hot food or liquid is put into them. See my article here on detoxing your kitchen from xenoestrogens!
Receipts: Surprisingly receipts also contain high levels of BPA due to the usage of thermal paper.
Personal care products: Many personal care products can be potential sources of xenoestrogens. Particularly feminine hygiene products, nail polish, nail polish removers, sunscreen and anything else that contains parabens. I am planning a whole article on all of these soon!
PHYTOESTROGENS:
Phytoestrogens are naturally occurring plant-based oestrogens found in soy products and also in tiny amounts in all other plant-based foods. They do not stay in our bodies indefinitely like the synthetic oestrogens and our bodies naturally clear them within a couple of days (3). Due to the industrial revolution and the over production of soy, many of our processed foods also contain large amounts of soy. Because of this soy has also become a highly allergenic food. If you are not eating large amounts of processed products then small amounts of fermented soy products like miso, tofu or tempeh should pose no problem and could also be very helpful for women during menopausal years.
Exposure to excess animal hormones and synthetic xenoestrogens is not just a problem for growing girls and women it is also a huge problem for dudes! We need to be very careful when pregnant and growing our little boys as excess oestrogen can be detrimental to their normal development! Check out these scary articles on male fish developing female characteristics and sperm that can’t swim properly! This is definitely not a topic that I will finish talking about anytime soon ♥
Links:
1 – What is Estrogen? from Hormone Health Network
(This page also has a large infographic if you like visuals!)
2 – The Naked Truth About Your Hormones from Miss Eco Glam
3 – Estrogen (Oestrogen) from Grow Youthful
This is a great write up on female hormones and menopause from The Doctor Within
(Did you know that the hormones used in some brands of synthetic HRT (hormone replacement therapy) can come from horse urine? Yuck! Here is a write up from Peta)