By Holly Lucille, ND, RN

In the last decade or so, conventional medicine has dubbed many of the natural processes of a woman’s body problematic health conditions. One of the newest of such diagnoses is perimenopause. The term perimenopausal is being used to describe women who are approximately 35 to 45 and are experiencing weight gain, sore or lumpy breasts, severe premenstrual syndrome (PMS), irregular periods, and low libido, as well as moodiness, irritability, uterine fibroids, endometriosis, or ovarian cysts. Despite the fact that these conditions are caused by an overall hormonal imbalance, in which estrogen is generally dominant, the conventional treatment protocol for this new diagnosis is estrogen-filled birth control pills. In contrast, the naturopathic medical approach works to balance a woman’s hormones naturally through diet and lifestyle, thereby preventing symptoms—not simply masking them.

Understanding estrogen
Estrogen is among the most powerful classes of hormones the body produces. Although we commonly think of estrogen as one substance or one type of hormone, it is actually a class of naturally occurring sex hormones produced by the ovaries and the adrenal glands. There are at least two dozen known estrogens, all with various functions; every organ, including the brain, heart, ovaries, and liver, has receptor sites. The most commonly discussed estrogens are estrone, estradiol, and estriol.

Estrogens, as a group, promote cell proliferation. They stimulate endometrial cells in preparation for pregnancy, prompt breast tissue growth, maintain function of the sexual organs, stimulate the menstrual cycle, and initiate the bodily changes that occur at puberty. However, if estrogen function is unchecked, cells can multiply unnecessarily, in some cases leading to cancer.

Estrogens produced in the body are not the only ones we are exposed to, however. There are estrogens in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we eat. Many women also take synthetic hormones. Among the estrogens coming at us daily, there are beneficial and detrimental ones. Knowing the sources of these estrogens is helpful in creating hormone balance in your body.

Detrimental estrogens
We live awash in environmental xenoestrogens that negatively affect our health. Xenoestrogens are foreign substances with hormonelike and estrogenlike activities in the body. Their estrogenic activity is more potent than the estrogen made by ovaries. Xenoestrogens can mimic natural estrogen or block it at estrogen receptor sites on cells throughout the body. These artificial estrogens activate receptors to stimulate a hormonal effect or occupy the receptor and block natural hormones from doing their job, either way disrupting endocrine activity. Some of these hormone imposters accumulate, because they are fat soluble—meaning they are stored in body fat—and continue to interfere with the body’s natural hormone balance.

These manmade estrogens find their way into the water supply, soil, air, and food chain. As you might imagine, these have a serious effect on hormone balance. Most xenoestrogens are derived from petrochemicals and include pesticides, industrial chemicals, cleaners, plastics (e.g., water bottles, food containers), nail polish, and car exhaust. The pollution from these products causes health problems, including increased cancer rates and infertility.

In a recent study published in the journal Occupational and Environmental Medicine, researchers made a direct link between cancer and pesticides. Women with breast cancer were five times more likely to have pesticide residue in their bloodstream than healthy women were.

Synthetic hormones, in the form of birth