Estrogen Dominance.  Chances are you've heard this term pop up somewhere lately-in your news feed, an online wellness article...from a friend....and that's because right now it's a trending topic!  Estrogen Dominance or excess estrogen is a very real issue and behind many of the common health issues we as women (and men) have today.  Do you suffer from painful periods?  How about irritability?  Difficulty losing weight can be attributed to excess estrogen and so can frequent headaches, mood swings, insomnia and other not so fun experiences.  Eventually excess estrogen can be linked to breast, cervical and prostate cancer.

Much like everything, estrogen is necessary and good IN MODERATION.  Do you know what hormones actually do?  I know you've heard of them, but do you know why they're so important?  Hormones basically are the language used by our bodies, so different parts can 'talk & coordinate'.  Pretty cool huh?

In terms of estrogen, there are specific causes that increase yours, so read on to find out if this could be a problem for you...

1. If you are over 35 and haven't hit full menopause yet, odds are your ovaries are making more estrogen that they once did, to compensate for diminishing ovarian reserve (read-less eggs). 
2. Carrying excess weight past menopause?  Definitely a candidate for too much estrogen.  After menopause your body switches from making estrogen in your ovaries to producing estrogen in your fat cells.  The more you have, the more estrogen you produce.
3. Stress!  High levels of cortisol (the stress regulating hormone) actually increases your estrogen to progesterone ratio which means-yup-too much estrogen.
4. The environment.  Things called xenoestrogens are found in everything from plastic to cans to cosmetics and pesticides.
5. Your diet is high in conventionally raised red meat & dairy.  The theory here is that you cultivate very different gut bacteria when eating these types of products, and this gut bacteria is less efficient at processing estrogen, leading to a buildup in the system.