HOT FLASH : ESTROGEN IS NOT SO COOL

There is a strong commonly held belief that estrogen is needed with the onset of menopause to prevent or stop hot flashes and osteoporosis, or essential to a woman’s health after a hysterectomy. But the scientific evidence is clear, when estrogen becomes the dominant hormone, usually from a deficiency of progesterone, then estrogen becomes toxic to the body. Before reading the next sentence please sit down first, the following may shock you. It has been estimated that half the health problems that men have and almost all the health problems that women have is exacerbated or related to excess estrogen. The following is a list, in alphabetical order from fully referenced scientific literature, conditions associated with high or out of balance levels of estrogen: allergies, anxiety, breast cancer, depressed thyroid function, dysmenorrhea, endometriosis, fluid retention, gall bladder disease and gall stones, hypoglycemia and associated food cravings, increased risk of heart attacks and strokes, osteoporosis, PMS, prostate disease, seizures, uterine cancer, uterine fibroids and worst of all…weight gain!

Before going into how the body gets too much estrogen let’s look at how hormonal changes work in a healthy female. During a woman’s early thirties the hormones levels of estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, pregnenolone and DHEA reach their peak. From here they decline very slowly with little negative impact to her health. In her early fifties menopause is reached which means the hormones have gradually declined to a point where no monthly cycle is stimulated. This same slowing rate of hormonal levels continues for her remaining years with minimal symptoms and she lives happily ever after. But these days, for reasons I will go into later, most women have their estrogen to progesterone ratio out of balance starting as early as adolescence and continuing well past menopause. To some degree they experience some of the conditions listed above but these symptoms increase in their early forties when levels of testosterone, pregnenolone, DHEA and especially progesterone drop, leaving estrogen unopposed and in excess amounts. As these women experience physical and emotional symptoms they become a good target for antidepressant drugs like Prozac when what they really needed was probably some natural progesterone. After 10 or 15 years of this fun estrogen levels drop with the arrival of menopause and she experiences hot flashes. Estrogen is then prescribed and the hot flashes go away perpetuating the belief that estrogen really helped. But what the estrogen really did was to return her to the same unhealthy state she was before but with the increased toxic effect of excess estrogen.

Levels of estrogen are affected by what our body’s produce internally and what it gets externally. Before menopause estrogen is produced in the ovaries and after menopause certain adrenal hormones primarily found in body fat are converted to estrogen. Estrogen is a stress hormone meaning the body uses it in defense against extreme stressors. So too much physical, emotional or chemical stress increases estrogen levels. The most common dietary cause of an estrogen imbalance is too many partially hydrogenated and/or rancid vegetable oils and refined carbohydrates. Foods containing phytoestrogens or plant compounds with estrogen like activity like soybeans could be a problem. Beef cattle are often given a synthetic estrogen because it causes fat build up so they can more quickly be taken to slaughter. Many women take synthetic estrogen to regulate their menstrual cycle, birth control pills or for hormonal replacement therapy and suffer with excess estrogen symptoms simply from the side effects. In fact statistics show that 48% of the women over the age of 50 take female hormones.

The consistent and immediate effects of estrogen replacement therapy on a women’s body is increased body fat and increase in fluid retention. Natural hormones would be healthier but the pharmaceutical companies would prefer to alter their molecular structure so they can patent these synthetic estrogens.

No discussion about estrogen would be complete without mentioning how it prevents osteoporosis. Let’s bust this myth. This propaganda started over forty years ago when a study showed that estrogen caused the body to retain calcium. But closer examination indicates that the calcium retention is in the soft tissue, not the bone. This can show up as calcium sclerotic deposits all through the body. Did you know there is not a relationship between osteoporosis and the onset of menopause? Between the ages of 21 and 40 there is a considerable increase in a women’s estrogen production while bone loss begins around the age of 23. In other words bone loss in happening while estrogen levels are rising. Two thirds of the total bone loss in a women’s life will happen before she even reaches menopause.

If you are taking estrogen hormones in any form seriously consider other options. First of all do not stop taking your hormones cold turkey; it has to be done gradually. Getting your metabolism balanced and exercising will have a dramatic effect on the underlying issues expressing themselves as an estrogen problem. A natural progesterone or pregnenolone supplement should be considered. Come to our chemistry class and ask questions, get a Network Spinal Analysis, a Metabolic Analysis and of course, get adjusted.