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Good to Know:
- Estrogen dominance causes a variety of symptoms from mood swings to weight gain.
- When anyone drinks alcohol their estrogen levels increase.
- The liver prioritizes the clearance of alcohol since it’s a toxin that harms the liver.
- Estrogen builds up in the bloodstream before it can be processed by the liver.
- Elevated estrogen causes the reward system to react more strongly to alcohol, encouraging its use.
The liver is a heavy lifter that processes estrogen and alcohol, among other things. But the liver can’t do it all at once. It has to prioritize what it processes, and alcohol gets put at the top of the list because it is a toxin. The introduction of alcohol also throws off estrogen production and how the liver processes estrogen, throwing hormones off balance in a bad way.
What Estrogen Dominance Does in the System
All of us produce estrogen, both men and women. It’s a critical hormone for reproduction, but that’s just one of its functions.
Estrogen plays a role in regulating
- Sexual function
- Bones
- Brain
- Metabolism
- Cardiovascular health
- Skin
In women, estrogen:
- Regulates the menstrual cycle
- Supports ovulation
- Supports fertility
- Influences body fat distribution
- Helps protect brain, bones and heart health
In men, estrogen converted from testosterone is important for:
- Libido
- Erectile function
- Sperm development
- Bone density
- Fat and cholesterol metabolism
- Brain function
But too much of a good thing isn’t always good. Estrogen is a perfect example of this.
How Consuming Alcohol Affects Estrogen Production and the Clearance Processes
The effects of alcohol go way past the brain. It impacts many bodily systems, including hormone production.
Alcohol causes more testosterone to be converted into estrogen. It creates a hormonal imbalance for men and women. Estrogen levels are elevated, creating estrogen dominance in chronic drinkers. When estrogen levels are dominated it can cause a number of unwelcome side effects like irritability, mood swings, weight gain, irregular menstrual cycle and bloating.
The altered estrogen production is connected to the aromatization process. This is when an enzyme called aromatase converts androgens (testosterone being one of them) into estrogen. Alcohol ramps up aromatization, increasing estradiol while lowering testosterone.
Part of this process is happening in the liver. The liver is busy facilitating the aromatization process, and trying to clear out alcohol toxins. It also needs to process estrogen, but it will have to wait until the alcohol is eliminated.
The liver has to prioritize clearing the alcohol first since it's a toxin. The delay in estrogen metabolizing by the liver paired with the increased estrogen production from aromatization leads to elevated levels of estrogen staying in the bloodstream for longer.
Increased Estrogen Encourages More Drinking
The worst part about alcohol-estrogen interaction is that elevated estrogen encourages more drinking. Estrogen in the brain enhances the responsiveness to alcohol in the reward centers of the brain. In other words, increased estrogen gives people more of a positive connection with alcohol consumption. They get a more gratifying buzz.
Not surprisingly, research has shown during periods of the menstrual cycle when estrogen is highest women are more likely to binge drink alcohol.
Alcohol is Harmful to the Liver While Estrogen Supports It
Replacing estrogen clearance with clearing out alcohol toxins instead is a double-whammy for the liver. It is both exposed to alcohol, which damages liver cells, while lowering the presence of estrogen, which protects the liver from fatty liver disease.
The direct impact that alcohol has on the liver and hormones can throw off your biomarkers if you’re a regular drinker. Over time it can do real harm to the liver and cause noticeable bodily changes from the elevated estrogen.
Even one drink a day is enough to alter hormone levels significantly and impact the way the liver is able to function. How much of a difference can it make? One study found that women who have one alcoholic beverage a day have estrogen levels that are 18% higher than the average.
If you want help curbing alcohol cravings, once-a-day naltrexone is a proven solution. Like estrogen, naltrexone alters the reward response when drinking alcohol, but it has the opposite effect. It inhibits the euphoric dopamine release so that there’s no buzz from alcohol.
Take the Alcohol Use Assessment to find out if your habits qualify as chronic drinking that could be hindering your hormonal balance and liver health.
Know Your Liver and Hormone Levels to Start Improving Your Overall Wellness
It can be difficult to know how well your liver is functioning and if hormones are elevated until there are serious problems. Choose Health provides a number of ways to know what’s going on and how you can optimize your health on every level.
If you drink regularly, taking a liver function test can help you gauge your risk of fatty liver disease, liver damage and alcohol-related liver stress. A female hormone test or male hormone test can provide specific information on estradiol and testosterone levels so you know if they are elevated.
You can also get started by taking the quick Liver Health Quiz to get your liver health score and a personalized plan for improving it in 5 minutes!
