Estrogen called steroid sex hormones, which in the body of a woman are produced in the ovaries. In addition, estrogens are synthesized in much smaller amounts in the adrenal glands, so this hormone is also found in small quantities in the blood in men.
For a woman’s health, it is imperative that estrogen levels are within normal limits. The lack of this female hormone leads to problems with pregnancy, and also causes numerous unpleasant symptoms associated with menopause.
However, an excess of estrogen is no less harmful, since such a condition can lead to fibroids, decreased libido, depressive states and migraines. Therefore, it is important that balance is maintained in the body.
But what if the tests showed that the level of estrogen in the body is too low? Start taking hormone pills? But such drugs can bring not only benefits, but also harm.
It turns out that you can increase the level of this hormone through the use of certain foods. Estrogens in products are, of course, not a complete analogue of female sex hormones, but they have a similar composition and are called phytoestrogens.
So, which foods contain estrogen? The champion in the content of phytoestrogens is soy. Of course, no one calls for chewing soy for no reason, because there are a considerable number of products made on the basis of soy on sale. This is tofu cheese, soy asparagus, soy milk and dozens of other items of a variety of products.
It must be said that the substances contained in soy not only increase the level of female hormones, but also help prevent diseases such as breast cancer, osteoporosis, etc.
Especially useful to use estrogen in foods for women who begin menopause. A sufficient amount of hormones helps to make menopause symptoms such as irritability, migraines, hot flashes, become less pronounced. Therefore, women during this period is very useful to eat foods with soy.
Legumes and grains are also products containing estrogen. So those who need to increase the female level of the hormone in the blood should eat more cereal dishes. Estrogens are also found in foods such as coffee, eggplant, carrots, tomatoes, pumpkin. There are a lot of them in beer, however, it is not recommended to get involved in the use of this drink in order to increase hormone levels, since it contains alcohol. Products such as cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, and especially broccoli, are very useful for women.
But whether estrogens are useful in animal products, perhaps it is worth doubting. Of course, if you eat natural meat and animal fats, then we will not talk about exceeding the norm for increasing hormones. But in modern livestock complexes, in order for cattle to gain weight faster and give a greater meat yield, various feed additives are used, including hormonal ones. Naturally, the use of such food affects the quality of meat, therefore, often estrogen in animal products is contained in excess quantities, which can not benefit people.
Therefore, if there is a need to raise the level of estrogen, it is better to give preference to phytoestrogens contained in plant foods.
Of course, far from all cases there is an opportunity to raise the level of estrogen exclusively through nutrition. In these cases, you can use dietary supplements. These additives contain, as a rule, natural phytoestrogens, so their use is less harmful than taking synthetic hormones. However, even here you need to comply with the measure, because an excess of hormones can bring no less harm than its lack.