Severe PMS, irregular periods, non-stop bloating, and all the other nagging symptoms of estrogen dominance can be downright debilitating. But, the good news is that an estrogen dominance diet can significantly improve the symptoms you are dealing with.
In this article, we’ll cover all the basics of an estrogen dominance diet so you know exactly how to get started on dietary changes to improve your symptoms. And by the end of this article, you’ll know the 7 essential dietary steps to follow to improve estrogen dominance symptoms.
What is Estrogen Dominance?
Estrogen dominance is a very common hormonal imbalance that leads to many pesky symptoms. Symptoms of estrogen dominance can include PMS, heavy or irregular periods, bloating, and more.
It’s important to note that estrogen dominance doesn’t necessarily mean that estrogen is excessively high. Symptoms of estrogen dominance can also appear when estrogen is at a normal level but progesterone levels are abnormally low.
This is because estrogen dominance symptoms actually have more to do with the balance between estrogen and progesterone rather than just excessive estrogen. When the balance between these two hormones are out of sync, you’ll start to see symptoms of estrogen excess.
In conventional medicine, treatments for this type of hormonal imbalance are aimed at symptoms and often include pharmaceuticals. Doctors may prescribe birth control pills or medications that block the production of estrogen. And in severe cases, a doctor might recommend a hysterectomy.
However, focused attention to diet and lifestyle can bring significant improvements to this hormonal imbalance. Let’s cover why and how diet changes can improve estrogen dominance symptoms.
How Do Diet Changes Help with Estrogen Dominance?
Dietary changes can be very powerful in combating estrogen dominance, especially when you know what types of dietary changes to target and why.
In this section, we will cover what specific body functions we are targeting with dietary interventions to improve estrogen levels. And in the next section, we will cover what foods to incorporate into your diet to support these body functions.
Reducing Estrogen Burden
The first goal of an estrogen dominance diet is to reduce overall estrogen burden. This means addressing xenoestrogens.
Xenoestrogens are synthetic compounds that mimic the effects of estrogen or encourage production of estrogen in the body.
Whether you like it or not, xenoestrogens are all around us. Examples of xenoestrogens include plastics, flame retardants, pesticides & herbicides, and many chemicals in personal care products (1).
Collectively, xenoestrogens are considered to be endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) because they interfere with the normal hormonal signalling within the endocrine system.
It is well known that EDCs disrupt normal estrogen function and contribute to the host of issues associated with estrogen dominance. Additionally, there are connections between EDCs and liver toxicity, immune health, type 2 diabetes, and cancer (2, 3).
Supporting Liver Detox
Another integral part of a diet to help estrogen dominance is focusing on nutrients that support liver detoxification.
Unnecessary estrogen is sent to the liver where it goes through a series of chemical transformations to get it ready to be eliminated from the body. This process is called detoxification.
And contrary to popular belief, you don’t need juice fasts or coffee enemas to make it happen. What you do need is lots of nutrients that act like spark plugs to keep the process going.
When your detoxification system runs low on key nutrients that are required to keep it firing, the system slows down and you end up with a backlog of unnecessary estrogens.
Supporting Gut Health
Gut health is also super important for healthy estrogen levels. After detoxification in the liver, the estrogens tagged for elimination are sent to the gut to be excreted through the stool.
In the gut, the estrogens that are packaged for removal interact with the microbes living in the GI tract. And believe it or not, certain microbial imbalances in your gut can signal for those estrogens to be unpackaged and reabsorbed into circulation (4).
The gut microbial community that is responsible for managing estrogen is called the estrobolome. Supporting overall gut health will also help to maintain a healthy and vibrant estrobolome which is essential for estrogen hormone balance.
Supporting a Healthy Weight
And we also can’t ignore the role that body weight plays in maintaining estrogen levels. This is because adipose tissue (or fat tissue) does make estrogen. Therefore, bodies with higher body fat compositions will make more estrogen.
Additionally, adipose tissue stores environmental toxins, including those xenoestrogens and EDCs we discussed earlier.
Weight and hormone health and interrelated and healthful weight loss can be helpful in managing excessive estrogen levels (5).
That being said, focusing on weight loss may not be the ideal way to balance estrogen, especially when it comes at the expense of a nutrient dense diet that will support healthy estrogen detox.
I always encourage women to focus on the mechanics of a healthful diet and allow their weight to land naturally as a result of a well balanced, nourishing diet. Rather than focusing on calorie reduction and deprivation that can further deplete key nutrients or damage gut health.
The 7-Step Estrogen Dominance Diet
We are finally ready to talk about what to eat to reduce symptoms of estrogen dominance. The dietary changes that help with estrogen dominance focus on:
- Reducing xenoestrogen exposure
- Supporting liver detoxification
- Encouraging gut health
- Promoting a healthy weight
Step 1: Plenty of Produce
A diet that will help heal estrogen dominance must have lots of fruits and vegetables. This is because fruits and vegetables are loaded with nutrients that support detoxification. Plus, they also are great sources of dietary fiber that feed healthy gut microbes.
And while the main goal is to generally eat more fruits and vegetables. There are a couple categories of produce that deserve a special call out.
Cruciferous vegetables include broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage. This specific class of vegetables is a super food for helping to balance hormone health because of two specific compounds: indole-3-carbinol (I3C) and diindolylmethane (DIM).
Both I3C and DIM help with healthy and effective estrogen detox by encouraging the breakdown and excretion of unnecessary estrogen into safe forms of estrogen metabolites that are ready for excretion.
Berries also deserve some special attention. Blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, cranberries, and strawberries are some of the most nutrient dense fruits. Berries are loaded with antioxidants which help to fight oxidative stress.
Leafy greens are another nutrient dense vegetable that needs a shout out. Not only are leafy greens loaded with fiber, they also have tons of important nutrients including folate. Folate is a key nutrient for detoxification.
When you are planning a meal, make sure you include a variety of fruits and vegetables with lots of different colors!
Step 2: Plenty of Protein
Protein is another crucial part of an estrogen dominance diet. First of all, protein helps to keep you feeling full, which can help to prevent unnecessary overeating (6). This, over time, helps to maintain a healthy body weight.
Protein also contributes several key amino acids to the detoxification process. Glutamine, glycine, cysteine, and methionine are a few of these amino acids that are needed for detoxification pathways.
Of course there are both plant and animal sources of protein. And both can be included in a well balanced estrogen dominance diet. But, I can’t ignore the importance of including plenty of high quality animal protein.
Animal protein is loaded with nutrients that are crucial for healthy detoxification. This includes vitamins and minerals such as vitamin B12, coenzyme Q10, zinc, and vitamin A which are largely found in animal products.
You will definitely want to include protein at all meals and snacks. And if able, incorporate several servings of animal protein daily to boost all these beneficial nutrients available in animal foods.
Step 3: Lots of Fiber
Fiber is so important for hormone health. Much like protein, fiber can also help you feel full and satisfied which will reduce cravings and overeating.
But even further, having a fiber rich diet helps to support a healthy gut microbiome. And having a healthy and diverse microbiome helps encourage regular bowel movements and feeds the estrobolome.
Some of the best fiber foods for hormone health are beans/ lentils, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
But just a word of caution about fiber. If you do not currently eat a lot of fiber, you’ll want to increase your fiber consumption slowly and make sure you are drinking plenty of water to prevent unwanted tummy issues with bloating and constipation.
Step 4: Probiotic Containing Foods
Probiotic containing foods are another way to support your gut health. Of course, probiotics introduce helpful bacteria into your gut which can help with overall gut health.
There are many different types of probiotic supplements on the market. But I love to encourage getting probiotics from food sources.
First of all, probiotic containing foods are generally less expensive than probiotic supplements. But further, probiotic containing foods also tend to have a more robust micronutrient profile. Plus, they make a great addition to many meals and snacks.
Some of my favorite probiotic containing foods include yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, and lacto-fermented pickles. Aim to try to include at least 1 serving of probiotic containing foods daily.
Step 5: Eat Sufficient Calories
Choosing the right foods is only part of the equation. But you also have to be sure that you are eating enough calories overall.
It is easy to hop from diet to diet, especially when trying to lose weight. And so many women I talk to feel like eating the least amount of calories possible is the ultimate goal for maintaining not only weight but also health.
However, undereating calories has significant impacts on your menstrual cycle and hormone health. At an extreme, undereating leads to a condition called hypothalamic amenorrhea (HA). This is when your HPO axis is shut down completely and you stop ovulating and bleeding all together.
But even in women who are still ovulating and bleeding, undereating can disrupt your menstrual cycle. Specifically, undereating can lead to low progesterone levels (7). And of course we know that symptoms of estrogen dominance can appear when estrogen is normal but progesterone is low.
No matter your weight goals, I always encourage women to eat 3 well-rounded meals per day and include balanced snacks as needed. Your hormones will thank you.
Step 6: Hydration
Drinking enough water helps to excrete waste through urine, sweat, and stool.
After detoxification, estrogen destined for excretion goes to the intestines where it is eliminated through stool. Drinking enough water helps to prevent constipation and keep bowel movements soft.
It can be challenging to set a hydration goal for everyone, so I always encourage women to drink enough water so they have to urinate every 2-3 hours and their urine is light yellow to clear.
Step 7: Go Organic When Possible
The link between pesticides/ herbicides and hormonal chaos is growing (8). Minimizing exposure to these chemicals is extremely helpful for keeping your hormones as healthy as possible.
And while it may not be feasible for you to exclusively eat organic, reducing your exposure to pesticides and herbicides will go a long way to improving your hormonal health. Check out The Environmental Working Group’s Dirty Dozen to help you prioritize which foods to buy organic.
What to Avoid or Limit on an Estrogen Dominant Diet
When you are working on hormonal balance, there are also a few things you should try to avoid or limit. Of course, we are never shooting for perfection. But limiting alcohol and caffeine while trying to get your hormones in check will be a huge help.
Caffeine
Small amounts of caffeine likely are not detrimental to your hormonal health. But, larger amounts can certainly cause some disruption.
Another thing to consider with caffeine is that it is a diuretic, meaning it promotes water loss and can lead to dehydration. Adequate hydration is a crucial factor for healthy hormone detoxification. So if you are consuming caffeine on a regular basis, be sure to emphasize hydration!
Alcohol
Removing alcohol from your lifestyle is highly recommended if you are trying to get your hormones balanced. Alcohol increases estradiol (a type of estrogen) which can directly contribute to your symptoms of estrogen dominance.
While trying to balance your hormones, you will likely get the best (and fastest) results if you completely eliminate alcohol. But, once you back in balance you may find it possible to enjoy alcohol in moderation without reigniting any estrogen dominance symptoms.
Final Thoughts
Estrogen dominance symptoms can be debilitating. But the good news is that with some targeted changes to your diet and lifestyle, you can see significant improvements in your symptoms.
The 7-Step Estrogen Dominance Diet walks through the most important components of a diet and lifestyle that encourages healthy hormone balance.
Implementing these changes may take some time, but the good news is that we are not shooting for perfection! So get started today making changes, knowing that no change is too small to start seeing improvements.