Did you know that women have three types of estrogen? Each one plays a vital role in keeping women healthy. Once you understand the three types of estrogen, you can gain insight into your own unique physiology.
How a Knowledge of Oestradiol, Oestriol, and Oestrone Can Prevent Health Scares and Improve Your Wellbeing
In this article, you’ll learn about oestradiol, oestriol, and oestrone, and what you can do to make sure your body has the optimal amount of each.
Here’s a Bulletpoint of Everything in this Article
What is Estrogen, and Why Does it Matter?
What is Oestradiol
What is Oestriol
What is Oestrone
BUT FIRST! What is Estrogen, and Why Does it Matter?
Estrogen is the primary hormone found in women. While men have one primary sex hormone (testosterone), women have two: estrogen and progesterone. Estrogen is mainly responsible for regulating the menstrual cycle and progesterone regulates the pregnancy process.
Estrogen is secreted by the ovaries before ovulation begins. It is also produced by adrenal glands and fat tissues, and is responsible for developing female characteristics like breasts and hips.
Estrogen has many other functions as well, such as improving bone health, cognitive functions, and the cardiovascular system.
Women have three types of estrogen, and it’s important to understand the roles performed by each of them. Here are the three types of estrogen and the vital roles they play in maintaining a woman’s health.
What is Oestradiol?
Oestradiol, also known as estradiol, is the strongest of the three hormones. When a woman is in her reproductive years (i.e. post-puberty and pre-menopause), oestradiol is the most common type of estrogen in her body.
Oestradiol’s main function is to mature and maintain the reproductive system. It does this by aiding in the release of eggs and thickening the uterus lining to increase the chances of implanting a fertilized egg. It also promotes the development of breast tissue.
The combined oral contraceptive pill (a.k.a. “the pill”) combines synthetic forms of oestradiol and progesterone. The pill stops ovulation and makes the cervical mucus membrane much thicker, making it more difficult for sperm to travel through
Too much oestradiol can result in acne, constipation, loss of sex drive, and depression. Highly elevated levels can result in cardiovascular troubles and weight gain.
Too little oestradiol can cause poor bone health, osteoporosis, mood swings, and delayed puberty.
What is Oestriol?
Oestriol, also known as estriol, is heavily associated with pregnancy. Oestriol’s primary function is to prepare the body for pregnancy and giving birth.
Using a chemical produced by the fetus, the placenta creates oestriol. Eostriol levels steadily increase in the body throughout pregnancy, and they are at their highest three weeks before childbirth begins.
Scientists are looking into whether oestriol could be used to relieve symptoms related to rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. For women with these symptoms, they are less severe while they are pregnant.
Too much oestriol could cause a premature birth if it occurs too early in the pregnancy process.
Too little oestriol is not a cause for concern in women who are not pregnant.
For pregnant women, low levels of oestriol serve as an indicator of the baby’s health. Low levels in the early trimester could indicate a high risk of fetal death. It is also an indicator of conditions like Down’s Syndrome, and it could signal to doctors that they need to induce labor.
What is Oestrone?
Oestrone, a.k.a. estrone, is the third type of estrogen. It is also the least powerful.
Scientists are still researching the role that oestrone plays in the body. So far they have discovered that postmenopausal women tend to have high amounts of oestrone.
They know that it aids in female sexual development and function, and that it can be converted to oestradiol. This suggests that oestrone serves as repository that can be converted if needed.
There are studies that I don’t agree with completely that state that too much oestrone has been tied to both breast cancer and obesity. However, the true cause of that link was to obesity and being overweight. Women who are overweight or obese produce more oestrone, and therefore Doctors monitor oestrone levels as a possible warning sign of cancer.
Too little oestrone can cause osteoporosis, and it can cause menopausal symptoms, i.e. make hot flashes, poor sex drive, depression and fatigue worse.
Scientists have yet to confirm a direct link, but they suspect that low oestrone levels could be responsible for women who have gone through menopause and are still struggling with symptoms.
Ask Your Doctor About Your Levels of Oestradiol, Oestriol, and Oestrone
Properly monitoring your levels of oestradiol, oestriol, and oestrone and help identify problems before they become too serious. Low or high amounts could also explain why you’re feeling certain symptoms.
Balance is what you want to achieve. It’s not simply about supplementing hormones. It’s about a personalized approach that tests your blood for exactly what the imbalance is, how much is needed to bring your body back to balance, and how to do so without toxic chemicals/pharmaceutical drugs.
By taking steps to reach your body’s optimal level of each of these three types of estrogen, you are taking a proactive approach to maximize all aspects of your health, longetivity, in order to live your best life at any age.
The Truth About Estrogen
Estrogen has a bad rap due to a botched study by the Women’s Health Initiative in 2002. The truth of the matter is, if estrogen was as bad as the WHI mistakenly concluded, there wouldn’t be a woman alive after pregnancy because estrogen rises up to 1000 times!
Watch my video about my best selling book: The Good News About Estrogen where I discuss this very issue below!
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