There are different types of estrogen, which you may know as the main female hormone. Both men and women have estrogen and it plays many different roles in the body. For instance, estrogen is important in helping both sexes maintain bone health.

There are three kinds of estrogen: natural estrogen that the body produces in both men and women; xenoestrogens, which are chemical compounds that have estrogen-like effects; and phytoestrogens, which are generally weaker types of estrogen from plant sources that can have beneficial protective effects.

Natural estrogens are produced in the ovaries in women and in fat tissue in both sexes. People with more fat tissue have higher levels of estrogen, which is good and bad.  Higher levels are helpful to protect the bones and prevent osteoporosis, but they also increase the risk of certain cancers like breast and uterine cancer.

Xenoestrogens are chemicals that fit into and stimulate estrogen receptors to fool the body into thinking there is estrogen in the system and create estrogen-like effects. Certain chemicals in our environment like some crop herbicides get into our bodies through the food we eat and  into our water supply from run off of farm and industrial chemicals.  Some plastics such as BPA or bisphenol-A may have xenosetrogen like effects, so I try to avoid it whenever possible.

Phytoestrogens are plant-based estrogen-like compounds that tend to be weaker, which is generally positive. By interacting with estrogen receptors but only weakly stimulating or blocking them, phytoestrogens decrease the effects of excess estrogen in the body and protect against xenoestrogen chemical compounds in the environment.

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