Do you ever feel like the weight of the world is on your shoulders? It's not only the outside world but the inner world that can drag our emotions (and subsequently our behaviors) down in the dumps. This means we have to be extra vigilant about our self care practices AND about our hormone health! It's too easy to indulge in some not-so-healthy behaviors when we feel unmotivated and paralyzed by what's happening around us. This only exacerbates imbalanced hormone symptoms.
Are you suffering from the signs and symptoms of unbalanced hormones? It could be due to excess estrogen.
Breast swelling and tenderness
Mood swings
“Fuzzy thinking”
Irritability
Trouble sleeping
Water retention
PMS
Weight gain
Estrogen dominance could be caused by a combination of factors. I know I've suffered from it through different times of my life. Today you may be balanced but tomorrow you may not get enough sleep, which can throw you off kilter. It takes deliberate daily effort to keep hormones in check. Not always an easy task given the world we live in today! Let's take a moment to explore how estrogen dominance happens... 1. The weeks leading up to ovulation, estrogen gets ramped up to prepare for a fertilized egg giving us an increase in sexual thoughts and energy. When there is no fertilized egg, we get a period and that excess estrogen is supposed to be eliminated through our stool. Being constipated means that excess estrogen gets reabsorbed into the body causing estrogen dominance. Pay attention to your fiber intake. Aim for 30 grams a day and don't forget to drink lots of water! 2. Excess body fat can lead to excess estrogen. Fat around the middle is metabolically active. It produces hormones! That's exactly what we don't want to happen. So watch the inches around your waist--it may mean more than the number on the scale. If you're not exercising, now is a good time to start! 3. Too much stress, resulting in excess amounts of cortisol, insulin, and norepinephrine, can lead to adrenal exhaustion and can also adversely affect overall hormonal balance. Stress plays a big role in progesterone production. Progesterone keeps estrogen in check, so if you don’t have enough of it, estrogen can go haywire. That’s when you end up with weight gain, PMS, and the other symptoms of estrogen dominance. Take up meditation, prayer, or deep breathing. Get your stress under control! 4. Toxins can play the role of estrogen in our bodies. Thousands of man-made products contain xenoestrogens, which means they mimic estrogen and disrupt your hormone balance. Parabens, phthalates, glyphosate, and benzophenones are on the short list. Think of plastics, BPA lined cans, cosmetics, beauty products, laundry detergent, pesticides, and herbicides. Your detox systems — particularly your liver and kidneys — can only handle so much over the course of a day. If your body is constantly dealing with heavy metals, mold toxins, plastics, cleaning products, fragrances…all of those things and more compete with estrogen for its place in the elimination line. Cleanse your liver!
Do any of these ring true for you? Maybe a combination?
Hormones are chemical messengers in your body that influence every process that we go through--from eating to sleeping. So it's important that we pay attention and keep them as balanced as possible. The dis-ease that you're experiencing; while common is NOT normal. Pay attention! What is your body telling you?
Don't ignore the symptoms! Don't mask them! Start making small changes over time and begin to the feel like yourself again.
Show your hormones a little extra love with the Hormone Master Class. Find out how to use your cycle to be the most productive, learn what foods you should be eating, which herbs help you come back to balance, how to regain your libido, which essential oil blends help with hot flashes and energy and so much more!