Estrogen: One of the major problems with low Testosterone.

Estrogen. The glorious female dominant sex hormone, and the all too common dominant hormone in men. It is fairly easy to spot in today’s society. Personally, I find this fact phenomenally sad. Men with large breasts (manboobs), distended and over fat bellies, an excess of fat in their legs and hamstring areas, puffy and bloated arms, pale skin (due to lack of blood flow, not skin color per se), hair loss too early in life, depression, anxiety and so many more signs of bad health. These symptoms all signify a lack of testosterone and or high estrogen due to a number of different factors we will discuss below.

When I was in school I kept seeing studies and listened to smart, forward thinking doctors say kids today have lower testosterone than their Grandfathers. I thought at first they were doing a comparison at the same age, as in when your grandfather was 22 his testosterone levels were high than a 22 year old in 2020. Now, after being in practice for a decade, I know they were being serious. Men in their 70s have higher testosterone than the men in their 20s. In 2020, men in their 70s are rivaling men in the 20s for who has the highest T. This is a massive public health problem, and no is talking about it.

WHY?

One massive reason is men are becoming estrogenic. Estrogen is hitting all men, women, children, plants and animals from a number of different angles. Excess fat, toxins from foods, personal care products, air quality, tap water, detergents, many different environmental toxins, stress levels, nutrient status, liver health, imbalance of macros, sleep and countless different things all lead to an estrogen toxic environment in men (and women). Overall, living in the 21st can be considered estrogenic in totality. Having optimal testosterone takes a ton of effort. This article will touch on how to detox and get rid of these estrogens and estrogen exposure.

HOW TO TELL IF ESTROGEN DETOX IS RIGHT FOR YOU?

First, would be if you are alive and reading this. Almost all toxins we are exposed to seem to impact the body in a pro-estrogenic/anti-androgenic way, from a whole host of different mechanisms. The next reason would be having too much body fat, specifically in your chest (manboobs), belly (stress fat) and legs (estrogenic fat). It is near impossible for a man to have ideal testosterone function while carrying too much body fat.

Aromatase is an enzyme that converts healthy testostosterone to estrogen. It does this to protect the body. I like to view the body as a car. What we want is a high end sports car, that requires high octane fuel. This would be being lean, strong and having ideal testosterone (fuel). Now if your body is the equivalent of an ‘84 rusted out Honda Civic, putting high octane racing fuel in the car would not have a good outcome. The car would blow up. This would be like pumping a fat man full of testosterone and not having his heart or brain explode (heart attack or stroke). We always want to make sure we are getting our body’s to the max health and output we can before taking hormones. Hormones are like high octane fuel, and they require the right ‘parts’ to function.

Nutrients like zinc, resveratrol and the complex of substances that help support estrogen detox all impact aromatase. Personally, I find that heavy metal detox tends to be one of the best strategies for eliminating manboobs, which are the tell tale sign of too much aromatase. The basic mechanism of this is zinc. Zinc is required for heavy metal detox and heavy metals are one of the main signs of zinc deficiency. As many functional and lifestyle medicine practitioners will note, replenishing zinc deficiency can take years or longer. I have found heavy metal detox strategies to speed up this process and eliminate manboobs.

LOWER BODY FAT

Body fat may be one of the most estrogenic items a man can have. Fat cells produce the aromatase enzyme, which has great functions in the brain, and not so great functions in the body. The chest and the arms are the two most important areas on the body to be lean for a man. The arms tend to relate more to testosterone production, and the chest relates to estrogenic action. Quite literally, a man will grow breasts if his estrogen and aromatase activity is too high.

A fat loss program is of absolute importance to any man who is has too much fat. To measure fat, I like to use a Bio-Impedance Analysis machine. I find them consistently accurate, with RJL Systems having the best system. Most men, when using this system tend to have the highest testosterone levels around 15-17.5% body fat. This sounds a bit high, but trust me. This is pretty lean and cut.

HOW TO GET RID OF ESTROGENS

STEP 1. First you must get rid of your toxic lifestyle. This means eating organic, drinking clean water, avoiding toxic and estrogenic personal care products, using clean detergent on your clothes, etc. If you are drinking too much alcohol or using other drugs, this has to end. It doesn’t do anyone any good to detox estrogens if your daily life is toxifying.

STEP 2. Take the right supplements and detox support. Some of the big players I have found to me most effective are listed below. Also, check out My Personal Testosterone Plan. I detailed out my personal plan here. A lot of the supplements listed below can be substituted or combined with this for maximum results.

Axis Endo - This is one of the most effective support supplements for estrogen detox. It is a meal replacement shake and is the best ‘bang for the buck’ support.

Metalloclear - This is my favorite, and one of the most effective ‘man-boob’ correctors I have ever used.

Meta I 3 C - I have found this to be great for long term estrogen detox use. I usually rotate this with the others listed. Tends to be fairly powerful.

SulforaClear - This broccoli extract also has very nice brain effects. I find this to impact my mood in a positive way in addition to helping support estrogen detox.

STEP 3. Live a high testosterone lifestyle. More on this to come in the future. :)

The bottom line is, we can all benefit from helping our body’s get rid of excess and toxic estrogens. 21st Century living is very estrogenic in all aspects. Living a high testosterone life requires a lot of effort and this is a great and necessary part of this living.

Enjoy!