Sometimes you’ll find it hard to build muscle and lose fat, even if you are following your diet and workouts like a clockwork. Most likely this is caused by excessive estrogen levels in the body and the athlete’s lack of knowledge of how to lower it.
Estrogen in our bodies increases because of several reasons: lack of sleep, too much stress and our poor eating habits.
Mainly, we increase estrogen by consuming foods high in both synthetic and natural substances known as phytoestrogens, xenoestrogens and mycoestrogens. Let’s take a look at a list of the top anti estrogen foods and beverages that will help you fight these substances and the ones you shouldn’t eat or drink:
1. Cruciferous vegetables
Cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, mustard seeds and cauliflower are known for their many health benefits.
Besides the high antioxidant contents, they also contain chemicals that are known for their liver detoxifying effects and the ability to lower high estrogen levels in the body. Eating these anti-estrogen vegetables will indirectly help you burn fat.
Related: Broccoli Bodybuilding Benefits – Is Broccoli Good For Building Muscle ?
2. STOP eating soy and soy products
Phytoestrogens are substances that are naturally found in some plants and foods. They have the ability to do harm to your body and health in general.
Some phytoestrogens that occur in sources such as soy isoflavones actually promote estrogen activity. This is exactly why you should STAY AWAY from soy and it’s products including soy protein supplements !
3. Green tea
Green tea has a significant effect on estrogen because of one component called “sex hormone binding globulin” (SHBG) found in the tea. The SHBG makes sure that estrogen can’t interact with its receptors.
4. Flaxseed or flaxseed oil in your diet
What makes flaxseed so special ? They contain 100 times more lignans than any other plant. Lignans are a type of phytoestrogens that act as very weak estrogens and may block the estrogen receptors from stronger estrogens in a similar way to some synthetic drugs. They also block the aromatase enzyme which is responsible for the creation of gynecomastia or man boobs.
5. Dietary fiber
Not only it’s good for your health, but dietary fiber has fibrous compounds that lower estrogen levels. Researchers found that people that eat recommended quantities of fiber had the lowest blood levels of estrogen.
6. Herbal Supplements
Some herbs contain compounds that are extremely effective in decreasing the estrogen in your body. Herbs such as such as saw palmetto, maca, red clover, Mexican yam have all been connected to male fertility for a reason.
7. Keep your gut healthy
Alcohol, gluten, processed foods, and refined carbs can all contribute to an unhealthy digestive system, which can raise estrogen levels. For a healthy gut, avoid such meals and increase your intake of fiber-rich nutritious veggies, probiotics and gluten-free foods.
Related: 5 Surprising Ways Probiotics Can Transform Your Health
8. Avoid drinking beer
The liver is where estrogen is processed. Any alcohol can have an impact on liver function and raise estrogen levels. Beer is extremely estrogenic, so if you’re going to consume alcohol, stay away from it.
Why is that? One of the most potent plant-based estrogens (also known as phytoestrogens) that we are aware of is hops, a remarkable flavoring and preservative that has been used in beer for generations.
Your body converts the hops in your beer into estrogen if you drink a lot of it, and your liver frequently cannot handle the extra estrogen. You may consequently begin to display more feminine traits, such as breast expansion and hair loss.
9. Stop drinking and eating out of plastic
Besides the above 8 tips, you should also try to stop drinking out of plastic. Almost all of the plastic available has some type of xenoestrogen in the product. Avoiding plastic may be a hard thing today, but try to cut plastic from your cutlery whenever you can.
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