#breastcancer #breastcancerrisk #estrogenmetabolism #hormonerelatedcancers #fibroids #endometriosis #inflammation #perimenopause #naturalremediesforfibroids #reducebreastcancerrisk #DIM #estrogendominance
October is breast cancer awareness month. And I wanted to dedicate a blog post to the topic as it especially affects women in perimenopause and menopause because of the hormone situation..
We all hear about cancer all around us and I just recently attended an Integrative Medicine conference in London that was all about cancer (prevention). They claimed that 4 out of 1 people will be affected with cancer in the future. Well, if you look at the world we live in, I don’t doubt this at all…
Did you know that 1 in 11 women in the EU will develop breast cancer before age 74?
Breast cancer, but also fibroids or any kind of growth in the breasts or uterus are linked to hormone imbalance. Actually, estrogen dominance is often coupled with high levels of inflammation that’s impacting your estrogen metabolism and pushing that kind of growth. So it's a mix of inflammation due to lower progesterone and increased cortisol levels in perimenopause and menopause paired with an excess of estrogen that can have different causes (see more below).
Just because your estrogen levels drop in perimenopause and menopause, it doesn’t mean you cannot have estrogen dominance: estrogen dominance doesn't always mean "too much estrogen".
As a reminder, estrogen dominance or excess estrogen means that your body either breaks down (metabolizes) your estrogens into “dirty” estrogens, or your estradiol-to-progesterone ratio is off (typically you have too little progesterone to balance off your estradiol).
In fact, perimenopause is the time when most women DO experience estrogen dominance, because progesterone levels are declining first and you’re also losing more progesterone than estrogen: your progesterone actually drops about 75%, while estrogen only decreases by about 35% in perimenopause.
For clients who have a history of endometriosis, fibroids or breast cancer in the family, I always insist on doing that DUTCH Test which is the best tool for prevention as it shows exactly how your body is metabolising your hormones. And then once you know, you can act accordingly and reduce inflammation and work on lowering estrogen levels while still using hormone therapy to support symptoms of hormone fluctuations.
So I know that doesn’t seem to make sense, but believe me, it does…
Let me tell you a little story of the client I have who has a history of breast cancer in her family. She came to me with symptoms of severely low hormones, not sleeping well, feeling overwhelmed with everything, very low energy, weight gain and anxiety. Before putting her on hormones I wanted to make sure that she was metabolising her estrogen well, so we did the DUTCH test and it indeed revealed that her body wasn’t decomposing estrogen very well. So it’s great that we had that information and despite all the facts I did give her hormone therapy but I also am giving her a supplement that helps her body metabolize estrogen well.
ln this case it’s also important to retest and to monitor to make sure you’re not increasing the risk of hormone related cancers.
I would also like to share another story actually with you of a great cousin who is postmenopausal, taking hormone replacement therapy and has been diagnosed with breast cancer last year.
She has a similar story to mine: when she was younger she was going through all kinds of health issues due to toxin overload and so she’s pretty well educated about the functional medicine approach and using natural supplements. Like myself, she had to find her way on her own at the time to feel better. So she didn’t want to do chemo as was suggested by the doctors but decided to try the natural route first and used DIM, which is what I am using and have been using myself in the past for lowering estrogen. She went off HRT, started taking DIM and after six months went back to the doctor and the growth was gone. The doctors were all amazed by how this could’ve happened.
I wanted to share these stories to help you realize that:
Even though you may have breast cancer in the family or hormone related cancer you don’t have to renounce on feeling great and
Secondly, even if you happen to develop that kind of growth, always inform yourself about natural ways to heal your body instead of immediately destroying it with chemo. I’m not saying that is not helping and should be avoided, it’s definitely a viable way to help kill cancer and now there’s also new forms of therapy. They are more supporting the immune system and helping your body to fight off those cancer cells so medicine is evolving for sure. I’m just saying that there may be an alternate way to spare your body from those kinds of therapies.
If you are interested in testing and a targeted approach to diminishing fibroids or cancer risk, book a free clarity call with me here to discuss your objectives.
Want to dive a bit deeper? Read more about estrogen metabolism, the DUTCH test and what natural solutions there are below:
What I was referring to as “dirty estrogens” is actually a simplified way of saying that your body is not metabolizing or excreting estrogen the way it should: there are 3 pathways that your body can use to metabolize estrogen and 2 of them, the 4-OH E1 and 16-OH E1 (see in red and blue arrows on the image) pathways should not be overused as they can lead to cancerous growth.
How you are metabolizing your estrogen, depends on genetics, lifestyle and diet:
Women who have a “slow” COMT enzyme (this is something “genetic” that you can find out with the 3x4 epigenetic test I am offering or other epigenetic tests, but you'll also see it linked to your estrogen detox on the DUTCH test here in the picture at the bottom):
Will have a tendency to accumulate estrogens in phase 2 detoxification in the liver (yes your liver is playing a key role here)
Will struggle to break down epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine & dopamine = more anxiety!
Here are some examples that will slow down your COMT enzyme (and therefore your estrogen detox):
Slow COMT variant (see genetic testing)
Having too high estrogen levels compared to progesterone
Imbalanced microbiome with pathogen overgrowth (producing an enzyme that will recirculate estrogens into your bloodstream instead of excreting them)
Quercetin and green tea (dose dependent on you as an individual)
Chemicals like bisphenol and PCBs
COMT inhibitor medications (used in Parkinson’s)
Heavy metals (widely found in drinking water, foods, cookware etc)
Nutrient or enzyme deficiencies: Magnesium, zinc, choline, methylated B9, B12 & other B-Vitamins, methionine, tri-methylglycine, Sam-e
As I said, your liver has a big job of sorting out the toxins and excess hormones. If your liver is not in good shape or just has "too much work", it will have trouble performing all these tasks... (imagine files piling up on your desk!)
Let’s have a closer look at these lifestyle and dietary habits that negatively impact your estrogen metabolism:
Increased toxic load: Exposure to pesticides in food and water, chemicals, and any other environmental toxins you encounter in your daily life will accumulate over time and impact your liver function.
Xenoestrogen exposure: xenoestrogens are chemical compounds that have the same molecular structure as estrogen and when you consume them, put them on your skin, or are exposed to them, your body will recognize them as estrogen. Things like plastics, conventional skin products, nail polish, industrial waste, car exhaust, supermarket receipts and more contain these compounds.
Synthetic hormones (like the pill and conventional hormone replacement therapy) end up in your drinking water together with other toxins and impact your hormone balance.
Liver congestion: When you’re stressed or your toxic load is heavy (you need to detox several times per year to "clean out the pipes" or clean up the desk), it can slow down its efficiency, causing the bad estrogens to stay in your body for too long.
Nutrient deficiencies: Your liver relies on certain vitamins and minerals to detoxify your body. Stress, synthetic hormones and a poor diet deplete your body of these key nutrients.
Chronic stress strains your liver and hormone glands but also pushes inflammation.
Lifestyle and diet choices like inflammatory and blood sugar compromising foods (grains, gluten, fried & processed foods, dairy, and sugar in particular), prescription or over-the-counter drugs, smoking, and alcohol increase your estrogen concentration
These are all things you can optimize "just" by adopting a cleaner diet and opting for non-toxic cleaning, cooking and body products.
So step 1 is reducing the influx of estrogen mimicking and inflammation increasing foods, drinks and other products you have control over.
Choosing an anti-inflammatory diet and strategically eating plenty of cruciferous vegetables (as the I3I they contain will be converted to DIM and help your body detoxify estrogens (but attention, you need to eat them raw and chew well!)).
Detoxing regularly to support your liver health and reduce inflammation
Ensure adequate progesterone levels (which is a challenge in perimenopause and menopause). Consider bioidentical or natural hormone therapy to make sure your body has enough progesterone to keep the estrogen in check.
If you are interested in testing and a targeted approach to diminishing fibroids or cancer risk, book a free clarity call with me here to discuss your objectives.
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