Welcome back to our series on belly fat. Our last newsletter focused on estrogen dominance and some of the causes behind elevated estrogen levels in the body.
Another way excess estrogen can accumulate in the body is from additives in cosmetics, soaps made from animal fats when the animal was previously injected with growth hormones. People are generally unaware that many ingredients in cosmetics are not actually tested for safety. Of the known chemical ingredients that are harmful, specifically parabens and phthalates, both are endrocrine disrupters, meaning they are substances that interfere with estrogen in a way that can induce cysts and tumors.
While many organs aid in detoxification, your liver is the primary detoxifier in the body. Your liver is like a drain stopper in the sink– if it is clogged with hair, the water backs up, and the drain must be emptied. In the same way, if your liver is congested, the detoxification of hormones becomes sluggish and toxins will back up into the tissues.
Liver congestion can be the result of a variety of causes: excessive drinking, a daily regimen of medications and drugs, environmental toxins and chemicals, infections in the liver, emotional distress such as long-standing frustration, shame, rage, anger and depression, as well as poor dietary choices.
As a result of these conditions, the liver becomes overwhelmed and sluggish. Once in this state the liver is then unable to process, detoxify and excrete toxins from the blood stream, so the toxins end up stored in fat cells, specifically above the belly button close to the liver.
So either of these scenarios– as I discussed in the first newsletter—first the accumulation of estrogen in the body, and then the inability to break down estrogen by the liver, can lead to a skewed ratio of progesterone to estrogen. The result is estrogen dominance, which contributes to belly fat.
Stay tuned to our next newsletter where we discuss how the condition of low progesterone can cause estrogen dominance and belly fat.
