Stubborn Weight Gain? "Estrogen Dominance" May Be The Cause!

🌸 Understanding Estrogen Dominance

Estrogen Dominance refers not to the actual lab values of estrogen or progesterone, but rather to the imbalance between the two.

🔑 Keyword: Balance — It’s not just about how much estrogen you have, but how it compares to your progesterone levels.

Yes, you can be estrogen dominant even with low estrogen, if your progesterone is even lower.

🧪 Common Estrogen Dominance Scenarios:

• 🔺 High estrogen + Normal progesterone

• ⚖️ Normal estrogen + Low progesterone

• 🔻 Low estrogen + Very low progesterone

• 📈 High progesterone + Even higher estrogen

⚠️ Estrogen Lab Results: Don’t Be Misled

Estrogen testing can be wildly inaccurate because:

• 🧬 Estrogen accumulates in tissues, not just in the bloodstream.

• 👩‍🦳 During perimenopause and beyond, tissue estrogen can be up to 50x higher than what's seen in blood tests.

🌿 What Is Progesterone?

Often seen as the “pregnancy hormone,” progesterone is one of the body’s three major sex hormones, alongside estrogen and testosterone.

But its role goes far beyond fertility:

• 🧠 Supports brain and mood health

• 🔥 Essential for metabolism and thyroid function

• ⚖️ Balances estrogen and reduces inflammation

  
  

🌀 Thyroid Connection:

• Progesterone is crucial for proper thyroid hormone release and conversion.

• Deficiency can disrupt the entire Thyroid Hormone Pathway, contributing to widespread hormonal and metabolic imbalance.

🧩 The Estrogen Dominance–Thyroid Dysfunction Cycle

Estrogen Dominance can create a self-perpetuating feedback loop that worsens thyroid function over time.

🚧 How Estrogen Dominance Disrupts Thyroid Function:

1. 🚫 Blocks release of thyroid hormone from the gland

2. 🛑 Prevents conversion of inactive T4 → active T3 (in the liver)

3. ❌ Disrupts cellular use of T3 (your active thyroid hormone)

   
   

This leads to a dangerous cycle: More Estrogen Dominance → More Hypothyroidism → More Estrogen Dominance

💥 Potential Outcomes:

• Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis

• Autoimmune diseases

• Goiter and thyroid nodules

• Metabolic issues like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer

✅ How to Overcome Estrogen Dominance

🔄 Step 1: Raise Progesterone Levels

Restore hormonal balance by increasing your body’s progesterone.

• 🌿 Use a Molecular Progesterone Complex

• ⚖️ Helps counteract estrogen’s dominance

• 🛡️ Supports thyroid and metabolic health

🔥 Step 2: Block Aromatase (Estrogen Overproduction)

Aromatase is an enzyme in fat cells that converts testosterone to estrogen. Thyroid dysfunction can make this enzyme hyperactive.

🚨 Aromatase is worsened by:

• 🧓 Aging

• 😰 Chronic stress (cortisol)

• 🧴 Fragrances and endocrine disruptors

• 🥑 Low-carb dieting

• 🍻 Alcohol

• 🐟 Polyunsaturated fats (PUFAs)

• 🥚 Ovarian removal

• 🧬 Prolactin and prostaglandins

⚠️ This is why menopausal women can have higher estrogen levels despite not ovulating.

✅ Try Aromatase Inhibitors like:

• 💊 High Gamma Thyro-Protect Vitamin E Complex

♻️ Step 3: Detoxify Stored Estrogen

When thyroid hormones are low, your liver struggles to detox estrogen, causing dangerous buildup.

❌ Blockers of Estrogen Detox:

• Dietary and stored estrogen

• PUFAs (vegetable oils)

• Endotoxins (gut-derived)

• Protein deficiency

✅ Solutions:

• 🚫 Eliminate PUFAs (soy, canola, corn oils)

• 🍗 Consume 70–100g of high-quality protein daily

• 🥕 Eat 1–2 raw carrots per day (binds estrogen in gut)

• 🌡️ Boost thyroid hormone (T3) via diet or supplementation

• 💊 Add B1 + B2 (Vitamin B Thyroid Complex) for liver support

🚫 Step 4: Lower Estrogen Activity & Block Receptors

Reducing estrogen activity is just as important as lowering its levels.

⚠️ What Increases Estrogen Activity?

• 🔥 Inflammation

• 🐟 PUFAs

• 📈 High number of estrogen receptors

✅ Solutions:

• 🧘‍♀️ Lower inflammation

• 🚫 Remove dietary PUFAs

• ⛔ Block estrogen receptors

Both progesterone and High Gamma Vitamin E help:

• 🚷 Block estrogen receptors

• 🔒 Reduce receptor sensitivity and number

• 🧬 Lower estrogen activity

This blog post is generated from the "Progesterone User Guide" presented by Forefront Heath.

Please access the pdf version of the guide here.

💡 Final Thoughts

Estrogen Dominance is more than a hormonal hiccup—it's a complex, systemic imbalance that can quietly disrupt your thyroid, metabolism, and immune function.

But the good news? You can take back control with targeted lifestyle and supplement strategies that restore balance and help you feel energized, clear-minded, and hormonally whole again.

🧬 Why Long Term Low-Carb Dieting Can Worsen Aromatase Activity

🥩 Low-carb = Low Insulin = More Stress Hormones

When carbs are restricted for too long, the body shifts into a stress response. Cortisol (your primary stress hormone) rises to maintain blood sugar levels by converting protein into glucose — a process called gluconeogenesis.

🔁 Cortisol → Aromatase Activation

Chronically elevated cortisol is a key driver of increased aromatase activity. More cortisol means more conversion of testosterone into estrogen, contributing to Estrogen Dominance — especially in the context of thyroid dysfunction.

🧠 Thyroid Function Suppression

Low-carb diets, especially when prolonged or very restrictive, suppress thyroid hormone (particularly T3). Since thyroid hormone helps keep aromatase activity in check, this suppression creates the perfect storm:

• Less thyroid hormone = More aromatase

• More aromatase = More estrogen

• More estrogen = Suppressed thyroid function

📉 Lower Leptin & Insulin = Less Progesterone

Carbohydrates help maintain leptin and insulin — hormones that also support progesterone production. Without adequate carb intake, progesterone drops and the estrogen-to-progesterone ratio shifts further out of balance.

🧁 Bottom Line: Your Hormones Like Carbs — the Right Ones

Low-carb diets may be helpful in the short term for weight loss or blood sugar balance, but for long-term hormone health — especially for women or individuals with thyroid issues — extreme carb restriction can backfire.

A better approach?

• Choose whole-food carbs like root vegetables, fruit, and properly prepared grains.

• Avoid processed sugars and refined carbs.

• Ensure carb intake matches your metabolic needs, especially if dealing with adrenal or thyroid issues.

🌿 Hormone-Supportive Sample Day of Eating

(Gluten-free, low PUFA, balanced carbs, estrogen-regulating)

🍳 Breakfast – Protein-Rich & Liver-Loving

Creamy pasture-raised eggs & fruit plate

• 2–3 pasture-raised eggs cooked in grass-fed ghee or beef tallow

• ½ cup steamed spinach with lemon (supports estrogen detox via B vitamins)

• ½ cup sliced papaya or pineapple (enzymes + carbs)

• 1–2 raw carrots, peeled and eaten whole (binds and removes excess estrogen in the gut)

• Optional: Small cup of coffee with grass-fed cream and a pinch of cinnamon

🧠 Why it works: Raw carrots act like a natural "fiber scrub" for estrogen. Eggs provide choline for liver detox and healthy fats for hormone production.

🥗 Lunch – Thyroid & Metabolic Booster

Grass-fed beef patty bowl

• 5 oz grass-fed ground beef (rich in zinc & saturated fat to inhibit aromatase)

• Roasted sweet potatoes or Japanese yams (supports metabolism, moderate carbs)

• Steamed zucchini or beets

• Mixed greens with apple cider vinegar + olive oil or avocado oil (not PUFA-heavy seed oils)

🥥 Optional Add-On: Chia coconut yogurt (unsweetened) topped with a few blueberries

• (for probiotic support and antioxidant polyphenols)

🌿 Tip: Beets are rich in betaine and support liver detox. Sweet potatoes feed the thyroid and adrenals.

🍵 Afternoon Pick-Me-Up

Herbal tea or bone broth + a hormone-balancing snack

• Dandelion or nettle tea (great for liver & estrogen balance)

• Snack: 1 tbsp almond butter on 1–2 Medjool dates

• OR: ½ cup cottage cheese with a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg

🌿 Why it works: Bone broth supports gut health and collagen. Dates and nut butters give a quick thyroid-safe carb/fat combo.

🍽️ Dinner – Anti-Aromatase & Detox-Focused

Roasted salmon + cruciferous veggies + jasmine rice

• 5 oz wild-caught salmon (rich in selenium & anti-inflammatory omega-3s)

• 1 cup lightly steamed broccoli or cauliflower (boosts estrogen detox via sulfur pathways)

• ½ cup jasmine or basmati rice with ghee or coconut oil

• Fresh squeeze of lemon on top

🥗 Add a side salad: Arugula, cucumber, and fresh parsley with olive oil & lemon

✨ Why it works: Cruciferous veggies help activate Phase II liver detox, crucial for estrogen clearance. Salmon is anti-inflammatory and naturally supports progesterone production.

🍨 Optional Dessert or Evening Snack (if needed)

Hormone-supportive mousse or pudding

• A small serving of Býli Bowl — particularly one high in magnesium and protein

🧘‍♀️ Why it works: Magnesium and glycine (from gelatin) promote calm, regulate blood sugar, and assist in estrogen detox. And hey, this is what Býli Bowls were made for 😄

✅ Hormone-Smart Guidelines

• Eat every 3–4 hours to support blood sugar and adrenal health

• Keep PUFAs out — ditch seed oils and opt for ghee, coconut oil, or animal fats

• Hydrate with mineral-rich water, herbal teas, and broths

• Aim for 70–100g protein daily

• Carbs are your friend — root vegetables, fruits, and rice are ideal

The key estrogen-inhibiting substances in cruciferous vegetables

🌿 Glucosinolates, which are converted into:

1. Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C)

2. Diindolylmethane (DIM)

3. Sulforaphane

Here's how they help:

• 🔬 Indole-3-Carbinol (I3C):

  • Formed when you chew or chop cruciferous vegetables.

  • Helps break down estrogen into less potent forms, promoting better estrogen metabolism.

    
    

• ⚖️ Diindolylmethane (DIM):

  • A compound derived from I3C in the stomach.

  • Balances estrogen metabolism by shifting it toward the “good” estrogen metabolites (like 2-OH estrone) and away from the more harmful ones (like 16-alpha-OH estrone).

  • Acts as a natural aromatase inhibitor, reducing conversion of testosterone into estrogen.

    
    

• 🔥 Sulforaphane:

  • Activates Phase II liver detox enzymes, helping your body excrete excess estrogen.

  • Has anti-inflammatory and anti-cancer properties, especially in hormone-sensitive tissues.

🥦 Summary:

Eating cruciferous vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, Brussels sprouts, and cabbage supports estrogen clearance and inhibits aromatase naturally, thanks to I3C, DIM, and sulforaphane. Light steaming is ideal to preserve these compounds without damaging their potency.