Proper Hormone Balance

Women today are truly living in exciting times as science and nature enlighten us to the lifecycle of premenopause.  When your female hormones are in balance, everything from digestion to immunity works properly.  You feel great, look great, have the energy of a teenager, and your sex drive is normal.  This is your body performing at its best. 

You can expect natural changes to your hormone levels during the premenopause years when your levels fluctuate up and down then gradually yet steadily wind down.  The severity of hormonal problems may increase with age, but it is not aging per se that is the root of declining health.  Exposure to environmental toxins and the cumulative effects of stress cause disruption of the natural rhythms and balancing mechanisms of women's hormones.

However, with the proper nutrition, supplements, exercise, and avoidance of environmental estrogens you can live these years in more balance than women have experienced in the last century.

From the time menses begins until menopause, levels of estrogen and progesterone ebb and flow in a manner which promotes reproduction.  As women progress through their menstrual lives, natural hormonal imbalances can develop, even long before menopause.

Premenopause can begin when a woman is in her mid-late thirties and is the period of time when symptoms of hormonal changes begin and can last for 10-15 years prior to menopause. According to Dr. John Lee M.D., “perimenopause technically means ‘right around menopause,’ meaning the year or two before, during, and after menstrual cycles end.

The symptoms of premenopause and perimenopause vary. Some women experience mood changes, depression, insomnia, irregular and/or heavy periods, hot flashes, and weight gain (particularly during the perimenopause phase).  Some women notice memory impairment, in particular "fuzzy thinking," sore and lumpy breasts, migraine headaches, low libido, and dry skin.  

Extreme hormonal imbalance is created when the ratio of estrogen to progesterone sways too much one way or another.  The most common extreme imbalance is excess estrogen in relation to progesterone.  This is called “Estrogen Dominance.”

Extreme hormonal imbalance, in addition to stressors and lifestyle, are what give rise to more serious symptoms: impaired thyroid function, adrenal exhaustion, uterine fibroid tumors, endometriosis, polycystic ovaries, fibrocystic breasts, systemic inflammation, a suppressed immune function, accelerated aging, and increased risk of disease. In addition, some women have very irregular periods. Some periods can be extremely heavy.

Even if a woman has low estrogen levels, she can have symptoms of estrogen dominance, because she may have little or no progesterone.  However, estrogen dominance can be caused by more than the body’s production of hormones.  For example, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), birth control pills, environmental estrogens, plant estrogens, stress, obesity, poor liver function, peri-menopause, and glandular dysfunction.

Men too can suffer from estrogen dominance. Estrogens from plant estrogens and environmental sources, also known as xenoestrogens, produce hormonal stimuli that can contribute to inappropriate growth of mammary tissue cells, resulting in a problem society is calling “man boobs.”  Some theorize that estrogen dominance in men is contributing to hair loss, atherosclerosis, prostrate problems, lowered libido, weight gain, and impotency. 

Therefore, both women and men who are suffering from estrogen dominance can benefit from taking an estrogen metabolizer such as DIM that can help bring hormones back into balance.

You can read more about estrogen dominance from Dr. Lee’s books, What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Premenopause and What Your Doctor May NOT Tell You About Menopause.  These books are available on our website

Estrogen dominance can cause a host of symptoms such as:

Treatment offered to many women often fails to look for or treat the root causes of women's hormonal imbalances.  For example, women with uterine fibroids who have heavy and/or irregular periods are often prescribed a birth control pill to “control” their periods.  These birth control pills usually contain estrogen, which adds to any estrogen dominance problems, and feeds the growth of the fibroid tumor.

More young women today are experiencing infertility because they are not ovulating (usually due to too much environmental estrogen), yet they are being given fertility drugs without comprehensive hormonal evaluations. Though these women often succeed in ovulating or conceiving, this is a short-term treatment.  Their symptoms of hormonal imbalance often reappear, sometimes manifesting into Extreme Hormonal Imbalance.

Those whose symptoms are extremely painful and debilitating may often elect the surgical advice offered by their medical provider.  While surgery is sometimes the best option for a woman, consider that an estimated trillion-plus dollars were spent during the twentieth century to remove women's reproductive organs. Hysterectomy is now one of the most frequently performed surgeries in the U.S.

A balanced premenopausal woman is empowered to move through the stages of hormonal ups and downs with the help of adequate nutritional support, natural hormone replacement, exercise, herbs, and vitamins and mineral supplements.

Without a proper understanding of the function of natural female hormones and how hormonal imbalances adversely affect women’s health, women are often prescribed synthetic hormones, anti-depressants and a host of other drugs to relieve the symptoms. 

By learning how you can change and/or maintain your health, you can alleviate many of the pre- and peri-menopause symptoms.

What works to support healthy hormonal balance?  We make the following suggestions:

• Hormonal support with a natural progesterone cream
• Nutritional supplements such as the Life Essence and One‘n’Only to ensure your body has the nutrients it needs to make and balance its hormones
• DIM and/or Myomin to metabolize excess estrogen
• Dietary and environmental changes to rid your-self of phytoestrogens and xenoestrogens (environmental estrogens)
• Lifestyle changes to manage the stresses in your life

Natural Progesterone
Natural progesterone cream supplements low progesterone levels and balances the ratio between estrogen and progesterone, thereby assisting in promoting proper hormone balance. It can be safely used by menstruating women, pre- and peri-menopausal women, and menopausal women. Men with estrogen dominance can also benefit from progesterone. Additionally, women who may not be highly estrogen dominant find that if a progesterone cream is used on a regular basis, their menses and PMS are less difficult.

Life Essence & One‘n’Only
Life Essence multi-vitamin/mineral supplement provides the vitamins and minerals your body needs. It also delivers enzymes, metabolic pigments, flavones, trace elements, amino acids, antioxidants, and countless co-nutrients and phyto-chemicals. If you want to take only one tablet a day, One ‘n’ Only is a once daily version of the Life Essence multi. that is the most nutritious one per day dietary supplement ever offered. It provides a perfect balance of all the standard vitamins and minerals plus super foods, tonic herbs, and plant enzymes.

DIM - Diindolylmethane
Diindolylmethane (DIM) is a powerful metabolizer of estrogen, assisting in removing excess estrogen and benefiting conditions associated with estrogen dominance. These conditions include uterine fibroid tumors, fibrocystic breasts, glandular dysfunction, and more. Supplementation with DIM can help promote proper estrogen levels through the pre- and peri-menopausal years. Women who are menopausal and using hormone replacement therapy (HRT) can also take DIM to help reduce unwanted side effects. DIM can also benefit men by improving estrogen-dominance related health issues such as hair loss, atherosclerosis, prostrate problems, weight gain, lowered libido, and impotency. DIM also promotes positive testosterone action, which improves mood, fights depression, boosts libido, improves cardiovascular health, improves memory, and supports muscular development.

Myomin
Myomin is a formula of four Chinese herbs that helps promote proper hormonal balance. Like DIM, Myomin also metabolizes excess estrogens. Myomin inhibits aromatase, which can reduce levels of bad estrogens (estradiol and estrone), and promotes production of the good estrogen (estriol). For men and women, this action prevents the conversion of testosterone into bad estrogens, and leads to the unhindered production of more estriol from progesterone, DHEA and other hormones. Additionally, some of the herbs have been shown to help promote shrinkage of tumors and cysts. Of the two, DIM is the stronger metabolizer of estrogen.

Calcium D-Glucarate
Calcium D-Glucarate is a botanical extract found in fruits and vegetables that can be beneficial in helping to remove excess, used hormones before they become re-absorbed back into the bloodstream where they can be deposited into fatty tissues and areas such as breast tissue and the uterus.

NOTE: It is very important to understand that what may be true for one woman is not necessarily true for another. The journey of hormonal changes is an individual one. What this also implies is that the treatment for one individual can be quite different from that of another. Please consult your health care provider for guidance.

Suggested Further Reading

Estrogen Dominance - For further information about hormones, estrogen dominance, and environmental estrogens.

Fibroid Tumors – to learn about fibroid tumors.

Progesterone Creams, DIM, and Myomin - for products which may assist with obtaining hormonal balance.