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Posted by: | Posted on: October 1, 2026

Estrogen, Histamine, Serotonin, and Endotoxin with Georgi Dinkov


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2026/09/29/estrogen-histamine-serotonin-and-endotoxin-connections.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola    September 29, 2026

Story at-a-glance

  • Estrogen accumulates in your tissues even when blood tests show low levels, leading to misdiagnosis and ineffective treatment
  • Hair and nail testing may reveal long-term patterns of hormone and mineral buildup, offering clearer insight into chronic symptoms like fatigue, infertility, and fluid retention
  • High prolactin levels often signal hidden estrogen activity and are especially important to monitor if your thyroid function is low
  • Vegetable oils, plastics, and many common household products contain compounds that either mimic estrogen or promote estrogen dominance by potentially disrupting thyroid function, impairing detox pathways, and contributing to chronic inflammation
  • Natural progesterone and liver-supportive strategies like collagen-rich foods may help reduce your tissue estrogen burden and support hormonal balance

Estrogen dominance is one of the most misunderstood hormonal imbalances in modern medicine — and it’s costing people their energy, fertility, and peace of mind. You might be told your estrogen is low because your blood levels look normal or even depleted. But if you’re still battling mood swings, fluid retention, fatigue, or persistent inflammation, something deeper is going on.

What most people don’t realize is that hormones don’t just float through your bloodstream — they get trapped inside your tissues. And over time, this hidden buildup of estrogen quietly may disrupt everything from your thyroid to your immune function. Worse, it often shows up alongside rising levels of histamine, serotonin, and inflammatory endotoxins, creating a biochemical storm that conventional lab testing often misses.

This happens in women who can’t lose weight no matter what they eat. In men who feel drained, anxious, and foggy but are told their hormones are “fine.” In couples struggling with infertility while chasing normal blood results. The pattern is always the same: The labs don’t match the symptoms, and the treatments fall short.

If your intuition is telling you something’s off — even when the test results say otherwise — you’re not imagining it. The key is knowing where to look and how to measure what’s really going on. That’s where bioenergetic researcher Georgi Dinkov’s work comes in. He’s uncovering a deeper layer of hormone disruption that could explain exactly what’s keeping you stuck.


Video Link

Estrogen Builds in Your Cells, Not Your Bloodstream

In the video interview above, Dinkov explained a significant blind spot in hormone testing: most doctors measure what’s circulating in your blood but not what’s building up inside your cells.1 Dinkov referenced a study analyzing hair samples from women, drawn from a cohort of 196 women ages 25 to 45.2

According to Dinkov, the study found that estrogen levels increased with age at the tissue level, while key protective hormones like progesterone, thyroid hormone (T3), pregnenolone, and DHEA steadily declined. Hair is made of dead cells and reflects long-term accumulation, which makes it a useful marker for what’s happening inside your tissues over months — not just in the blood for a single moment.

• Blood tests miss the full picture, leading to misdiagnosis — Dinkov emphasized that conventional lab testing fails to detect estrogen overload because blood levels don’t reflect what’s stored in your tissues. Even though your ovaries are failing and blood estradiol levels drop, every other cell in your body can still make estrogen — and they do, he explained.

This means that symptoms like fatigue, swelling, breast tenderness, and even breast cancer are often still estrogen-driven, even when your labs show low estrogen. Blood tests are only showing what’s circulating, not what’s stuck in your tissues, and that’s where estrogen may cause harm.

• Symptoms of estrogen dominance are wrongly blamed on deficiency — Many women are told they need estrogen replacement because their blood levels appear low. But Dinkov warned, “The most popular kind of breast cancer is estrogen receptor-positive. How can you have an estrogen-driven disease if you’re deficient in estrogen?”

He pointed out that tissue estrogen is often high in menopausal women, and that hormone therapy based solely on bloodwork often makes things worse. Estrogen dominance symptoms — like water retention, fatigue, insomnia, and infertility — aren’t signs of deficiency. They’re signs your body is overloaded, and your doctor just isn’t seeing it.

• Hair and nail testing offer a better picture of long-term hormone exposure — According to Dinkov, each half-inch of hair growth reflects about one month of internal biochemistry. This makes it a powerful tool for uncovering chronic hormonal imbalances. Unlike bloodwork, which only captures a moment in time and fluctuates wildly based on stress or food intake, hair and nail analysis shows trends, giving you data you can actually act on.

Tissue Testing Reveals Patterns That Explain Unresolved Health Issues

Dinkov described how many people come to his lab saying, “Something’s not right, but my doctor says all my tests are normal.” In many cases, he finds hidden overloads of estrogen, serotonin, or heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and titanium. Titanium dioxide is in many drugs and supplements, and even tiny doses may increase diabetes risk, he said. Because these substances build up gradually, they’re often missed by blood tests but are detectable in hair or nail analysis.

• Serotonin and histamine track closely with estrogen in stressed or inflamed states — Dinkov noted that elevated serotonin and histamine often show up alongside estrogen in hair and nail samples. These biochemicals all share overlapping pathways that reflect systemic stress and immune activation, he explained.

High serotonin levels are often falsely celebrated as good, but chronically elevated serotonin contributes to inflammation, suppressed metabolism, and gut dysfunction. Similarly, histamine overload mimics allergy symptoms or anxiety, but it’s often a byproduct of deeper biochemical chaos linked to estrogen overload.

• Declining thyroid hormone worsens estrogen buildup — Thyroid hormone T3 plays a key role in metabolizing estrogen and clearing it from tissues. In the study referenced by Dinkov, T3 levels steadily declined with age, right alongside progesterone and DHEA.3

This sets the stage for estrogen to accumulate, because your body lacks the metabolic drive to get rid of it. When thyroid output slows down, estrogen builds up faster, and has been associated with a range of effects, from low energy to mood instability to abnormal cell growth.

• Blood test snapshots miss the bigger picture — Dinkov shared that steroid levels fluctuate minute-by-minute, especially during stressful doctor visits. Some people get nervous and their cortisol spikes, others feel fine at the clinic but are actually under chronic stress the rest of the time.

What matters isn’t your hormone levels during a 10-minute appointment — it’s the pattern over weeks or months. That’s what hair shows you. With each strand, you can trace your biochemical state month by month, uncover what triggered past symptoms, and start making informed changes that actually match your biology.

How to Stop Estrogen, Histamine, and Serotonin from Hijacking Your Health

If your hormones feel “off,” but your labs keep coming back normal, it’s not your imagination — it’s the testing. What’s in your blood isn’t always what’s in your tissues.

Most hormone panels miss the estrogen, serotonin, and histamine that get stuck inside your cells, where they quietly may affect your energy, fertility, mood, and metabolism. If you’re stuck in that frustrating loop — bloated, wired, exhausted, or inflamed — it’s time to shift your strategy. Here’s how to get to the root of what’s actually happening and start undoing the damage.

1. Start with a tissue-level test and get your prolactin checked — If you’ve been told your estrogen is low but still feel estrogen-dominant, you need a better way to measure what’s really happening. Hair or nail analysis gives you a timeline of hormone buildup in your tissues, month by month, allowing you to track stored estrogen, serotonin, cortisol, and even heavy metals.

On top of that, check your prolactin levels. High prolactin is a marker of excess estrogen activity, even when your estrogen looks low on a blood test. If your prolactin is elevated and your thyroid is low, that’s a red flag your cells are swimming in estrogen. This step alone helps you stop chasing the wrong diagnosis and finally start correcting the right imbalance. Talk to your healthcare provider about whether this testing is appropriate for you.

2. Eliminate the things that mimic estrogen — Most people are unknowingly loading their bodies with estrogen-like chemicals from everyday products. Vegetable oils — like canola, soybean, and sunflower — are high in linoleic acid (LA), which promotes estrogen dominance by potentially impairing thyroid function, slowing estrogen detox, and reducing mitochondrial energy production.

Keep your LA intake between 2 and 5 grams per day — the historical norm before industrial seed oil consumption rose, and a level your body still needs for healthy mitochondrial function.

At the same time, ditch endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) lurking in plastics, personal care products, and cleaning supplies. Swap out anything with parabens, phthalates, and synthetic fragrance. Store food in glass. Drink from stainless steel or glass bottles. Don’t microwave food in plastic, and filter your tap water to reduce microplastic exposure.

3. Stop feeding the gut bacteria that keep this cycle going — Estrogen, histamine, and serotonin all get recycled and amplified in your gut, especially if you’re overfeeding oxygen-tolerant bacteria. Beans, leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, and whole grains all ferment quickly and feed the wrong microbes when your gut is compromised.

That drives more bloating, inflammation, and gas. If you have a damaged gut, focus on whole fruit and white rice, which digest cleanly without fermenting too fast. Then, gradually introduce higher-fiber foods that you can tolerate.

Avoid high-histamine foods (like fermented vegetables, leftover meats, or aged cheeses) while your system resets. You’ll also want to support liver detox with collagen-rich foods like gelatin or bone broth — this helps clear out excess histamine and serotonin before they build up in your tissues again.

4. If you’re using hormonal therapies, reassess your load — If you’re on estrogen-based hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or birth control, step back and look at the bigger picture. Bioidentical or not, you’re still adding to your estrogen load. And if your tissues are already saturated, more estrogen — especially without enough progesterone to balance it — just adds fuel to the fire.

Consider switching to natural methods that support your body’s own hormonal rhythm. If you’re in perimenopause or menopause, natural progesterone is especially helpful. It opposes estrogen, stabilizes your mood, and supports your thyroid. This isn’t about giving up support — it’s about choosing the kind that restores your body instead of flooding it.

5. Clear out the estrogen you’ve already stored — To lower your tissue estrogen load, support your body with natural progesterone. Progesterone acts as a natural antagonist to estrogen, helping to balance its effects. Given the tendency toward estrogen dominance, incorporating natural progesterone may help restore a more balanced hormonal ratio.

Once you shift your focus to what’s happening inside your tissues — and not just what shows up in your blood — you’ll finally understand why the old strategies stopped working. And more importantly, you’ll know exactly what to do next.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your health regimen.

FAQs About Estrogen, Histamine, Serotonin, and Endotoxin

Q: Why do my hormone blood tests say I’m low in estrogen, even though I feel estrogen dominant?

A: Because blood tests only measure what’s circulating at that moment — not what’s trapped inside your tissues. Estrogen often builds up inside cells, where it continues to exert strong biological effects. If you’re experiencing symptoms like fatigue, breast tenderness, water retention, or mood swings, you’re likely dealing with high tissue estrogen, even if your lab work says otherwise.

Q: How do histamine, serotonin, and endotoxin relate to estrogen overload?

A: These compounds often rise together and create a compounding effect. Elevated histamine and serotonin worsen symptoms like anxiety, gut issues, and sleep problems. Endotoxins, which come from gut bacteria, amplify the cycle by driving inflammation and hormonal disruption. Estrogen slows gut motility, which increases endotoxin exposure, setting off a cascade of biochemical stressors.

Q: What’s the most accurate way to measure what’s happening with my hormones?

A: Hair and nail analysis may provide a timeline of your tissue hormone levels over weeks or months, something blood tests can’t capture. This method reveals chronic overloads of estrogen, cortisol, serotonin, and even heavy metals, giving you actionable insights into what’s really going on inside your body.

In addition, prolactin is a useful marker of estrogen activity, since estrogen stimulates prolactin production. If your prolactin is high, especially alongside low thyroid, it’s a strong sign that your estrogen load is elevated at the tissue level.

Q: What can I do to lower my estrogen load and feel better?

A: Start by removing vegetable oils (like soybean and canola), which promote estrogen dominance, and avoid endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in plastics and personal care products. Support detox with collagen-rich foods and avoid high-histamine or fermentable foods that feed harmful gut bacteria. Use natural progesterone to help counter estrogen’s harmful effects and support hormonal balance.

Q: Should I be using estrogen-based therapies like birth control or HRT?

A: If your tissues are already overloaded with estrogen, adding more — even if it’s “bioidentical” — worsens the imbalance. Estrogen-based therapies should be reassessed, especially if you’re dealing with unresolved symptoms. Natural progesterone is a safer, more supportive option for rebalancing your hormonal ratio and protecting your thyroid and metabolism.

Posted in Endotoxin, Estrogen, Histamine, Hormones, Linoleic Acid, Serotonin | No Comments »

Posted by: | Posted on: October 5, 2025

Adenomyosis Is a Hidden, Estrogen-Driven Cause of Severe Period Pain


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/08/23/adenomyosis-symptoms-causes-natural-treatment.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     August 23, 2025

adenomyosis symptoms causes natural treatment

Story at-a-glance

  • Adenomyosis is often mistaken for bad period pain or endometriosis, but it involves tissue growing into the uterine muscle, causing swelling, heavy bleeding, and knife-like cramps
  • Many women suffer for years without a diagnosis because doctors misinterpret symptoms or rely on outdated assumptions that the condition only affects older women
  • Research shows adenomyosis leads to serious complications like infertility, miscarriage, preeclampsia, and dangerously low hemoglobin levels requiring emergency transfusions
  • Estrogen overload is the main driver of adenomyosis, and it’s made worse by birth control, plastics, vegetable oils, and hormone-disrupting chemicals found in everyday products
  • You can start reversing estrogen dominance naturally by cutting synthetic hormones, avoiding xenoestrogens, restoring metabolism with the right carbs, and using natural progesterone

If your period pain feels unbearable — like a deep, throbbing ache or stabbing cramps that knock the wind out of you — it’s not something to brush off. Pain that severe isn’t normal. For millions of women, it’s the body’s warning signal for something deeper that’s often misunderstood or completely missed.

You’ve likely been told that heavy bleeding, pelvic pressure, and fatigue are just part of being a woman. But what if those symptoms point to a disease that’s quietly hijacking your uterus and flooding your body with inflammation? That’s the reality for countless women who are dismissed, misdiagnosed, or left in the dark for years, sometimes decades. This condition, known as adenomyosis, doesn’t always show up clearly on a scan.

It’s not taught well in medical school. And it’s rarely mentioned in mainstream conversations about women’s health. But it’s there, silently reshaping lives, month after month. I want to walk you through what the research now shows — why it happens, who’s at risk, and what your options actually are. The science is evolving fast, and the data is clear: you don’t have to live like this. Let’s take a look at the overlooked patterns and newest discoveries about this underdiagnosed disease.

Most Women Are Told Their Pain Is Normal — It Isn’t

From the women suffering through debilitating cramps to the doctors mislabeling it as “just a bad period,” an article in The Hearty Soul pulls back the curtain on how widespread yet invisible adenomyosis is.1 It presents differently from endometriosis and takes a devastating toll on a woman’s social life, mental well-being, and ability to function day to day.

• Symptoms often mimic other conditions, which causes many women to go undiagnosed — Unlike endometriosis, adenomyosis causes the uterine wall itself to thicken and expand, sometimes doubling or tripling in size. Women describe the pain as knife-like cramping that strikes during menstruation, along with painful sex, bloating, pelvic pressure, and severe bleeding that disrupts quality of life.

There’s a cultural normalization of these symptoms, but just because menstrual pain is common doesn’t mean it’s normal.

• Doctors often dismiss or misinterpret these symptoms, further delaying diagnosis — Gynecologist Dr. Shamitha Kathurusinghe, who points out that many doctors are themselves misinformed: “There’s a lot of misinformation because there’s a lot of misunderstanding that comes from messaging that doctors are getting.” That means women aren’t just being ignored — they’re being actively misled into thinking their symptoms don’t warrant investigation.

• The lack of awareness creates a cycle of isolation and suffering — Many women miss work, cancel plans, and lose relationships because of the unpredictability and severity of their symptoms. Yet they often remain silent out of embarrassment or fear of being labeled “dramatic.”

• Adenomyosis doesn’t always come with symptoms, making it harder to catch early — The condition is often silent for years, only showing up after other reproductive complications arise. But when it does cause symptoms, it mimics endometriosis or fibroids, which complicates diagnosis and treatment decisions.

Younger Women Are Now at Risk — and Doctors Aren’t Catching It

A review published in the Journal of Clinical Medicine revealed just how often adenomyosis is missed or misunderstood in clinical settings.2 The paper compiled data from dozens of high-quality studies to explore how adenomyosis affects everything from fertility to miscarriage risk. The review focused on women of reproductive age and made clear that current diagnostic and treatment approaches are still not consistent, even among specialists.

• Adenomyosis is now being found in much younger women than previously thought — The conventional view has been that this condition primarily affects women in their 40s or 50s, especially those who’ve already had children.

But the paper highlighted that focal forms of adenomyosis — where lesions are isolated rather than spread throughout the uterine muscle — are now increasingly being diagnosed in women in their 30s and even younger. These women often present with fertility problems or abnormal bleeding, but their symptoms are dismissed or misattributed to something else.

• There’s a strong link between adenomyosis and pregnancy complications — Women with adenomyosis have a much higher risk of miscarriage, preterm birth, preeclampsia (dangerously high blood pressure during pregnancy), and delivering babies that are smaller than normal for their gestational age.

These risks are especially pronounced when the adenomyosis is diffuse, meaning it spreads across a wider area of the uterus rather than being confined to one spot. This type of tissue growth interferes with the placenta’s ability to attach and develop normally.

• Even though diagnostic tools exist, global guidelines are still not aligned — so your doctor’s advice may depend on where you live — While some countries are adopting advanced classification systems based on imaging criteria, others still lack a formal system to define or grade adenomyosis severity. That means two women with the exact same symptoms often get completely different diagnoses and treatments depending on which clinic or country they visit.

• The biological explanation lies in how the tissue invades the uterine muscle and disrupts its structure — Researchers believe that tissue from the uterine lining becomes embedded in the muscle wall either through mechanical injury — such as from surgery — or through a faulty junction between the endometrium and the myometrium — the inner and outer layers of the uterus.

Once this tissue is inside the muscle, it thickens and swells with each menstrual cycle, causing inflammation, scarring, and impaired uterine function.

• Several theories explain how adenomyosis starts, but most point to a breakdown in your uterine architecture — One theory, called tissue injury and repair, suggests that repeated damage to the uterine lining causes abnormal healing responses, leading to invasion of the muscle by uterine lining cells.

Another theory proposes that stem cells in the uterus misfire and turn into the wrong kind of tissue, embedding themselves where they don’t belong. In either case, the result is the same: a uterus that’s constantly inflamed, structurally compromised, and metabolically inefficient.

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Adenomyosis Isn’t Just Painful — It Leads to Emergency Room Visits

An overview from Johns Hopkins Medicine highlights how adenomyosis becomes medically dangerous, not just inconvenient or uncomfortable.3 While the condition is often brushed off as a heavy period, the article makes clear that some women bleed so much they end up severely anemic, requiring blood transfusions just to restore basic function.

Gynecologic oncologist Dr. Mildred Chernofsky explains that adenomyosis involves tissue that grows into the muscular wall of the uterus and bleeds every month like normal uterine lining. But because it’s trapped in the muscle, it causes inflammation, swelling, and massive blood loss.

• The most severe cases involve hemoglobin levels dropping to life-threatening lows — According to Chernofsky, “I may see patients that bleed until they have a hemoglobin level of 7 grams per deciliter and are extremely anemic.” Normal hemoglobin levels for women range from 12 to 16 g/dL. When blood levels drop this low, women often experience fatigue, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath, and lightheadedness.

• Most women don’t even realize their uterus has enlarged until the symptoms are advanced — The uterus becomes spongy, heavy, and balloon-like. This bloating feels like constant pressure in your lower abdomen or a sense of fullness that doesn’t go away. Yet during physical exams, doctors often don’t recognize the warning signs unless they specifically palpate the uterus and check for size, shape, and density irregularities.

• Diagnosing adenomyosis still depends heavily on imaging, and MRI remains the most accurate tool — While an ultrasound is usually the first step, it’s not always sensitive  enough to pick up on deeper tissue invasion. “MRI provides incredibly high-resolution images and shows us the thickness of the endometrial-myometrial junction,” says Chernofsky. That junction — the boundary where the uterine lining meets the muscle — is usually where the disease starts.

• Adenomyosis often gets confused with two other conditions: endometriosis and fibroids, but the treatments are different — While all three cause pelvic pain and heavy bleeding, they originate in different tissues and require different approaches. Endometriosis involves tissue outside the uterus. Fibroids are benign tumors. Adenomyosis, on the other hand, is diffuse tissue growth inside the uterine wall, and can’t simply be “cut out” the way fibroids sometimes are.

• Surgery is often used as a last resort — Unlike fibroids, adenomyosis tissue spreads throughout the uterus and often has fingerlike projections that invade the muscle. That makes it difficult to remove piece by piece. This means that for women with severe, unrelenting symptoms, removing the uterus becomes conventional medicine’s go-to permanent solution.

How to Stop Feeding the Root Cause of Adenomyosis

If you’ve been dealing with symptoms like heavy bleeding, intense cramping, or a constantly bloated abdomen — and you suspect or know you have adenomyosis — then it’s time to focus on the root of the issue: excess estrogen. Estrogen dominance fuels this disease.4 That includes both the estrogen your body produces and the synthetic or food-based estrogens you’re exposed to without realizing it.

You’re not powerless here. You can start taking control today. The goal is to block what’s driving this disease while rebuilding your energy and restoring balance. If you’re looking to avoid hormonal treatments like birth control pills or you’re looking for alternatives to surgery, these five steps will help you move forward.

1. Cut off the estrogen at the source — If you’re on birth control or hormone replacement therapy, and you’re dealing with adenomyosis symptoms, those drugs are likely making things worse. Synthetic estrogens increase tissue growth inside your uterus.5

You’ll also want to stay far away from plastics, conventional cleaning products, and chemical-laden beauty products — these all contain xenoestrogens, which mimic estrogen in your body. Switch to glass containers, and use natural or homemade personal care and cleaning options.

2. Use natural progesterone to block the damage — Natural progesterone is your anti-estrogen. It doesn’t just relieve symptoms — it actually blocks the effects of both estrogen and cortisol. That’s a powerful combination. But don’t rush into it. If your diet is still holding you back from making energy at the cellular level, progesterone won’t have its full effect. First, rebuild your metabolic foundation.

Once your diet supports mitochondrial energy production, introducing a natural progesterone, as described below, makes a noticeable difference.

3. Fix your metabolism with the right carbs — not fewer — If you’ve been doing keto or low-carb, stop. Shift toward 250 grams of carbs per day, and more if you’re very active. This is what your cells need to make adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the fuel that powers everything from brain function to hormone balance.

Start with white rice and whole fruit. Add well-cooked root vegetables next. Hold off on raw greens, whole grains and beans until your gut is healthy, meaning your bowel habits, bloating, and overall comfort are under control.

4. Filter your toxins, especially vegetable oils — Linoleic acid (LA), the dominant fat in vegetable oils, mimics estrogen, contributing to estrogen dominance. As a result, LA disrupts hormonal balance along with mitochondrial function. Cut out all forms of vegetable oils, including from processed foods, restaurant meals, and even nuts and seeds. Replace them with tallow, grass fed butter, or ghee.

5. Know your prolactin level — Many people believe they’re low in estrogen due to bloodwork, when they actually have high levels in their organs. This is because serum estrogen levels are not representative of estrogen that’s stored in tissues. Estrogen is often low in plasma but high in tissues. Prolactin levels serve as a reliable indicator of estrogen activity, as estrogen directly stimulates your pituitary gland to produce prolactin.

When prolactin levels are elevated, it signals increased estrogen receptor activation, whether from your body’s own estrogen production or environmental exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals in microplastics and other pollutants. This relationship is particularly significant when combined with low thyroid function, making prolactin an important marker for identifying hormonal imbalance.

FAQs About Adenomyosis

Q: What is adenomyosis and how is it different from other conditions like endometriosis or fibroids?

A: Adenomyosis is a condition where the tissue that normally lines your uterus grows into the muscular wall of the uterus itself. This causes the uterus to swell and leads to intense cramps, heavy bleeding, and chronic pelvic pain. Unlike endometriosis (where tissue grows outside the uterus) or fibroids (benign tumors), adenomyosis spreads through the uterine muscle and can’t be removed surgically in the same way.

Q: Why do so many women go undiagnosed with adenomyosis?

A: Doctors often misinterpret adenomyosis symptoms or attribute them to other conditions. Symptoms like painful periods, bloating, and fatigue are frequently dismissed as “normal,” especially in younger women. Additionally, imaging tools like ultrasound don’t always catch the disease. MRI is more accurate but less commonly used, so many women are left undiagnosed or misdiagnosed for years.

Q: What are the long-term risks of untreated adenomyosis?

A: Left untreated, adenomyosis often leads to severe anemia from chronic blood loss, requiring emergency care or blood transfusions. It also increases the risk of pregnancy complications, including miscarriage, preeclampsia, and preterm birth. Over time, the ongoing inflammation and uterine damage leads to reduced fertility and significant declines in quality of life.

Q: What is the root cause of adenomyosis and how do I address it?

A: The underlying driver of adenomyosis is excess estrogen, including both natural estrogen and environmental estrogens from plastics, chemicals, and synthetic hormones. To lower your estrogen load, cut out vegetable oils and processed foods, reduce chemical exposures and birth control pills, use natural progesterone and support your metabolism through strategic dietary shifts and mitochondrial repair.

Q: What steps can I take today to start feeling better?

A: Start by eliminating hormone disruptors like synthetic birth control and chemical-laden products. Shift to a higher-carb, whole-food diet to rebuild your mitochondrial function. Add natural progesterone and monitor prolactin levels to get a more accurate picture of your true estrogen burden and hormonal balance.

Posted in Endometriosis, Estrogen, Fertility, Mitochondria, Nutrition, Progesterone, Women | No Comments »

Posted by: | Posted on: July 3, 2025

Study Finds Elevated Cardiovascular Risk After Early Hysterectomy


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/07/03/early-hysterectomy-cardiovascular-risk.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     July 03, 2025

early hysterectomy cardiovascular risk

Story at-a-glance

  • Hysterectomy is often performed for various gynecologic conditions, yet research shows it significantly alters long-term cardiovascular health, especially when done before age 50 or with ovary removal
  • Data from the Nurses’ Health Studies show hysterectomy raises the risk of heart disease and stroke, even with estrogen therapy, particularly for women undergoing surgery before menopause
  • A major Korean study confirmed that hysterectomy increases stroke risk across all surgical types, suggesting the uterus itself plays a protective role in cardiovascular health, independent of hormone status
  • Hysterectomy may eventually lead to unopposed estrogen activity. Even with normal blood estrogen levels, tissue-level estrogen remains active, which gradually impairs mitochondrial function, metabolism, and overall health
  • Take control of your hormonal balance post-hysterectomy by avoiding vegetable oils, limiting exposure to endocrine disruptors, and considering natural progesterone to counter unopposed estrogen activity

Hysterectomy is one of the most common surgeries for women in the United States. The procedure involves removing the uterus, which means no more periods and no possibility of pregnancy. About 600,000 hysterectomies are done each year, and by the time a woman reaches 60, there’s a one in three chance she’s had one.1

Originally, hysterectomy was developed to treat gynecologic cancers. Today, its use extends beyond malignancies to address other debilitating gynecological conditions, such as chronic pelvic pain, fibroids, endometriosis, heavy menstrual bleeding, and uterine prolapse. Many women undergo the procedure well before menopause, sometimes in their 30s or 40s.2

In some cases, both ovaries are removed at the same time, a procedure called bilateral oophorectomy.3 While the surgery might bring real relief, especially if symptoms are severe, it also raises important questions about what happens when reproductive organs are removed before the body’s ready to shut them down on its own.

Findings from the long-running Nurses’ Health Studies shed light on these consequences, revealing a strong link between hysterectomy and increased cardiovascular risk. The data have prompted experts to take a closer look at how and when the procedure is recommended, particularly for younger women.4

Younger Age at Hysterectomy Raises Cardiovascular Risk, Even with Estrogen Use

The featured study, published in Obstetrics & Gynecology,5 analyzed data from nearly 240,000 women, dividing them into three main groups — those who had no surgery, those who had a hysterectomy alone, and those who had a hysterectomy with bilateral oophorectomy. Each group was further split by whether they used estrogen afterward, to evaluate how hormone therapy might influence long-term outcomes.

• Getting hysterectomies at a younger age increases the risk — The researchers observed that women who underwent hysterectomy before age 50 were more likely to experience major cardiovascular events, such as heart attack, stroke, or bypass surgery, compared to women who didn’t have the surgery. Women who had a hysterectomy before age 46 and didn’t use estrogen had a 21% higher risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) compared to those with no surgery.

• Estrogen use doesn’t fully offset surgical effects — Women who undergo ovary removal or early hysterectomy are often prescribed estrogen to compensate for the sudden drop in hormone production. It’s believed to ease menopausal symptoms and lower some of the health risks linked to hormone loss.

However, the study revealed that even among women who used estrogen after hysterectomy and oophorectomy, those under age 46 still had a 26% increased risk, and those between 46 and 50 faced a slightly lower but still elevated risk. The researchers wrote:

“Younger age at time of hysterectomy, with or without oophorectomy, is associated with higher risk of CVD. Notably, use of estrogen does not appear to mitigate deleterious effects of hysterectomy with oophorectomy before age 50 years.”6

• The risk extends across different age groups — Among women who did not use estrogen and underwent both surgeries, cardiovascular risk was elevated at all ages except in those over 60. Most in this older group were already postmenopausal, which likely explains the difference. These findings suggest a vital window during midlife when the body is especially sensitive to hormonal disruption.

• The pattern points to more than just estrogen loss — While estrogen deficiency has often been blamed for cardiovascular decline after natural or surgical menopause, this study challenges that view. Other pathways, including shifts in hormone ratios, metabolic signaling, and inflammatory responses, may be at play.

While hysterectomy remains an important option for treating severe gynecologic conditions, this study emphasizes the need for careful, individualized decision-making around these surgeries in younger women.

Earlier Korean Study Supports the Link Between the Uterus Removal and CVD

A 2023 study published in JAMA Network Open reinforces the link between early hysterectomy and elevated cardiovascular risk. This large-scale, population-based cohort study from South Korea also set out to examine the long-term cardiovascular risks of hysterectomy by tracking women aged 40 to 49 who underwent reproductive surgery before natural menopause.7

• Early hysterectomy was linked to a higher risk of serious cardiovascular events — In a cohort of over 135,000 women followed for nearly eight years, those who had a hysterectomy before age 50 were more likely to experience major cardiovascular events, including stroke. The incidence rate was 115 per 100,000 person-years in the hysterectomy group, compared to 96 in the control group.

After adjusting for confounding factors, hysterectomy was linked to a 25% increased risk of overall CVD. “These findings suggest that the uterus may have a cardiovascular protective effect in women, independent of female sex hormones,” the authors noted.

• Stroke emerged as the most consistently elevated risk — Even minimally invasive procedures like laparoscopic hysterectomy were associated with a 32% increased risk of stroke compared to those who did not undergo surgery. The consistency of this finding across surgical approaches indicates that simply removing the uterus, regardless of technique, is enough to trigger vascular changes.

• Increased risk persisted despite controlling for other factors — The elevated stroke risk remained significant even after adjusting for common cardiovascular risk variables, including hypertension, diabetes, cholesterol, and hormone therapy. This reinforces the idea that hysterectomy itself may directly influence cardiovascular physiology, rather than just amplifying existing health issues.

• Mechanisms involve disrupted ovarian signaling and changes in blood viscosity — The study outlined two main pathways that may explain the increased cardiovascular risk, even when the ovaries are left in place:

“It has been previously proposed that one of the possible mechanisms is disruption of ovarian blood flow from ovarian ligaments during hysterectomy, which may result in premature ovarian failure. Decreased ovarian blood flow and low ovarian sex steroid levels have been noted after hysterectomy.

… Another possible mechanism is that the loss of menstruation after hysterectomy may result in a hemorheologic deleterious effect. After menopause, an increase in hematocrit levels occurs.

Elevated hematocrit levels are associated with increased blood viscosity, leading to endothelial injury, rupture of plaques by increasing shear stress on the vessel wall, and thrombus formation by red blood cell aggregation, thereby increasing the risk of adverse cardiovascular events.”8

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Preserving the Ovaries Doesn’t Prevent the Effects of Early Hysterectomy

Another earlier study from the Mayo Clinic, published in Menopause,9 reinforces the association between hysterectomy and long-term cardiovascular risk. Unlike earlier research that examined the combined removal of the uterus and ovaries, this study focused specifically on women who retained their ovaries. Despite ovarian conservation, the findings showed that hysterectomy alone was still linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease over time.

• Hysterectomy without oophorectomy still led to increased health risks — The study followed more than 2,094 women in Minnesota who had hysterectomies for benign conditions between 1980 and 2002. According to a Mayo Clinic news release:10

“They found that women undergoing hysterectomy with ovarian conservation were more likely to develop hyperlipidemia, hypertension, obesity, cardiac arrhythmias and coronary artery disease.

Most striking, researchers found that women who underwent hysterectomy with ovarian conservation at or before age 35 had an increased risk of congestive heart failure (4.6-fold increase) and coronary artery disease (2.5-fold increase).”

Dr. Shannon K. Laughlin-Tommaso, the study’s lead author, also added that women between the ages 36 and 50 who had a hysterectomy with their ovaries preserved showed a 1.3-fold increased risk of coronary artery disease, which is an estimated 6% increase in absolute risk.

• The divergence in cardiovascular health didn’t emerge immediately — Instead, differences became clear 20 to 25 years post-surgery, which is around the time most women would naturally reach menopause. This suggests that hysterectomy may set off a slow-moving shift in the body’s regulatory systems, altering the trajectory of aging and disease.

• Ovarian preservation didn’t prevent hormonal disruption — According to Dr. Laughlin-Tommaso, “One theory is that the loss of collateral blood flow to the ovaries caused by a hysterectomy results in decreased ovarian reserve and its sequelae. Or the uterus itself could have a direct, unknown effect on the ovaries.”

• Late-onset effects underscore the need for long-term perspective — Because CVD often develops gradually, the study’s long follow-up period was essential in capturing risk that shorter studies may have missed. Its findings highlight how surgical decisions made in one’s 30s or 40s have ripple effects decades later, altering how and when age-related diseases emerge.

While the authors of this study eventually recommended hormonal treatment to be offered or considered for women who need to undergo a hysterectomy, more recent studies show this strategy doesn’t mitigate the effects.

If you’ve read my previous articles on estrogen, you know I also don’t fully agree that deficiency is the central driver of these outcomes. As I’ll explain below, I believe the more relevant issue lies in how endocrine signaling becomes dysregulated, not depleted, after the cessation of menstruation.

The Hidden Role of Estrogen Imbalance After Hysterectomy

Medical guidelines have long treated estrogen loss as the central concern following natural menopause or surgeries that affect reproductive hormone regulation. This assumption has shaped hormone therapy guidelines for decades and still influences treatment decisions today. But growing evidence shows that the real problem isn’t just how much estrogen is lost — it’s the imbalance that occurs when hormones like progesterone and androgens decline even more.

• In women who have undergone hysterectomy, hormonal imbalance often begins with disrupted ovulation — Even when the ovaries are left intact, removing the uterus can alter ovarian blood flow and hormonal signaling, leading to less consistent ovulation or earlier ovarian decline. Since progesterone is produced only after ovulation, its levels fall first.11 This creates a state of estrogen dominance as progesterone wanes.

• Unopposed estrogen disrupts tissue function and energy metabolism — Estrogen plays essential roles in the body, but without progesterone to moderate its effects, it alters cell behavior. It raises intracellular calcium, impairs mitochondria, and increases receptor sensitivity, which promotes oxidative stress, reduces metabolic flexibility, and strains cardiovascular function.

• Hormone ratios are key to understanding risk — A 2024 study in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism found that women using estrogen-based hormone replacement therapy (HRT) had:12

◦Fourfold to sevenfold higher concentrations of estrone and estradiol in both subcutaneous and visceral fat compared to non-users.

◦About 30% lower testosterone levels in visceral fat, despite similar total serum testosterone across groups.

◦Lower levels of free (bioavailable) testosterone in blood compared to women not on HRT.

◦Estrogen-to-androgen ratios that were nine to 12 times higher in subcutaneous fat and four to six times higher in visceral fat.

• Fat tissue reveals a hidden layer of estrogen dominance — These findings suggest that estrogen-based HRT doesn’t just raise estrogen levels overall but also creates a strong estrogen-dominant environment specifically within fat tissue. This shift is especially pronounced in both subcutaneous and visceral fat and isn’t always visible through standard blood tests.

That matters because fat tissue plays an active role in regulating inflammation, insulin sensitivity, and blood vessel function. When estrogen overwhelms androgens locally, it alters how fat behaves in ways that affect metabolism and cardiovascular health. In other words, hormone balance inside fat, not just in blood, could be a key factor in understanding the long-term risks and benefits of HRT.

•Estrogen dominance occurs even without hormone therapy — Georgi Dinkov, a respected expert in metabolic health, provided commentary on the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study. He noted that your progesterone-to-estrogen ratio should fall between 200 and 500 for optimal hormonal balance. Anything below 100 is considered estrogen-dominant.

Yet in the non-HRT group, Dinkov calculated strikingly low ratios — 16 in blood serum, 20 in subcutaneous fat, and 38 in visceral fat, which are all well within the range of estrogen dominance. He points out that if these numbers were found in premenopausal women, they would clearly indicate endocrine imbalance and warrant clinical intervention.13

These suggest that hormonal imbalance after hysterectomy or menopause may already be present before any treatment begins. Adding more estrogen through HRT may not restore balance, but instead deepen the mismatch. For women who have undergone hysterectomy, particularly at younger ages, this may help explain why estrogen therapy doesn’t fully protect against CVD and might even reinforce the underlying physiological stress.

For a deeper look at how hormonal imbalances linked to the cessation of menstruation impact overall health, see the article “Menopause and the Influence of Estrogen Dominance.”

Taking Control of Your Estrogen Balance Post-Hysterectomy

Managing hormonal health after hysterectomy, especially when the procedure occurs before natural menopause, involves more than replacing hormones that are assumed to be lost. What matters more is how the endocrine system recalibrates in the absence of uterine-ovarian signaling and menstrual cycling.

The good news is that you have meaningful control over this hormonal landscape. Many of the most impactful changes come from day-to-day decisions, not prescriptions. The steps below support hormone balance naturally and help reduce the effects of unopposed estrogen.

1. Know your prolactin level — Many people assume they’re low in estrogen based on blood tests, when in reality, estrogen levels can be high within tissues and organs. That’s because serum measurements don’t reflect how much estrogen is stored or active at the tissue level. Estrogen may appear low in plasma but still be elevated in fat, liver, or other sites. Prolactin serves as a more reliable marker of estrogen activity.

Estrogen stimulates the pituitary gland to release prolactin, so elevated prolactin levels often indicate heightened estrogen receptor activation, whether from internal hormone production or external exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) found in plastics, cosmetics, and other pollutants. This becomes especially meaningful when paired with low thyroid function, making prolactin a valuable signal of broader hormonal imbalance.

2. Eliminate vegetable oils in your diet — Seed oils are high in linoleic acid (LA) and other polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs), which mimic estrogen and disrupt mitochondrial function. These oils are prevalent in processed foods and restaurant meals. Aim to keep your LA intake below 5 grams per day — 2 grams or less is even better.

To monitor your intake, use an online nutrition tracker like my upcoming Health Coach app, which launches in early July. It features Seed Oil Sleuths™, a built-in tool that scans restaurant menus and grocery items, calculates your daily seed oil exposure to the nearest tenth of a gram, and helps you stay on track effortlessly. Scan the QR code below to join the early-access list and be first in line for smarter, cleaner eating.

download mercola health coach app

3. Become a conscious consumer of everyday products — Nearly 1,000 everyday items are laced with estrogen-mimicking compounds, including xenoestrogens. These endocrine disruptors are found in microplastics, personal care products, and common household cleaners.

To lower your exposure, opt for natural or organic personal care items and check labels for ingredients like parabens and phthalates. Replace conventional cleaners with simple, nontoxic options such as vinegar, baking soda, and essential oils.

Importantly, reduce your reliance on plastic, especially for food and beverages. Choose glass or stainless steel, and do not heat food in plastic containers; heat accelerates chemical leaching. Filter your tap water to remove microplastics. If you use bottled water, go for glass. For hard tap water, boiling it for five minutes significantly cuts down microplastic levels.

4. Reconsider estrogen-based therapies and contraceptives — Take a closer look at your use of estrogen-containing HRT or birth control pills, as they contribute to estrogen dominance. Consider alternatives that support your body’s natural hormonal balance. Even bioidentical estrogen, despite being labeled “natural,” still adds to your overall estrogen load.

5. Consider natural progesterone to counter estrogen — For those reaching perimenopause and menopause, whether naturally or due to hysterectomy, natural progesterone is a particularly helpful consideration. Progesterone acts as a natural antagonist to estrogen, helping to balance its effects. Given the tendency toward estrogen dominance, incorporating natural progesterone helps restore a more balanced hormonal ratio.

For more tips on supporting hormonal balance, check out “Unlocking the Secrets of Hormone Health and Vitality.”

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Early Hysterectomy

Q: Does having a hysterectomy increase the risk of heart disease?

A: Yes. Multiple long-term studies, such as the research published in Obstetrics & Gynecology, show a clear link between hysterectomy, especially when performed before age 50, and increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. The risk is even higher when the ovaries are also removed.

Q: Does hysterectomy cause early menopause?

A: If the ovaries are removed, menopause begins immediately. But even with ovarian conservation, many women experience earlier ovarian decline after hysterectomy due to disrupted blood flow or hormonal signaling. This can lead to symptoms and risks similar to premature menopause.

Q: Does estrogen therapy prevent heart disease after hysterectomy?

A: Not fully. While estrogen therapy may help reduce menopausal symptoms and some short-term risks, recent studies show it does not completely offset the long-term cardiovascular effects of early hysterectomy.

Q: Why does estrogen dominance matter after hysterectomy?

A: If the ovaries are removed during hysterectomy, estrogen and progesterone levels drop sharply. If the ovaries are preserved, both hormones typically continue to be produced as long as ovulation continues. However, some studies suggest that hysterectomy impairs ovarian blood flow or accelerates ovarian aging, which could eventually reduce hormone output sooner than expected.

In women who stop ovulating, whether due to menopause or surgical effects, progesterone production falls, leaving estrogen unopposed. This unopposed estrogen activity, especially when amplified by estrogen made in fat tissue, may contribute to increased risks of cardiovascular disease, metabolic dysfunction, and estrogen-sensitive conditions. These risks may be higher when hysterectomy is done before natural menopause.

Q: What can I do after a hysterectomy to protect my heart health?

A: Focus on restoring hormonal balance and supporting metabolic health. This includes optimizing endocrine function, reducing estrogen-mimicking exposures, supporting mitochondrial resilience through nutrition, and considering natural progesterone supplementation.

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Posted by: | Posted on: May 15, 2025

Lupus Facts and Fictions


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/05/15/lupus-facts-and-fictions.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     May 15, 2025

lupus facts and fictions

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that most often affects your skin, joints, kidneys and heart
  • Lupus causes inflammation and a wide range of symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, skin rashes and fever
  • Lupus can affect connective tissues in the body, which are largely composed of collagen
  • Inadequate vitamin D levels are common in people with systemic lupus
  • Addressing cellular energy deficiency and estrogen dominance may help you overcome and manage lupus

Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system attacks its own tissues and organs. Most often, lupus affects your skin, joints, kidneys and heart, but other parts of your body, including your skin, eyes and digestive system, can also be affected.1

Lupus causes inflammation that can be widespread and may affect multiple organ systems simultaneously, leading to a wide range of symptoms such as fatigue, joint pain, skin rashes and fever. In the U.S., an estimated 1.5 million Americans have lupus. Globally, at least 5 million people are affected.2 While the exact causes are unknown, addressing cellular energy deficiency and estrogen dominance may help.

4 Main Types of Lupus

While anyone can develop lupus, including children and men, it’s much more common in women. Among those affected, 9 out of 10 are women, with most developing the condition between the ages of 15 and 44. About 1 in 3 lupus patients also suffer from multiple autoimmune diseases.3

However, it’s a myth that there’s only one type of lupus.4 In fact, there are four primary forms of the disease:5

1. Systemic lupus — This is the most common form of lupus, accounting for about 70% of cases. In about half of these, the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain or another major organ or tissue is affected.

2. Cutaneous lupus — This form of lupus primarily affects the skin and accounts for only about 10% of cases. It includes several subtypes, including discoid lupus, which is characterized by chronic, disc-shaped and raised lesions on the skin, often leaving scars. Another subtype, subacute cutaneous lupus, features red, scaly skin lesions that typically do not cause scarring but can be widespread.

3. Drug-induced lupus — This form of lupus, which accounts for about 10% of cases, is triggered by certain medications. Symptoms are similar to those of systemic lupus but typically resolve once the medication is discontinued.

Most cases of drug-induced lupus are associated with three medications: procainamide (Pronestyl), hydralazine (Apresoline) and quinidine (Quinaglute). However, at least 46 drugs, including those used to treat heart disease, thyroid disease, high blood pressure and neuropsychiatric conditions, as well as antibiotics and anti-inflammatory agents, may cause lupus.6

4. Neonatal lupus — This rare condition affects newborns, typically born to mothers with autoimmune antibodies associated with lupus. Babies with neonatal lupus may have skin rashes, liver problems and low blood cell counts, but symptoms typically resolve after six months. In some cases, newborns with neonatal lupus may develop congenital heart block, a serious heart condition.

What Are the Signs and Symptoms of Lupus?

The signs and symptoms of lupus can vary considerably from person to person and from day to day. Symptoms may come and go and change over time, according to the Lupus Foundation of America.

• A range of common symptoms are frequently reported by individuals with lupus — Some of the most common symptoms include the following. Note that many people affected only experience some of these symptoms, not all:7

◦Extreme fatigue

◦Joint pain or swelling

◦Swelling in the hands, feet or around the eyes

◦Headaches

◦Low fevers

◦Sensitivity to sunlight or fluorescent lights

◦Chest pain when breathing deeply

• Skin and hair-related issues are also frequent in lupus — Skin and hair problems are also common, including hair loss, sores in the mouth or nose and a butterfly-shaped rash on the cheeks and nose.

• Raynaud’s disease is a common co-occurring condition in people with systemic lupus — Many people with systemic lupus also experience Raynaud’s disease, characterized by episodic constriction of the small blood vessels in the extremities, such as the fingers and toes, in response to cold or stress.

• Raynaud’s symptoms include color changes and numbness due to reduced blood flow — This constriction reduces blood flow and can cause the affected areas to turn white or blue and feel cold and numb. As blood flow returns, the areas may turn red and throb or tingle.

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The Collagen Connection

Lupus can affect connective tissues in the body, which are largely composed of collagen. Collagen is a structural protein that provides strength and elasticity to various tissues, including skin, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels. “Lupus can attack tissue, which leads to a loss of collagen in the skin,” the Lupus Foundation of America notes.8

In fact, systemic lupus is sometimes referred to as a collagen vascular disease,9 and research has shown a potential link between collagen deficiency and lupus.

• Siglec-G deficiency worsens lupus and arthritis in mice — One study found that the loss of the inhibitory receptor Siglec-G led to a moderate exacerbation of disease severity and early onset in both collagen-induced arthritis and spontaneous lupus nephritis in mice.10 Siglec-G is a protein found on all B cells, which are a type of immune cell. It acts as an inhibitor to keep the B1 cells from expanding too much.

• Loss of Siglec-G’s inhibitory function worsens disease progression — Overall, losing the inhibitory function of Siglec-G led to a moderate increase in disease severity and an earlier onset of both arthritis and lupus in these mice.

While the research primarily focused on the role of Siglec-G in immune regulation, it highlights how deficiencies in such regulatory mechanisms can exacerbate autoimmune diseases that affect collagen-containing tissues, thereby linking lupus, collagen and immune response regulation.

• Other studies link altered collagen metabolism to lupus progression — Other research found a significant link between altered collagen components and lupus, suggesting that changes in collagen metabolism may play a role in the disease’s manifestation and progression.11

• Bone broth is a natural and cost-effective way to increase collagen intake — One way to increase your intake of collagen is to consume homemade bone broth. Bone broth is made by simmering animal bones and connective tissue, which releases collagen and other nutrients into the broth. While there are plenty of collagen supplements on the market, bone broth is by far the least expensive option.

• Bone broth may help reduce inflammation and joint pain — Bone broth may help reduce joint pain and stiffness,12 as well as inflammation, in part, courtesy of chondroitin sulphates, glucosamine and other compounds extracted from the boiled down cartilage.

To make homemade bone broth, simply place bones in an Instant Pot, fill the pot with pure, filtered water — just enough to cover the bones — add salt and other spices to taste, then set it to cook on high for two hours if the bones are from a concentrated animal feeding operation (CAFO) or four hours if organic and grass fed.

Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels

Inadequate vitamin D levels are common in people with systemic lupus.13 Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School also found that vitamin D supplementation for five years reduced autoimmune disease by 22%.14

• Many lupus patients have vitamin D deficiency or insufficiency — Further, according to researchers in Cairo,15 most patients with systemic lupus erythematosus have some level of vitamin D deficiency, defined as a level of 10 ng/mL or less, or insufficiency, a level between 10 and 30 ng/mL.

• Sun exposure is the ideal way to obtain vitamin D — I strongly recommend getting your vitamin D from proper sun exposure, if possible, as it provides benefits beyond vitamin D optimization. Higher levels of vitamin D may even serve as a marker for healthy sun exposure, which in turn may be responsible for many of the health benefits, which include reduced risk of cancer and increased longevity, attributed to vitamin D.

• Sunlight supports melatonin production and other vital processes — Regular sun exposure, for instance, enhances production of melatonin — a potent anticancer agent.16 However, if you’re unable to get adequate sun exposure each day, vitamin D supplementation may be necessary.

The global prevalence of vitamin D deficiency (defined as a level of less than 20 ng/mL) and insufficiency (defined as a level of 20 to less than 30 ng/mL) is 40% to 100%,17 so many people are lacking.

•Vitamin D levels above 20 ng/mL are still not optimal — Further, 20 ng/mL has repeatedly been shown to be grossly insufficient for good health and disease prevention, which means the true prevalence of people without optimal levels of vitamin D is even greater. The only way to determine how much sun exposure is enough and/or how much vitamin D3 you need to take is to measure your vitamin D level, ideally twice a year.

Once you’ve confirmed your vitamin D levels via testing, adjust your sun exposure and/or vitamin D3 supplementation accordingly. Then, remember to retest in three to four months to make sure you’ve reached your target level.

The optimal level for health and disease prevention is between 60 ng/mL and 80 ng/mL (150 to 200 nmol/L), while the cutoff for sufficiency appears to be around 40 ng/mL. In Europe, the measurements you’re looking for are 150 to 200 nmol/L and 100 nmol/L respectively.

Address Excess Estrogen and Linoleic Acid

Most people have dysfunctional mitochondria, and if you don’t have enough mitochondria, you can’t create cellular energy efficiently enough to ward off chronic diseases, including autoimmune diseases like lupus. Optimizing your mitochondrial function is one of the most important strategies to optimize your cellular energy, so it’s at the core of almost everything that you do to improve your health.

Excess intake of linoleic acid (LA) — found in the seed oils used in most ultraprocessed foods — and estrogen dominance, I believe, are the leading contributors to mitochondrial dysfunction. Further, according to the Cleveland Clinic, “Reactions to certain hormones in your body (especially estrogen) may make you more likely to develop lupus.”18

Exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) is another contributing factor to mitochondrial dysfunction. However, LA and estrogen negatively impact your body in similar ways. They both:

  • Increase free radicals that cause oxidative stress and damage your mitochondria’s ability to produce energy
  • Increase calcium inside the cell that causes an increase in nitric oxide and superoxide that increases peroxynitrite that also increases oxidative stress
  • Cause an increase in intracellular water causing your body to retain water
  • Slow down your metabolic rate and suppress your thyroid gland

“Lupus is often triggered during times of physical and emotional stress combined with a nutrient-poor inflammatory diet,” Dr. Brooke Goldner, an autoimmune professor at Cornell University, who has lupus, told Fox News.19

In addition to lowering your LA intake by avoiding ultraprocessed foods, seed oils, chicken, pork, seeds and nuts, focus on reducing your stress, as chronic stress promotes cortisol release, which is a potent suppressor of mitochondrial function and biogenesis. Progesterone can be quite helpful here, as it’s a potent cortisol blocker.

How to Counteract Estrogen Excess with Progesterone

Before you consider using progesterone it is important to understand that it is not a magic bullet and you get the most benefit by implementing a Bioenergetic diet approach that allows you to effectively burn glucose as your primary fuel with backing up electrons in your mitochondria that reduces your energy production. My new book, “Your Guide to Cellular Health: Unlocking the Science of Longevity and Joy,” covers this process in great detail.

• Transmucosal progesterone is a natural estrogen antagonist — Once you have dialed in your diet, an effective strategy that can help counteract estrogen excess is to take transmucosal progesterone (not oral or transdermal), which is a natural estrogen antagonist. Progesterone is one of only three hormones I believe many adults can benefit from. (The other two are DHEA and pregnenolone.)

• Avoid transdermal progesterone due to conversion to other compounds — I do not recommend transdermal progesterone, as your skin expresses high levels of 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which causes a significant portion of the progesterone you’re taking to be irreversibly converted primarily into allopregnanolone and cannot be converted back into progesterone.

• Recommended dose and timing of progesterone for best results — As a general recommendation, I recommend taking 25 to 50 mg of bioidentical progesterone per day, taken in the evening about 30 to 60 minutes before bed, as it can also promote sleep.

For optimal bioavailability, progesterone needs to be mixed into natural vitamin E. The difference in bioavailability between taking progesterone orally without vitamin E and taking it with vitamin E is 45 minutes versus 48 hours.

• Product suggestion and DIY preparation of progesterone mix — You can make your own mixture by dissolving pure USP progesterone powder into one capsule of a high-quality vitamin E, and then rub the mixture on your gums. Fifty milligrams of powdered progesterone is about 1/32 teaspoon.

• Do not use synthetic vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate — the acetate indicates that it’s synthetic) — Natural vitamin E will be labeled “d alpha tocopherol.” This is the pure D isomer, which is what your body can use.

There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer. As an example of an ideal vitamin E you can look at the label on our vitamin E in our store. You can use any brand that has a similar label.

• If you are a menstruating woman — Take the progesterone during the luteal phase or the last half of your cycle which can be determined by starting 10 days after the first day of your period and stopping the progesterone when your period starts.

• If you are a male or non-menstruating woman — Take the progesterone every day for four to six months and then cycle off for one week. The best time of day to take progesterone is about 30 to 60 minutes before bed, as it has an anti-cortisol function and will increase GABA levels for a good night’s sleep.

Please note that when progesterone is used transmucosally on your gums as I advise, the FDA believes that somehow converts it into a drug and prohibits any company from advising that on its label. However, please understand that it is perfectly legal for any physician to prescribe an off-label indication for a drug.

In this case progesterone is a natural hormone and not a drug and is very safe even at high doses. This is unlike synthetic progesterone, called progestins, that are used by drug companies, but frequently, and incorrectly, referred to as progesterone, which are dangerous and should never be used by anyone.

You Can Often Manage Lupus with a Healthy Lifestyle

By addressing cellular energy deficiency, you can often heal medical issues and get back to a healthy state. As Goldner told Fox News, “Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise, healthy eating and stress management can help improve the quality of life for people with lupus.” She suggests people “embrace taking control of all the variables they can manage, like how they eat, sleep and manage stress with self-care, so they can minimize illness and maximize recovery and remission.”20

Along those lines, ginger, which is easy to grow at home, is a top anti-inflammatory nutrient. It has been shown to bolster immune system function and ameliorate autoimmune diseases such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis by making neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) more resistant to neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation, which is known to propel inflammation and contribute to autoimmune diseases.21

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About Lupus

Q: What is lupus, and who is most at risk?

A: Lupus is a chronic autoimmune disease that causes the immune system to attack the body’s tissues, often affecting the skin, joints, kidneys, and heart. It primarily affects women between the ages of 15 and 44. There are four main types: systemic, cutaneous, drug-induced, and neonatal lupus.

Q: What are the common symptoms of lupus?

A: Lupus symptoms vary but often include fatigue, joint pain, headaches, fevers, and skin rashes. Hair loss, mouth sores, and a butterfly rash are also common. Many patients also develop Raynaud’s disease, which causes color changes and numbness in the fingers and toes due to poor blood flow.

Q: How are collagen and vitamin D connected to lupus?

A: Lupus can damage collagen-rich tissues, contributing to disease progression. Bone broth may help support collagen levels naturally. Vitamin D deficiency is common in lupus and may worsen symptoms. Sun exposure is ideal for boosting vitamin D, but testing is needed to find and maintain optimal levels.

Q: What role do estrogen and linoleic acid play in lupus development?

A: Excess estrogen and linoleic acid (from seed oils and processed foods) may impair mitochondrial function, increasing lupus risk. They promote oxidative stress, water retention, and metabolic suppression. Cutting back on these and managing stress can support cellular energy and reduce symptoms.

Q: Can progesterone help manage estrogen excess and lupus symptoms?

A: Yes. Transmucosal bioidentical progesterone is a safe, natural way to balance estrogen and improve sleep. It’s best taken with natural vitamin E. Avoid synthetic versions and follow a hormone-aligned schedule. Unlike synthetic progestins, bioidentical progesterone is well-tolerated and effective.

Posted in Estrogen, Linoleic Acid, Lupus, Sunlight, Vitamins | No Comments »

Posted by: | Posted on: April 21, 2025

Menopause and the Influence of Estrogen Dominance


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/04/12/menopause-and-influence-of-estrogen-dominance.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     April 12, 2025

menopause and influence of estrogen dominance

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • Contrary to conventional belief, research shows menopausal women often experience estrogen dominance rather than deficiency, with high estrogen levels in tissues despite lower blood measurements
  • A 2024 study revealed hormone replacement therapy (HRT) dramatically increases estrogen in fat tissues, creating a hormonal environment heavily skewed toward estrogen relative to androgens
  • Optimal hormonal health depends on the ratio between progesterone and estrogen, with many menopausal women showing ratios indicative of estrogen dominance even without HRT
  • Estrogen has a dual nature: essential for many bodily functions but problematic when in excess; increased exposure to environmental factors, like linoleic acid in seed oils and endocrine-disrupting chemicals in microplastics, raise estrogen levels
  • Managing menopause naturally involves tracking prolactin levels, eliminating seed oils, avoiding estrogen-mimicking chemicals in everyday products and considering natural progesterone supplementation

For countless women, the word “menopause” is associated with the phrase “low estrogen.” This is the narrative many have been told, the explanation offered when hot flashes strike, sleep becomes elusive or moods swing unpredictably. Conventional medicine largely operates on this premise, with hormone replacement therapy (HRT) frequently prescribed to replenish what is believed to be lost — estrogen.

But what if this long-accepted understanding of menopause isn’t the complete picture? Research is increasingly questioning the singular focus on estrogen deficiency, suggesting instead a more nuanced reality. Studies indicate that estrogen levels in menopausal women aren’t plummeting across the board. In fact, levels are often surprisingly high in certain tissues, even as circulating blood levels suggest otherwise.

This challenges the assumption that simply replacing “lost” estrogen through HRT is an appropriate solution. Indeed, boosting estrogen further, when it’s already abundant in tissues, creates imbalances. It’s important to understand what’s really happening with hormones during menopause, and why a more informed perspective could change how you approach your own health journey.

HRT Use Leads to Significant Estrogen Increase in Fat Tissue

A 2024 study published in The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism sought to understand how HRT affects sex hormones in postmenopausal women.1 Researchers were particularly interested in examining hormone concentrations not just in the bloodstream but also directly within adipose tissue, commonly known as body fat.

• The study involved postmenopausal women with and without HRT — This research involved 63 postmenopausal women, some using oral HRT and others not.

Scientists measured concentrations of key sex hormones like estrone, estradiol, progesterone and testosterone, in both their subcutaneous fat (fat just under the skin) and visceral fat (deeper abdominal fat), as well as in their blood serum. The findings indicated that HRT dramatically elevates estrogen levels specifically within fat tissues while also altering androgen concentrations.

• HRT users showed dramatic increases in estrogen within fat — Women using HRT experienced a fourfold to sevenfold increase in the concentrations of two major estrogens, estrone and estradiol, within both subcutaneous and visceral fat, compared to women not on HRT.

While estrogen soared in fat, testosterone, an androgen hormone, decreased in visceral fat by about 30% in the HRT group compared to the non-HRT group. Although total testosterone levels in the blood remained similar between both groups, the amount of freely circulating testosterone in the blood was lower in the HRT users.

• Estrogen-to-androgen ratios surged in fat tissues with HRT — Further, the researchers calculated the ratios of estrogens to androgens within fat tissue, and the results were striking. In women using HRT, these estrogen-to-androgen ratios were between nine and 12 times higher in subcutaneous fat and four to six times higher in visceral fat when compared to women not using HRT.

• HRT shifted hormone balance to favor estrogen locally in fat — This shift toward estrogen dominance within fat tissue suggests that HRT creates a hormonal environment in fat that’s heavily skewed toward estrogen relative to androgens. Even more granularly, the study noted that in women using HRT, visceral fat had lower concentrations of testosterone compared to women not on HRT.

These findings point toward a significant influence of HRT on what’s called intracrine sex steroid metabolism within adipose tissue. Intracrine metabolism refers to hormone production and action within the cells and tissues themselves, rather than solely relying on hormones circulating in the bloodstream.

The study’s results, particularly the consistently high ratio of estrogen in fat tissue compared to serum even in HRT users, suggest that HRT fundamentally alters how fat tissue processes and metabolizes sex hormones locally.

Menopause Often Involves Estrogen Dominance, Not Deficiency

Georgi Dinkov, a respected expert in metabolic health, provided commentary on The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism study, shifting the focus from estrogen deficiency to estrogen dominance in menopause.2 Dinkov’s analysis emphasizes that looking at hormone ratios, rather than just absolute levels, paints a very different picture of the hormonal landscape during and after menopause.

• Dinkov detailed the hormone levels in women not using HRT (the control group) — Contrary to the common belief that menopausal women are estrogen-deficient, Dinkov points out that the absolute levels of key estrogens — estrone, estradiol and estrone sulfate — measured in these women were not actually low. In fact, their estrogen levels were well within the normal laboratory reference ranges.

• Menopause should not be seen as an estrogen-deficient state — This observation challenges the foundational idea that menopause is fundamentally a condition of estrogen scarcity. Further, hormonal balance isn’t just about the quantity of individual hormones, but about their ratios to one another. In the case of female hormones, the progesterone-to-estrogen ratio is a key indicator of endocrine health.

• For optimal health, this ratio should ideally be quite high, in the range of 200 to 500 — A ratio below 100 is typically considered indicative of estrogen dominance, a state associated with various health problems, including increased risk of hormone-sensitive cancers.3

Upon calculating the progesterone-to-estrogen ratio from the data of the non-HRT group in the study, Dinkov revealed these “healthy” menopausal women already exhibited significant estrogen dominance. In blood serum, the progesterone-to-estrogen ratio was a mere 16. In subcutaneous fat, it was around 20, and in visceral fat, approximately 38.

• Such low ratios would be concerning in premenopausal women — All of these ratios fall well below the optimal range and squarely within the zone of estrogen dominance. Dinkov argues that if these women were premenopausal and presented with such low progesterone-to-estrogen ratios, it would trigger alarm bells, likely leading to a diagnosis of endocrine imbalance and interventions to raise progesterone levels.

Dinkov concludes that the widespread use of estrogenic HRT needs serious reconsideration in light of these findings. If menopausal women already tend toward estrogen dominance — even without HRT—then further increasing estrogen levels with HRT could exacerbate this imbalance, worsening health rather than improving it.

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Estrogen’s Double-Edged Sword — Essential Yet Problematic

A comprehensive review published in Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy highlights the complex role of estrogen in human health.4 Estrogen has a dual nature that’s both necessary for numerous bodily functions and, paradoxically, a driver of disease when its levels are out of balance. In fact, estrogen is far more than just a sex hormone; it’s a key player in overall health and well-being, with effects that span far beyond reproduction.

• Estrogen supports critical body systems but is also disease-linked — Estrogen is involved in maintaining glucose and lipid balance, supporting a robust immune system, ensuring bone strength, promoting cardiovascular health and facilitating healthy brain function. However, the very same estrogen is also implicated in numerous diseases, ranging from infections and autoimmune disorders to metabolic disturbances and degenerative conditions.

• It increases intracellular calcium levels and decreases mitochondrial function — This contradictory nature of estrogen — both life-supporting and harmful — is what the paper calls its “necessary evil” aspect. The point is that both too little and too much estrogen leads to chronic and acute health problems.

• Environmental chemicals increase estrogen dominance — The paper points out that increased exposure to inflammatory agents and endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in your daily environment actually increase estrogen levels, or mimic estrogen’s effects, leading to estrogen dominance.

This surge in estrogen, or estrogen-like activity, then overstimulates estrogen receptors throughout your body, causing harm to tissues, increasing the risk of autoimmune diseases and even fueling the development of cancers.

• Rising rates of hormone-related diseases point to imbalance — The authors suggest that the rising rates of conditions like polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), infertility, breast cancer, ovarian cancer and gynecomastia (breast tissue in males) is an indication that estrogen levels are becoming increasingly imbalanced in the population.

Further, because estrogen interacts intricately with many other hormones, enzymes and metabolic pathways, simply manipulating estrogen levels directly — for example, through HRT— often has unintended and complex consequences. The researchers recommend wise dietary choices and consciously minimizing exposure to harmful chemicals in order to naturally restore and maintain estrogen balance.

Taking Control of Your Estrogen Balance

Managing menopause is less about a simple estrogen “top-up” and more about achieving a balanced hormonal environment in your body. Given the understanding that estrogen dominance, not deficiency, is a key issue for many, a strategic approach is essential.

You have significant power to influence your hormone balance through everyday choices, bypassing the need for conventional hormone therapies altogether. Here are several concrete steps you can take right now to naturally support healthy estrogen levels and counter estrogen dominance.

1. Know your prolactin level — Many people believe they’re low in estrogen due to bloodwork, when they actually have high levels in their organs. This is because serum estrogen levels are not representative of estrogen that’s stored in tissues. Estrogen is often low in plasma but high in tissues. Prolactin levels serve as a reliable indicator of estrogen activity, as estrogen directly stimulates your pituitary gland to produce prolactin.

When prolactin levels are elevated, it signals increased estrogen receptor activation, whether from your body’s own estrogen production or environmental exposures to EDCs in microplastics and other pollutants. This relationship is particularly significant when combined with low thyroid function, making prolactin an important marker for identifying hormonal imbalance.

2. Eliminate seed oils in your diet — Processed foods commonly contain seed oils, rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) like linoleic acid, which mimic estrogen, contributing to estrogen dominance. As a result, PUFAs disrupt hormonal balance and mitochondrial function. Keep your LA intake below 5 grams daily, ideally aiming for less than 2 grams. Use an online nutrition tracker to monitor your intake.

3. Become a conscious consumer of everyday products — Nearly 1,000 everyday items are laced with estrogen-mimicking compounds, including xenoestrogens. These sneaky EDCs are common in microplastics, personal care products and household cleaners.

To minimize your exposure, choose natural and organic personal care products, scrutinizing labels for parabens and phthalates. Swap out conventional cleaners for natural, nontoxic options — vinegar, baking soda and essential oils are safe, simple alternatives.

Importantly, reduce your plastic use, particularly for food and drinks. Favor glass and stainless steel, and don’t heat food in plastic, as heat accelerates the leaching of these estrogenic chemicals into your food. Filter your tap water to remove microplastics and if you buy bottled water, choose glass. If you have hard tap water, boiling it for five minutes before use drastically reduces microplastic content.5

4. Reconsider estrogen-based therapies and contraceptives — Carefully evaluate your use of estrogens in HRT and birth control pills, as they contribute to estrogen dominance. Explore therapies and contraceptive methods that prioritize your body’s natural hormonal equilibrium. Remember, bioidentical estrogen, while often marketed as natural, is still an external estrogen source that contributes to your estrogen load.

5. Consider natural progesterone to counter estrogen — For those reaching perimenopause and menopause, natural progesterone is a particularly helpful consideration. Progesterone acts as a natural antagonist to estrogen, helping to balance its effects. Given the tendency toward estrogen dominance, incorporating natural progesterone helps restore a more balanced hormonal ratio.

Frequently Asked Questions About Estrogen Balance in Menopause

Q: Is menopause really just about low estrogen?

A: While conventional wisdom says menopause is due to estrogen deficiency, recent research indicates that estrogen levels aren’t always low and that many menopausal women actually experience estrogen dominance,6 meaning they have too much estrogen relative to progesterone. This shifts the focus from simply replacing estrogen to achieving overall hormonal balance.

Q: If estrogen isn’t always low, why is HRT so often prescribed?

A: Many people believe they’re low in estrogen due to bloodwork, when they actually have high levels in their organs. This is because estrogen is often low in plasma but high in tissues. Conventional HRT is often prescribed based on this mistaken idea of estrogen deficiency. However, studies show HRT dramatically increases estrogen levels, especially in fat tissue,7 exacerbating estrogen dominance in women who already have it.

Q: What does “estrogen dominance” mean for menopausal women?

A: Estrogen dominance refers to an excess of estrogen. A surge in estrogen, or estrogen-like activity, overstimulates estrogen receptors throughout your body, causing harm to tissues, increasing your risk of autoimmune diseases and even fueling the development of cancers. Excess estrogen also increases intracellular calcium levels and decreases mitochondrial function.

Q: What can I do to avoid estrogen dominance?

A: Lifestyle and dietary changes are powerful tools. Avoid processed foods, as they commonly contain seed oils rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) like linoleic acid, which mimic estrogen. Also reduce your exposure to synthetic estrogens like oral contraceptives and estrogen-mimicking chemicals in everyday products, including plastics.

Q: Are there any natural options to help balance my hormones during menopause?

A: Yes, there are. Beyond lifestyle and diet, consider discussing natural progesterone with a health care provider knowledgeable in hormone balance. Natural progesterone acts as an estrogen antagonist, helping to restore a healthier progesterone-to-estrogen ratio during perimenopause and menopause.

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Posted by: | Posted on: April 9, 2025

The Hidden Key to Boundless Energy


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2025/04/06/the-hidden-key-to-boundless-energy.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     April 06, 2025

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • Modern environmental factors including seed oils, endocrine disruptors, estrogens and EMFs allow harmful gut bacteria to proliferate, producing endotoxins that severely compromise mitochondrial function and reduce cellular energy production
  • While ketogenic diets provide short-term benefits, long-term carbohydrate restriction impairs mitochondrial function and creates reductive stress in cells, necessitating a more balanced approach
  • Excessive consumption of omega-6-rich seed oils severely damages mitochondrial function and makes skin more susceptible to sun damage, making these processed oils one of the biggest threats to health
  • A healthy gut environment requires proper cellular energy to maintain low oxygen levels, allowing beneficial bacteria to thrive and produce protective short-chain fatty acids that strengthen your intestinal barrier
  • Restoring health requires systematically reducing exposure to environmental toxins while gradually reintroducing healthy carbohydrates to support mitochondrial function and maintain proper gut bacteria balance

In my interview with Sean Kim of Growth Minds, we discussed the decades I’ve spent searching for the best ways to help you reclaim your health.1 When you consider how different modern lifestyles are from our ancestors’ days, it reveals many clues about why you might feel tired, run-down or prone to illness. Those ancestors had their own health challenges, but they weren’t swimming in artificial chemicals, electromagnetic fields and processed seed oils that drive chronic diseases.

You face these threats every day, and your body is likely struggling as a result. I’ve devoted my life to understanding how food, environment and daily habits affect you at the cellular level. That journey led me to study how your mitochondria produce the energy you need. Mitochondria are known as your cells’ power stations.

They depend on proper fuel, stable hormone levels and minimal toxic exposures to keep you thriving. If those factors are off balance, you’ll feel it. The question is: how do you get them back on track?

While a ketogenic diet or intermittent fasting help you lose weight initially, they’re a short-term fix with long-term consequences. As I explained to Kim, there’s a deeper story about how your body responds to various fuels, especially when you’ve been under stress or exposed to toxic influences.

You have to look at your gut, your hormone systems and your environment to fully understand what’s going on and restore optimal health. When I first explored diets high in fat and extremely low in carbohydrates, I saw benefits for some people in specific circumstances. Over time, however, I discovered that your system needs more than a strict low-carb diet provides.

Rethinking What It Means to Eat Well

In my interview with Kim, I made it clear that I used to be a leading advocate of ketogenic diets. I even wrote a No. 1 bestselling book on the topic. Many people have used a ketogenic diet with good outcomes for weight loss and insulin control, and I believed that kind of diet could support you in turning your health around. The results people experienced weren’t imaginary. Many of them had real successes.

Over time, however, more detailed research into mitochondrial function made me change my stance. It’s not enough to measure your short-term results. You have to look at what happens over many years. If you keep forcing your body into a state of ultra-low carbohydrate intake, you risk backing up electron flow in your mitochondria. That jammed-up electron flow weakens your cells’ ability to produce steady energy, a phenomenon otherwise known as reductive stress.

It also encourages shifts in your gut bacteria that harm you more than help you. You need healthy gut bacteria to make short-chain fatty acids, which keep your colon lining strong and keep harmful pathogens in check. A balanced intake of healthy carbohydrates is key once you’ve corrected the root concerns. Your brain needs glucose, and while you can survive on fewer carbs for a while, it’s easy to slip into a stressful metabolic state if you don’t consume enough healthy carbs.

How Your Environment Shapes Your Health

Everyday toxins also affect you at the cellular level. Throughout our talk, I explained to Kim that I’ve identified four main stressors that diminish your mitochondrial energy production. These factors silently harm your gut health, disrupt your hormones and trigger damaging oxidative stress.

First, you have the overconsumption of omega-6 seed oils, which are rich in linoleic acid. These highly processed cooking oils are the single biggest nutritional danger you face. You’ll find them in countless packaged foods, snack items and restaurant meals. The main reason why excess LA causes disease is that it prevents your mitochondria from working well. It also makes sun exposure more damaging due to the accumulation of these fats in your skin cells.

Second, you have excess endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs) in your environment. These come from plastics, personal care products and even certain pesticides and mimic hormones, like estrogen, in your body. Many of these endocrine-disrupting chemicals reduce fertility and create hormonal imbalances. Xenoestrogens found in everyday items like plastic are one example of EDCs with widespread reach.

It’s also important to minimize exposure to synthetic estrogens, such as those found in hormone replacement therapy and oral contraceptives. Estrogen increases intracellular calcium levels and decreases mitochondrial function. In fact, estrogen dominance is nearly as dangerous as excessive LA intake when it comes to destroying your mitochondrial function.

The third significant threat to cellular health comes from pervasive exposure to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) due to the proliferation of wireless technologies. EMFs increase calcium ion concentrations within cells, resulting in the production of harmful free radicals.

Together, widespread exposure to LA in seed oils, EDCs in plastics and EMFs impair your cells’ ability to generate energy efficiently. This energy deficit makes it challenging to sustain the oxygen-free gut environment necessary for beneficial bacteria to flourish.

As your gut barrier weakens, it allows harmful substances to breach your intestinal wall and enter your bloodstream. This intrusion triggers a systemic inflammatory response, with wide-ranging effects on your health. Of particular concern is the proliferation of oxygen-tolerant bacteria, which are not ideally suited for the gut environment.

These microorganisms produce a potent form of endotoxin — the fourth major threat to your cellular health — known as lipopolysaccharide (LPS). When LPS enters your bloodstream through a compromised gut barrier, it leads to a severe condition known as endotoxemia, which often progresses to septic shock — a state of systemic inflammation that’s sometimes fatal.

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Restoring Gut Health as Your Foundation

A healthy gut is pivotal to your well-being. In my interview with Kim, I explained that if your healthy gut bacteria can’t thrive, your body faces one hurdle after another. An oxygen-free environment is necessary for beneficial bacteria that create short-chain fatty acids such as butyrate, propionate and acetate to thrive. These compounds help keep your colon lining strong by nourishing the cells that line your gut wall.

Your body needs cellular energy to keep oxygen levels low in your colon, however. So, if your mitochondria aren’t functioning properly and your cellular energy is low, you’re likely to have excess oxygen in your colon that boosts harmful bacteria.

The end result is an upsurge in toxic byproducts, including more potent forms of endotoxin. That’s why simply cutting carbohydrates might seem to help in the short term: if you starve harmful bacteria of their favorite fuels, they don’t multiply so fast.

Yet you pay for it later by ultimately decreasing the cellular energy you need for robust digestion and a healthy metabolism. A diet that includes high-quality fiber from vegetables and other sources of healthy carbohydrates is key, but if you have a compromised gut, it’s important to start with easier-to-digest options, like white rice or slowly sipping dextrose water daily for a week or two.

You want to steer clear of a low-carb diet, especially long term. If you keep your body in a constant energy deficit, you’re only compounding your mitochondrial problems. You’re also setting yourself up for increased stress hormone release, which breaks down your lean muscle tissue to make emergency glucose.

By cutting out mitochondrial poisons and nourishing your gut with healthy carbohydrates, you give your body the chance to restore that protective mucus layer, keep oxygen levels low in your colon and restore mitochondrial health for increased cellular energy.

When you remove the factors that destroy your cellular energy, you can then enjoy moderate to higher carbohydrate intake without wrecking your metabolic function. This might mean 200 to 350 grams of quality carbohydrates in a day, but the exact amount varies by your personal needs, activity level and genetics. The key is to focus on real, whole-food sources instead of ultraprocessed carbs that contain seed oils and refined sugar.

Let me emphasize once more that you should clear out the elements causing harm before you increase your carbohydrate intake. That means cutting back on omega-6-rich seed oils, limiting endocrine-disrupting chemicals, reducing EMF exposure and repairing your gut so it’s able to handle more fiber.

Practical Steps to Tame the Toxins

During my discussion with Kim, we touched on ways to reduce exposure to chemicals and stressors, so you enhance your health from the inside out. If you want to limit microplastics and hormone-disrupting substances, start by cutting down on plastic packaging.

Swap plastic containers for glass whenever possible, and avoid heating foods in plastic. Be mindful of personal care items with synthetic fragrances or complex chemical blends. Even so-called “organic” products often contain compounds that destabilize your hormones, so read labels carefully.

You also want to be wary of your Wi-Fi router and the constant signals from your phone. If you keep your phone by your bed at night, you’re exposing your body to nonstop EMFs. Turning off your wireless devices or switching to airplane mode gives your cells a break, but a better option is to turn off your Wi-Fi at night — or even shut off the power to your bedroom.

Also, try wired internet at home and see whether you notice improvements in your sleep or focus. As you move beyond eating well, also look into ways to speed up the removal of toxins. Sweating is one of the best methods. Traditional exercise does the job as you increase circulation, but an infrared sauna takes it further if you have access to one.

Grounding, or walking barefoot on natural surfaces like sand or soil, also helps reduce extra electrical charges in your body. You still want to watch out for walking barefoot on unnaturally hard floors every day, which promotes the development of joint or foot issues. Even so, a dose of nature is calming, and you might find that grounding on natural surfaces like grass or the ocean is a soothing method to connect with your environment.

During the interview, I also noted that sunlight is both beneficial and at times harmful, depending on your overall health. You absolutely need adequate sun exposure to help your body produce vitamin D and provide other benefits. However, if you’re carrying an excessive amount omega-6 seed oils in your skin cells, they’re prone to oxidation when exposed to sunlight, increasing the risk of skin damage.

Too many of these oxidizable fats in your tissues magnifies any negative effects from UV rays. To maximize the benefits of sun exposure and minimize the risks, eliminate seed oils from your diet. I recommend avoiding sun during peak hours (from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in most U.S. regions) until you’ve been seed-oil-free for at least six months.

The Promise of Future Health Innovations

As I told Kim, I believe technology itself becomes a friend if it’s harnessed in the right way. Yes, you should reduce EMF exposure from your phone and your Wi-Fi. Still, advanced computer systems, including artificial intelligence, help you monitor your health in real time.

In the near future, you might use AI-driven software that tracks your daily habits, recognizes patterns in your hormone levels and reminds you to make adjustments to your diet or supplement routine. It’s like having a health coach who’s always there, offering personalized feedback based on data from wearable devices or blood tests.

Progress in the field of mitochondrial research is also advancing at a rapid pace. We’ve come a long way in understanding how molecules like coenzyme Q10 help push electrons through your mitochondrial chain. Further investigations could pinpoint more specific strategies to optimize that electron flow, so you generate energy without building up damaging free radicals.

I’m particularly excited about new insights into gut therapies that restore the colon’s oxygen-free environment, such as an approach that combines targeted probiotics with supportive nutrients to revive the cells lining your gut.

Doing so would let beneficial microbes flourish and block harmful bacteria from expanding. This holds the promise of turning gut health into a more precise science, where you measure shifts in your microbiome composition and match specific interventions for faster results.

As these new approaches gain traction, I’m working to gather data and share it with you. I’m driven by a mission to show you that your body already has the blueprint for abundant energy and balanced hormones. The problem is interference. Environmental pollutants, seed oils and stressors have created roadblocks. If you reduce them systematically, you’ll give yourself a fresh start.

Charting Your Path to Lasting Vitality

In my interview with Kim, I emphasized that your mitochondria lie at the heart of your health story. They decide whether you have the energy to thrive or whether you struggle with chronic fatigue and cellular stress. By addressing the four main stressors — seed oils, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, endotoxins and EMFs — you free up your mitochondria to run at full power. You stop feeding the processes that tear down your gut and your energy.

You also open the door for a truly balanced diet, one that includes not just healthy fats and proteins, but also the right kind of carbohydrates. You deserve to feel vibrant, and your cells are programmed to help you get there.

Clear away plastic toxins, turn off your Wi-Fi at night, choose glass bottles and avoid consuming seed oils. As your gut health improves, introduce better fiber sources that feed your beneficial gut microbes and support mucin production, which protects you from leaky gut.

If you take these steps, you’ll likely see a positive ripple effect. Your thyroid might perk up, your hormones rebalance and your gut wall becomes sturdier. In time, you might even be able to tolerate moderate sun exposure without burning as easily, since your cell membranes are no longer packed with unhealthy fats.

No matter where you are in your health journey, let this knowledge empower you — you can fix the hidden obstacles that drain your energy and derail your gut, and feel confident in a plan that nourishes you from your cells outward, letting you enjoy a fuller life.

This is what I hope you’ll take away from my conversation with Kim: you have more control over your well-being than you realize. When you align your habits with what your body needs, you unleash the boundless energy that’s been waiting inside you all along.

– Sources and References

Posted in Bacteria, EMF, Energy, Estrogen, Food, Linoleic Acid, Omega-3, Omega-6, Supplements, Toxins | No Comments »

Posted by: | Posted on: August 21, 2024

Unlocking the Secrets of Hormone Health and Vitality


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/08/18/endocrine-health.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     August 18, 2024

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • I recently interviewed U.K. clinician Keith Littlewood about endocrine health, revealing important details that may help you boost your well-being and vitality
  • Littlewood, who splits his time between consulting with patients and completing a Ph.D. in endocrine research, bases his work on that of scientists like Ray Peat and has extensive clinical experience
  • Littlewood believes estrogen dominance and estrogen excess are among the primary causes of thyroid disruption
  • Littlewood recommends targeting your diet first to address your thyroid health, including getting enough protein, calories and healthy carbohydrates, and making sure you can utilize those carbohydrates
  • Fixing thyroid problems involves a comprehensive approach that addresses what you’re eating — avoiding low-carb and low-calorie diets — your stress levels and your exposure to environmental pollutants, like endocrine-disrupting chemicals, along with exercise, such as walking

Endocrinology is a branch of medicine that focuses on the study of hormones and the glands and tissues that produce them. It addresses the intricate balance of hormones that regulate many of your body’s essential functions, and how to keep them in the proper equilibrium. I recently interviewed U.K. clinician Keith Littlewood on this topic, revealing important details that may help you boost your well-being and vitality.

Littlewood, who splits his time between consulting with patients and completing a Ph.D. in endocrine research, bases much of his work on Ray Peat and has extensive clinical experience on how to improve energy, metabolism, digestion, sleep, fertility and other key foundations of optimal health.

The Importance of Understanding Thyroid Physiology

One of Littlewood’s areas of focus is looking at how endocrine disruptors affect thyroid physiology at the molecular level and the super molecular level. Of the many hormones in your body, thyroid hormones are perhaps the most important, as they regulate your metabolism and are required for nearly every physiological process in your body. When your thyroid levels are unbalanced, it can spell serious trouble.

An imbalance can lead to significant health issues, including fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, eczema, gum disease and autoimmune disorders, just to name a few. This is because your thyroid impacts various parts of your body, making the symptoms of dysfunction diverse. Your hypothalamus secretes thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH) that triggers your pituitary gland to release thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) that then causes your thyroid to release T4.

Nearly 90% of your thyroid hormone is released in an inactive form of T4. Your liver then converts T4 to T3 with the help of an enzyme. Thyroid problems may exist, however, even when standard thyroid function tests show normal results. Littlewood says:

“TSH can be just a completely redundant test for multiple reasons … even abundance of T4 can be problematic and stimulate certain pathways. And that’s really why … T3 should be being looked at as opposed to TSH because stressed people have generally suppressed TSH values.

Chronic dieters can have suppressed TSH values. There are hormone-disrupting chemicals in the environment that can suppress how thyroid function is being modulated.

And I think that makes it even more complex when a clinician would just look at TSH and T4 and go, ‘Well, your blood tests are completely normal, let’s move on to something else or it’s in your head.’ This is a common theme that I’ve seen well over a decade now with clients who’ve had their blood tests and just because they looked at these two markers, they’re euthyroid [normal thyroid function] rather than potentially hypothyroid.

… just looking at TSH and T4 on its own, it can be very muddy water to look into. That’s why the relatively crude test of temperature and pulse can be pretty useful. But again, you want other markers as well. You want cholesterol, you might want to look at prolactin, other hormone levels, you might want to look at lactate, all of these other markers that could be useful in getting you to understand what thyroid is actually doing.”

While people with subclinical hypothyroidism will often have normal lab work, if your body temperature and pulse rate are off, that’s a tipoff that your thyroid is not functioning properly. Also, even if your TSH is low (which is what you want), it could be suppressed by cortisol and adrenaline. Checking your temperature and pulse after eating is one way to double-check that.

A cholesterol test can also be helpful. High cholesterol (mid- to high-200s) is often a sign that your thyroid is not converting cholesterol to steroid hormones. Conversely, low cholesterol can be a sign of infection.

The Primary Causes of Thyroid Disruption

While there are dozens of factors that may disrupt thyroid function, Littlewood believes estrogen dominance and estrogen excess are among the primary causes.

“I think if we look to the major kind of cohort who tend to suffer the most, it’s women … estrogen will suppress thyroid function and when there’s an estrogen dominance and estrogen excess, it will suppress how much thyroid hormone is being produced,” he says. “This kind of state will need supplementing with thyroid hormone because thyroid hormone will help increase estrogen metabolism.”

However, other factors, including diet and environmental pollution, also need to be addressed. “The diet becomes intricately involved with trying to resolve this. You can’t just throw thyroid hormones and expect that you’re going to, A, lose weight and B, resolve all those issues because if you don’t have enough energy in the tank, then you’re not going to be able to function at that point as well,” Littlewood says.

He mentions Brassica vegetables, such as cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli and cauliflower, which contain thiocyanates that may suppress thyroid function in large quantities, as one example. However, he adds that environmental pollutants can also be damaging, particularly if you have a genetic predisposition for thyroid problems or your diet isn’t ideal. These factors can come together creating the “perfect storm” for disease:

“If you’ve got poor inheritable traits … your nutrition’s not in good order … you’re under lots of stress and you’re exposing yourself to certain endocrine disruptors … [via] food choices, certain pesticides, very polluted environments in the city, perhaps even wireless exposure … All of these things can create a perfect storm. So, it becomes almost like a clinical ecology exercise to start with.

What can you remove from your environment that might be damaging you? And that could be a thousand different things for a thousand different people. So that’s where it becomes quite useful to do your due diligence about what somebody needs. It’s a needs analysis to get people to where they want to be. There’s no point in just saying, ‘Hey, his thyroid hormone, everything’s going to work out right,’ because it never happens like that.”

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Get Your Diet Right First

Many lifestyle factors can contribute to low thyroid function, including stress, inadequate light exposure and exposures to endocrine-disrupting chemicals. In terms of diet, high polyunsaturated fat (PUFA) intake, including linoleic acid, is a major culprit, as PUFAs interfere with your cell’s ability to use active thyroid hormone.

With so many factors potentially affecting your endocrine health, where should you begin to get it all sorted out? Littlewood recommends targeting your diet first:

“One of the most common themes that I’ve found — and my practice is probably about 70% females overall — it’s getting enough protein in, it’s getting enough calories in, it’s getting enough carbohydrates in and making sure that you can utilize those carbohydrates quite well … what you should be able to do is utilize carbohydrates as a fuel, everybody should be able to do it.”

Low-carb diets can wreak havoc with your thyroid. For healthy thyroid function, you need to make sure T4 can be efficiently converted into T3.

To encourage the conversion of T4 to T3, eat a diet of whole, unprocessed or minimally processed foods and make sure you include enough protein and healthy, easily digested carbs that won’t cause intestinal irritation or endotoxin production, such as whole fruit. Littlewood explains that he often sees issues among his patients who have followed low-carb diets:

“This is something that I’ve seen with lots of females coming in who’ve gone keto, they’ve gone carnivore and they’re experiencing more disturbed menstrual cycles, increased hair loss. You can see that they’re progesterone deficient. You see that estrogen taking a hold, and this is where it becomes problematic and you start to see the sleep, the digestion, the mood, energy, all of these things that tend to go out of whack.

So, I would say that the diet is the base for everybody to get that right. A lot of people are unsure of some of the chemicals that are around, and they tend to become more aware of that as the process goes on.

So, I do think it’s getting the diet right first of all. I think it’s becoming aware of the things that could potentially disrupt thyroid, decrease progesterone, increase estrogen, and then you could start to look at that straight away. But it’s certainly something, I often work for at least a month or two, getting the diet right before you even consider entertaining them to think about thyroid hormone.”

Fixing your gut health is also important. “Digestion goes hand in hand with thyroid. It goes hand in hand with regulating thyroid, absorbing thyroid from the gut as well, and also how to regulate insulin as well. And if you can’t digest your nutrients, you are always going to have a problem with supporting the thyroid,” Littlewood says.

The Estrogen Connection

Many people believe that they are low in estrogen due to bloodwork, when they actually have high levels in their organs. This is because serum estrogen levels are not representative of estrogen that’s stored in tissues. Estrogen can be low in plasma, but high in tissues.1

Estrogen inhibits the conversion of T4 to T3, and is one of the major contributors to cancer in my view, but many clinicians assume serum levels are equivalent to tissue levels — and they’re not. So, many people get false low results when their estrogen levels are actually high.

“The highest amount of T3 is found intracellularly. It’s not in serum. So, if you apply that rationale to estradiol, for example, and maybe the other weaker estrogens like estrone and estriol, they are going to be in the tissues. Now, bear in mind, if you have any amount of adipose tissue, you are generating estrogen by default, and the amount of aromatase that’s being produced will convert testosterone and other hormones also to estrogen,” Littlewood explains.

A better option for gauging estrogen levels in fat and tissues is a prolactin blood test. Estrogen promotes the production of prolactin, which is a hormone produced by the pituitary gland:

“Prolactin can be very, very useful. I think keeping prolactin round about 10 milligrams per deciliter is the general idea. I think the average reference range is anywhere from 20 up to a couple of hundred … when you start to see prolactin that high, you start to infer that there’re going to be some problems probably related to high estrogen.

Sometimes you can actually look at someone and tell whether they’re estrogen dominant. You can certainly see it in guys drinking a lot of beer, a lot of phytoestrogens. You will tend to see a combination of weight gain that is promoted by high phytoestrogen exposure.

And in females, you can see that too. There are certainly estrogen-like traits with increased adiposity, certainly hormone dysregulation, which can go from dysregulated cycles to heavy clotting to dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea.

It can go both ways. And there are, again, the mixing or muddying of the water tends to be conflated by the increased estradiol will suppress thyroid hormone, will suppress progesterone … I think keeping prolactin as low as possible is great. And … progesterone will do that. It is predominantly a female hormone, but men do need it as well.”

How to Use Progesterone

Before you consider using progesterone it is important to understand that it is not a magic bullet and you get the most benefit by implementing a Bioenergetic diet approach that allows you to effectively burn glucose as your primary fuel without backing up electrons in your mitochondria that reduces your energy production. My new book, Cellular Health the Unified Theory of All Disease for Ultimate Longevity and Joy comes out very soon and covers this process in great detail.

Once you have dialed in your diet, an effective strategy that can help counteract estrogen excess is to take transmucosal progesterone (not oral or transdermal), which is a natural estrogen antagonist. Progesterone is one of only four hormones I believe many adults can benefit from. (The other three are thyroid hormone T3, DHEA and pregnenolone.)

I do not recommend transdermal progesterone, as your skin expresses high levels of 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which causes a significant portion of the progesterone you’re taking to be irreversibly converted primarily into allopregnanolone and cannot be converted back into progesterone.

Ideal Way to Administer Progesterone

Please note that when progesterone is used transmucosally on your gums as I advise, the FDA believes that somehow converts it into a drug and prohibits any company from advising that on its label.

However, please understand that it is perfectly legal for any physician to recommend an off-label indication for a drug to their patient. In this case progesterone is a natural hormone and not a drug and is very safe even in high doses. This is unlike synthetic progesterone called progestins that are used by drug companies, but frequently, and incorrectly referred.

Dr. Ray Peat has done the seminal work in progesterone and probably was the world’s greatest expert on progesterone. He wrote his Ph.D. on estrogen in 1982 and spent most of his professional career documenting the need to counteract the dangers of excess estrogen with low LA diets and transmucosal progesterone supplementation.

He determined that most solvents do not dissolve progesterone well and discovered that vitamin E is the best solvent to optimally provide progesterone in your tissue. Vitamin E also protects you against damage from LA. You just need to be very careful about which vitamin E you use as most supplemental vitamin E on the market is worse than worthless and will cause you harm not benefit.

It is imperative to avoid using any synthetic vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate — the acetate indicates that it’s synthetic). Natural vitamin E will be labeled “d alpha tocopherol.” This is the pure D isomer, which is what your body can use. There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer.

There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer. As an example of an ideal vitamin E you can look at the label on our vitamin E in our store. You can use any brand that has a similar label.

You can purchase pharmaceutical grade bioidentical progesterone as Progesterone Powder, Bioidentical Micronized Powder, 10 grams for about $40 on many online stores like Amazon. That is nearly a year’s supply, depending on the dose you choose. It is currently unavailable on Amazon and does not show up. Check back later.

However, you will need to purchase some small stainless steel measuring spoons as you will need a 1/64 tsp which is 25 mg and a 1/32 tsp which is 50 mg. A normal dose is typically 25-50 mg and is taken 30 minutes before bed as it has an anti-cortisol function and will increase GABA levels for a good night’s sleep.

If you are a menstruating woman, you should take the progesterone during the luteal phase or the last half of your cycle, which can be determined by starting 10 days after the first day of your period and stopping the progesterone when your period starts.

If you are a male or non-menstruating woman you can take the progesterone every day for four to six months and then cycle off for one week. The best time of day to take progesterone is 30 minutes before bed as it has an anti-cortisol function and will increase GABA levels for a good night’s sleep.

This is what I have personally doing for over a year with very good results. I am a physician so do not have any problems doing this. If you aren’t a physician you should consult one before using this therapy, as transmucosal progesterone therapy requires a doctor’s prescription.

A Comprehensive Approach Works Best

Littlewood emphasizes that fixing your thyroid problems isn’t as simple as taking thyroid hormones. You need to use a comprehensive approach that addresses what you’re eating — avoiding low-carb and low-calorie diets — your stress levels and your exposure to environmental pollutants, like endocrine-disrupting chemicals.

“You can throw light deficiency with that as well, inadequate vitamin D,” Littlewood says. “All of these things contribute to it.” Often, it’s the most fundamental, simple changes that make the biggest difference in your health. To that end, Littlewood also recommends regular exercise and movement, especially walking, to address endocrine issues and take your health to the next level:

“Very simple strategies can lead to some amazing results, and some of these things just get wrapped up in medical diagnosis, overtreatment, overdiagnosis, and I think this is still a huge problem. And like the ideas that we talked about, what are some of the things that Ray [Peat said that] have stuck with me? It’s understanding that you don’t need to go through this kind of overdiagnosis and overcomplication.

… exercise, I think, is key … I don’t think he [Peat] placed exercise as high up there as he might’ve done. But again, he talked about living a life that had a lot of contentment to it and doing things that were useful and interesting, rather than spending a life of overexercising and breathless exercise, which would lead to this hyperthyroid state anyway.

… the right amount of exercise, it’s not too much, certainly not too little, and that’s, again, something you tend to see — people who’ve been exercising five, six days a week push themselves into a hole. So yeah, adequate strength training, mobility training, moderate amount of cardiovascular exercise through regular walking I think is where most people need to be.”

If you want to learn more about Littlewood, you can find him via his websites, balancedbodymind.com and keithlittlewood.co.uk.

Posted in Estrogen, Gut, Hormones, Linoleic Acid, Progesterone, Thyroid | No Comments »

Posted by: | Posted on: July 30, 2024

Estrogen and Dementia: Challenging Conventional Wisdom


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/07/29/estrogen-and-dementia.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     July 29, 2024

estrogen and dementia

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • A new study in JAMA Neurology challenges the long-held belief that estrogen protects against dementia in women. The research found that pure estrogen receptor antagonists and aromatase inhibitors were associated with a lower risk of dementia across women’s lifespans
  • This study contradicts previous research suggesting estrogen’s protective effects on the brain, particularly in post-menopausal women
  • The findings imply that other substances with anti-estrogenic effects, such as progesterone and certain vitamins, might also protect against dementia
  • The medical establishment’s response to this study has been mixed, with some attempts to misrepresent or downplay its implications
  • Natural anti-estrogenic approaches, including diet, exercise, and progesterone supplementation, may offer potential strategies for reducing dementia risk

For decades, mainstream medicine has promoted the idea that estrogen is protective for the brain, particularly in post-menopausal women. The conventional wisdom has been that the increased risk of dementia in older women is due to the “deficiency” of estrogen that occurs during menopause. However, a groundbreaking new study published in JAMA Neurology challenges this long-held belief, providing compelling evidence that blocking estrogen may lower the risk of dementia.1

Research Causing a Paradigm Shift

This recent study is perhaps the most damaging piece of evidence I’ve encountered in the last five years that contradicts the claim that estrogen protects the brain. The research, published in one of the most prestigious medical journals, found that using pure estrogen receptor antagonists or aromatase inhibitors was associated with a lower risk of developing dementia across the entire expected female lifespan.

What makes this study particularly significant is its use of “pure” anti-estrogen drugs. Previous studies showing protective effects against dementia often used selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) like clomiphene, tamoxifen, or raloxifene. These drugs have anti-estrogenic effects in some tissues but are potent estrogens in others.

This dual nature allowed the medical establishment to explain away the protective effects as actually confirming the “benefit” of estrogen for the brain, since SERMs can be estrogenic in brain tissue.

However, the current study leaves no room for such interpretations. It examined the effects of pure estrogen receptor antagonists like Faslodex (fulvestrant) and its nonsteroidal analog Elacestrant, as well as aromatase inhibitors like letrozole. These drugs are highly selective blockers of estrogen receptors with no other known major effects.

The fact that aromatase inhibitors, which reduce the body’s production of estrogen, also showed protective effects against dementia further solidifies the case against estrogen as a protective factor for brain health.

Rethinking Estrogen’s Role

These findings suggest that other substances with anti-estrogenic effects might also have protective effects against dementia. This includes:

  1. Progesterone
  2. Fat-soluble vitamins (A, D, E, K)
  3. Aspirin
  4. DHT (dihydrotestosterone)
  5. Flavones and flavanones (apigenin, naringenin, chrysin, quercetin, luteolin)

The study’s results were particularly pronounced in patients under 75 years of age, indicating that anti-estrogenic interventions might be most effective when started earlier in life.

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The Medical Establishment’s Response

It will be interesting to see how the medical establishment responds to this study. Given its publication in JAMA, a highly respected journal, it will be difficult to dismiss outright. However, we’re already seeing some concerning trends in how the information is being presented and interpreted.

Nefarious Tactics in Reporting

1. Progesterone misrepresentation — Some popular press articles reporting on this study have attempted to implicate progesterone as a co-culprit with estrogen. They mention that the anti-estrogenic drugs in the study are used to treat breast cancers caused by “estrogen and progesterone.”

This misrepresentation could lead the public to believe that progesterone increases the risk of dementia or cancer, when in fact, the opposite is true. The drugs mentioned in the study target exclusively estrogen and estrogen-positive cancers, not progesterone-positive cancers. Moreover, progesterone itself acts as both an estrogen receptor antagonist and an aromatase inhibitor, potentially offering protection against dementia based on the study’s findings.

2. Misleading terminology — The study itself uses the term “hormone modulating therapy” (HMT) to describe the anti-estrogenic treatments. This vague terminology avoids stating that the therapy is purely estrogen-blocking in nature, unlike SERM drugs which have mixed effects. It also fails to clarify that the therapy targets solely estrogen, not progesterone.

These tactics appear to be attempts to twist the science to serve pharmaceutical interests and avoid stating the obvious conclusion based on the study’s findings: that estrogen may be a cause of dementia and Alzheimer’s, while anti-estrogenic therapy (including natural options like progesterone) may be protective and possibly even therapeutic for existing dementias.

A Critical Examination of the Estrogen Hypothesis

For years, the medical community has operated under the assumption that estrogen is beneficial for brain health, particularly in post-menopausal women. This belief has led to widespread use of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and other estrogen-boosting interventions. However, this new study forces us to critically examine this hypothesis.

The idea that estrogen deficiency causes cognitive decline in older women has been based largely on observational studies and the timing of when women typically experience increased rates of dementia (post-menopause). However, correlation does not imply causation, and there are many other factors that change as women age that could contribute to cognitive decline.

Moreover, previous clinical trials of hormone replacement therapy have yielded mixed results regarding cognitive function and dementia risk. The Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study,2 for instance, found that combined estrogen-progestin therapy actually increased the risk of dementia in postmenopausal women.

The current study provides strong evidence that blocking estrogen or reducing its production may be protective against dementia. This suggests that estrogen might actually be harmful to brain health, rather than protective. If this is the case, it would explain why rates of dementia increase after menopause — not because of estrogen deficiency, but because of the cumulative effects of lifelong estrogen exposure.

Natural Anti-Estrogenic Approaches

If blocking estrogen indeed proves protective against dementia, it opens up a range of potential preventive strategies beyond pharmaceutical interventions. Many natural compounds and lifestyle factors can have anti-estrogenic effects:

1. Cruciferous vegetables — Compounds in broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts can help metabolize estrogen.

2. Green tea — Contains compounds that may inhibit aromatase, the enzyme that produces estrogen.

3. Exercise — Regular physical activity can help balance hormones and may have anti-estrogenic effects.

4. Sleep — Proper sleep hygiene is crucial for hormonal balance, including estrogen regulation.

5. Stress management — Chronic stress can disrupt hormone balance. Techniques like meditation, yoga, or deep breathing can help.

6. Vitamin D — This fat-soluble vitamin has been shown to have anti-estrogenic effects.

7. Progesterone — As mentioned earlier, natural progesterone can act as an estrogen antagonist.

The Role of Progesterone

It’s worth delving deeper into the role of progesterone, given its potential importance in light of this study’s findings. Progesterone is often overlooked in discussions about hormones and brain health, with most of the focus being on estrogen. However, progesterone has several properties that make it potentially neuroprotective:

1. Estrogen receptor antagonist — Progesterone can block the effects of estrogen in certain tissues.

2. Aromatase inhibitor — It can reduce the production of estrogen in the body.

3. Neuroprotective effects — Independent of its effects on estrogen, progesterone has been shown to have direct neuroprotective properties in animal studies.

4. Anti-inflammatory — Progesterone can reduce inflammation in the brain, which is thought to play a role in the development of dementia.

Given these properties, and the findings of the current study, it’s possible that progesterone supplementation could be a natural way to potentially reduce dementia risk. However, more research is needed to confirm this hypothesis.

How to Use Progesterone

Before you consider using progesterone it is important to understand that it is not a magic bullet, and that you get the most benefit by implementing a Bioenergetic diet approach that allows you to effectively burn glucose as your primary fuel without backing up electrons in your mitochondria that reduces your energy production. My new book, “Cellular Health: The Unified Theory of All Disease for Ultimate Longevity and Joy” comes out very soon and covers this process in great detail.

Once you have dialed in your diet, an effective strategy that can help counteract estrogen excess is to take transmucosal progesterone (i.e., applied to your gums, not oral or transdermal), which is a natural estrogen antagonist. Progesterone is one of only four hormones I believe many adults can benefit from. (The other three are thyroid hormone T3, DHEA and pregnenolone.)

I do not recommend transdermal progesterone, as your skin expresses high levels of 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which causes a significant portion of the progesterone you’re taking to be irreversibly converted primarily into allopregnanolone and cannot be converted back into progesterone.

Ideal Way to Administer Progesterone

Please note that when progesterone is used transmucosally on your gums as I advise, the FDA believes that somehow converts it into a drug and prohibits any company from advising that on its label. This is why companies like Health Natura promote their progesterone products as topical only.

However, please understand that it is perfectly legal for any physician to recommend an off-label indication for a drug to their patient. In this case progesterone is a natural hormone and not a drug and is very safe even in high doses. This is unlike synthetic progesterone called progestins that are used by drug companies, but frequently, and incorrectly, referred.

Dr. Ray Peat has done the seminal work in progesterone and probably was the world’s greatest expert on progesterone. He wrote his Ph.D. on estrogen in 1982 and spent most of his professional career documenting the need to counteract the dangers of excess estrogen with low LA diets and transmucosal progesterone supplementation.

He determined that most solvents do not dissolve progesterone well and discovered that vitamin E is the best solvent to optimally provide progesterone in your tissue. Vitamin E also protects you against damage from LA. You just need to be very careful about which vitamin E you use as most supplemental vitamin E on the market is worse than worthless and will cause you harm not benefit.

It is imperative to avoid using any synthetic vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate — the acetate indicates that it’s synthetic). Natural vitamin E will be labeled “d alpha tocopherol.” This is the pure D isomer, which is what your body can use. There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer.

There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer. As an example of an ideal vitamin E you can look at the label on our vitamin E in our store. You can use any brand that has a similar label.

You can purchase pharmaceutical grade bioidentical progesterone as Progesterone Powder, Bioidentical Micronized Powder, 10 Grams for about $40 on many online stores like Amazon. That is nearly a year’s supply, depending on the dose you choose.

However, you will need to purchase some small stainless steel measuring spoons as you will need a 1/64 tsp which is 25 mg and a 1/32 tsp which is 50 mg. A normal dose is typically 25 to 50 mg and is taken 30 minutes before bed, as it has an anti-cortisol function and will increase GABA levels for a good night’s sleep.

Unfortunately, this vendor frequently runs out of product, and if that’s the case, then you can use Simply Progesterone by Health Natura. It’s premixed with vitamin E and MCT oil. Again, while Health Natura states that its product is for “topical use only,” I recommend applying it transmucosally, by rubbing it on your gums.

If you are a menstruating woman, you should take the progesterone during the luteal phase or the last half of your cycle, which can be determined by starting 10 days after the first day of your period and stopping the progesterone when your period starts.

If you are a male or non-menstruating woman you can take the progesterone every day for four to six months and then cycle off for one week. The best time of day to take progesterone is 30 minutes before bed as it has an anti-cortisol function and will increase GABA levels for a good night’s sleep.

This is what I have personally doing for over a year with very good results. I am a physician so do not have any problems doing this. If you aren’t a physician you should consult one before using this therapy, as transmucosal progesterone therapy requires a doctor’s prescription.

Implications for Current Medical Practices

If the findings of this study are corroborated by further research, it could have significant implications for current medical practices:

1. Hormone replacement therapy — The use of estrogen-based HRT for menopausal symptoms and osteoporosis prevention may need to be reconsidered, especially in women with a family history of dementia.

2. Breast cancer treatment — The potential cognitive benefits of anti-estrogen therapies used in breast cancer treatment could be an additional factor to consider when weighing treatment options.

3. Preventive strategies — Healthcare providers may need to start considering anti-estrogenic approaches as part of dementia prevention strategies, particularly in high-risk individuals.

4. Research focus — This study may shift the focus of dementia research towards investigating the potential harmful effects of estrogen on the brain, rather than its presumed protective effects.

Challenges and Controversies

Despite the strength of this study’s findings, it’s likely to face significant pushback from certain sectors of the medical community. The estrogen hypothesis has been deeply ingrained in medical thinking for decades, and paradigm shifts often face resistance.

Moreover, there are powerful financial interests at stake. The hormone replacement therapy industry is worth billions of dollars globally. A shift away from estrogen-based therapies could have significant economic implications.

There’s also the challenge of reconciling these findings with other known effects of estrogen. For instance, estrogen is known to have protective effects against osteoporosis. How do we balance the potential cognitive risks with other health considerations? These challenges underscore the need for more research in this area.

So, while this study provides compelling evidence, it’s just one piece of the puzzle. We need large-scale, long-term studies to fully understand the relationship between estrogen, anti-estrogen therapies, and cognitive health.

A Call for Open-Minded Inquiry

The findings of this study challenge long-held beliefs about estrogen and brain health. They suggest that our understanding of hormones and cognitive function may be more complex than previously thought.

As a medical professional and health advocate, I believe it’s crucial that we approach these findings with an open mind. We must be willing to question our assumptions and follow the evidence where it leads, even if it contradicts established beliefs.

For individuals concerned about cognitive health, these findings offer new avenues to explore. While it’s too early to make definitive recommendations based on this single study, it may be worth discussing anti-estrogenic strategies with your healthcare provider, especially if you have a family history of dementia.

Remember, hormonal balance is complex and individualized. What works for one person may not work for another. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making significant changes to your health regimen.

As we move forward, it’s my hope that this study will stimulate further research into the relationship between hormones and brain health. By continuing to ask questions and challenge our assumptions, we can work towards a better understanding of how to prevent and treat devastating conditions like dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

In the meantime, focusing on overall brain health through a balanced diet, regular exercise, stress management, and cognitive stimulation remains a prudent approach for everyone. As we await further developments in this exciting area of research, these lifestyle factors continue to be our best defense against cognitive decline.

Posted in Alzheimer's, Dementia, Estrogen, Hormones, Supplements, Vitamins | One Comment »

Posted by: | Posted on: July 23, 2024

First Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill Now Available — Should You Use It?


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/07/22/opill-birth-control-pill.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     July 22, 2024

opill birth control pill

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Opill (norgestrel), an over-the-counter (OTC) daily oral contraceptive, in July 2023
  • Opill is the first oral contraceptive available without a prescription in the U.S. and reached retail pharmacies and online stores in March 2024
  • Opill contains the hormone norgestrel, which is a type of progestin, the synthetic version of progesterone
  • Progestin carries significant health risks, including an increased risk of breast cancer
  • While synthetic progestin in oral contraceptives like Opill should be avoided, natural progesterone is quite beneficial for health

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) foolishly approved the dangerous Opill (norgestrel), as an over-the-counter (OTC) daily oral contraceptive, in July 2023.1 The birth control pills — the first available without a prescription in the U.S. — reached retail pharmacies and online stores in March 2024.2 This was a derelict action by the FDA that violates their mandate to protect the public health.

The drug’s maker, Perrigo, is touting Opill as a convenient option for people without health insurance or access to medical services. “No prescription, no appointment, no hassle. FDA-approved,” its website states.3 But Opill contains the hormone norgestrel, which is a type of progestin.

Norgestrel is effective in preventing ovulation, thickening cervical mucus to hinder sperm movement and altering the uterine lining to prevent implantation of a fertilized egg.4 However, progestin, the synthetic version of progesterone, is not recommended as it does not have the health benefits associated with natural progesterone — and carries significant health risks.

What’s Progestin, the Active Ingredient in Opill?

Opill is a progestin-only contraceptive pill, often referred to as a “mini-pill.” Unlike combination oral contraceptives that contain both estrogen and progestin, Opill contains only progestin. This single-hormone formulation is often said to cause fewer side effects, but it’s far from a safe option.

In 1943, chemist Russell Marker started extracting progesterone from wild Mexican yams. However, progesterone is poorly absorbed when taken orally, so women had to take inconveniently large doses.

In 1951, Syntex S.A. (later acquired by Roche) developed norethindrone, the first synthetic progestin (progesterone analogue). A year later, G. D. Searle (now a Pfizer subsidiary), came up with its own synthetic progestin, called norethynodrel. Both norethindrone and norethynodrel are derivatives of testosterone, the primary androgenic hormone.

Syntex and Upjohn Pharmaceutical also co-developed medroxyprogesterone acetate, which is still widely used, both in hormone replacement therapy (HRT) and contraceptives, including Depo Provera. Ironically, all these progestins initially received FDA approval for gynecological disorders caused by excess estrogen.

Synthetic progestins, while having some of the activity of progesterone, do not have the same physiological effects as the endogenous progesterone produced by your body. Progesterone is one of the most beneficial hormones a person could take while the synthetic version, progestin, is one of the most dangerous.

Progestin Increases Breast Cancer Risk

According to the FDA, “The most common side effects of Opill include irregular bleeding, headaches, dizziness, nausea, increased appetite, abdominal pain, cramps or bloating.” However, it also notes, “Opill should not be used by those who have or have ever had breast cancer. Consumers who have any other form of cancer should ask a doctor before use.”5

This is because hormonal birth control, including progestin-only birth control pills, may increase breast cancer risk. A case-control study and meta-analysis published in PLOS Medicine, assessed breast cancer risk associated with different types of hormonal contraceptives, including those containing progestagen only.6

Progestagen is a broad term that refers to any natural or synthetic substance that has effects similar to those of progesterone, the natural hormone produced in the body. It includes synthetic compounds like progestin. The study found that current or recent use of hormonal contraceptives was associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, with researchers stating:7

“Our findings suggest that there is a relative increase of around 20% to 30% in breast cancer risk associated with current or recent use of either combined oral or progestagen-only contraceptives …

When our findings for oral contraceptives are combined with results from previous studies (which included women in a wider age range), they suggest that the 15-year absolute excess risk of breast cancer associated with use of oral contraceptives ranges from 8 per 100,000 users (an increase in incidence from 0.084% to 0.093%) for use from age 16 to 20 to about 265 per 100,000 users (from 2.0% to 2.2%) for use from age 35 to 39.”

These risks have been known for some time. The Women’s Health Initiative, which began in 1991, found women who used either Premarin, a weak estrogen, alone or in combination with Provera, the synthetic progestin used in birth control shots, had elevated rates of vascular diseases, cognitive decline, cancers and more.8

In my interview with Susan Wadia-Ells, Ph.D., author of “Busting Breast Cancer: Five Simple Steps to Keep Breast Cancer Out of Your Body,” she also described how progestin may initiate breast cancer:

“In 2010, there was an incredibly important study that has gotten buried. The lead researcher was Josef Penninger. On that international study team of about 12 people, one is now the CEO and president of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

The researchers spent 10 years working with mice in preclinical settings, trying to figure out why women who take progestin-based drugs — be they birth control drugs or menopausal drugs — have anywhere from a 26% to an eightfold increased risk of developing breast cancer.

They finally published a study in 2010 that basically explained, in some more detail, but not totally, how the progestin pulls out or activates something called RANKL, which is a protein. The RANKL, apparently — though they don’t say these words — can suffocate the mitochondria in a woman’s breast cell, initiating that first cancer cell.

The sad thing is that no researchers in the field of breast cancer prevention ever cite this study. They’re not aware of it for some reason. But, it was published in October of 2010 in Nature magazine,9 which we all know is a very significant, well-known scientific journal.”

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The Health Benefits of Natural Progesterone

Progestin doesn’t have the many beneficial effects of natural progesterone, which is the main endogenous and most direct and potent glucocorticoid receptor antagonist. As such, it’s also a cortisol blocker. Progesterone is also a GABA agonist and an estrogen blocker.

Estrogens are one of the primary factors contributing to increasing your cancer risk — along with the plastic burden contributing their xenoestrogens — as both decrease mitochondrial function. Progesterone is the antidote because it is not only anti-estrogen but, as mentioned, inhibits cortisol and will improve mitochondria production of cellular energy by blocking estrogen and cortisol.

Progesterone is the main female hormone, and is a protective hormone during pregnancy, but it is also important in men since it is a general brain-regulating and protective hormone.

Women who still menstruate need to be careful with the timing of their progesterone supplementation, however. Progesterone is crucial for successful pregnancy, and you can severely inhibit your ability to get pregnant if you take it at the wrong time. So, while synthetic progestin in oral contraceptives like Opill should be avoided, properly administered natural progesterone is quite beneficial for health.

How to Use Progesterone

Before you consider using progesterone it is important to understand that it is not a magic bullet, and that you get the most benefit by implementing a Bioenergetic diet approach that allows you to effectively burn glucose as your primary fuel without backing up electrons in your mitochondria that reduces your energy production. My new book, “Cellular Health: The Unified Theory of All Disease for Ultimate Longevity and Joy” comes out very soon and covers this process in great detail.

Once you have dialed in your diet, an effective strategy that can help counteract estrogen excess is to take transmucosal progesterone (i.e., applied to your gums, not oral or transdermal), which is a natural estrogen antagonist. Progesterone is one of only four hormones I believe many adults can benefit from. (The other three are thyroid hormone T3, DHEA and pregnenolone.)

I do not recommend transdermal progesterone, as your skin expresses high levels of 5-alpha reductase enzyme, which causes a significant portion of the progesterone you’re taking to be irreversibly converted primarily into allopregnanolone and cannot be converted back into progesterone.

Ideal Way to Administer Progesterone

Please note that when progesterone is used transmucosally on your gums as I advise, the FDA believes that somehow converts it into a drug and prohibits any company from advising that on its label. This is why companies like Health Natura promotes their progesterone products as “topical.”

However, please understand that it is perfectly legal for any physician to recommend an off-label indication for a drug to their patient. In this case progesterone is a natural hormone and not a drug and is very safe even in high doses. This is unlike synthetic progesterone called progestins that are used by drug companies, but frequently, and incorrectly, referred.

Dr. Ray Peat has done the seminal work in progesterone and probably was the world’s greatest expert on progesterone. He wrote his Ph.D. on estrogen in 1982 and spent most of his professional career documenting the need to counteract the dangers of excess estrogen with low LA diets and transmucosal progesterone supplementation.

He determined that most solvents do not dissolve progesterone well and discovered that vitamin E is the best solvent to optimally provide progesterone in your tissue. Vitamin E also protects you against damage from LA. You just need to be very careful about which vitamin E you use as most supplemental vitamin E on the market is worse than worthless and will cause you harm not benefit.

It is imperative to avoid using any synthetic vitamin E (alpha tocopherol acetate — the acetate indicates that it’s synthetic). Natural vitamin E will be labeled “d alpha tocopherol.” This is the pure D isomer, which is what your body can use. There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer.

There are also other vitamin E isomers, and you want the complete spectrum of tocopherols and tocotrienols, specifically the beta, gamma, and delta types, in the effective D isomer. As an example of an ideal vitamin E you can look at the label on our vitamin E in our store. You can use any brand that has a similar label.

You can purchase pharmaceutical grade bioidentical progesterone as Progesterone Powder, Bioidentical Micronized Powder, 10 Grams for about $40 on many online stores like Amazon. That is nearly a year’s supply, depending on the dose you choose.

However, you will need to purchase some small stainless steel measuring spoons as you will need a 1/64 tsp which is 25 mg and a 1/32 tsp which is 50 mg. A normal dose is typically 25 to 50 mg and is taken 30 minutes before bed, as it has an anti-cortisol function and will increase GABA levels for a good night’s sleep.

Unfortunately, this vendor frequently runs out of product, and if that’s the case, then you can use Simply Progesterone by Health Natura. It’s premixed with vitamin E and MCT oil. Again, while Health Natura states that its product is for “topical use only,” I recommend applying it transmucosally, by rubbing it on your gums.

If you are a menstruating woman, you should take the progesterone during the luteal phase or the last half of your cycle, which can be determined by starting 10 days after the first day of your period and stopping the progesterone when your period starts.

If you are a male or non-menstruating woman you can take the progesterone every day for four to six months and then cycle off for one week. The best time of day to take progesterone is 30 minutes before bed as it has an anti-cortisol function and will increase GABA levels for a good night’s sleep.

This is what I have personally doing for over a year with very good results. I am a physician so do not have any problems doing this. If you aren’t a physician you should consult one before using this therapy, as transmucosal progesterone therapy requires a doctor’s prescription.

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Posted by: | Posted on: July 19, 2024

Relationship Found Between Creatine in the Brain and Recovery From Traumatic Stress


Reproduced from original article:
https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2024/07/17/creatine-brain-benefits.aspx

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola     July 17, 2024

creatine brain benefits

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

  • While creatine is well-known for its benefits in physical performance and muscle health, its potential advantages for brain health are becoming increasingly recognized
  • Creatine, which is naturally found in muscle cells and the brain, may assist in recovery from the stress of traumatic experiences
  • Creatine is used by your body to convert adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — the main energy currency of cells — and may be a neurobiological marker of stress reactivity and recovery
  • Veterans with higher levels of creatine in the anterior cingulate cortex — a brain region involved in processing negative emotional states — had greater reductions in stress since their last traumatic experience
  • Creatine is found only in animal-based food — not plants — as well as in supplement form; grass fed meats are among the best sources of creatine, but avoid pork and chicken, as they typically have high levels of linoleic acid

Creatine is a substance naturally found in muscle cells and the brain. It helps your muscles produce energy during high-intensity exercise or heavy lifting. Most of the body’s creatine is stored in muscles, where it’s used for quick bursts of energy.

As such, creatine is commonly used by athletes to improve performance, as it’s immediately used by your body to convert adenosine diphosphate (ADP) to adenosine triphosphate (ATP) — the main energy currency of cells — and supply energy muscles need for contraction. However, creatine also helps provide energy to your brain and research suggests it may play an important role in recovery from traumatic stress.

Unraveling the Neurobiological Reasons Why Some Develop PTSD — and Others Don’t

While creatine is well-known for its benefits in physical performance and muscle health, its potential advantages for brain health are becoming increasingly recognized. In a study involving U.S. veterans, researchers with the University of Utah School of Medicine revealed the compound may assist in recovery from the stress of traumatic experiences.

“There is emerging preclinical evidence that creatine (Cr), a molecule critical to brain bioenergetics, may be a neurobiological marker of stress reactivity and recovery,” the scientists wrote in the Journal of Affective Disorders.1 They noted that little is known about why some individuals recover from traumatic events while others develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other psychological conditions.

The symptoms of PTSD can be categorized into four main types: intrusive memories, avoidance, negative changes in thinking and mood, and changes in physical and emotional reactions. These symptoms can vary over time and differ from person to person.

According to the study, about 70% of adults worldwide have experienced at least one traumatic life event. Yet, the lifetime prevalence of PTSD is 6.1%, “implying that most individuals exhibit robust recovery from traumatic life events.” The researchers explain:2

“This line of research suggests that individual differences in the stress recovery process may be involved in the pathogenesis of PTSD. Thus, understanding factors associated with recovery from traumatic life events may provide novel insights into the assessment, prevention and treatment of PTSD and other trauma-related conditions.”

While early childhood experiences, individual personality and the number of traumatic experiences a person has likely play a role, neurobiological factors may also be involved. Toward this end, the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is a brain region involved in processing negative emotional states.3 Located in the frontal lobe, the ACC plays a critical role in various cognitive and emotional processes.

The ACC is particularly active during experiences of negative emotions, such as pain, sadness and fear. It’s also involved in the regulation of emotional responses, decision-making and the anticipation of adverse outcomes. The researchers wondered if neurochemical factors were also involved, leading them to creatine:4

“Existing research suggests that Cr concentrations in the ACC are indicative of stress-related mental health conditions, which are often precipitated by traumatic life events. Moreover, preclinical models in animals indicate exposure to traumatic stress reduces ACC Cr levels. Nevertheless, it remains unclear to what extent traumatic life events in humans are associated with Cr concentrations in the brain.”

Creatine May Help Recovery From Traumatic Stress

To help reveal the relationship between creatine concentrations in the ACC and stress related to traumatic life events, the researchers conducted brain scans on 25 U.S. veterans and collected data on their mental health status and history of traumatic events.

Veterans with higher levels of creatine in the ACC had greater reductions in stress in the time since their last traumatic experience.5 “ACC concentrations of Cr may be an important neurochemical factor related to stress recovery. Future work should investigate Cr as a possible protective factor against the effects of traumatic stress,” the study concluded.6

Again, creatine enables ATP regeneration, which plays a crucial role in cellular function. And, as PsyPost noted, “The researchers hypothesized that creatine levels in the brain could influence an individual’s ability to recover from trauma by affecting the energy availability in critical brain regions.”7

This is an example of why you need ample cellular energy for optimal brain function. Your brain, being the most energy-dependent organ, makes up only about 2% of your bodyweight yet consumes 20% of the energy used by your entire body.8 Therefore, a surplus of cellular energy creation is necessary to have the ability to allow your brain to work optimally.

Without enough cellular energy, not only is your ability to think and make good decisions compromised, but mental health is subsequently compromised as well.

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How to Increase Cellular Energy

Avoiding dietary pitfalls like excess linoleic acid (LA), in the form of vegetable and seed oils, is instrumental in optimizing mitochondrial function and increasing cellular energy. Factors like estrogen and endotoxins can also deplete your cellular energy. Meanwhile, improving your mitochondrial energy production can also help bring you joy, which is essential for mental health.

Creatine, however, is also important. By supporting ATP regeneration, creatine helps improve the efficiency of energy utilization in cells. Creatine may also support mitochondrial function by enhancing the availability of ATP, improving overall cellular energy metabolism.

The following are key concepts that need to be integrated to improve all cellular energy, and certainly energy produced for your brain. They all revolve around improving mitochondrial function:

  • Lower LA as much as possible — This is the single most important mitochondrial poison. Since there’s no downside to limiting your LA, you’ll want to keep it as low as possible, which you do by avoiding high-LA foods, including vegetable and seed oils found in most ultraprocessed foods.
  • Lower estrogen excess — Estrogen, even bioidentical, is nearly as dangerous as LA in destroying mitochondrial function. Aside from avoiding all estrogen supplements and plastics, as they are potent sources of xenoestrogens, you can take trans mucosal progesterone, not oral or transdermal, as it is a potent estrogen blocker.
  • Make sure your thyroid is working well — Thyroid function is absolutely essential to make sure you have a high metabolic rate and produce plenty of ATP. If you are going to do a thyroid test, it is important your TSH be well-suppressed and below 0.5. You can also confirm by taking your temperature first thing in the morning and two hours after meals. Low temperatures indicate low thyroid activity.
  • Optimize your microbiome — This is also key, as not only are 95% of people metabolically inflexible, but because of mitochondrial poisons their microbiome is out of balance with a preponderance of pathogenic endotoxin-producing bacteria, another potent mitochondrial poison.

Creatine’s Many Brain Benefits

Stuart Phillips, Ph.D., is a professor of kinesiology at McMaster University in Canada. He’s an expert in growing and maintaining muscle mass as you age. In an interview with Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D.,9 he commented on using creatine regularly, “You know, the stuff now with creatine that they’re uncovering that makes me think, ‘Maybe this should be part of my regular routine.’ Actually [it] has less to do with the muscle and more to do with the brain and cognitive performance.”

In fact, creatine monohydrate is one supplement that Phillips said makes his short list for its benefits for muscle growth and brain health. “Its effects are pretty mild on muscle, but they’re there. They’re potent. They last. Now the brain and the cognitive side of things … the evidence is growing in that area too.”10

Research has demonstrated that creatine plays a critical role in the function of the brain and other tissues that have high energy demand.11 Children who have genetic errors of creatine synthesis present with severe neurological symptoms and patients with other neurodegenerative diseases benefit from creatine supplements. Other research suggests reduced creatine is associated with depression and anxiety.12

Creatine also has demonstrated beneficial effects in mice with Parkinson’s-like disease.13 It prevented 90% of the typical drop in dopamine levels that are associated with several of the serious symptoms, including loss of muscle function and speech impairment.

In an experimental model mimicking the effects of a mild traumatic brain injury, one research team even found supplementing with creatine helped cognitive processing during oxygen deprivation.14 They concluded, “This is the first demonstration of creatine’s utility as a neuroprotective supplement when cellular energy provision is compromised.”

Other research, published in Nutrition Reviews, found creatine supplementation enhanced memory performance in healthy adults, particularly those aged 66 to 76 years.15 The study concluded:16

“These beneficial effects from creatine supplementation on memory performance may be related to creatine’s ability to influence brain bioenergetics. For example, creatine elevates phosphocreatine and ATP levels and increases oxidative phosphorylation in synaptosomes and isolated brain mitochondria. In hippocampal neuron cultures, creatine stimulates mitochondrial activity.”

The Best Sources of Creatine

For individuals looking to increase their creatine intake through diet, including a variety of creatine-rich foods can be beneficial. Creatine is found only in animal-based food — not plants. Grass fed meats are among the best sources of creatine. Avoid pork and chicken, as they typically have high levels of LA.

While grass fed meats can contribute to creatine intake, they may not provide the same high doses that can be achieved through creatine supplementation. Of the different formulations of creatine on the market, creatine monohydrate is the one that has been studied most frequently and therefore has the strongest evidence of health benefits.

It’s important to choose creatine from a reputable manufacturer. Clinical trials that have lasted up to five years have reported no adverse effects in healthy individuals.17 However, it is important to stay within the recommended dose.

Some people are sensitive to using creatine and feel bloated if they don’t drink enough water with the supplement. However, most of the time it goes away in just a few hours. Factors that affect bloating include how much water you drink, the intensity of your workouts and your diet.

If you’re a vegan or a vegetarian, you might consider using creatine to help protect brain health. Research suggests creatine supplements may boost cognitive function in vegetarians.18

Posted in ATP, Brain, Diet, Estrogen, Linoleic Acid, Muscle, Stress, Supplements | No Comments »

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