Male Estrogen - Know When You Have Too Much
Every now and then one of my over 40 male patients will come to me with a set of symptoms that alert me to the possibility that he may have too much estrogen in his system.
That's right, the female hormone, estrogen.
My male patients are always surprised when I tell them that all men have and need a certain amount of estrogen to be healthy, just as all women need a certain amount of testosterone, the male hormone, to keep their systems functioning optimally.
Although women stop making estrogen in menopause, men continue to make estrogen throughout their lives! It's when the ratio of estrogen to testosterone gets out of balance and there's too much estrogen in a man's system that undesirable symptoms and physical changes, as well as problematic health problems can start occurring.
Like my male patients, you might wonder, how does a man get too much estrogen and what can you do about it? Let me answer that question by explaining how estrogen works in a man and how to keep your estrogen load in normal balance.
Good Estrogen, Bad Estrogen As I mentioned above, all men need a certain amount of estrogen to keep their hormonal system in balance and functioning correctly.
However, a man needs a very small amount compared to what a woman needs.
Estrogen in a man confers beneficial health benefits such as: • Keeps their hormonal system functioning normally.
• Aids memory.
• Boosts heart health.
• Keeps bones from fracturing as a man grows older.
• Protects sperm count and allows men to father children late into their lives.
With all those good effects from estrogen, one might think, if a little is good, then more will be even better! Not so with hormones where everything is in a delicate balance.
Too much estrogen can result in these undesirable issues: • Weight gain, more feminine pear-shaped body, enlarged breasts with painful nipples • Testicular atrophy and low libido • Loss of muscle mass • Higher risk of breast cancers • Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the coronary arteries • Lethal blood clots • Heart attack • Stroke How Does A Man Develop Too Much Estrogen? Commonly, as men age, their body can produce less testosterone and estrogen can get out of balance.
But there are other ways in which a man can become estrogen-heavy: • Obesity: Body fat stores an enzyme called aromatase which converts testosterone to estrogen.
Too much body fat, too much aromatase, too much estrogen.
• Environmental estrogens: Using heatable plastics, like those in microwave foods, can expose you to Bisphenol A; common cleaning products can expose you to nonylphenol; and benzophenones are found in cosmetics, sunblocks, soaps, perfumes.
All are chemicals that act like estrogen in your body.
• Foods: Certain foods also either have an estrogenic effect, or oppose testosterone, like soy, grapefruit, licorice, black cohosh.
• Substances: Smoking marijuana can also lead to elevated estrogen levels by causing weight gain.
Drinking too much alcohol, particularly beer, which contains estrogen promoting hops, can lead to too much estrogen in your system.
How To Reduce Your Estrogen Load Now that you know why, as a man, your estrogen/testosterone levels may get out of whack, there are some fairly simple ways in which to reduce your estrogen load that include: • Lose weight - decreases enzyme aromatase which helps store estrogen in body fat.
• Avoid environmental estrogens: If you use microwaveable foods, buy those packed in hard paper rather than plastic, or remove the frozen food and place into a glass dish before microwaving to prevent the leaching of bisphenol A into your food.
• Watch what you eat: Stay away from soy products, even "healthy" sports/protein bars that often contain a synthetic soy protein isolate.
• Estrogen balancing supplements: You'll want to make sure you are getting enough zinc, selenium, flax seed, calcium D-glucarate, diindolymethane (DIM) present in cruciferous vegetables, and an herb called tribulus terrestris, all of which can help keep your estrogen levels balanced naturally.
As a man gets older, his system constantly tries to maintain an intricate balance of normal hormone levels.
Metabolisms slow down, weight gain creeps up, and before you know it you may be making too much estrogen which can cause a whole host of other problems.
However, if you follow my recommendations listed above, you should be able to keep your estrogen and testosterone levels balanced normally so you can both enjoy the good, protective heart, bone and memory benefits of estrogen and the strength, energy and virility benefits of testosterone well into your advancing years! It is always my pleasure to provide you with the best Health Answers.
That's right, the female hormone, estrogen.
My male patients are always surprised when I tell them that all men have and need a certain amount of estrogen to be healthy, just as all women need a certain amount of testosterone, the male hormone, to keep their systems functioning optimally.
Although women stop making estrogen in menopause, men continue to make estrogen throughout their lives! It's when the ratio of estrogen to testosterone gets out of balance and there's too much estrogen in a man's system that undesirable symptoms and physical changes, as well as problematic health problems can start occurring.
Like my male patients, you might wonder, how does a man get too much estrogen and what can you do about it? Let me answer that question by explaining how estrogen works in a man and how to keep your estrogen load in normal balance.
Good Estrogen, Bad Estrogen As I mentioned above, all men need a certain amount of estrogen to keep their hormonal system in balance and functioning correctly.
However, a man needs a very small amount compared to what a woman needs.
Estrogen in a man confers beneficial health benefits such as: • Keeps their hormonal system functioning normally.
• Aids memory.
• Boosts heart health.
• Keeps bones from fracturing as a man grows older.
• Protects sperm count and allows men to father children late into their lives.
With all those good effects from estrogen, one might think, if a little is good, then more will be even better! Not so with hormones where everything is in a delicate balance.
Too much estrogen can result in these undesirable issues: • Weight gain, more feminine pear-shaped body, enlarged breasts with painful nipples • Testicular atrophy and low libido • Loss of muscle mass • Higher risk of breast cancers • Atherosclerosis, or hardening of the coronary arteries • Lethal blood clots • Heart attack • Stroke How Does A Man Develop Too Much Estrogen? Commonly, as men age, their body can produce less testosterone and estrogen can get out of balance.
But there are other ways in which a man can become estrogen-heavy: • Obesity: Body fat stores an enzyme called aromatase which converts testosterone to estrogen.
Too much body fat, too much aromatase, too much estrogen.
• Environmental estrogens: Using heatable plastics, like those in microwave foods, can expose you to Bisphenol A; common cleaning products can expose you to nonylphenol; and benzophenones are found in cosmetics, sunblocks, soaps, perfumes.
All are chemicals that act like estrogen in your body.
• Foods: Certain foods also either have an estrogenic effect, or oppose testosterone, like soy, grapefruit, licorice, black cohosh.
• Substances: Smoking marijuana can also lead to elevated estrogen levels by causing weight gain.
Drinking too much alcohol, particularly beer, which contains estrogen promoting hops, can lead to too much estrogen in your system.
How To Reduce Your Estrogen Load Now that you know why, as a man, your estrogen/testosterone levels may get out of whack, there are some fairly simple ways in which to reduce your estrogen load that include: • Lose weight - decreases enzyme aromatase which helps store estrogen in body fat.
• Avoid environmental estrogens: If you use microwaveable foods, buy those packed in hard paper rather than plastic, or remove the frozen food and place into a glass dish before microwaving to prevent the leaching of bisphenol A into your food.
• Watch what you eat: Stay away from soy products, even "healthy" sports/protein bars that often contain a synthetic soy protein isolate.
• Estrogen balancing supplements: You'll want to make sure you are getting enough zinc, selenium, flax seed, calcium D-glucarate, diindolymethane (DIM) present in cruciferous vegetables, and an herb called tribulus terrestris, all of which can help keep your estrogen levels balanced naturally.
As a man gets older, his system constantly tries to maintain an intricate balance of normal hormone levels.
Metabolisms slow down, weight gain creeps up, and before you know it you may be making too much estrogen which can cause a whole host of other problems.
However, if you follow my recommendations listed above, you should be able to keep your estrogen and testosterone levels balanced normally so you can both enjoy the good, protective heart, bone and memory benefits of estrogen and the strength, energy and virility benefits of testosterone well into your advancing years! It is always my pleasure to provide you with the best Health Answers.
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