Often times I hear from women who come to my practice with symptoms of perimenopause or menopause that they “tried” hormones but either they didn’t see a benefit or they were made to feel worse. This is unfortunate as bioidentical hormone replacement has substantial benefits during this crucial time in life. The following are the three critical steps that you must take before you begin bioidentical hormone replacement
The first step is to optimize diet and nutrients. Diet is critical to ensuring hormone success because what you eat determines whether you are inflamed or not. And whether your metabolic state will affect the binding of your hormones. What I mean by that is if you're inflamed, or your insulin or blood sugars are abnormal then you could potentially be setting yourself up to not have those hormones work. Here are my top three recommendations that almost EVERYONE gets wrong with diet. The first is to prioritize protein shooting for at least 100 grams of protein per day. The second is to eat a balance plate one that is balanced between proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Here is what that would look like: ½ a plate of vegetables, ¼ plate of protein according to your needs and ¼ plate of either additional veggies, low sugar fruits or complex carbs PLUS one serving of fat: i.e. avocado, olive oil etc. The third is to get a wide variety of plant based foods throughout the week (at least 35 or more different ones!) focusing on cruciferous vegetables which support healthy estrogen breakdown in the body.
The second critical step to take before you start hormone replacement is to ensure that your digestion is optimal which equates to having a healthy microbiome. Here are simple steps to take: Ensure that you sit at a table when you eat your food. This will help support being out of fight or flight which will allow for proper digestion. Chew your food until it is liquefied. This will ensure that you absorb all the crucial nutrients in your food. Eating the diversity of foods as outlined in step 1 will help feed your microbiome or flora.
The microbiome is all of the bacteria in our large intestines. They govern: how we absorb nutrients, the production of our brain chemicals aka neurotransmitters as well as our immune function. There are some bacteria that should not be a part of our microbiome that produce an enzyme (called beta glucuronidase) that doesn't allow for estrogen to be released from the body. This study highlights the importance of the microbial beta glucuronidase in regulating estrogen.
If this enzyme is high, when you take estrogen, it can actually block estrogen from being eliminated from the body which is not ideal. If by taking these measures your digestion is still not optimal you may need to have a specialty stool test done that can measure the critical components of digestion and whether or not beta glucuronidase is high.
The third critical step to take before starting hormones is to ensure that you're adequately detoxifying. Believe it or not, our hormones are eliminated from our body through several detoxification pathways. The simplest way is to detoxify is to hydrate and ensuring you are eliminating i.e., pooping at least once a day and peeing regularly. In addition, move your body ensuring you sweat. Lastly, you want to minimize exposure to environmental toxins which can act like hormones aka xenoestrogens like BPA found in plastics, or parabens and phalates found in personal care products.
I optimize these critical steps in all our patients so that women receive the beneficial effect from bioidentical hormones which leads to eliminating hot flashes, night sweats, middle of the night wakening, mood swings, irritability, low energy, weight gain and even joint pain. These three steps are what differentiates our practice in treating women with perimenopause and menopause from Naperville to Oakbrook to Chicago and even into St. Charles and Geneva locally as well as the women who fly from across the USA for our bioidentical hormone protocols.
If you want to learn more about our biological replacement hormone program, have a look at HERE. If you want to learn more about the first three steps, I encourage you to read my book Energized Feel Fantastic Forever, which goes into more detail. If you want to explore working with us, you can book a free discovery call HERE.
