How Can I Increase My Estrogen Fast?

Estrogen is a hormone that everyone's body needs to function properly. Increase estrogen fast by eating well, exercising, and taking supplements that contain phytoestrogens.

Estrogen is a hormone that everyone’s body needs to function properly. When you’re low on estrogen, you may experience a range of uncomfortable or painful symptoms. You can boost your estrogen levels in several ways, including eating certain foods and taking certain supplements, making other lifestyle changes, and taking hormone replacement therapy.

Low estrogen is a condition in which your body doesn’t make as much estrogen as it should or as usual. Estrogen is a hormone that has multiple roles within your body. While it primarily affects your reproductive system, it affects other body systems too. 

Estrogen in women or those designated female at birth

For women and those designated female at birth (DFAB), estrogen is the primary hormone for the reproductive system. In this population, estrogen plays a part in:

• The menstrual cycle. Estrogen is one of several hormones that work to keep your menstrual cycle regular and prepare your uterus for a possible pregnancy.
• Menopause. Your estrogen levels start to drop before menopause starts, during a period called perimenopause. Once you have not had a period for 12 months, you begin menopause. In menopause, your estrogen continues to drop, and the type of estrogen in your body changes.
• Pregnancy and fertility. Just before ovulation, your estrogen levels rise, causing changes in your body that make it easier for you to get pregnant. Estrogen also helps keep your vaginal walls elastic and lubricated to reduce pain during penetrative sex.
• Puberty. The increase in estrogen during puberty leads to secondary sex characteristics like breasts and curves.

Estrogen in men or those designated male at birth

Estrogen also affects the reproductive systems of men or those designated male at birth (DMAB). Too little estrogen can reduce your sex drive, while too much of it can lead to erectile dysfunction and infertility.

What else does estrogen do?

For all genders, estrogen helps regulate multiple processes within your body. It can affect:

• Blood flow and circulation
• Blood sugar levels
• Bone mass
• Brain function
• Cholesterol levels
• Collagen production
• Moisture in your skin
• Muscle mass

Several symptoms indicate low estrogen. Many of them apply only to women or those DFAB, but some also apply to men and those DMAB. Common symptoms include:

• Brittle or weak bones
• Decreased sex drive
• Difficulty concentrating
• Dry skin
• Fatigue
• Headaches
• Hot flashes
• Irregular periods or a lack of periods
• Irritability and moodiness
• Night sweats
• Painful intercourse
• Tender breasts
• Trouble sleeping
• Vaginal atrophy or dryness
• Weight gain, especially around the belly

Low estrogen in young girls or those DFAB can delay puberty and sexual development.

Aging is the primary cause of low estrogen. Estrogen levels fall as you get older, especially when you reach perimenopause and menopause. Other things that can cause low estrogen include:

• Autoimmune diseases. Autoimmune diseases that attack your ovaries can stop your ovaries from making the right amount of estrogen. 
• Eating disorders. Any eating disorder that deprives your body of nutrients can make it difficult for your body to keep your hormones balanced.
• Inherited conditions. Some genetic conditions like Fragile X syndrome and Turner syndrome can cause low estrogen.
• Hypothalamic amenorrhea. Your hypothalamus is an area within your brain that’s in charge of regulating your hormones. It makes a hormone called gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) that tells your ovaries to release estrogen. If your body isn’t getting enough nutrients or is stressed — for example, due to excessive exercise — your hypothalamus may not release enough GnRH, which can cause your periods to stop.
• Pituitary gland conditions. Your pituitary gland gets GnRH from your hypothalamus and sends it to the ovaries, triggering your ovaries to make estrogen. If your pituitary gland doesn’t send the right amount of hormones to your ovaries, your ovaries may not produce enough estrogen.

While women and those DFAB are most likely to be affected by low estrogen, everyone needs estrogen, and therefore low estrogen could affect anyone. People most often affected by low estrogen are those who have had an injury to the ovaries or had their ovaries removed and those entering perimenopause or menopause.

To raise your estrogen level, you can try tactics that include making lifestyle changes, eating food and taking supplements that supply phytoestrogen, and undergoing estrogen therapy.

Lifestyle changes

Living a healthy lifestyle can help keep your hormones balanced. You can do this by:

• Maintaining a healthy weight. Estrogen is stored in body fat. Being underweight and having too little body fat can cause low estrogen, while being overweight with too much body fat can cause your estrogen levels to become too high.
• Exercise in moderation. Exercising in moderation is good for your body. Overexercising can deplete your body’s resources, including estrogen.
• Lower your stress. Stress can lead to hormonal imbalances in your body. It’s not always easy to reduce stress, but incorporating stress management techniques into your routine can help.
• Sleep. While you’re sleeping, your body recharges, allowing it to moderate your hormones the way it’s supposed to. Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night.

Foods that contain phytoestrogens

Many foods you may eat regularly contain phytoestrogens, plant-based molecules that mimic estrogen in the body and can help combat the side effects of low estrogen. These include:

• Fruits: Apples, blueberries, grapes, pears, plums, raspberries, strawberries
• Legumes: Chickpeas, lentils, peanuts, soybeans
• Seeds: Flaxseed, sunflower seed
• Vegetables: Broccoli, cabbage, carrots, spinach, sprouts, onion, peas, zucchini

Supplements that contain phytoestrogens

You can purchase several supplements that contain phytoestrogens. One is black cohosh, an herb whose root has been used for centuries to relieve menstrual cramps and symptoms of menopause. Another is red clover, a wild plant in the legume family. It grows in meadows throughout Europe and Asia and has traditionally been used to treat several health conditions.

Supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), so check with your provider before starting anything new.

Estrogen therapy

One common way to combat low estrogen is with hormone replacement therapy (HRT), in which you take a synthetic form of estrogen or progesterone. There are two types of hormone replacement therapy that can be used for low estrogen: estrogen therapy or estrogen progesterone/progestin hormone therapy (EPT).

Estrogen therapy is only prescribed if you no longer have a uterus, such as if you’ve had a hysterectomy. Otherwise, you’ll take EPT. You need both because progesterone balances the effects of estrogen in the uterus, preventing an overgrowth of your uterine lining.

EPT does have potential side effects. Taking EPT for five years or more can increase your risk of blood clots, breast cancer, heart attacks, and strokes. 

The FDA has only approved full-body HRT for low bone mineral density and to treat hot flashes. To treat vaginal dryness and the painful intercourse you may experience as a result, you can take vaginal estrogen. This comes in several forms like creams, rings, and vaginal inserts.

If you believe your estrogen levels may be low, speak with a healthcare provider. They can order a blood test to check your estrogen levels. If your estrogen levels are low, they can work with you to bring them back to an adequate place.