hormones and liver

[caper]

Hi Shelley

I have been wondering about hormonal ups and downs and the liver and estrogen. I find everyone has a different take on perimenopause and how to deal with it. Do you recommend Julia Chang's approach of Chinese bitters and coptis and the estrogen dominance theory. If estrogen is dominant then why do women feel so much better who go on HRT which is predominantly estrogen? I don't want to take anything artificial and I'm happy to tackle everything naturally I'm just not sure what way that is?

Cheers Caper

[shelley]

Hi Caper! It depends on one's age. The younger you are, the less HRT you should be doing, and your first step should always be thorough liver cleansing because then the issue may take care of itself. After the liver is clean then some tinkering with protein, potassium and zinc levels may be all you need to correct your hormone ratios and levels, or Vitex. Lots of people mistake mineral and protein deficiency for estrogen deficiency.
Then if you still need to a bit of HRT, particularly if you're over 50, you may want to just take some DHEA and estrogenic foods.

If you just immediately supplement estrogen you're asking for weight gain, inflammation, ovarian cysts, clots, certain cancers, the list goes on.

[caper]

Thanks Shelley
I'm taking Vitex and was doing herbs from an ayurvedic dr but haven't done your comprehensive liver cleansing for a while. I live in Australia so its much easier to get Sandra Carbot's products then Julia changs. Or is Julia Changs a better approach?

I have also been doing the body ecology eating (but not so strict) lots of fermenting and probiotic drinks.

Cheers Caper

[shelley]

Sandra's are fine, just be sure to take something that dissolves stones. Lecithin will usually do it, but a combo of lecithin and malic acid is better.