I hope you had a restful Christmas and found yourself choosing Brussel sprouts for Christmas dinner/lunch if they were an option.
I enjoyed an infusion of an Indian and British Christmas dinner. We had my mother’s homemade pakoras, samosas with her chickpea curry for starters. These are to ‘die for’. My father made the tandoori chicken and between myself, my siblings and our partners we added in the British tradition that included Brussel sprouts and they were not curried
Whether, you love them, loathe them, or are indifferent to Brussel sprouts, let me share their magic which does not include methane or sulphurous gases.
Brussel sprouts contain something called indole-3-carbon, I3C for short. This I3C is converted into DIM by the acid in the stomach.
NOW, do not let that one pass you by, ‘the acid in the stomach bit’….more later on this. This DIM is linked to reducing the cancerous form of estrogen in the body by enhancing the metabolism of estrogen into the less cancerous form.
There are 3 forms of this metabolized estrogen…which are made as they are kind of on their way out, these are….
2 hydroxy estrogen – the healthy one
4 hydroxy estrogen – the cancer version
16 hydroxy oestrogen – the proliferative version
So we want vegetables that contain I3C, in essence we want Brussel sprouts. Other vegetables known to contain I3C include kale, brocolli, cabbage, spinach, watercress etc These GREENS belong to the BRASSICA FAMILY of VEGETABLES.
What else will help this balance between the estrogens? …firstly I want to share about a case of a woman who was taking DIM in supplement form for TWO YEARS! She started this supplement to avoid breast cancer due to her family history of breast cancer. However, she started to experience vaginal dryness, painful sex, bone pains and she was diagnosed with osteoporosis at 42 years of age after an ankle fracture from a fall.
WE NEED the 16 hydroxy estrogen for bone health, we require it for proliferation of tissues such as breast tissue. It is all about the BALANCE between these various forms. We do want the 2 hydroxy version though. By taking DIM she was wiping out her estrogen levels.
Now before you rush out and get these various forms of oestrogens tested ….let me just share how you can balance these estrogen metabolites without the expensive tests. I only do these tests on clients who have tried everything else first, otherwise, it ends up being ‘money down the drain’.
Balancing estrogens….
Sufficient stomach acid: Not enough stomach acid will hinder the conversion of I3C to DIM. We require REAL salt and zinc for the body to make stomach acid
Green foods as mentioned above, BUT I am not referring to juicing them. Some constitutions do not do well on juicing ‘cold foods’. In Ayurvedic medicine, such ‘cold foods’ put out the ‘digestive fire’ and we want that digestive fire to ‘burn’ food so we can not only metabolise it but assimilate it and use it
A healthy liver, the liver is where these estrogen forms are made and having a healthy liver is a HUGE plus for virtually everything in the body. So eating clean, eating green, drinking clean water, doing a liver cleanse/detox regularly will ALL help. My cleanse eGuide is coming out next week, so keep an eye out for it
MINDFUL eating, slowing down, allowing the vagus nerve to take over the digestive process. Did you know that bitter foods, bitter herbs, ACV all stimulate the vagus nerve? Thereby stimulating digestion, thereby enhancing stomach acid production!
Avoid/reduce stress, yes that ‘old nugget’. But stress diverts our nervous system away from the vagus nerve to ‘running away’ from the ‘danger’ even if the danger is perceived. This is all in my ebook called ‘Fat Doesn’t Make You Fat’…just don’t be mid-led by the title.
So these are a few tips…there is so much more. But next time you ‘pass’ on the Brussel sprouts think about estrogen (this goes for men too, as men have estrogen too)
To health!
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