Estrogen Detoxification’s Role in Women’s Health

Estrogen Detox for Women: How to Reduce Estrogen Dominance Naturally

Virtually every time we eat, drink, or breathe, we’re exposed to toxins. Yet, detoxification is not just about the “bad” chemicals and environmental toxins that we are careful about. Our body also is constantly manufacturing waste products such as excess estrogen that we need to eliminate.

Detoxification is important for everyone, but women are especially vulnerable to the effects of excess estrogen and estrogen dominance. Estrogen has beneficial effects on health, but too much estrogen plays a role in many diseases, including autoimmune disease, polycystic ovary syndrome, infertility, and breast and ovarian cancer. 

Estrogen excess may be the reason why most autoimmune diseases are more common in women than men. It also may explain why women’s autoimmune symptoms, how the disease progresses, and how women respond to treatments can be worse, too. Estrogen may act as a powerful stimulator of autoimmunity while male hormones play a protective role.  

Women also are exposed more often to toxins due to their personal care routines and apply twice as many personal care products as men. According to the Environmental Working Group, the average woman applies an average of 168 chemicals to her face and body daily including shampoo, conditioner, body wash, deodorant, makeup, nail polish, and lotions. Many of these products contain chemicals that mimic estrogen in the body. 

 

Our Bodies Have to Detox Everyday

Our bodies produce toxic substances all the time as part of normal metabolism. To answer this challenge, the body naturally detoxifies every day, too. Just think of how the body gets rid of waste products in urine and stool daily. It’s the same idea, but the body has to get rid of toxins from every cell in the body, 24/7.

There are two main sources of toxins: those from inside the body and those from outside the body. The body is equipped with many tools to get rid of many types of toxins.

The liver “takes out the trash” through Phase I and Phase II detoxification. In Phase I, a toxin is changed chemically so that it easier to work with, although it can be more harmful in this state. But after that, in Phase II, the toxin is attached to an amino acid where it can easily and safely be shipped out of the body. 

Here are a few examples of toxins that the body makes on its own. Our cells make harmful free radical toxins every day that the body has to detoxify. Hormones are manufactured by the body and have to be carefully handled. Estrogen is a powerful hormone that the body needs, but that can be harmful in high quantities. That goes for other hormones, as well. 

Outside the body, toxins abound. Examples are plastics, heavy metals, solvents, pesticides, parabens, phthalates, gasoline fumes, Styrofoam, charred foods, and more. 

Manmade chemicals that act like hormones in the body are particularly worrisome. These toxins are known as endocrine disruptors, because they disturb healthy hormone balance. Toxins that act specifically like estrogen in the body are called xenoestrogens. Women with estrogen dominance are vulnerable to the effects of xenoestrogens because they already have estrogen overload. Xenoestrogens just add more estrogenic activity to the mix, which is not a good thing.   

 

What Happens If You Don’t Detox?

If you build up too many toxins, it can cause illness. When the body cannot detoxify every day, toxins will store up in body tissues. With buildup of too much estrogen, you may develop estrogen dominance symptoms such as brain fog, fatigue, pain, and muscle aches. Toxins can damage cells and even enzymes, so they can’t do their jobs properly. When toxins damage cells and tissues, the immune system can mistakenly attack them. Toxins in our bodies can over-activate the immune system and trigger an immune response, as well as causing a lot of inflammation. 

 

How to Remove Excess Estrogen

The pathway to remove excess estrogen starts in your liver with Phase I and II detoxification. Phase I prepares the estrogen so that it’s ready to undergo Phase II. In Phase II, the estrogen is attached to an amino acid like glycine, taurine, glutamine, ornithine, or arginine. Phase II detox also uses a process called glucuronidation, which makes estrogens more water soluble so that they can be more readily excreted through urine or bile. 

Methylation is a process that plays a critical role in Phase II detoxification of estrogen. When a methyl group is attached to a toxin, it can easily be cleared from the body. This process makes the estrogen less damaging and ready to move on to Phase III, which ships the estrogen out of your body through stool.  

Supporting Phase I and II detox is important in order to convert the estrogen and other toxins into a form that your body can eliminate. Keep reading to find out the liver detox supplements that support methylation.

 

Cleanse Your Colon

We want to make certain that your gut is able to get rid of excess estrogen metabolized by the liver. Otherwise, the estrogen will end up back in your circulation. This is where Phase III detox comes into play. 

Because Phase III detox involves your gut, regular bowel movements are important because they help estrogen leave your body. Your gut microbiome, the collection of microorganisms that reside in your intestines, needs to be healthy in order to keep you regular and to avoid constipation. 

Another factor to consider is an enzyme in the gut called beta-glucuronidase. It interferes with the detox pathway by blocking glucuronidation.  If you’re making too much of that enzyme it undermines your detox ability. Beta-glucuronidase takes estrogen and other toxins that have been packaged and are ready to leave the body; it breaks their bonds, freeing up the toxins again so that they can be reabsorbed back into your body. 

I find that high levels of beta-glucuronidase are one of the most common estrogen dominance causes in women who visit the Caplan Health Institute. It’s often the reabsorption of estrogen, rather than making too much estrogen to begin with, that causes estrogen dominance. 

 

Best Detox Supplements 

Liver Detox Supplements

The first step in helping the body metabolize excess estrogen is to support Phase I and II detox pathways by ensuring methylation is working properly. Supplements like SAMe, trimethylglycine (TMG), active folate, B vitamins, and choline can all support healthy methylation. Liposomal glutathione also is one of the best supplements for liver detox, as well as detox aminos like glycine, taurine, arginine, N-acetyl cysteine, and glutamine.  

Colon Detox Supplements

At the same time as supporting the liver, you can also take supplements to ensure the gut is healthy and ready to eliminate toxins. A magnesium supplement can insure bowel movements are regular. A probiotic supplement can promote a healthy gut microbiome. Calcium D-glucarate suppresses beta-glucuronidase, so taking a supplement with calcium D-glucarate can block estrogen’s reabsorption back into the body and allow its proper excretion.

One word of caution: you don’t want to just dive into these estrogen detox supplements without knowing more about what you’re trying to address. Where are your blockages? What issues do you actually have going on? What types of toxins are you trying to get rid of? It’s a little bit more complex than just a one-size-fits-all detox regimen. That’s why it’s important to work with a functional medicine practitioner, who can order the right tests and customize your treatment plan.

 

Other Ways for Women to Detox

Other ways that women can remove excess estrogen and toxins include:

• Drink more water.
• Sweat more.
• Minimize toxin exposure by watching what’s in your personal care products. Avoid products with phthalates and parabens, which can act like estrogen in the body. 
• Eat a nutritious diet with lots of vegetables and fiber to promote regularity. 

We recommend that you read our previous blog post, What Are The Best Ways to Detox for Autoimmune Disease? It goes into more detail about detoxification. 

 

Estrogen Dominance Treatment for Women

At the Caplan Health Institute, we can help you find the best ways to remove excess estrogen from your body. The first step is to Schedule a free 15-minute discovery consultation, by phone or video. You may decide to join us as a practice member to get consistent, positive results on your health journey. We call our clients “practice members,” rather than patients due to the active role they take in their healing. At that point, I can order the right tests to measure your estrogen levels and develop an estrogen detox plan to cleanse your body and reduce estrogen dominance issues. You’ll get rid of toxicity symptoms like brain fog, pain, fatigue, and muscle aches. You’ll have more energy, think clearer, and feel more comfortable.