This article was originally posted on Conscious Nutrition.

Mastering the Estrogen Dominant Hormone Roller Coaster

"My hormones are all over the place. They're totally out of wack," My patients will often complain.

“Okay, back up,” I say. “What are you experiencing.”

Typically the following symptoms are included in her response:

• Tender, swollen breasts

• Low energy

• Low mood

• Poor sleep

• Bloating

• Anxiety

• Weight gain

• Headaches, and

• Heavy periods.

Her symptom picture, in combo with blood and/or saliva hormone testing, usually points us to a diagnosis of a hormone imbalance, "Estrogen Dominance," when certain estrogens exist in relative higher amounts compared to progesterone.

This can happen for several reasons including:

• Lack of physical movement (exercise)

• A diet high in meat, dairy, or sugar

• Exposure to toxins

• Stress

• and oral contraceptive use.

These lifestyle factors all prevent Lady Liver from processing and eliminating the stronger, extra and more dangerous estrogens from the body. This puts her at risk for certain types of cancer such as breast, ovarian or cervical cancer.

I should mention that estrogen dominance can also happen to the fellas when they:

• consume too much alcohol

• lack ample exercise

• fail to drink enough water

• are exposed to toxins in the environment called xenoestrogens

(These nasty chemicals mimic estrogen in the body and are found everywhere from pesticides to cleaning products to plastics to personal care products).

Men who are estrogen dominant can have poor sex drive, 'moobs' or man boobs (the medical lingo for this is gynecomastia), erectile dysfunction, infertility, and are even a higher risk for prostate or testicular cancer. Yikes!

Okay, so how do we get the hormones back in wack? (If the hormones were initially out of wack... then we want the opposite of that right?)

We often work on making some small but significant changes:

1. GET your GREEN ON: add, include, incorporate organic, dark, green, leafie veggies like kale, cabbage, broccoli, spinach and Brussels sprouts. Make these the focal point of ALL your meals (yep, even breakfast). Lady or Lord Liver will love you for it!

2. Become FRIENDS with FLAX and FIBER: sprinkle freshly ground, organic flax seeds on your dark, leafie greens from number 1 above. This will decrease the effect of the dominant estrogens.

3. SHIFT your FOOD STORAGE: Store and heat all food in glass, ceramic, or stainless steel. Avoid plastics, especially heating food in plastics.

4. CONSIDER KELP: Include a variety of sea vegetables to provide iodine and precious other minerals. This is particularly important for women with tender, swollen, and cystic breasts.

There are tons of supplements that can support the proper balance, but I recommend working with a professional to figure out the perfect solution for you.

In the comments below, describe your biggest take home from this article and what action step you can take right now to improve the estrogen balance in your body.

Here's to your happy hormones, jivin' Health and thrivin' Life,
Dr. Tonia