What to Do with High Estrogen + How to Support Healthier Levels

When your estrogen levels are out of range, you notice. high estrogen is no joke.

Estrogen dominance has become more prominent in women over the years. A large part of this dominance has to do with hormonal imbalances which can stem from digestive dysfunction, an overloaded liver, thyroid imbalances, etc. But did you know there is also estrogen excess? Estrogen dominance and estrogen excess aren’t interchangeable, but dealing with either one (or both) has similar results.

So, what’s the difference?

Estrogen Dominance

When your estrogen to progesterone ratio is out of balance, in total or in ratio. Here are a few ways this can play out –

High estrogen, low progesterone

Normal estrogen, low progesterone

Low estrogen, even lower progesterone

Estrogen Excess

This occurs when your body has too much estrogen circulating throughout the body. An example of estrogen excess would be if your liver is already overloaded, it will have a harder time flushing out excess estrogen, which can result in estrogen recirculating throughout your body.

This can also occur if you’re exposed to xenoestrogens, which mimic estrogen in the body. They are toxic to the body and mimic or interfere with hormone production. The majority of xenoestrogens are found in skincare products. If you’d like to dive more into this, check out this post where I go into more detail on the importance of knowing what you put on your skin.

You probably know that you have estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone produced within your body. But did you know that estrogen can be broken down into three different kinds? Nerd out with me for a moment, will ya?

Estradiol – the leading estrogenic hormone during your reproductive years.

Estrone – the main estrogenic hormone after menopause.

Estriol – the leading estrogenic hormone during pregnancy. Estriol is not as strong as estradiol or estrone.

So depending on what season of life you are in, one of these estrogenic hormones will be more prevalent than the others. Pretty cool, huh?

Before I share the symptoms of high estrogen, there are two things I’d like you to note –

Estrogen is needed in your body and is pivotal for so many things, particularly for your cycle. Estrogen is needed for antral ovarian follicle growth and production of cervical mucus. For the rest of your body, estrogen contributes to brain health, glucose metabolism, modulating inflammation, and supports bone density. It also contributes to the healthy glowing skin you typically experience during your follicular phase. If you are on birth control, you might not experience this because of the synthetic hormones.
Typically your body doesn’t produce too much estrogen. Estrogen dominance and excess tend to occur because of a dysfunction within the body.

High Estrogen Symptoms

heavy & painful periods

cycle irregularities

breast tenderness

mood swings

hormonal acne

menstrual migraines

Water retention

ovarian cysts

uterine fibroids

endometriosis

What leads to high estrogen in your body can be because of several things, or just one or two things. High estrogen can be caused by hormonal birth control, hormone replacement, excessive phytoestrogens, alcoholism, inflammatory cytokines, insulin resistance, obesity, histamine intolerance, PUFA (polyunsaturated fatty acids) exposure, caffeine, excess copper, nutrient deficiencies, genetics (Milkolvic, 2021).

Understanding that your estrogen levels can be affected by the items listed above can help you to modulate your estrogen levels to get them to healthier levels. Your estrogen levels are meant to fluctuate throughout your cycle, so anticipating the rise and fall of estrogen will help you to pinpoint if estrogen is high for you (ex. When it’s high, it’s too high). Because estrogen fluctuates throughout your cycle, it plays a role in preconception + pregnancy. So maintaining healthier levels of estrogen is not just good for PMs relief, but for procreating if that is a goal of yours!

High estrogen doesn’t have to rule your way of life. You don’t have to deal with PMS, breast tenderness, and mood swings. With a little intention and TLC, you can support your body’s ability to utilize estrogen with efficiency and flush out excess hormones.

Supporting Your Body with You Have High Estrogen Levels

Love your liver

Eating liver-loving foods, like cruciferous vegetables, beet juice, organ meats (like liver), etc. will support your liver’s many functions so that it doesn’t get overloaded. By supporting your liver, you are also supporting your gallbladder so it can release bile to help you break down fats.

Take care of your gut

Poor gut health (leaky gut, candida, bacteria overgrowth) can contribute to hormonal imbalances by inhibiting the body to detoxify properly. If you have a history of gut dysfunction, I recommend working with a practitioner to determine the root cause of helping your body heal your gut, as well as run any necessary labs like a GI map. Eating more fiber (fruit and veggies) can help your body to maintain regular bowel movements so you can eliminate excess hormones and toxins.

Cycle syncing with food to support your cycle can be a great place to start!

Sleep

Do you see a recurring theme in my articles? Sleep is needed for everything. And I’m not talking about the “just barely 7 hours, kinda slept well” sleep. I’m talking about the kind where you aim to get in bed before 11 pm to hit all your rem cycle, reduce light and stimulation, turn down the AC, and create a calming atmosphere kind of sleep. For my expectant mothers, new moms, night shift workers, and those in between, I understand you can’t always get the sleep you need. Do what you can right now and when you have the chance to get to bed early to unwind and relax, do it. Better sleep creates happier hormones.

Engage in stress-relieving activities

Reducing stress will help support healthier estrogen levels, let alone better hormone health. There is a long list of stress-relieving activities like yoga, Epsom salt baths, infrared therapy, regular therapy, walking, ice baths (yep), meditating, journaling, etc. Choose the activity that suits you. And go to it every time you need to relieve stress and calm your adrenals.

Reduce xenoestrogens

Skincare, cleaning products, plastics, and even receipts can carry xenoestrogens. Reducing and/or preventing exposure to them will support your estrogen levels. For women, in particular, skincare is the money pot for xenoestrogens. Little by little, switching your skincare products to non-toxic, skin-loving alternatives will do your body so much good. Trust me on this one!

Keep in mind, hormone imbalances like high estrogen is not the root cause. Hormone imbalances are linked to another dysfunction in the body, such as digestive dysfunctions, blood sugar imbalance, or nutrient deficiencies. Acknowledge your symptoms and then choose to dig deeper.

If you feel overwhelmed, you are not alone! I tell most of my clients to start with cycle syncing. When you cycle sync, you learn how to track your cycle with a method you like, you gain an understanding of the symptoms you experience throughout your cycle, and you learn what to expect and what to look out for. Cycle syncing is one of the coolest, most telling tools on the earth! It’s helpful and interesting/fun.

If you need a guide to cycle syncing, here it is.

High estrogen isn’t your life. Now you know what to look out for and how to support your body so it can move estrogen back to a healthy ratio with progesterone. Estrogen dominance or excess or a combo of the two isn’t a permanent thing! By following the guide I’ve provided, you can help modulate your estrogen levels and support healthier hormone levels!