Drop 31 pounds in 28 days
75% of women over 40 have too much fat-packing estrogen in their system due to a GI glitch. This easy Rx heals the gut to flush the excess so pounds fall off fast—and forever!
Amanda Brinkman-Brockman sighed and stretched, shaking her head. She’d sat down on the couch, intending to relax for just a minute before making dinner, but fell fast asleep instead. What’s going on with me? she worried. Amanda was suffering from weight gain, fatigue and low moods, and there seemed to be no easy fix. “My doctor told me that this was typical for women over 40,” shares the 44-year-old. “I felt defeated.”
The problem: Many common signs of aging are actually symptoms of a hormone imbalance. “During perimenopause, estrogen levels begin to fall, but estrogen’s partner hormone, progesterone, falls even lower,” explains Harvard-trained weightloss expert and ob-gyn Sara Gottfried, M.D. Indeed, studies show that progesterone production slows by 75% during our fifth decade of life, while estrogen levels fall by only 35%, creating an imbalance
called estrogen dominance. “This relative excess of estrogen makes women more likely to gain weight,” adds Dr. Gottfried, who reports that this affects 75% of women over 40. When women like Amanda ask for options, doctors often prescribe antidepressants or hormone replacement therapy, but these treatments can be costly and ineffective.
Now, breakthrough research from New York University reveals a surprising reason that estrogen levels are difficult to regulate. In a healthy body, estrogen circulates through the bloodstream and eventually ends up in the liver. There, it’s deactivated and sent to the intestines for removal. “But estrogen can be reactivated in the intestines by an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase that’s produced by our gut bacteria,” explains Dr. Gottfried. “Reactivated estrogen can reenter the bloodstream and start circulating throughout the body again like bad karma, causing or worsening estrogen dominance.”
Luckily, a simple diet shift can reverse estrogen dominance and power off stubborn pounds. The key is eating more of the fiber-rich foods that eliminate estrogen-reactivating bacteria and sweep excess estrogen out of the body, balancing hormone levels and kick-starting weight loss. “Fiber is key for maintaining the healthy bacteria that recycle estrogen properly,” asserts Felice Gersh, M.D., an ob-gyn and integrative physician. “What’s more, the bacteria that promote healthy estrogen levels also increase the body’s production of adiponectin, a hormone that increases fat burning. All told, women see weight loss very quickly—even within the first week!” And once the gut is repopulated with healthy bacteria, the body can remove excess estrogen and continue dropping extra pounds for months.
Women who make the switch report feeling happier and more energized. Indeed, within the first week of eating more fiber-rich foods, Amanda had more energy. “I felt like I’d taken a magic pill. It was crazy how quickly it took effect,” she raves. All told, she shed 60 pounds and 8 inches. Other women FIRST spoke with say the strategy helped them get off diabetes medication, eliminated chronic pain and improved their concentration. Read on to start your transformation.
“You’ll lose weight, sleep better and experience improved energy and moods” –Felice Gersh, M.D.
So simple, so effective
This plan, which calls for filling up on fiber-rich foods for four weeks, allows the body to purge excess estrogen to speed off stubborn pounds, renew flagging energy and sidestep symptoms ranging from headaches to breast tenderness. “You have to inactivate and excrete excess estrogen in order to maintain a healthy hormone balance,” asserts weight-loss expert Sara Gottfried, M.D., author of Brain Body Diet. “Fiber helps the body get rid of excess estrogen—the more you eat, the better your body will be at removing estrogen.”
The key: consuming natural fiber from whole, plant-based foods. The fiber in these foods binds to excess estrogen so it can be flushed from the system, and they’re also loaded with compounds that optimize estrogen levels. Polyphenols, found in fruit, veggies and tea, for example, promote bacterial diversity in the gut, while phytoestrogens, found in beans, lentils, seeds, root vegetables and leafy greens, crowd out natural estrogen so it’s more likely to be flushed out of the body.
“That’s the magic in whole foods,” says Felice Gersh, M.D., an integrative physician based in Irvine, California. “Just taking a fiber supplement isn’t going to give you the same outcome as eating whole, fresh vegetables.”
On this plan, Dr. Gottfried recommends eating at least 35 and up to 50 grams of fiber per day from beans (15 grams per cup), seeds (10 grams per ounce), berries (8 grams per cup), leafy greens (5 grams per cup), root vegetables (4 grams per cup) and cruciferous vegetables (3 grams per cup). Cruciferous vegetables, which include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and kale, are especially helpful in supporting estrogen removal because they’re loaded with sulfur compounds that boost liver function to support the deactivation and removal of estrogen. One note of caution: Don’t try to add all of that extra fiber all at once, says Dr. Gersh, or you’ll get a stomachache. Instead, increase your fiber intake by 5 grams every three days until you’ve reached the recommended amount.
Also smart: Drink at least 10 cups of water or unsweetened tea each day to keep the fiber moving through your system. And aim to enjoy at least 1 Tbs. of fermented foods (such as sauerkraut and kimchi) and two servings of prebiotic foods (including asparagus, Jerusalem artichokes, garlic, onions, leeks and oats) each day. These foods help balance gut bacteria, keeping estrogen-reactivating bugs in check.
Though Dr. Gersh says many women see results within the first week, she recommends sticking with the plan for at least four weeks to ensure that you’ve healed the microbiome so that you can continue to slim without struggle. And for your fastest slimdown ever, incorporate these four easy strategies:
Try 'meatless' Mondays. According to researchers at New York University School of Medicine, the bacteria that reactivate estrogen in the gut love when we eat meat. But researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine report that eating even just one meatless meal triples the amount of estrogen removed from the body and lowers overall estrogen levels by 20%. To get the benefits, try going “meatless” one day each week, leaning on proteins like beans, tempeh, lentils, nuts and seeds.
Take the right probiotic. Eating probiotic-rich foods as part of your daily diet can help, but studies show that supplementing with targeted strains is especially beneficial for reversing excess estrogen. According to researchers reporting in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, taking a supplement containing Lactobacillus acidophilus produced a four-fold decrease in the activity of enzymes that reactivate estrogen in the gut, enabling the body to eliminate more estrogen. Similar estrogen-lowering results have been seen in adults supplementing with Lactobacillus reuteri. A supplement that includes both strains: Swanson Probiotics L. Reuteri Plus, (SwansonVitamins.com).
‘Filter’ with milk thistle. In a recent Canadian study, postmenopausal women who took a milk thistle supplement doubled the amount of estrogen they excreted in their urine after 28 days. The credit goes to silymarin, a flavonoid in the herb that increases the liver’s ability to filter out environmental toxins that can raise estrogen levels. The study-backed dose:
100 mg. twice a day, once with breakfast and once with dinner. Don’t want to supplement? Consider sipping four cups of milk thistle tea daily (a brand we like: Republic of Tea).
Take a stroll. One of the simplest things you can do to optimize estrogen levels is to dial down stress. “High levels of the stress hormone cortisol block progesterone, contributing to estrogen dominance,” explains Dr. Gottfried. To combat this, try taking a leisurely 20-minute stroll every day, a strategy that can reduce cortisol levels by 40% for five hours, suggests Japanese research. For best results, stroll outside in a park or on a tree-lined street, since outdoor exercise has been shown to reduce cortisol levels three times more effectively than walking indoors.