Estrogens at bay: controlling the aromatase enzyme is key

Xevi Verdaguerin his book transform your health (Ed. Grijalbo), explains that the aromatase It is the enzyme that is used to manufacture a type of female hormones, estrogens, from the male hormones androstenedione and testosterone, whether we are men or women.

The aromatase enzyme is found in many parts of the body.: in the hypothalamus, in cells of the liver, of the skin, in the adrenal glands, in the breasts, in the bones, in the ovaries and the endometrium, in the Leydig cells of the testicles and the placenta; also in breast cancer tissue and, especially in fat cells, adipocytes.

The body gives you clues about your excess aromatase

If aromatase enzyme activity is accelerated by excess weight or a CYP19A gene polymorphism, an excess of estrogen or female hormones is produced, which can have negative consequences as:

The girls with early menstruation or menarche before the age of 11 They could have this polymorphism due to a high aromatase activity, which has produced too much estrogen and has caused an onset of early menstruation.

generalized inflammation

Verdaguer also points out that excess estrogen favors the formation of a type of substance with proinflammatory activityPg E2, causing headaches, chronic pain and inflammation and increased aromatase activity.

This increased activity of the aromatase enzyme produces more estrogen or female hormones, which becomes a vicious circle and shows us that excess estrogen formation is closely linked to inflammation.

What influences our aromatase levels?

He over weight it accelerates the activity of this enzyme, since there is more amount of adipose tissue and it is easier to produce estrogen. It has been proven that if an overweight person performs physical activity and regulates their weight, the activity of the estrogen-producing enzyme decreases.

Another factor that increases aromatase activity is blood insulin. When we eat something rich in sugar or wheat, the glucose level rises. Then our pancreas secretes insulin so that the glucose can get into the cells and they can use it as fuel for energy.

if there is a excess blood glucose, this is stored in the form of fat (in adipocytes) thanks to insulin. Whenever insulin is high, the body sends the signal for aromatase to make more estrogen.

Once the glucose is no longer in the blood, the brain perceives that it will not have enough energy and reappears the craving for sweet. They eat bread, pasta, toast, cookies, sweets again… And so the pattern is repeated indefinitely.

If we do not take care of our diet and the different highs and lows in blood sugarthese will be followed by the respective rises in insulin, with the consequent activation of aromatase and the production of more estrogen.

Do I have high estrogen?

Verdaguer in his book Transform your Health explain what the ability to manufacture estrogen is determined from the fetal stage. Between week 8 and 12 of gestation, male hormones begin to be produced. These will condition a greater or lesser growth of the fourth finger, since the phalanges of this finger have more testosterone receptors than other fingers.

If the mother is exposed to a lot of estrogen during pregnancytheir offspring will have an easier time manufacturing estrogens throughout their lives and will be more predisposed to suffer some estrogen-predominant diseases.

Detect high or low estrogen by looking at the hand

if looking at you fourth finger of the right hand or ring fingeryou notice that it is longer than the index, it is that you have tendency to have more testosterone. On the other hand, if your ring finger is lower than the index, it means that you have more estrogen.

The length of this fourth finger has been established as biomarker to predict if there is more or less predisposition to certain diseases.

If your index is longer you must:

Take care of your eating habits Stay at a healthy weight Play sports Help the liver in its detoxification functions.

In the case of menhaving the fourth finger longer than the second (the index) will suffer fewer fertility problems, will have more sperm and larger testicles.

At the moment, it is being seen that in both baby boys and girls the second finger is longer than the ring fingerwhich means that there is more exposure to estrogen than testosterone production, and is related to a higher exposure of the pregnant mother to estrogen in the first trimester.

It is believed that the foods with estrogenic action (dairy, meat, soy, alcohol, etc.) and environmental toxins that act as endocrine disruptors are one of those responsible for future generations suffering from cancer and autoimmune diseases.

How to get rid of excess estrogen

Once we know that we have high estrogen levels, we can intervene in a very simple way, incorporating changes in diet and physical activity in our day to day. The objectives are:

1. Avoid exogenous estrogens

We must be careful with estrogens from the diet and theendocrine disruptors that act like estrogens in the body:

He bisphenol A of the plastics parabens or phthalates of cosmetics teflon

2. Improve liver methylation

If you have all day high insulin, the body is continuously manufacturing estrogen. if we have the supersaturated liver and it can’t get rid of this excess insulin well, we’re in trouble.

According to Verdaguer in his book, it is for this reason that it is necessary take care of liver functionespecially methylation, one of the pathways for the elimination of hormones and toxins in the second phase of hepatic detoxification.

If the methylation pathway does not work correctly, we will not:

Eliminate hormones and toxinsEliminate histamine or stress hormones

Consequently, we will suffer anxiety problems, depressionphobias, headaches and migraineschronic pain or hormonal imbalances.

How do I know if I methylate correctly?

If in a blood test there is homocysteine ​​levels above 12mmol/Lwe can deduce that the methylation pathway is slowed down or overloaded.

If you are a person with a perfectionist characterself-demanding, planner, obsessive and at night you clench your teeth while you sleep, surely you methylate slowly.

3. Essential nutrients to eliminate estrogen

Nutrients like vitamins B2, B6, B9 and B12, magnesium, the amino acid methionine, choline and inositol They are essential for good methylation. These nutrients will be found in:

BeetsCruciferous (cabbages)LegumesAvocadoSeaweedBananaDatesGarlicWholegrain cerealsNuts andSpinach

And also a diet without an excess of coffee or a great exposure to environmental toxins (plastics, cosmetics, etc.) helps the hepatic methylation pathway.

Excess estrogen and endometriosis

The endometriosis is a increasingly common disease in women of our society. And although there are different factors that may be related to its appearance, the excess estrogen has an important link.

Endometriosis happens when there is endometrial tissue outside the endometriumthe wall that lines the uterus.

Thanks to the action of estrogen and progesterone, the endometrium thickens in each cycle to accommodate a possible pregnancy and it flakes if there is no fertilization, causing bleeding (menstruation).

Among other factors, one cause of endometriosis is a mechanism called retrograde bleeding, in which part of menstruation passes into the abdominal cavity. The endometrial cells then go out to other areas of the pelvis and can be located in the ovaries, in the fallopian tubes, behind the uterus, in ligaments, or near the bladder or intestine.

This tissue outside the endometrium continues to respond to estrogen and progesterone, but since it cannot be eliminated with menstrual bleeding, it stagnates and produces a immune inflammatory response.

Therefore, in this disease are involved the endocrine system and the immune system. The latest theories consider endometriosis as a systemic disease with chronic inflammation. We must remember the relationship between excess estrogen and inflammation due to increased PgE2.

One of the characteristics of endometriosis is that can cause pain in the pelvic area both before and during and after menstruation, in addition to ovulation or sexual intercourse.

But it’s not always like this. It can also be asymptomatic and be diagnosed in treatments to have children, since it is a reason for infertility.

Women suffering from endometriosis should take into account the negative performance of the excess estrogen due to the inflammatory response they induce.

The beneficial diet for endometrosis

A beneficial diet for endometriosis should avoid:

GlutenSugarCoffeeTransformed fatsFoods with proinflammatory activity

and must incorporate foods with anti-inflammatory action as:

Healthy fats Foods rich in fiber: vegetables

Menopause and estrogen decline

Menopause is a physiological process of women in which in a more or less drastic way your ovaries stop producing estrogen.

Between the symptoms of low estrogen we find:

Decreased sexual desire Dry skin and mucous membranes Hot flashes Insomnia Vision problems Osteoporosis Increased cholesterol

Is hormone replacement therapy advisable?

To alleviate all these symptoms of menopause, hormone replacement therapy (HRT) is sometimes recommended. But this therapy can increase estrogen levels too much and it can have negative consequences if these are poorly eliminated through the liver or there is too much exposure to endocrine disruptors.

Currently it is possible to know if we can benefit from hormone replacement therapy by having a genetic study.

Recommended foods in menopause

The ideal is to introduce into the daily diet the phytoestrogenspolyphenols of vegetable origin with certain biological activity thanks to their molecular similarity with endogenous 17-beta estradiol.

these foods are good sources of phytoestrogens:

KuzuSesameBeansPulses in generalFlaxCruciferous vegetablesGrapes