Dr. Marcantel discusses causes and symptoms of estrogen dominance in this video. Dr. Tina Marcantel is a naturopathic doctor in Gold Canyon, Arizona, who also serves the East Valley cities of Gilbert, Chandler, Mesa, Tempe, Scottsdale, Queen Creek, Apache Junction, and the greater Phoenix area.
Transcript:
What we are seeing in the clinic now is younger and younger women that are starting their menses at a very early age. The development of the breasts is very prominent at a very early age. They start the menses early and the menses is very irregular, so the mother does what she thinks is best–she brings them to the doctor and they get put on a birth control pill to regulate the period.
What’s happening here in the United States is that more and more of our food–estrogen and growth hormones and different hormones are being added to our food. Some milk and some dairy products have estrogen in them; some cosmetics have estrogen. So we’re seeing more of an estrogen dominance in women and in men, also.
But we’re seeing this starting the menses early and then large breasts and then they get put on the birth control pill which has yet more estrogen in it. Later on in life–they may stay on the pill five to ten years–and then later on in life they may have some trouble getting pregnant. We have infertility problems later on.
If they do get pregnant, when the woman delivers the baby her progesterone plummets and her estrogen stays elevated so we have, again, an estrogen dominance after giving birth. It’s called postpartum blues or postpartum depression–that’s when the progesterone is very low.
When the woman goes into her forties–perimenopause, the years before menopause takes place–what happens is that if you look at a graph her estrogen is going up and down, up and down. She’s having mood swings, irritability, weight gain, and the PMS symptoms are unbelievable. She’s having insomnia, as well. So her estrogen is spiking and coming down low, spiking and coming down low. In the meantime, her progesterone is very low and so she is having an estrogen dominance stage there, as well.
Learn more about estrogen dominance by viewing the following articles and videos:
