5 Facts Every Woman Should Know About Estrogen

March 13, 2015

How much is good for you and what does losing it mean? While too much estrogen is bad for health, too little can lead to a host of other problems. Here are five interesting facts you should know about it.

Fact #1: Less Estrogen = Menopausal Symptoms
Estrogen is essentially a sex hormone, most of which is made in your ovaries. When your ovaries start producing less estrogen, you experience most of the symptoms associated with menopause.

Fact #2: More Than Just Menstruation
Estrogen moves throughout your body and its main role is to help with the changes and development during puberty and menstruation. But that’s not all. Estrogen can also help your blood clot properly, help your liver make protein, keep your cholesterol levels in check and aid your brain in carrying out its various functions.

Fact #3: Good For The Bones
Estrogen helps prevent bone loss and works with calcium, vitamin D and other minerals and hormones to build and strengthen bones. Till the age of 30, your body builds and remakes the bones in your body. Once your estrogen levels drop, there is a decline in this process. (Related Article: Did You Know? Cilantro Can Improve Your Bone Health)

Fact #4: Not So Good In Bed
A dip in your estrogen levels can make your vagina dry up and make the vaginal walls thinner, causing pain while having sex. Low levels of estrogen can also lower your desire to have sex and make you forgetful. (Related Article: Get Your Libido Pumping With These 6 Herbs)

Fact #5: Life Long Fluctuations
Estrogen levels go through a roller coaster ride during the course of your life. It hits its peak when you reach puberty, with the highest amount of estrogen being produced during those years. The following years see a drop from those heightened levels, with levels going up again when you are pregnant. As you reach menopause, your ovaries stop making this hormone and the levels drop. But estrogen does not completely disappear from your body as your fat cells still make a small amount of it, and there is always some estrogen present inside you.

Low levels of estrogen can point to various health issues, especially if you notice these symptoms as early as your late 20s or early 30s. Speak to your healthcare provider to understand how much estrogen is required by your body and what you need to do in case there is an overload or decline in the levels.