#2 The top 10 root causes for female hormone imbalances — heavy metals

I’m baaaack after a busy holiday season! Still trying to find my sea legs. January is always a busy time in our household, but I owe you the continuation of my 10-part series on the Top 10 Root Causes for Female Hormone Imbalances. So as I sit here enjoying day two of my new year’s detox, we move on to number two on the list: Heavy Metals.

Toxins can wreak havoc on your body in many ways, causing inflammation, disrupting your hormones, putting you at risk for autoimmune disease. And most people don’t realize that heavy metals are a big contributor here. Toxic metals are found everywhere - yuck! In our food, in our body products, in our cooking utensils. Among the biggest offenders: Tap water is a huge source of toxins and heavy metals, including chlorine and fluoride; Cooking pans; Processed foods and preservatives; Air pollutants; Fish; Cosmetics; and Dental fillings. 

What are heavy metals? They are naturally occurring elements in our earth that when ingested at too high a rate become toxic. Lead, Mercury, Aluminum, Cadmium and Arsenic are the big five. Mercury toxicity usually comes from the diet (fish), dental fillings and some drugs. Aluminum exposure includes aluminum cookware, foil, cans, and things like deodorant, drinking water and dry shampoo. Lead: water pipes, paint, cigarette smoke, colored ink, hair dyes, to name a few. Cadmium is found in soil, fish (tuna, cod, haddock), processed meats and cigarette smoke. Arsenic can be in a variety of foods (rice), as well as pesticides, beer, table salt and cosmetics. 

These heavy metals cause destruction at the cellular level and contribute to massive inflammation in the body. High levels of toxic metals can cause long-term health problems in our brain, kidneys and other organs, and have been linked to cancer, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. It’s one of the most overlooked causes for disease, neurological issues and reproductive problems today. Heavy metals like to deposit themselves in tissue, especially fat tissue, and when they build up and store in our body that’s when we show symptoms of toxicity. Heavy metals also do harm by displacing many of the beneficial minerals in our body, like calcium, magnesium and zinc, thereby causing a depletion in our required minerals and an unbalance in the body. Our bodies are processing and eliminating toxins on a daily basis, however when the overload is too much we begin to see symptoms, including these specific hormone-related imbalances:

Lead: infertility, menstrual difficulties, libido

Mercury: hair loss, fatigue, birth defects, memory loss, mood swings, thyroid dysfunction

Cadmium: Diabetes, fertility, hypoglycemia, inflammation, sex drive

Arsenic: hair loss, headaches, anorexia

Aluminum: thyroid dysfunction, headaches, memory loss

When analyzing how heavy metals disrupt our hormones, there are 4 main ways. 

1.     Affects the Adrenal glands: Toxic metals can affect the health of your adrenal glands, stimulating cortisol production, ie stress hormones, ultimately putting stress on the body, slowing thyroid production and slowing progesterone production. Both lead and cadmium at toxic levels have been shown to affect baseline cortisol levels. When cortisol levels rise, progesterone levels fall leading to the many symptoms of estrogen dominance: PMS symptoms, fertility issues and PCOS. It’s hard to turn off the heavy metal response in the body so in turn that also affects sleep. Bad sleep equates to more stress on the body. Stress stimulates cortisol, alters hormone production.

2.     Disrupts Pituitary gland: Mercury for example has been shown to concentrate in the thyroid and pituitary glands, interfering with their function. Toxic metal build up can change the secretion levels of thyroid stimulating hormone and prolactin causing endocrinology disruption. Endocrine disruptors like heavy metals can bind directly to hormone receptors, thus altering the functionality of the endocrine system by changing the normal levels of hormones. Since most of the endocrine disruptors can mimic sex hormones, the biggest effect has been seen on the reproductive system.

3.     Thyroid issues: Contributes to low thyroid. Higher levels of heavy metals displace the minerals and nutrients needed to create the active form of thyroid needed, activated T3. Iodine is one of the most required minerals needed for healthy functioning thyroid. Lead interferes with iodine uptake by the thyroid, and can inactivate thyroxin, the thyroid hormone. A recent study from Iran concluded that toxic metals such as lead, cadmium, and chromium can increase the risk of both hypothyroidism and thyroid cancer. Mercury can trigger autoimmune reactions and oxidative damage. If your thyroid is storing mercury in place of iodine, it won’t have enough iodine to produce adequate levels of T4 and T3 hormones, which can cause you to develop hypothyroidism. Cadmium is also known to disrupt thyroid hormone secretion, as it interrupts thyroid function entirely by disturbing the conversion of T4 into active T3.

4.     Blood sugar regulation: Exposure to heavy metals can negatively impact blood sugar levels by inducing inflammation and oxidative stress, damaging pancreatic beta cells, and interfering with insulin sensitivity, potentially increasing the risk of developing diabetes. Arsenic, iron, mercury, lead and cadmium have all been linked to hyperglycemia and diabetes. Studies show that cadmium is associated with high blood sugar, low insulin levels and type 2 diabetes.

It's important to listen to and understand your own body, especially as we age. How do you feel? Could you feel better, live better? Today, you can find many forms of heavy metal detoxification available on the market, and one should consider doing one once a year at the rate we are being exposed. The best detoxes will include a mix of herbs and vitamins that support your body’s own natural detox pathways. To detox naturally it’s also important to hydrate and get an adequate amount of fiber. Vegetables and fruit, especially cruciferous vegetables and certain herbs, have the greatest ability to aide in the detox process. Cilantro, chlorella, spirulina, humic and fulvic acid all have been researched as proven binders that support detoxification and will naturally aide the body’s own elimination process. If you would like to test your own toxic metals load, complete with assessment and health plan, visit my website for more details on the hair tissue minerals and heavy metals test. Next up, how an imbalanced gut and digestion affect your hormones.

In good health, Trine