xenoestrogens contribute to estrogen dominance
Xenoestrogens (sometimes referred to as "gender-benders") are molecules with a structure very similar to that of natural estrogen
Our modern day environment is rife with these estrogen "look-alikes", which demonstrate an estrogenic effect in the body, by:
(1) Mimicking the effect of estrogen;
or
(2) Indirectly affecting the body's estrogen levels by disrupting the way estrogen is produced or used in the body.
"In the Columbia River, a recent study found that about 25 percent of the otters and muskrats were anatomically deformed.Estrogenic pollution kills birds, panthers, alligators, old men, young women, fish, seals, babies, and ecosystems.Some of these chemicals are sprayed on forests by the U.S.Department of Agriculture, where they enter lakes, underwater aquifers, rivers, and oceans.Private businesses spray them on farms and orchards, or put them into the air as smoke or vapors, or dump them directly into rivers.Homeowners put them on their lawns and gardens."
"The Dire Effects of Estrogen Pollution" by Ray Peat, PhD.
They are found in fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides, insecticides, dairy products, meat, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and personal products (a major source for women, especially in things that touch the skin i.e. lotions, shampoos, soap), squeezable toys, baby bottles, industrial effluent and by-products, car exhaust and more. They are leaching into canned foods and many foods packaged in plastic, and they exist in water, soil and air.
Natural hormones are subtly balanced and need only miniscule amounts to function
In particular, estrogen is delicately opposed by PROGESTERONE in the body - natural PROGESTERONE is no match for invading synthetic, foreign estrogens
Although similar, xenoestrogens are not identical to natural estrogen and have a different effect - a hormone binds to its associated receptor on a target cell (much like a key in a lock) to do a specific and complex job. If the molecular structure is different, even by one atom, the instructions given to the cell are different.
Synthetic xenoestrogens are not easily broken down -and can accumulate and be stored in the body's fat cells, including breast fat. The daily intake of even small amounts of xenoestrogens accumulate and bind to estrogen receptor sites,unbalancing the endocrine system with devastating health consequences.
xenoestrogens are implicated in numerous health problems - including:
(1) Xenoestrogens can mimic or block hormone messages with the same, weaker, or stronger responses - by docking (binding) to an estrogen receptor and mimicking or blocking normal estrogen response.
(2) Disrupting normal estrogen metabolism (by operating independently of the hormone receptor):
(a) They can prevent or promote estrogen from being made, broken apart, or carried in the bloodstream (by attaching to estrogen transport proteins (Sex Hormone Binding Globulins or SHBGs) - and pushing off the natural estrogen so it doesn't reach its target).
(b) They can change hormone production and disposal - by interrupting enzyme relay systems inside cells or by stimulating or slowing CYP enzyme production, to change the natural estrogen balance. Cytochrome P450 enzymes (CYPs) are involved with the production and breakdown of all steroid hormones (e.g. estrogens, androgens, progestins).
See the shocking number of sources of estrogenic endocrine disruptors now present in our diet and environment . . .
