What are the Foods that Increase Estrogen Levels?
Estrogen is a hormone normally associated with women, helping regulate the menstrual cycle, reduce pre-menopausal and post-menopausal symptoms, maintain healthy cholesterol levels, and prevent osteoporosis. Men also need some level of estrogen to protect bones, improve verbal memory, and maintain sperm count.
Women stop making estrogen at menopause whereas the man’s testosterone continues to produce estrogen throughout their lives. The need to increase estrogen levels through diet is therefore more pressing for females than males.
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Fruits and Vegetables
Fruits such as apples, berries, cantaloupe, cherries, eggplant, oranges, pumpkin, papaya, dates, plums, pomegranate, olives, and watermelon rank among the top estrogen rich foods.
The vegetables that increase estrogen levels include alfalfa, beets, carrots, chickpeas, clover, cowpeas, cucumbers, garlic, licorice, lima beans, peas, potatoes, red beans, split peas, sprouts, and tomatoes.
Most fruits and vegetables contain phytoestrogen or phytochemical, a chemical compound that acts as natural estrogen. The human body readily absorbs the phytoestrogen, and the interaction of the ingested phytoestrogen with the estrogen receptors in the bodies provides the body with the benefits of estrogen.
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Soybean
Soybean products such as tofu and soy milk contain soy isoflavones, an estrogen-like compound that contributes to increased estrogen levels. Verdict on the health benefit of this compound is however mixed with some studies associating soy with breast cancer when other studies claim that soy actually decrease the risk of breast cancer.
Other Foods
Other foods that increase estrogen levels in the human body include:
- Grains such as whole wheat, brown rice, oats, and barley
- Meat and eggs
- Seeds such as flax seeds, sesame seeds and sunflower seeds
- Spices, herbs, and seasonings such as pepper, parsley, rhubarb, red clover, yam, oregano, sage, rosemary, thyme, mint, ginger, caraway, fennel, parsley and turmeric
Most of the foods that increase estrogen contain the compound di-indolylmethane that increases the level of estradiol, a specific type of estrogen that the body produces naturally.
Besides eating more estrogen-producing foods, a person looking to increase estrogen level need to maintain a low-fat, high-fiber diet that helps in accommodating changing hormonal levels.
Foods that Reduce Estrogen
While estrogen has its benefits, consumption of estrogen increasing foods in excess cause harm to the body. High estrogen levels cause irregular periods, loss of sex drive, fatigue, swollen or painful breasts, endometriosis, severe menstrual cramps, weight gain, and other disorders.
Ori Hofmekler, author of ‘The Anti-Estrogenic Diet’ for people with estrogen imbalance holds estrogen dominance responsible for age-related weight gain and metabolic disorders in both men and women, and advocates a diet regimen to reduce estrogen levels in the body. The specific foods recommended as having anti-estrogenic effect include cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and Brussels sprouts, citrus fruits, nuts, avocados, eggs, coffee, and tea.
Other foods such as melons, pineapple, berries, figs, grapes, green beans, corn, squash, white rice, and white flour also inhibit estrogen production and need avoidance when indulging in a diet to increase estrogen.
Disclaimer
This article is not intended to treat and does not constitute medical or dietary advice. Consult your physician before adopting a diet to increase, decrease or regulate estrogens.
Reference
- EveryDiet.org. Anti Estrogenic Diet. Retrieved from https://www.everydiet.org/diet/anti-estrogenic-diet. Retrieved on 15 October 2010
- MedicineNet.com. Estrogen. Retrieved from https://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=3329. Retrieved on 15 October 2010.
- WebMd.com. Estrogen. Retrieved from https://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20001107/male-brains-need-estrogen-for-good-memory. Retrieved on 15 October 2010.
- Natural-Hormones.net. Natural Hormone Sources. Retrieved from https://www.natural-hormones.net/natural-estrogen-sources.htm. Retrieved on 15 October 2010.
