Let’s just put it this way…if your hormones are all whacked out, then it’s most likely that your liver is not feeling so hot.

*Here’s why:*

Your liver functions in your body in much the same way a pool filter functions in a pool. Just as a pool filter cleans a pool by catching the dead leaves, dirt and insects, the liver detoxifies our bodies from harmful chemicals and toxins found in food and our environment. This is done in two phases and requires certain vitamins and minerals to do it effectively.
Too much booze, drugs (illegal and legal – xanax has to be processed by your liver too), pesticides in foods, refined sugar, chemicals and environmental pollution (your liver doesn’t like smog), and too little nutrients can cause your lovely liver to get really bogged down. It ends up working all day long to remove these excess toxins that we’re exposed to, instead of doing it’s main jobs in the body.

One of the most important functions of the liver is to break down and remove excess hormones from your body. One hormone in particular is estrogen. As you know, estrogen is a big player in our menstrual health – it helps build the uterine lining, it keeps our vagina’s lubricated and even helps keep our mood elevated!
There are two phases of liver detoxification. Fortunately for many of us, our phase 1 detox works really great so things get moved through pretty fast. Where we run into problems is phase 2 – it tends to be much slower. This creates a bit of a bottleneck and eventually a lot of the not-quite-broken-down toxins spill back into our system because the liver can’t accommodate them anymore because of the backlog.

*So here’s what happens with estrogen:*

Once estrogen has done it’s job in the body, it is sent to the liver so it can be broken down and removed through the colon. Unfortunately, if your liver is all gunked up from the excess toxins it is exposed to then it is unable to function optimally and thus cannot remove estrogen at it’s normal rate. Estrogen is not metabolized properly and can be reabsorbed back into the body.

Even if a woman’s liver is functioning properly there is another factor to consider. Chronic constipation because of lack of fiber. Fiber increases the expulsion of excess estrogen so it would make sense that too little fiber would be a problem. As I mentioned above, the liver sends that broken down estrogen to your colon for removal. If your bowels aren’t moving then that estrogen can get reabsorbed back into the bloodstream. Ah, no good.

In addition to all of this, if you are consuming a diet with too much fat, such as the Standard American Diet, your estrogen levels may go up. The reason for this is that excess dietary fat encourages reabsorption of estrogens from your gut into your blood stream rather than excretion of this excess estrogen

And so it begins – a build-up of estrogen in the bloodstream. This results in a condition called estrogen dominance, where estrogen becomes dominant in the body in relation to progesterone. It’s like a store where there are no sales but the owner keeps buying new products.

*Estrogen dominance can result in some rather unpleasant symptoms and conditions:*

Fibrocystic breasts, tender and swollen breasts

Bloating and painful periods

PMS & PMDD – especially emotional symptoms like anxiety, depression and snappiness 

Migraines, especially right before your period

Irregular periods and heavy bleeding

Endometriosis – from an overstimulation of the uterine lining by too much estrogen

Fibroids – similar to how endometriosis begins

Infertility – caused by many of the symptoms above

*Here are a couple other things that contribute to the condition of estrogen dominance:*

1. *Stress*
Chronic stress can cause chronically high levels of cortisol (the stress hormone).

2. *Xenoestrogens* These are synthetic chemicals that mimic estrogen. They are found in plastics, and many many other products that we use in everyday life. We live in a pretty toxic world. Did you know there are over 80,000 chemicals currently on the market and the majority of them have not been tested for safety, much less proven safe. Xenoestrogens act like estrogen in the body making it seem like you’ve got more estrogen than you do. They are total impostors and wreak havoc on your delicate hormonal balance. BPA and phthalates are two of the worst offenders.

3. *Alcohol*
Do you know that alcohol consumption raises estrogen levels and slows down fat burning? Not cool! Just two servings a day for four weeks has been shown to raise estrogen levels by 22 percent!

*So, what’s a girl to do? Here are 5 of my best recommendations:*

1. *Get that fiber in!*
I know, sounds so boring right? However, it has been proven that women eating higher amounts of fiber have lower levels of circulating estrogen, so it’s worth a try!

2. *Cut back on the zin*
Alcohol impairs your liver’s functioning so much that circulating estrogen levels increase significantly with just two drinks a day. If you are struggling with any of the estrogen dominance issues above then reducing the amount of alcohol you drink could really help.

3. *Reduce exposure to Xenoestrogens*
As if we needed any more estrogen! PCB’s, pesticides, chlorine, you name it; they all have this effect on us. And let’s not talk about the ingredients in shampoo, body lotion and makeup. There are some serious offenders out there.

4. *Eat foods that cleanse your liver*
Dandelion greens contain many compounds that aid in the cleansing of the liver. I used to be scared to try new greens but they are seriously the best thing I ever incorporated into my diet. Avocados have been shown to protect the liver against toxic overload and turmeric has been found to protect the liver against toxins. In fact, turmeric is one of the most powerful liver cleansers out there. Sulphur-rich foods like brussels sprouts and cabbage are also awesome along with beets too.

5. *Take supplements that will increase your glutathione levels*

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