Many reports have been published for quite
some time now suggesting that environmental contamination, specifically
plastics in the water, has caused lack of sexual differentiation
among fish and a loss of their capacity to procreate. Warnings
went out to mothers that baby boys should be protected from such
risks by avoidance of plastics, including such basic items as baby
bottles and perhaps even teething rings and plastics in diapers.
While no proof seems to exist that the danger is that great for
males, what I have seen over the 30 years that I have been active
in the holistic health field is a reduction in fertility, this
to the extent that at least a quarter of couples marrying today
cannot take for granted that they will be able to have children
without some dramatic intervention. This is probably due to a host
of hormone disrupting chemicals to which most of us are exposed
in greater or lesser measure. While this alone is grounds for serious
concern, of even greater consequence is the increased incidence
of cancer, especially among a younger and younger sector of the
population.
To understand the issues, one needs
to know where all the estrogen comes from. A great part of it is
ingested when consuming animal products where hormones were used
to bulk up the animals, make them weigh more or produce more milk
for the market. About 75% of all growth hormones found in human
bodies are transmitted through ingestion of animal products. Much
of the rest is from use of the birth control pill and hormone replacement
therapy. Thus, the likelihood of women having a serious excess
of estrogen-like substances in the body is much greater than for
men. This has a destabilizing effect on hormone balance but is
less likely to interfere with sexual differentiation (but it could
exaggerate the traits associated with the female gender such as
the size of breasts and curves.)
Pesticides are another source of
xenoestrogens, and petroleum products, including secondary exposure
by commuting in heavy traffic, are additional hazards for excessive
absorption of substances that mimic natural hormones. Then, there
are the plastics, everything from PVC pipes to food wraps to car
seats and furniture. I suppose we could add a fifth "p":
phytoestrogens, precursors to human hormones that may stimulate
the body to produce more estrogen. Some experts,
such as Andrew Weil, do not believe that phytoestrogens should
be regarded in the same manner as xenoestrogens because the body
has hormone receptors that can choose whether or not to utilize
an available substance. Soy beans and red clover blossoms are two
of the more frequently consumed phytoestrogens.
What happens in the body is that the presence
of these xenoestrogens throws off natural hormonal balance, such
as the ratio of estrogen to progesterone, as well as trace mineral
balance, especially the copper to zinc ratio. When there is excess
estrogen, there is a tendency to accumulate copper which, in turn,
leads to lowered immunity and a higher incidence of viral, fungal,
and yeast infections. Some researchers suspect that mothers with
this condition are more likely to give birth to zinc-deficient
children with attention deficit disorder. The local news station
is airing a broadcast tonight (3 Oct 2002) in which it is stated
that 42% of American women can be expected to develop cancer in
their lifetimes. Copper excess has long been associated with cancer.
Nature loves balance. Which herbs
would you think are highest in zinc? Bilberry, famous for its ability
to restore vision, and mistletoe,
the cornerstone of the Anthroposophical cancer treatment called Iscador.
Why bilberry and the eyes? The same factors that result in excess
estrogen also affect the fire-water balance and favor cloudiness
of vision, cataracts, glaucoma, and even blindness associated with
diabetes, another condition that is reaching epidemic proportions,
even among the very young.
Water
Element |
Fire
Element |
Issue |
Wet |
Dry |
Water
Retention
Viscosity - Joints |
Heavy |
Light |
Blood Sugar - Density
Acuity - Weight |
Hot |
Cold |
Metabolism
Anabolism - Catabolism |
Bilberry Extract, 2 oz.
Sacred Medicine Sanctuary
|
|
How worried should you be about
excess estrogen and xenoestrogens?
I cut my teeth on hormones. I have
been fascinated by them for many years. At the risk of a considerable
digression, let me explain a bit about where I am coming from on
the subject of hormones.
Hormones are secretions of
endocrine glands
They are extremely powerful chemicals
that act as stimulators or inhibitors of physiological functions.
Each endocrine gland produces a variety of hormones, and these
have dramatic effects on body chemistry as well as mood. Two very
simple examples will make this abundantly clear. First, when faced
with a sudden threat, such as a traffic accident, output of adrenaline
will easily increase 30-fold in a split second, this whether or
not you dialogue consciously with your adrenals and authorize them
to flood you with these hormones. Basically, what happens in a
situation such as this is that the adrenal hormones override all
other physiological and psychological agendas so that you have
both the wits and reflexes to respond in a manner that will preserve
your life. Unless you really understand this point, you will miss
what is abhorrent about hormone doctoring.
Imagine for a moment that you are
commuting in traffic. The radio is on and you are listening to
an interview on NPR, and you are beginning to understand some global
issue in more depth. Suddenly a car runs a red light and everything
that was on your mind is upstaged by the emergency that is occurring.
All your senses are sharper, your life history passes through your
mind's eye, and you miraculously escape but you arrive at your
destination with heart pounding and very little else on your mind
than how you barely escaped an accident. This has happened to most
of us at one time or another, but it doesn't happen every time
you put some food into your mouth.
The most common ingested hormone
is some kind of growth hormone, an estrogenic hormone that is usually
synthetic. Such hormones relate to the reproductive system of your
body, not the adrenals. Normally, women's hormones cycle, basically
between an estrogenic phase and progesterogenic phase. This makes
them very different from men whose hormonal levels are much more
consistent (but also more insistent—because some testerosterone
is produced by the adrenals.) Early in life, hormones from the
reproductive system help us not only to grow but to differentiate
along sexual lines. These little chemicals are so powerful that
they decide whose gonads are inside the body and whose are outside.
They decide whether or not you will have large or small breasts,
curves, and perhaps also PMS or whether your voice will go down
an octave and hair will grow on your face and perhaps also chest.
They also signal the body when to stop growing taller by triggering
the release of chemicals that cap the ends of bones. Puberty is
the next big change in life after the first one: birth. A deficiency
of hormones of the reproductive system means that a person will
tend to be more androgynous and also less fertile. For those who
are interested in energetics, it is fair to say that sexual differentiation
as well as fertility are negotiated by the air-water balance. An
airy person will look more youthful during the first half of life
but these people will not have strong libidos nor pronounced sexuality.
This said, they are usually hugely friendly and intelligent. If
a person is more watery, they have a much keener interest in the
opposite sex, in gender roles, and usually also in having their
own families. It's a continuum that when affected only by one's
own hormones is precarious enough, but it becomes absolutely wild
when exogenous hormones and/or xenohormones are blended into the
pot (more correctly blood because hormones are secreted directly
into the blood stream.)
I wrote an article on
the air-water spectrum that is on a new web site I host, one that
is devoted exclusively to constitutional balance. On the Kitchen
Doctor tapes, I used a very strong word with respect to hormonal
manipulations: reprehensible. Several people have suggested I tone
down my language, but I cannot do so because just as you do not
have a choice about whether or not to feel a surge in adrenaline
when confronted by danger, you do not have a choice about how to
feel when the hormones in your body usurp your consciousness. A
good example of this and one that keeps to the air-water polarity
is concentration. If a student, for instance, is trying to study
for exams but his or her hormones are raging, it will basically
be easier to think about sex than studies. I know some hugely cynical
persons who understand these issues as well as I do who suggest
that the contamination of our food supply and environment with
xenoestrogens is not caused exclusively by ignorance and greed
but rather that it is part of a conspiracy to keep people from
thinking for themselves and acting independently. . . because the
truth is that you cannot think if you are preoccupied by the hormonal
tyrannies.
 |
Chaste Tree Flowers
Agnus castus |
The worst hormonal imbalance I have ever suffered
was very recently. It occurred immediately after some dental work
in which a bonding agent oozed when a Cerec restoration was glued
in place. My reaction to this was so extreme that I honestly have
to say that I totally understand what people mean when they say, "I
don't feel like myself." I think it also offers an entirely
new perspective on interpersonal relations and even crime because
there are times when hormones are so blinding that one would be
inclined towards behaviors that would otherwise be foreign.
When one has excess hormones from
a personal or exogenous source, the liver has to metabolize the
excess. Sticking to the two examples thus far introduced, the adrenal
and reproductive glands, we probably all know a few people who
are hypervigilant. These people are running on adrenaline,
and it's very difficult to say which came first, fear or fatigue,
but I would place my bet on fear. It is exhausting to be on one's
guard all the time . . . and it is beyond one's control until one
acquires insight into what is causing the heightened alertness
and until measures are taken to render this wariness unnecessary.
Similarly, if one is hormonal, one is conditioned by the hormones.
In a natural state, the hormones are a reflection
of one's true being. They do not cause a person to behave differently
than he or she would under normal circumstances. Rather, hormones
support one's expression of one's true self. Once you understand
this, you will go organic fast!
Interestingly, one of the herbs that has been
traditionally used to regulate behavior stemming from excess hormones
is chaste berries, Agnus castus. These were given to monks
and nuns to help them maintain their vows of celibacy. These vows
were considered necessary for three main reasons. The first is
the one best understood by the Catholic Church (and obviously not
too well observed today) and it has to do with one's ability to
serve two masters. To the extent that very natural reproductive
hormones have a tendency to encourage deep bonding, it is difficult
to love a mortal and serve one's parishioners and God. The second
reason for celibacy is more esoteric. It has to do with the transmutation
of energy from the reproductive center of the body into the intellectual
and spiritual centers. I could write a book on this issue alone,
but I will leave it here for the moment with the broad comment
that most people have some circuitry that allows for movement between
these two areas, sometimes with the result that sexual expression
stimulates intellectual creativity or vice versa. The most interesting
reason for celibacy, and one that easily misfires, is that life
energy that is conserved can be used for regenerating one's own
body. In the East, where great emphasis is placed on wisdom, the
education of a sage is regarded as a very time intensive endeavor.
It was therefore more economic for swamis and yogis and lamas to
live a long time in the same body so that the process of educating
would not have to be repeated as often.
 It
is fine to conserve one's life force IF one actually circulates
it in a manner that produces the repair and renewal sought, but
for most people, the excess becomes a cause of swelling or hardening
of parts of the reproductive system. Congestion with these hormones
can overtax the liver and disrupt the flow of bile. When this happens,
the imbalance has moved to the fire-water axis where it affects
metabolism and digestion as well as the body's ability to detoxify.
The technical term for this is cholestasis and
while conventional medicine appears not to have a clue as to what
causes gall stones, holistic
medicine is quite a bit more articulate on the subject.
Copyright by Ingrid Naiman 2002
See
Holy Basil, Tulsi, on DoshaBalance.com 
Seven things to avoid
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