Have you heard of estrogen dominance?
Estrogen dominance refers to a higher amount of estrogen in the body when compared to other hormones. And surprisingly, it can wreak havoc on your body and your life.
And that’s not to say that estrogen is bad… but like anything, too much of it isn’t good. Too much estrogen can hinder your weight loss efforts and cause digestive upset, irregular and painful menstruation, moodiness, fatigue, brain fog, early menopause, and more.
How Estrogen Works
Estrogen is essential for controlling your menstrual cycle, insulin sensitivity, bone density, hunger, metabolic processes, and more. It has its uses.
But if you’re struggling to lose weight, estrogen might be a huge factor getting in your way.
In fact, the symptoms of estrogen dominance in women include:
Weight gain
PMS
Fatigue
Low libido
Bloating
Sleeping difficulties
And more.
Further, if you’re on birth control, that might be the problem. Birth control pills create the perfect environment for hormonal chaos. They limit your body’s own ability to produce progesterone. Progesterone keeps estrogen in check. It opposes it and balances it out. But if you don’t have enough of it, you end up with estrogen dominance (and possibly all of the symptoms above).
Also, excess fat creates even more estrogen. You get caught up in a vicious cycle where you’re trying to lose weight but that extra weight is also holding you back by creating a toxic environment in the body.
How To Deal
The best way to approach hormonal imbalances is by developing healthy habits, such as exercise and eating a healthy and balanced diet. It might also help to ditch the birth control pills - however, this is one you’re going to want to talk to your doctor about.
Find out if you’re estrogen dominant. In today’s society, it’s very common due to what we eat and what we put on our bodies (as well as the sedentary lifestyle).
Work to improve your habits one at a time. Don’t rush it. Going all in can overwhelm you. Simply change one thing then another. Start with your diet and exercise. These two go a long way in helping you live your best life!