Hormonal Health & Balance

Have you ever wondered how your hormones might affect your day-to-day living? Estrogenic hormone health is a massive and expansive topic that would fill up several university courses if you were to try and learn all of it. But you shouldn’t need a degree in endocrinology to know the essentials. So, let’s take a dive together into the ocean that is hormone health. Our focus will be on conditions that affect many people broadly – how to take care of your everyday estrogen levels and how menopause works and affects you.

Estrogen – What You Need to Know

Estrogen is a key hormone in developing secondary sexual characteristics such as menstruation, bone structure, retaining fat around the hips and thighs, etc. It is not singular but exists in multiple forms, primarily Estrone (E1), Estradiol (E2), and Estriol (E3), with E2 being the most potent and crucial for hormone health. These estrogens, while serving various purposes, need to be in balance for optimal hormonal function, affecting everything from puberty and reproductive health to bone density and mood.

Estradiol does most of what you know estrogen to do – female puberty, reproductive function, bone density, cardiovascular health, skin health, to name a few. But, too little or too much circulating estrogen throws things into chaos – affecting menstruation (or removing it altogether), mood, weight, energy, sex drive, etc. That’s why making sure your hormones are in check is a pretty big deal when it comes to your overall health.

Normally, the body adeptly regulates its estrogen levels, with the liver metabolizing excess estrogen for elimination through the kidneys and intestines, while boosting production when levels are low. However, this self-regulation can be disrupted by various factors, including health conditions, medications, lifestyle choices, and environmental influences, putting stress on the body's hormone regulatory systems. While it's impossible to cover all factors affecting hormone health here, understanding the major ones and considering ways to enhance hormone health can be a valuable first step for those experiencing issues.

Everyday Estrogen

Everyday life, including diet and exercise, significantly impacts hormone health. For example, proper cardiovascular exercise appears to be able to reduce levels of E1 in women and positively influence estrogen ratios[1]. Excess levels of E1 are associated with increased risk of breast cancer,[2] among other issues, which gives us a direct link indicating that breast cancer risk can be actively reduced by exercise, because of how it positively affects estrogen metabolism. E1 is also converted to E2[3], which, if done in excess, can lead to another set of issues altogether. The E1 to E2 pathway is perfectly normal and natural – it’s necessary to make sure you have enough E2, but if you have an excess of E1, it can also become an excess of E2, leading to many of the problems we mentioned in our last section.

Diet also plays a crucial role in hormone regulation, particularly through gut health. The body eliminates excess estrogen through defecation, with estrogens also involved in bile salt production for digestion. Insufficient fibre intake or the use of certain medications and supplements can hinder this process, leading to estrogen reabsorption and circulation. Integrating fibre-rich foods like asparagus, barley, and beans, along with fermented foods such as kefir and kimchi, can improve bowel movements and gut health. It also can help absorb and sequester the estrogen in your gut, preventing it from getting back into your system as it waits there.[4] This aids estrogen metabolism and supporting conditions like low estrogen, obesity, PCOS, and cardiovascular disease.[5]

Environmental factors, including various forms of estrogens like phytoestrogens, mycoestrogens, and xenoestrogens, also affect hormone health.[6] While these environmental estrogens can pose challenges, adopting a healthy lifestyle and making informed choices, such as using metal or glass containers instead of plastics marked with recycling codes 3 & 7 which contain Bisphenol A (BPA), can mitigate their impact. It's essential to support the body's natural regulatory mechanisms, including liver, gut, and kidney health, to maintain overall well-being despite the presence of environmental estrogens.

Menopause

Menopause is a pretty significant, but natural phase in life marked by the decline of estrogen levels. It typically occurs between ages 45 and 55 and can last from 7 to 14 years.[7] This period starts with perimenopause, characterized by irregular menstruation due to fluctuating estrogen levels, and progresses to menopause, where estrogen production drops significantly or stops, ceasing menstruation. Factors like chemotherapy or ovary removal can also induce menopause prematurely. The transition brings substantial changes in body composition, energy levels, bone, and heart health, alongside symptoms like hot flashes, sleep disturbances, and mood changes, varying widely among individuals.

To manage menopausal symptoms, Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) offers a medical option, providing symptom relief, improved bone health, and a lower risk of dementia[8] by supplementing estrogen, typically as E2 or other conjugated estrogens, and sometimes testosterone.[9] However, the suitability of HRT varies, with potential cancer risks necessitating a careful, individual assessment by a doctor.

Non-medical strategies also play a crucial role in managing menopause, focusing on counteracting the lack of estrogen's antioxidant properties and its role as the primary female anabolic hormone, essential for building tissues like fat, bone, and muscle, and for skin health through its antioxidant effects. Estrogen's antioxidant capabilities offer significant benefits to cardiovascular and circulatory health,[10] mitochondrial function,[11] and skin health by guarding against UV radiation damage. This combination of building new tissues and protecting against damage underscores estrogen's critical contribution to both daily function and overall health, including mitigating symptoms like worsening skin health due to reduced estrogen levels.

Exercise is the single best recommendation for maintaining tissue health and overall well-being, at least 2.5 hours of moderate endurance activities weekly, alongside yoga, weightlifting, and stress management practices. This physical activity signals the body to regenerate proteins and maintain bone density, while also delivering cardiovascular benefits.[12] However, exercise alone isn’t enough; an adequate protein intake (with an emphasis on 0.6-0.8g/Lbs. daily), along with supplements like collagen, vitamin D, K, and calcium, is crucial for optimal skin and hair health.

Moreover, to compensate for the decrease in natural estrogen production, incorporating antioxidants into the diet is beneficial, particularly Resveratrol. Found in grape skins and berries, Resveratrol has been shown to alleviate chronic pain from osteoarthritis, ease certain menopausal symptoms, and enhance overall well-being in postmenopausal women over a 24-month study period.[13] This creates of a holistic regimen combining exercise, nutrition, and targeted supplementation for maintaining health during menopause.

How YOU can manage these symptoms!

These recommendations only scratch the surface of what someone can do to help manage general estrogen health and menopausal symptoms. Of course, if you want to learn more, there’s a ton of sources (for example, the studies referenced in this blog post!) you can look at for more information, recommendations, and explanations about not only menopause, but of how to manage general estrogen health. Everyone’s exact health needs will always vary, and the strategies that work for someone else may or may not work for you, but by learning more and trying new things, you’ll find what works for you!