Estrogen is a power packed hormone with a big kick. Sometimes we would like to give her a kick in the pants, as she toys with our emotions and our sanity, on a monthly basis. But overall – she is a keeper. 10
When she leaves, lots of bits begin to sag, the waist line expands and the bones become brittle. Plus the spectre of cardiovascular disease rears its ugly head.
Teasing out the estrogen effect
It has long been acknowledged that estrogen gives women an edge, when it comes to staving off the ravages of cardiovascular disease. The how is still up for debate – both iron levels and estrogen, have been implicated in this protection.
Researchers from the University of London think the “sexy” estrogen, is distracting white blood cells, so they stop sticking to the insides of blood vessels. Less sticking translates into less opportunities for blockages.
White blood cells gob smacked by estrogen
The researchers studied how white blood cells of blood donors responded to estrogen. The study involved comparing white blood cells from pre-menopausal women blood donors, with cells from male donors.
The blood cells from pre-menopausal women had higher levels of annexin-A1 on their surface. The exact amount of annexin-A1 correlated with estrogen levels, which fluctuate during the menstrual cycle.
Non-stick blood cells
Annexin-1 is a protein that makes the blood cells less sticky. The extra annexin-1 on the blood cells means that the cells are less able to stick to the walls of blood vessels.
It is too much sticking to blood cell walls that is at the root of atherosclerosis, so the decreased stickiness ends up being beneficial, protecting blood vessels from blockages and breaks.
It’s a balancing act
You need just the right amount of estrogen to execute this female advantage.
Too little, the post-menopausal dilemma, makes old lady’s blood, just as sticky as that of men and it also gives you the munchies, leading to weight gain.
Too much estrogen, seems to also swing things to increase the odds of a blockage – contraceptives sometimes precipitate this problem. The science behind this is a little unclear, the phenomenon may arise because of estrogen “resistance” i.e. the number and functioning of the estrogen receptors is altered, in a similar way to what happens in insulin resistance. NB. Too much estrogen also increases the risk of breast cancer.
Estrogen overload
Don’t rush off to get an estrogen fix ……
Too much estrogen seems to be a common problem in today’s world :
- many of the chemicals in our environment, look and feel like estrogen
- some foods eg. soy-foods, contain chemicals that are similar to estrogen (phytoestrogens),
- drugs, such as contraceptive medications and hormone replacement therapies, are estrogens
- being overweight, bumps up estrogen levels, because fat cells are able to make estrogen too
The chemistry of hormones is complicated – it is an orchestra playing together, not a solo. To reap the benefits of that “sexy” estrogen, you need to have the whole gang working in sync.
A good place to start is to get the 7 Big Spoons working for you…
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| Balance Eicosanoids | Rein in insulin | Dial down stress | Sleep ! | Increase Vit D | Culivate microflora | Think champion |
Interested in learning more about the chemistry behind those hormones ?
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Further reading
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| Vitamin D gets the blood vessels bending it like Beckam | A coffee a day keeps diabetes away | Aspirin discriminates against women |
The 7 Big Spoons™…. are master switches that turn health on.
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| Balance Eicosanoids | Rein in insulin | Dial down stress | Sleep ! | Increase Vit D | Culivate microflora | Think champion |
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My name is Dr Sandy Evans, I am a modern day alchemist, trained as a pharmacologist, I love to help people use chemicals to produce gold performances.