One supplement we have not yet explored is cobalt. You may not realize it but cobalt is already found naturally in meats and milk – even figs and cabbage feature this incredible element.  Those who are on vegetarian diets are usually deficient in both cobalt and vitamin B12.

So how can cobalt help women suffering from estrogen dominance? In her post about using cobalt to balance estrogen levels, Dr. Lark notes that cobalt works within the body to slow the speed at which estrogen is excreted into the body. The cobalt stimulates the production of a bodily chemical known as heme osidase, which then impacts the destruction of other metabolic chemicals and, in the end, destroys your ability to produce exess estrogen.

Talk to your doctor about supplementing with cobalt if you are premenopausal, menopausal, or simply suffering from estrogen dominance. You can potentially alleviate depression, hot flashes, and several other symptoms associated with the condition. And you can reclaim your life as your own!

Related posts:

1. Estrogen Dominance and PCOS

Symptoms of Hypothyroidism

Like estrogen dominance, the signs of hypothyroidism can be many and varied.  Oftentimes they sneak up on you and at first you pass them off as just fatigue or a sign that you are starting to feel older.  Eventually, however, the symptoms become more obvious.  Some of the most common symptoms of hypothyroidism, or low thyroid function, include:

• Fatigue
• Sluggishness
• Weight gain
• Pale, dry skin
• Cold hands and feet
• Constipation
• Hoarse voice
• Puffy face
• Heavy menstrual periods
• Dry, coarse hair
• Brittle fingernails
• Muscle aches and stiffness
• Joint pain, stiffness or swelling
• Elevated cholesterol level
• Depression
• Foggy thinking
• Low basal temperature (temperature measured under your arm first thing in the morning)

If you are familiar with the symptoms of estrogen dominance, you will recognize many  symptoms that are the same.

The Connection Between Estrogen Dominance and Low Thyroid Function

This is not to say that there are not women out there who truly suffer from hypothyroidism, because there certainly are; but if your thyroid function has been tested and the tests come out “normal,” it may be that an excess of estrogen and a lack of progesterone could be the culprit.

Estrogen and the hormone produced by the thyroid gland work in opposite ways.  The thyroid hormone is meant to help regulate the metabolism of the cells in the body but estrogen encourages the body to store fat in preparation for pregnancy.  Unopposed estrogen can get in the way of the thyroid hormone and block it from doing its job.  Your body may be producing a normal or near normal amount of the thyroid hormone but because of the excess estrogen taking up its receptors it  can’t function properly.  The result?  You suffer from the symptoms of hypothyroidism but the the thyroid hormone levels appear to be within the normal range when they are tested.

Hypothyroidism and Natural Progesterone Cream

If you are suffering from the symptoms of low thyroid function, you may discover that using a natural progesterone cream may make a big difference in your life.  Many doctors are  learning that women who have been taking thyroid medication show marked improvement when they begin using a natural progesterone cream.   The cream helps restore estrogen levels to normal and symptoms improve or are eliminated in a surprisingly short time.  In fact, some patients need to reduce the amount of thyroid medication they are taking after using progesterone cream for just a few weeks.  Other women have been able to eliminate the thyroid medicine completely.  If you take prescription medicine  for hypothyroidism and decide to try a progesterone cream, discuss the situation with your personal health care provider so your medication can be monitored.

Related posts:

1. Why Transdermal Hormone Creams Work the Best
2. When to use Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
3. $113 Million Hormone Therapy Settlement

Environmental estrogens are all around us. They’re in food additives, can leach into water that has been stored in polyethylene terephthalate (plastic bottles), and can even be found in cosmetics and regular household products.

The Detox Specialist wrote a great article on How to Detox Environmental Estrogen to Prevent Estrogen Dominance. This incredible article lists ways you can reduce your exposure to environmental estrogens – like not buying food in plastic or styrofoam or buying organic meats and eggs.

More important, though, is the tips the article gives on how to detox your body if you’ve already been exposed to high levels of environmental estrogen. These include increasing your fiber intake, eating more cruciferous veggies, and exercising, amongst other things.

You may be exposed to environmental estrogens on a regular basis but you can fight back and take control of your body. Making a few small changes at a time will go a long way in fighting estrogen dominance.

Related posts:

1. BodyLogicMD Attacks Environmental Hormones
2. Estrogen Dominance and PCOS
3. Xenoestrogens and their Role in Estrogen Dominance

What are Prostaglandins?

Prostaglandins are compounds derived from certain fatty acids.  There are a variety of prostaglandins, each of which have specific tasks to perform.  Depending on which class of fatty acids they were made from, prostaglandins fall into three different categories.

Series 1 prostaglandins are derived from linoleic fatty acids.  These prostaglandins work s to relax blood vessels, lower blood pressure, improve circulation, decrease inflammation, improve nerve function, improve T-cell function, regulate calcium metabolism and, most importantly, keep cells from releasing “arachidonic acid”, or AA.

AA is what makes up Series 2 prostaglandins.  These are considered the “bad” form of prostaglandins.  It is the job of this type of prostaglandin to promote the formation of blood clots, make your body retain sodium, encourage the production of cortisol, increase inflammation, and even promote heart disease.  It is incredibly  important to regulate this type of prostaglandin.

Series 3 prostaglandins are made from the fatty acids found in fish oil.  Series 3 prostaglandins are like the police, striving to prevent the ‘bad guys’ from being released into your body.  If they fail to do their job, your blood tends to clump together and you are more likely to suffer a stroke or heart attack.

Why Your Prostaglandins become Unbalanced

The most common culprits throwing your prostaglandins out of balance are poor diet, stress and viral illnesses.  Hydrogenated oils (trans-fatty acids) and sugar are two of the worst enemies of prostaglandins.  Avoiding these substances will help keep Series 1 and Series 3 prostaglandins strong and prevent them from being overwhelmed by Series 2 prostaglandins.

Stress is also a major factor in prostaglandins balance.  When your body releases stress hormones it encourages inflammation-producing prostaglandins, which, in turn, raises the levels of cortisol and estrogen in your body while restricting the production of progesterone. These imbalances in turn contribute to the development of estrogen dominance.

Evening Primrose Oil Helps Keep Prostaglandins Balanced

Evening primrose oil is a natural source of linoleic acid and Gamma-linoleic acid, the material from which the all important Series 1 prostaglandins are produced.  It is one of the  richest  sources of those important substances available anywhere.  If you are unable to get enough of these building materials from your diet, which is often the case with today’s hectic lifestyles, you may benefit from adding an evening primrose supplement to your regime.

Of course, a combination of evening primrose oil and an improved diet can make an even greater difference in your health. In addition to taking evening primrose oil supplements you’ll find that avoiding margarine and other hydrogenated oils, cutting back on sugar and eating fish once or twice a week will provide your body with the weapons it needs to combat prostaglandin imbalances.

Related posts:

1. PMS and Essential Fatty Acids
2. How to Heal PMS

So what do the folks at BodyLogicMD do? They start by running a series of blood and saliva tests in order to determine a woman’s hormone ratios. Then they work with women to teach them how to alter their diets, exercise routines, hormonal supplement regimes, and overall lifestyles in order to reduce the amount of estrogen entering the body from foreign sources.

Women who had previously been suffering from the symptoms of premenopause, menopause, and estrogen dominance – including weight gain, hot flashes, insomnia, PMS, and fatigue – have seen significant results.

If you are suffering from estrogen dominance you should be prepared to make a committed change to your lifestyle – not a temporary change. The harder you work to avoid environmental hormones the better the liklihood of your success – and overall health and happiness!

Related posts:

1. Detoxing from Environmental Estrogens
2. 21 Quick Tips to Balance Your Hormones Naturally
3. Foods to Avoid to Balance Your Hormones

Guidelines for Using Natural Progesterone Creams

Your goal is to find the right amount of progesterone cream for you.  Medical professionals can give you guidelines but it will be up to you to determine what amount makes you feel your best.  Natural progesterone cream is very safe, so you don’t have to be concerned about using too much when you are testing various dosages.  You just need to keep in mind that your goal is hormonal balance, so it is preferable to find the minimum amount of progesterone that works for you.  You want your hormones to work together harmoniously without any of them overwhelming the others.

Dr. Lee’s dosage recommendations are based on the use of a progesterone cream that comes in a 2 ounce container and contains 960 mg. of progesterone.  He does not recommend using high dosage progesterone creams that have 3,000 mg. or more in a 2 ounce tube.  Again, balance is the key.  You want to use a dose that will approximately equal the amount of progesterone your own body would produce under normal circumstances.

For a woman who is not too close to menopause and not pregnant, Dr. Lee recommends using about 1/4 teaspoon a day of the cream for the first one or two months. That will usually restore a natural balance to your system.  It is normally safe to drop the dosage to 1/8 teaspoon a day in the following months to maintain those levels.

Women who are closer to menopause may need a slightly higher dosage.

According to Dr. Lee, relief of symptoms is the best way to judge if you are using the right dose.  If you don’t get and maintain relief, you need to adjust your dosage up or down a little.

Dr. Lee has other guidelines for women who are not ovulating, women without ovaries, women with endometriosis, uterine fibroids, breast fibrocysts, women with specific PMS symptoms and women using estrogen supplements.  If you fall into any of those categories, you may want to pick up a copy of What Your Doctor May Not Tell You About Premenopause to learn more. In fact, the book is so enlightening, it would be a good idea for all women to read it.

A Few Tips for Using Natural Progesterone Cream

Dr. Lee also offers a few guidelines for getting the best results from your progesterone cream.  He recommends that you apply it twice a day, using a small amount in the morning and the majority of the dose at bedtime.

For greatest absorption, spread the cream on as large an area as possible, preferably on an area of skin that is thin with capillary density, like your neck, face, inner arms or chest.

Take a break from the cream for 3 to 7 days a month.  If you experience a quick reappearance of symptoms, only break for 3 days, but 7 is recommended.

You be the judge.  When you start feeling good again, you’ve probably found the right dose of progesterone cream for you.

Related posts:

1. Why Transdermal Hormone Creams Work the Best
2. Balance Progesterone Creme Review
3. Low Thyroid Function and Hormone Imbalance

Hormonal imbalances can cause cancer in the reproductive organs. True. What most people don’t realize, however, is that men are just as likely to suffer from estrogen dominance as women. Therefore, high levels of estrogen  can cause cancers, including prostate cancer, to develop.

Women use progesterone cream to control their estrogen levels, so why can’t men? They can. And after watching 6 of his former patients halt the progression of their prostate cancers after starting a progesterone cream regime, we’re left with an important question.

Why aren’t more men using progesterone cream?

In the past, doctors have assumed that removing the testicles (or castration) would lower testestosterone levels and, as such, slow down the progression of prostate cancer. Years later, Dr. Lee realized, through his research of studies done by other scientists,  that the men who had been castrated had experienced slowed progression of their cancers not because of the decresaed levels of testosterone but because of decreased levels of estradiol (a form of estrogen).

As men age, their testosterone and progesterone levels fall and their estradiol levels increase, resulting in dangerous hormonal shifts that can (and do) result in cancer. Imagine how much easier it would be to prevent prostate cancer in men if we only did early hormone testing.

Read the complete article: PROSTATE PROBLEMS AND HORMONES: Male Prostate, Estrogen dominance and Progesterone benefits

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1. Finding the Right Dose of Natural Progesterone
2. The Link Between Estrogen Dominance and Breast Cancer
3. Estrogen Dominance in Men

Factors That Affect PMS

Stress is almost always a factor in PMS.  Stress raises cortisol levels, blocking progesterone from its receptors.  Even though you may have normal progesterone levels, if it is blocked from its receptors it can’t do its job.

Diet and nutrition also play a role in the development of PMS.  It is known that high calorie, high sugar diets that include a large amount of refined carbohydrates and and hydrogenated or unsaturated vegetable oils wreak havoc with the essential fatty acids in your system and stimulate adrenaline, cortisol and insulin, all substances that block progesterone from its receptors.

Emotions are important when dealing with PMS.  Most of society expect women to suppress emotions they consider unfeminine, such as anger, strong opinions or frustration.  Women are suppose to be sweet and nurturing, concerned about the emotional happiness of others.  Continually suppressing emotions and denying your own instincts is another way of causing stress.

Steps to Take to Heal PMS

Here are actions  Dr. John Lee recommends in his book What Your Doctor Many Not Tell You About Premenopause:

• Use natural progesterone cream to control the symptoms of estrogen dominance
• Take a daily multivitamin that contains zinc, B complex, Vitamin C, Vitamin E and Vitamin B6
• Eat a plant-based diet rich in fiber.  Choose organic, fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains and legumes.
• Eat fish at least two times a week.
• Take evening primrose oil or borage oil to treat symptoms
• Take an herbal formula for PMS.  The formula should contain some or all of these herbs:  peony root, milk thistle, Vitex, wild yam, dandelion root, yarrow and nettle
• Take a liver-supporting and detoxifying herbal formula including some or all of the following herbs:  Bupleurum, milk thistle, barberry, goldenseal, burdock root, yellow dock, dandelion root
• Manage stress
• Exercise daily
• Keep a journal and record your emotions.  Try to resolve unsettled issues.

Here are some things Dr. Lee recommends avoiding:

• Birth control pills
• Unopposed estrogen
• Sugar and refined carbohydrates
• Hydrogenated oils and rancid unsaturated oils
• Commercially grown meats (choose organic instead)
• Pesticides
• Chronic stress

In many cases, PMS is so bad enough that it can affect many aspects of your life.  If you are not suffering through its symptoms at the moment, you may be fearing its imminent arrival.  Isn’t it worth giving Dr. Lee’s advice a try if it will help you decrease or eliminate the uncomfortable symptoms of PMS?

Related posts:

1. PMS and Essential Fatty Acids

What are Fibroids?

Fibroids are tough, non-cancerous tumors made up of fibers found in the uterus.  They can begin growing any time after the beginning of menstruation but are most common in women ages 35-50.  Normally they  begin to shrink or disappear altogether after menopause.  These benign tumors can be as small as a walnut or can grow to the size of a grapefruit or even larger.  The biggest fibroid tumor on record grew to a weight of more than 100 pounds.  It has been reported that at least 1 in 5 women experience some evidence of fibroids.

A woman with fibroids often begins to realize something is not quite right when she experiences heavier than normal bleeding during her period, irregular bleeding or her periods become more painful.  As the tumor grows, it can begin to cause discomfort because it is pressing against the bladder or intestines.  Bleeding can become so severe it nears hemorrhagic levels.

Estrogen Dominance Encourages Fibroid Growth

Estrogen is the primary hormone that makes the lining of the uterus grow each month, creating the endometrium that is shed  during menstruation.  If, however, the progesterone level is too low and unable to balance the flow of estrogen, the body doesn’t receive the signals to make the uterine growth stop.  This results in uterine fibroid tumors.

Normally, if a woman reaches the age of menopause, when the level of estrogen drops, the tumors will either disappear or shrink to a manageable level.  If, however, the woman’s progesterone level is still insufficient to balance the estrogen’s effects, such as with estrogen dominance, the fibroids can continue to grow.

Fibroids Do Not Always Require a Hysterectomy

In the past, when doctors diagnosed fibroids, they nearly always recommended a hysterectomy.  It is still a standard treatment method today.

What any woman who suffers from fibroid tumors needs to know, however, is that a simple, regular application of natural progesterone cream often causes fibroid tumors to shrink to a point where symptoms are eliminated.  When this occurs, a hysterectomy can be avoided and you can keep your uterus intact.

You owe it to yourself to avoid having a hysterectomy if at all possible.  It is known that hysterectomies in premenopausal women result in abrupt menopause and atrophy of the ovaries.  It raises the risk of osteoporosis, heart disease, bladder problems, frequent urinary tract infections and incontinence.

Controlling estrogen dominance is usually a healthier alternative to a  hysterectomy  if your problem is fibroid tumors.  The use of natural progesterone and other simple lifestyle changes can help you control the symptoms of estrogen dominance and allow you to regain balance of your hormones.

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1. When to use Bioidentical Hormone Replacement Therapy
2. Estrogen Dominance Fuels Perimenopause Symptoms
3. The Link Between Estrogen Dominance and Breast Cancer

The findings were originally presented to the American Heart Association during their November 2008 Scientific Sessions conference in New Orleans.

Older women, especially those suffering from estrogen dominance, are very likely to develop CAC. But women aren’t the only ones at risk. Men with high testosterone levels are at risk as well, although that same research study showed that testosterone may cause CAC to develop but will then slow down its progress.

Either way, women suffering from estrogen dominance are definitely at an increased risk for developing heart disease. The real question, however, is whether or not doctors and scientists will eventually decide to include hormone testing as part of a woman’s regular annual health exam. It seems as though hormone testing could become just as important as cholesterol and glucose testing.

Atherosclerosis and it’s complications, including coronary heart disease, is the #1 cause of death in the United States each year. It only makes sense to do a little extra testing if doing so means preventing one of the deadliest diseases in the country – right?

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1. The Link Between Estrogen Dominance and Breast Cancer
2. Progesterone Cream and Prostate Cancer
3. Insist on the 2/16 Estrogen Metabolism Test