What is estrogen movement,
popularly known as "estrogen detox"?
In my last post, I talked about estrogen accumulation, also known as estrogen dominance.
What a lot of people don't realize is that in a highly stressed body with a poorly supported metabolism, estrogen can accumulate within the tissues and cells. Estrogen is not the only thing that does this. Iron, heavy metals, micro plastics and other fat soluble toxins do this as well.
Detoxification is something the body is always working on, but it can only do what it can with the resources (nutrients) and environment it's provided. So sometimes, the least metabolically expensive way to deal with something is to put it in the fat cells for later.
OUR DRAINAGE PATHWAYS OPEN WHEN:
We actively nourish and replenish and give our body energy from both carbohydrate and sunlight, protein from animal foods, high quality fats from animal foods and replace minerals that have been lost...
We change our electromagnetic fields and vibration by being more in tune with our cycle, our emotions and our earth...
And our body moves junk that it has been waiting for the right tools to move for a very long time.
As the drainage pathways open, things start moving from:
the cells
to the organs & tissues
into the lymph system and bloodstream
then into the liver & bile ducts or kidneys
to then be eliminated by the colon, urinary tract or lymph/skin
This can be really uncomfortable and can almost appear as if things are getting worse, before they get better.
Estrogen movement can look a lot like estrogen dominance symptoms.
Most women experience/have experienced this in "waves of three".
Where after about 3-6 months of nourishment, we experience a few cycles of increased PMS, heavy/clotty periods, breakouts, mid cycle spotting, headaches, cellulite, mood imbalances, etc. to then be followed by better health and hormone balance.
And then sometimes another, smaller wave comes every 3 or so months.
So when we look at lab tests where estrogen is being tested and it shows low or normal estrogen and then 3-6 months after nourishing, it's very high, it means it's mobilizing!
Of course this is not the case for everyone, and everyone is so different, but it's an interesting phenomenon to observe.
Reminder for my female friends:
> Estrogen starts to rise after we stop bleeding.
Because it's a powerful hormone that stimulates growth and proliferation, it's rising to a peak to bring on ovulation.
Once we ovulate, the corpus luteum SHOULD take over and progesterone should now dominate estrogen in the second half of the cycle.
Having a rough or symptomatic ovulation can be a sign that our body is having a hard time dealing with the onslaught of rising estrogen.
This can be for a few reasons like:
We didn't make enough progesterone in our last cycle
We have too much exposure to environmental estrogens
We are actively mobilizing a detoxing estrogen
Our liver and gut need support eliminating estrogen
Since our liver and gut are the ones mostly responsible for estrogen elimination, it's a good idea to add support.
My favorites include:
- Ripe, seasonal fruit & fruit Juice. Most fruit contains vitamin C and potassium which are amazing for supporting detoxification. Citrus and citrus juice, specifically fresh orange juice, is a powerful aromatase inhibitor and has amazing compounds that support the gut.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33782546/
- Raw Carrot Salad FIBER (not juice) has the special ability to bind to estrogen and carry it out of the body.
http://raypeat.com/articles/articles/natural-estrogens.shtml
- Fat Soluble Vitamins: Retinol (animal vitamin A), Vitamin K2, Vitamin E, & Vitamin D are all powerful aromatase inhibitors. Getting enough in the form of sunlight and high-quality fats which contain these nutrients is essential to proper estrogen elimination.
- Protein: Don't forget to be getting plenty of protein from a wide variety of bioavailable sources to support detox. Gelatinous foods are specifically important, since glycine and amino acids supports the liver and gut. Eggs, dairy, meat, fish and shellfish are all amazing.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31360687/
Other Support for Estrogen Detox:
Exercise regularly.
Research suggests that exercise can help to reduce high estrogen levels. Premenopausal women who engage in aerobic exercise for five hours a week or more saw their estrogen levels drop by nearly 19%. Simply walking 3 miles a day helps the body break estrogen down and flush away any excess.
Get plenty of sleep.
Our melatonin levels drop when we don’t get enough sleep, and this hormone is known to protect the body from surplus estrogen build-up. 8-9 hours are needed on average to repair and detox the body over night.
Lifestyle support for balancing out your estrogen levels:
• Reduce exogenous phytoestrogen exposure through removal of soy from diet (check
protein bars, cereal products, additives, "health foods", tofu, etc).
• Eliminate dairy that is not organic or hormone-free; grassfed and raw is the best form.
• Reduce use of plastics in foods/containers (especially water bottles). It's best to use
glass/stainless steel bottles with filtered water when at home. Plastics have
xenoestrogens (synthetic estrogens) even if BPA free. Especially avoid heating food in
plastic containers!
• Ensure bowel regularity.
• Assess for dysbiosis with saccharomyces boulardii, phages or penicillin.
• Maintain healthy body composition and muscle mass.
What about DIM (Diindolylmethane)?
Unless you have thoroughly investigated your hormones via blood and urine hormone test, I recommend against it.
Do not take DIM to push estrogen out of your body:
If your detox pathways are clogged, you will stimulate more estrogen production and make matters worse.
If you make a lot of DHEA and Testosterone you will convert all these into more Estrogen right away and the cycle of trial and error continues.
Careful investigation is needed to balance your hormonal status.
References:
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/21903887/
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