Estrogen Dominance Leads to Belly Fat and Bloating.

Written by JJ Smith, #1 NY Times Bestselling Author and Weight Loss Expert

Posted January 19th, 2021 under Belly Fat, Diet/Weight Loss, Hormones and Weight Gain

How Estrogen Dominance Causes Belly Fat, Bloating, and Weight Gain

Learn how a liver detox can help you ease the signs and symptoms of high estrogen

It’s super frustrating when you’re doing everything right and you still can’t lose your belly fat.

I get it! I’ve been where you are. Even with a super healthy diet, staying hydrated, and moving my body – I still struggled with stubborn belly fat. And then I learned about estrogen dominance.

I knew about low estrogen levels during perimenopause and menopause, and how the changes in my hormones cause my body to change and trigger a range of side effects. But no one
told me about estrogen dominance or high estrogen and this impacts how I look and feel.

The last thing I want is for you to struggle with the symptoms of estrogen dominance. In this blog I explain estrogen dominance, give you the signs and symptoms of high estrogen, and share the 6 steps I followed to lower my estrogen, detox my liver, and ultimately get my sexy back!

If you have questions about estrogen dominance or want to connect with people like you who put a priority on health, make sure you join the JJ Smith Community Facebook page and sign up for my mailing list.

What is Estrogen Dominance?

Estrogen dominance is one of the most common types of hormonal imbalances in women. Estrogen dominance or high estrogen occurs when there is too much estrogen in relation to the amount of progesterone in your body.

While this imbalance can be caused by the normal fluctuating hormone levels in the body, occurring during ovulation, perimenopause, and menopause – many people overlook the impacts lifestyle can have on estrogen levels.

In fact, estrogen dominance can be attributed to high levels of xenoestrogens in the body. ScienceDirect defines xenoestrogens as “foreign estrogens, substances that are close enough in molecular structure in estrogen that they can bind to estrogen receptor sites with potentially hazardous outcomes”.

We can accumulate xenoestrogens through exposure to plastics, pesticides, chemicals, food additives, and unfiltered water. Over time the level of xenoestrogens accumulates in the body, causing serious health impacts including estrogen dominance, low sperm counts, fertility issues, obesity, hormone-sensitive cancers, thyroid problems, and more.

And when this high level of xenoestrogens is combined with too little progesterone or too much estrogen, it becomes even more critical to understand estrogen dominance and how it affects your life.

Remember, estrogen dominance is about more than belly fat and extra weight, it has large implications for your health and wellness.

8 Signs and Symptoms of Estrogen Dominance

I want you to know these 8 signs and symptoms of estrogen dominance. Now, it’s important you do not ignore these signs because they can indicate serious health concerns and issues. Always talk to your doctor about any unexplained signs and symptoms.

The Hormone Health Network lists these 8 signs and symptoms of estrogen dominance:

  1. Weight gain, mainly in your waists, hips, and thighs.
  2. Menstrual problems, such as light or heavy bleeding.
  3. Worsening premenstrual syndrome.
  4. Fibrocystic breasts (non-cancerous breast lumps).
  5. Fibroids (non-cancerous tumors) in the uterus.
  6. Fatigue.
  7. Loss of sex drive.
  8. Feeling depressed or anxious.

All too often we don’t notice these signs and symptoms, accepting them as simply part of getting older. I know – because I did this! I assumed the stubborn belly fat, tiredness, and mood swings were normal for a woman in her 40’s.

Thankfully I learned about estrogen dominance and how to rebalance my estrogen levels so I could get back to feeling like my energetic and sexy self. Remember, you should not suffer in silence – if you don’t feel right, speak up and talk to your doctor.

The Connection Between Your Liver, Your Hormones and Your Health

The liver is your body’s purification system, cleansing your blood and body of harmful exposure to toxins, chemicals, processed foods, and by-products of our busy lifestyle including alcohol, tobacco, cleaning chemicals, and beauty products.

But overtime, your liver can become overloaded, making it difficult for your liver to keep functioning properly. This poor liver function can result in the accumulation of xenoestrogens and toxins – leading to the overwhelming problem of estrogen dominance and additional health impacts.

As I explained in Your Liver: What It Does and Why It’s So Important To Your Health, along with cleansing your blood, your liver has four other critical roles:

  1. Creates and stores energy. Your liver creates, stores, and exports fat keeping it available as an energy source. However, when your liver is overwhelmed, you end up with excess stored fat and risk the accumulation of belly fat.
  2. Creates protein. Along with helping you build and maintain muscle, protein is also responsible for blood clotting, helping you fight infections, and moving critical substances in your blood.
  3. Hormone regulation. The liver is a key player in keeping your thyroid, adrenal, cortisone, and sex hormones (estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone) balanced. There are over 50 different hormones circulating in your bloodstream, helping you to think, move, sleep, and recover. Every hormone, organ, and internal process is connected, so when one hormone is out of balance, you feel the impacts.
  4. Metabolizing carbohydrates and fat. A healthy liver means you can burn calories and fat, making it easier for you to stay slim and lose inches. Think of your liver as your fat-burning organ!

Every organ and system in the body is connected, so when your liver is not functioning properly, you end up with high estrogen levels, extra belly fat, fatigue, mood swings, and risk of serious illness include fatty liver disease, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and some cancers.

How to Detox Your Liver to Lower Your Estrogen Levels and to Lose Belly Fat in 6 Steps

To detox your liver to lower your estrogen levels and lose belly fat, do the following:

  1. Be toxin aware. Use natural beauty products and cleaners, limit your exposure to tobacco, fertilizer, and insecticide, avoid food additives, and wash your fresh produce.
  2. Drink one gallon of lukewarm water a day. Space this out during your day. I like to add lemon to my water to aid in the detoxification process.
  3. Eat a healthful and colorful diet. Your liver needs essential nutrients, vitamins, minerals, and specific nutrients from vegetables and fruit to heal, regenerate, and stay healthy. Eat liver superfoods like nuts, berries, turmeric, coffee, oatmeal, grapefruit, and fresh fruit and vegetables.
  4. Move your body and work up a sweat. Your skin is a major detoxifier and when you sweat, you release harmful toxins and leftover substances from your body. Exercise helps you burn calories and build lean muscle mass.
  5. Limit alcohol. Excessive alcohol can destroy or damage critical liver cells and scar your liver. During your liver detox and to help lower your estrogen levels, stop drinking alcohol and give your liver a break from processing this toxin.
  6. Use natural hormone therapy. Bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT) can help restore your natural hormonal balance. Healthline describes bioidentical hormones as “manmade hormones derived from plant estrogens that are chemically identical to those the human body produces. Estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are among those commonly replicated and used in treatment.“ In my book, Lose Weight Without Dieting or Working Out, I explain how, why, and where to use bioidentical hormones.

I’m super thankful I learned about estrogen dominance and how to regain control of my hormones. The combination of a natural liver detox and using bioidentical hormones has allowed me to relieve my estrogen dominance symptoms and feel better.

Remember, estrogen dominance can be treated – it does not need to rule your life. Once your hormones are rebalanced, the belly fat melts away, the bloating ends, your energy increases, and you feel like yourself again.

For a more detailed discussion of estrogen dominance, as well as 6 other hormonal imbalances attributed to weight gain, check out my book, Lose Weight Without Dieting or Working Out.