Oestrogen is a perfectly normal, health-promoting hormone, which stimulates the growth of hormone-sensitive tissue in both men and women. In women, oestrogen makes the lining of the womb (the uterus) grow every month, ready to receive a fertilised egg in the event of pregnancy. It also stimulates the growth of breast tissue. However, when a healthy woman’s body produces oestrogen it also produces progesterone, which keeps hormonally-sensitive tissue healthy. Oestrogen makes cells grow. Progesterone keeps them healthy. It’s a double act.
However, when a person has too many oestrogen signals in relation to progesterone they have ‘oestrogen dominance’. This is now thought to be the major cause of breast cancer and uterine cancer in women, prostate cancer in men and contributes to many other diseases from pear-shaped obesity to osteoporosis. Although I’m going to focus largely on what we know about preventing breast cancer, the advice is equally applicable to men and is likely to lower risk to prostate cancer as well.
Conditions Associated With Oestrogen Dominance:
Breast cancer
Breast tenderness
Cervical dysplasia (a pre-cancerous condition)
Decreased sex drive
Early menopause
Endometriosis
Fibrocystic breasts
Fibroids
Infertility
Irregular periods
Mood swings
Pear-shaped fat gain
Polycystic ovaries
PMS
Prostate cancer
Thyroid problems
Uterine cancer
Water retention and bloating
Answers to these questions & more are available to 100% Health Club Members. If you'd like to access this article but you are not a member, you can do so for only £9.99 a quarter. Simply join our 100% Health Club and you'll have full access to the articles on this site.
• Environmental Oestrogens
• The Key Chemicals to Avoid
• HRT and the Pill
• HRT - The Risks Outweight The Benefits
• Liver Problems
• Sugar, Saturated Fat and Stress
• Fruits, Vegetables, Seeds and Pulses
• Ovulation
• References and further reading
