Estrogens - A Trio of HormonesIn my last #wellnessWednesday blog I explored how our period is a woman's super power. By knowing where we are in our cycle we can tailor our training intensity, maximize our recovery practices, and give ourselves some grace as we fully learn about our own unique hormonal fluctuations.
The two primary hormones that give women our super power are the estrogens and progesterone. We women are not the only keepers of these hormones as they are also in men, just we testosterone is also in women. We all have these hormones and they function quite differently in each of us. I'm going to focus solely on these hormones in women. There are 3 types of estrogen. Estradiol or E2 is the primary estrogen that most people think about as estrogen. Esteriol or E3 is a weak form of estrogen that has its shinning moment when we are pregnant. Estrone or E1 is the weakest form and it becomes the dominant estrogen when we hit post-menopause. The ratios in which these hormones present themselves, along with their dance partner progesterone, is what drives many the hormonal cycles of a woman's life. Estradiol is our primary anabolic hormone and is the driver of protein synthesis. This means, estradiol builds muscle in women whereas in men muscle is driven by testosterone. How crazy is that? Testosterone in women functions to build bone and improve bone health, cognition, sex drive. Progesterone often acts as a counter balance to the impacts of the estrogens. Dr Sim's explains it this way, "the body has a response and a counter response to try to keep things in equilibrium." The estrogens signal a specific response and progesterone will signal a counter response to help keep the body in balance. Estrogen promotes immune activation and progesterone acts as an immunosuppressant. Estrogen is pro inflammatory and progesterone is anti-inflammatory. Estrogen builds tissue (anabolic) and progesterone breaks down tissue (catabolic.) That's why our period doesn't come all at once, but rather flows over several days. Without progesterone we would develop an overgrowth of the endometrial lining and without estrogen we would shed that lining in one significant and bloody event. Whew! Thank goodness we have a tendency towards homeostasis! As we age and enter peri-menopause these hormones decline and change ratios. That is why we experience so many interesting peri-menopause symptoms. I will explore that next week:)
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