Menopause - Estrogen Dominance and Testosterone Loss

Both men and women go through hormone changes as we age. Sometimes, we experience some horrible side effects due to these changes, and sometimes we get away scot free with no side effects at all. Let's talk about some of these side effects and why they happen.

Women start to go through menopause starting around age 40-50. This is when progesterone and estrogen levels start to drop off and begin to deviate from their normal monthly cycles. Inconsistent waves of hormone releases can occur in this time, resulting in high estrogen levels and unwelcome side effects such as:

• Weight gain 
• Hot flashes and night sweats 
• Insomnia 
• Headaches 
• Stomach upset 
• Feelings of depression and anxiety 

As they age, men can start to lose testosterone levels, resulting in an imbalance of testosterone to estrogen levels. High cortisol levels (the “stress hormone”) can also lead to these imbalances, and can have similar effects for women. 

Symptoms like:

• Weight gain around the stomach area 
• Different appetite levels
• Loss of sleep 
• Feeling fatigued 
• Feelings of depression and anxiety 

In short, it’s not just women who go through these changes as we age, but symptoms will be more obvious for women going through menopause. 

Here are some tips and tricks to help with some of these symptoms! First off, we want to make sure we are eating our vegetables, specifically our cruciferous vegetables. These include, but are not limited to broccoli, cauliflower, kale, brussels sprouts, radish, turnip, and bok choy. These foods are super important because they hold high levels of sulfur. 

Sulfur is needed to produce glutathione, which is one of our body’s main antioxidants produced in the liver. This helps remove toxins from our body and get rid of those excess estrogen levels. It even helps stop us from reaching estrogen levels that cause breast and ovarian cancer. 

EAT YOUR VEGETABLES! 

As we get older, we also become more sensitive to carbohydrates, which means we need to be even more careful around those processed foods and added sugars. They will stick to us much more easily as we age, resulting in gained weight that can be very hard to work off.

Insomnia and night sweats can also be huge problems during this time, leading to fatigue, feelings of depression and anxiety, and an increase in those stress hormone levels we are trying to reduce. One of the first things to look at is what we are eating before we go to bed. A glass of wine or a sweet treat can really do more harm than good before we fall asleep at night. This is because when we ingest these things before bed, we actually raise our blood sugar right as our body prepares to bring our core body temperature and blood pressure down. When our blood sugar is elevated, it is much harder to fall into those REM cycles and deep sleep that we need to feel good when we wake up. 

​Some of the best foods to eat before bed are actually healthy fats, some proteins, or complex carbs. Trying to stay away from sweets, simple sugar, alcohol, and processed food a few hours before bed can really make a difference. Some food pairings that make a great bedtime snack are:

• Tart Cherries - can be found in a juice or powder, has natural melatonin to help us fall asleep and stay asleep 
• Nuts - almonds, walnuts, pistachios (they can leave you feeling full and satisfied)
• Fruit - kiwi, apple, berries 
• Cheese or full fat yogurt - fat from cheese can leave us feeling full, but can be easy to eat too much so be careful of portion size 
• Turkey or chicken - pure protein is a great way to feel satisfied before heading to bed and that extra protein will benefit those muscles and facilitate recovery in the body 

.Last but not least, EXERCISE!  Working out every other day can help reduce those hormone fluctuations for women and still give you plenty of recovery time. Working out is also super beneficial to our bones as the calcium stores decline within them as we age. Working out, especially using weights or jumping routines, will help keep our bones strong! 

“If we rest we rust” - (my 70 year old neighbor who is more active than me.)

Adjusting to these life changes can be fairly simple, when summarized in 3 easy steps: 

1. Eat your veggies!
2. Avoid sugar especially before bed
3. Exercise every other day for 30-45 minutes​

Following these simple tricks will help you get through those hormone fluctuations, and have you feeling less anxious, more rested, and better overall during this process that we all go through. 

--Bree