Estrobolome!

I can say that nearly every woman that walks through my doors displays hormonal symptoms. Inability to lose weight, mood swings, PMS, fatigue, depression, blood sugar changes, food reactions, breast cancer/changes etc.

But it is all well and good to provide hormonal treatments to try and treat the symptoms but unless that underlying gut and liver issues are dealt with these hormonal swings will NEVER go away (and we live with an increased risk of not just hormonal cancers but type 2 diabetes (insulin and leptin resistance), metabolic syndrome and some autoimmune disorders including lupus).

A big explanation as to why as women with this, great eating and exercise regimes are often not enough.

Estrobolome!

Something women suffering any symptoms of oestrogen dominance may want to learn more about!

First of all what are symptoms of oestrogen dominance?

• Breast lumps (fibrocystic)/ breast cancer
• Oestrogen cysts and cancer
• Thyroid nodules and cancer
• Fibroids
• Endometriosis
• Brown spots - especially on the face
• Cellulite
• Memory Loss
• Bloating
• Breast tenderness and swelling
• Headaches 
• Hair loss
• Cold hands or feet
• Mood swings and PMS
• Feeling tired and lack of energy
• Decreased libido
• Early onset menstruation
• Hypoglycaemia

These symptoms can further lead to:

• Breast cancer
• Accelerated aging
• Elevated copper
• Polycystic ovaries
• Gallbladder disease
• Allergies, asthma, hives, rashes, sinus congestion
• Type 2 diabetes
• Autoimmune disorders including lupus, thyroiditis
• and so many more....

​By now you may have heard about the microbiome - this is the diverse community of bugs that inhabit our gut ecosystem. They provide us with what could be described as a second genomic blueprint (more than 99% of our genetic information comes from our bugs rather than our human genes).

But have you heard of the Estrobolome?

This could be integral in the presentation of all of these symptoms and disorders. This is the important link between hormonal disorders and gut health.

An Associate Professor at New York University by the name of Claudia Plottel (MD) and her team have been looking in to the relationship between estrogen circulation and the microbiome - in particular how certain microbes can affect the risk of breast cancer.

The research group is interested in exploring whether the microbiome contributed to the fact that "only a proportion of individuals exposed to individual carcinogens or carrying a genetic predisposition to cancer develop the disease." (Forum on Microbial Health, Washington US, 2014 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK189987/).

They suggested that oestrogen-metabolising microbes may contribute to the development of oestrogen-related cancers (BRAC-1 and -2 genes) and explain why some women develop cancer and some don't despite having the genetic predisposition.

But interestingly they talk about the estrobolome.

This is a complete set of genes which are found in these microbes which code for enzymes that are capable of metabolising oestrogens within the human intestine.

This is so so important in how our oestrogen is utilised in our bodies.

These genes modulate the circulation of oestrogens within the liver, which then effects the amount of oestrogen circulating through the whole body.

So when we are looking at hormonal disturbances, the gut must be considered along with the liver and ways to support and decongest.
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This has the potential to go a long way in explaining increased risk of many disorders and the inability to lose weight but also in explaining why despite many attempts to eat a good diet, have a great exercise regime and sleep well, there are underlying factors to be considered.