Estradiol: Your Happy Hormone
Let's talk hormones! Periodically over the next few weeks I'm going to narrow in on some specific hormones that are involved in you having a healthy cycle.My goal with this post and the ones following it is to hopefully give you just a bit more knowledge in the area of your hormones to have a better understanding of your body and maybe even more of an appreciation for it!Ok, first up...Estradiol, or commonly known as estrogen.To be more specific and accurate, estradiol (you may also see the it as oestradiol or E2-- same thing) is one of 3 estrogens in your body and the strongest. Both men and women have estradiol, but women definitely have more of it than men.Estradiol can be considered your "happy hormone" because it stimulates mood and libido due to acting on and boosting two of your neurotransmitters...serotonin and dopamine. I first heard of it being referred to as your "happy hormone" in Lara Briden's book, "Period Repair Manual" and I thought, that's so right! I just loved that description!Estradiol is made in your ovaries. You probably think of estrogen/estradiol mainly for it's involvement in your menstrual cycle. But it also has a few other important functions in your body such as blood glucose regulation, metabolism, and bone health. We'll get into these a bit more later.So in regards to your period, estrogen, like I just mentioned, is crucial for the formation of your uterine lining which basically is preparing your body for a fertilized egg to implant, or for you to get pregnant. The more estrogen you have in your body, the heavier your period will be because your uterine lining that builds up each month is thicker.Ok, that's just a quick little overview. Now let's dive a little deeper.
ESTRADIOL'S ROLE IN YOUR MENSTRUAL CYCLE
Ok, let's think about Estradiol as the hormone associated mainly with the first half of your cycle, or your follicular phase. During this time estradiol levels rise, stimulating cervical mucous (the white substance that you see in your underwear) and the thickening of your endometrial lining in your uterus. Estradiol levels rise during that first half of your cycle and start to fall just before you ovulate.Specifically, what you'll see is that during the first half of your cycle estradiol gradually rises and when it reaches it's highest point it stimulates a surge of luteinizing hormone (LH). Also during this time, follicle-stimulating hormone (or FSH) has been getting one of the follicles on your ovaries mature and ready to release an egg at the time of ovulation. When LH is released due to the rise in estradiol, this prompts your mature follicle to release that one egg typically around day 14 of your menstrual cycle (give or take).So you see, this estrogen is a key player in you ovulating each month!
WHAT HAPPENS IF YOUR ESTRADIOL LEVELS ARE TOO LOW?
As we age, estradiol levels decrease. This is normal and part of what happens as we approach menopause. But it is possible to have too low of estradiol/estrogen levels even well before menopause...but this is where it's abnormal.They can be low due to genetic causes, thyroid or pituitary dysfunction, or not eating enough/over-exercising. This is the case with a condition called Hypothalamic Amenorrhea where your hypothalamus stops producing the necessary hormones for you to have a period due to stress on your body from under-nourishing, over-exercising, stress, or a combo of any of these.When estradiol is too low, you could probably guess that your body won't have a normal cycle. You may notice scant blood or no bleed at all. Why do you want a bleed? Well, if you're ready to have children bleeding every 28 days give or take is one sign that your body may be ovulating (though just because you bleed each month doesn't necessarily mean you are...it's just a good sign that you may be). And of course you need to ovulate in order to have an egg fertilized to get pregnant. But even if pregnancy is no where near on your radar, having enough estradiol for you to be able to have a period each month is a sign that your body is functioning healthily. I love, love, love the analogy of your period being like a vital sign. Without it, you'll know something's up and not functioning as it should be.But estradiol is, like I mentioned at the beginning of this post, important for other functions not related to your cycle even. Estrogen is needed for healthy bones and without it, you could be at risk for osteoporosis or osteopenia.It's also crucial for comfortable sex and sex drive, good mood, and blood glucose stabilization.I mentioned that estradiol can be considered your "happy hormone" and that's because of its effect on your mood by increasing serotonin and dopamine, two hormones that help you feel...well...happy as well as it's positive impact on libido. When this wonderful hormone is too low, we miss out on all the wonderful benefits it has to offer!
WHAT ABOUT HIGH ESTRADIOL LEVELS?
Estradiol begins to increase even before puberty and will continue to increase and then even out throughout puberty and years after. This is why you may remember having a heavier period back then or spotting mid-cycle. Maybe you even had more PMS symptoms and pain.Estradiol, when high, can yield irregular periods, spotting, heavy bleeding, and/or more pain around your period. Some other symptoms include bloating, cold hands and feet, difficulty sleeping, fatigue, hair loss, low libido, depression or mood changes, painful breasts, and uterine fibroids.So what causes high estrogen? Well, it could be genetic. It could also be due to taking a certain medication such as oral contraceptives or sometimes even antibiotics. Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (or PCOS) is a condition where your body makes a lot of small but immature follicles on the ovaries is also a condition where there is typically a high level of estrogen in the body.
FINDING A HAPPY BALANCE OF ESTRADIOL IN THE BODY
Good news! Whether you have high or low estradiol or you just want to care for your beautiful hormonal balance in general, there are a few things you can do to support your body's hormones.First off, take on a holistic view of caring for your hormones. You'll read hormone books out there that push a protocol or eating plan you have to follow. And though food can be a part of you finding balance, it's definitely not the big picture or even half the picture.Start by evaluating your relationship with food and exercise. Are you stressing about how you've been told that food affects your body? Take a deep breath and remember, it's more about the big picture here. There is no need to eat perfectly!Second, though exercise can be very supportive, it can also be detrimental to your hormonal balance if you are taking it to the extreme. And "extreme" is different for everyone. So just because you have a friend who is able to go to a cycle class 5 days a week and still have a regular cycle doesn't mean that that's right for you and your body. So use your period as a vital sign...if you lose your period or if it spaces out you may want to evaluate exercise.Another way to support your body's hormones is to clean up your environment from toxins that act as estrogens in the body. Yes, there are ingredients in things like your cleaning products and personal care products that actually mimic estrogen in the body and can throw your balance all out of whack. I like to recommend using the Environmental Working Group's website to check in on the ingredients for the things I'm using to make sure there aren't any endocrine disrupting chemicals when possible.And lastly, through eating certain foods you can support your body in getting rid of excess estrogen in your body if you struggle with high estradiol. Cruciferous vegetables like kale and broccoli are wonderful at this as well as flaxseeds, mushrooms, and whole grains.All in all, it's about balance...as is everything, right? Ok, humor me will ya? What's one fun/nerdy fact you learned today that you didn't know already about estradiol/estrogen? Tell me in the comments!!