The next issue is proper detoxification. The liver and gallbladder play an important role in clearing excess hormones from the body. Defects in hormone detox can cause hormones to be only partially metabolized. Partially metabolized hormones compete for receptor sites with active hormones, but when they bind to the receptors, they don’t have the same effect, so they actually block the receptors from the active hormones, and that ends up throwing off proper negative feedback, which is the way that hormones are regulated in the body, and the end result is you get symptoms of hormone imbalance but relatively normal labs or a patient that’s extremely sensitive to any drugs or supplements.
There are some genetic mutations that predispose people to that, but those mutations generally won’t be activated epigenetically unless there’s some kind of issue here with impaired detox pathways.
Of course, the key here is to make sure those pathways are functioning well and to reduce the toxic burden that we’re exposed to. We’re exposed to toxins in food, of course, with the standard American diet (SAD), the flour, the seed oils, the excess sugar, the chemicals, preservatives, and things that are increasingly used in processed and industrially refined foods, but there are also environmental toxins like BPA and phthalates and the many other chemical agents that are introduced into our environment every year with very little regulation or concern for safety.
So using natural products, shampoos, soaps, natural home cleaning products, washing powder etc – all of this, can help reduce the toxic burden and give our detox pathways a little bit of a break. There are a lot of things that we can do to improve detox capacity, like improving our methylation status and improving our glutathione levels.
Oestrogen is the primary female sex hormone that is responsible for the development and regulation of the female sexual and reproductive system, but it is also an important hormone for men. Oestrogen plays an important role in bone metabolism and protects the cardiovascular system in both men and women. Very low oestrogen levels can lead to weight gain, low libido, muscle weakening, depression, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and fatigue. In women, low oestrogen levels can also cause hot flashes, breast tenderness, mood swings, and irregular or absent periods.
Today we are finding that the majority of people have very high oestrogen levels, referred to as oestrogen dominance. High oestrogen levels can have very negative health consequences. Oestrogen dominance plays a big role in conditions associated with hormone imbalance such as Endometriosis, Fibroids, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), and Premenstrual Syndrome (PMS). In men, high oestrogen levels can cause the growth of breast tissue (gynecomastia), enlarged prostate, and erectile dysfunction. High oestrogen levels also increase the risk for hormone-sensitive cancers in men and women. Our body’s ability to detoxify all this excess oestrogen is influenced by our DNA, diet, gut health, exercise, liver health, and more. There are also very advanced nutraceutical supplements that support oestrogen detoxification pathways. A healthy lifestyle and the correct supplementation can prevent oestrogen dominance and all the dangers associated with it.