Flax Seeds, Estrogen, and Supporting Hormone Balance
As conversations around HRT continue to grow, one important piece often gets overlooked: how well the body is actually processing and eliminating hormones.
Last Saturday we finished up my 5 week cleanse with TSH. Our conversation took a turn to an important conversation about vaginal health as we age. It was inspired by a question from one of the ladies about a vaginal estrogen cream her doctor had recommended.
This is something I have been supporting my 1:1 clients with for years. and it's coming up a lot recently in my 1:1 client work as the shifting menopause/hormone replacement landscape has thankfully been changing. I personally feel so fortunate as a Gen Xer to have caught the begginning of this shift just as I was entering late perimenopause and have benefited by having more choices than my mom's generation.
And while I am personally on HRT, there is a conversation that is easily missed in the hype around it and what can be a cookie cutter approach that is presented as a panacea that takes care of all things menopause.
And while it can be incredibly supportive and life changing for many women, there’s no free lunch with hormones (this is true for men too).
One of the things that often isn't addressed is that your body still has to process and eliminate hormones properly.
This is where I think both conventional and functional medicine can sometimes miss part of the picture.
Many women are started on hormones without much conversation around:
digestion
constipation
liver support
inflammation
gut health
blood sugar balance/insulin resistance
Yet all of these things influence how well your body handles hormones. And if you start HRT and have a bumpy ride or doesn't solve the issues you were hoping it would, often it's because these foundations aren't being supported adequately.
We metabolize estrogen down three primary pathways, often referred to as the 2, 4, and 16 OH pathways. Without getting too deep into the weeds, some pathways are considered more protective while others can become more problematic when inflammation, detoxification, and elimination aren’t functioning well.
And if digestion and elimination are sluggish, which is very common especially during peri/menopause transition, estrogen can end up getting recirculated instead of properly eliminated.
This is one of the reasons constipation, poor digestion, inflammation, and gut health matter so much more than many women realize during perimenopause and menopause.
One of the simple foods I often come back to with women during this stage of life is freshly ground flax seed.
Sexy? From where I’m sitting YES and supportive!
Flax contains lignans, which can help bind and support the elimination of estrogen through the digestive tract. So make note: Ground flax seed and flax oil are not the same thing.
Flax oil has had the lignans processed out, so while both come from flax, they don’t have the same effect when it comes to estrogen metabolism.
One simple and easy way to start incorporating flax regularly is through this flax + chia water:
1 Tablespoon Chia Seeds (3.3 grams soluble fiber)
1 Tablespoon Flax Seeds (2 grams soluble fiber)
Juice of ½ a lemon or lime (optional)
Add to a pint of filtered water (add the juice of ½ a lemon or lime if you like). Shake for a minute or two or until the seeds start to suspend in the water (otherwise they will sink to the bottom in one big clump that you won’t be able to break up!). Store in the fridge for a couple of hours to soften and plump up. Enjoy!
This simple drink also give you a quick 5+ grams of fiber to you day and can be really helpful for constipation.
There’s a lot of conversation right now around hormones, which is AMAZING!!! But we still need to remember there’s no free lunch.
We can’t forget the foundations that need to be in place so the body can process and eliminate hormones well too.
This is the kind of support and personalization I help my 1:1 clients with all the time.
If you’re on HRT (or thinking about it) and still feeling like there are missing pieces to your health puzzle, click here to schedule a free discovery call.