Where It All Begins: The Ovaries
While the adrenal glands, fat cells, and placenta secrete small amounts of estrogen, your ovarian follicles are the main hub for the hormone. You have thousands of these fluid-filled sacs nestled in your ovaries, each producing hormones and housing an immature egg.
When estrogen and progesterone levels are low at the beginning of your menstrual cycle, the pituitary gland in your brain responds by producing follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). The increasing FSH levels stimulate growth in several of the ovarian follicles, although one dominant follicle grows faster than the rest.
The granulosa cells in the follicles secrete estrogen, and rising levels signal the pituitary gland to release luteinizing hormone (LH). This hormone creates a positive feedback loop, signaling the ovaries to produce escalating levels of estrogen.
About halfway through your menstrual cycle, LH levels rise sharply, and that's when you ovulate, meaning the dominant follicle releases its mature egg. Once ovulation occurs, estrogen and LH levels start to return to normal.
Active Estrogen Plays Many Roles – From Reproduction to Heart Health
After estrogen is produced in the ovaries, it travels into the bloodstream. Once on the move, it gets busy binding to specific estrogen receptors on cell surfaces. This then causes chain reactions inside the cells, affecting certain genes that maintain fertility and support your reproductive system.
Besides stimulating the growth of the egg follicle, estrogen helps to:
Maintain the thickness of the vagina walls and help with lubrication
Enhance and maintain the mucous membrane lining the uterus
Regulate the flow and thickness of uterine mucus secretions
Support the formation of breast tissue
Stop milk flow after weaning
But estrogen is a hormone of many talents. Besides reproductive effects, it also helps keep your skeleton strong by building up bone tissue and keeping it healthy. It protects the heart by keeping your cholesterol levels in check and reduces your risk of heart disease and stroke. Plus, it helps you stay sharp by supporting memory, concentration, and cognitive function.
And if that isn’t enough to keep this hard-working hormone busy, it’s also an essential component of skin function and health, improving elasticity, hydration, and thickness.
The Exit Strategy: How Your Body Gets Rid of Estrogen
Estrogen may be a hormone superhero, but it must bow out eventually. That's where your liver comes in. Think of it like the hormone party chaperone, ensuring estrogen is safely escorted out of the body.
The liver is a powerful detoxifier, breaking down estrogen into non-active, water-soluble molecules you eliminate through urine or stool. Additionally, the liver produces bile, which helps in the digestion and absorption of fats and fat-soluble hormones like estrogen in the small intestine.
So, estrogen elimination is a tag-team effort, with the liver, kidneys, and gut working together to ensure that used and excess estrogen leave the body, keeping active levels in balance.
Balanced Estrogen Is One Secret to Better Health
When estrogen levels are in sync, it's like all the elements of a great song coming together to create a masterpiece. Your body is a well-tuned instrument, playing all the right notes, and you feel like a rockstar!
You can expect regular periods, strong bones, luscious locks, and a glowing complexion. But it's not just about looking and feeling great — balanced estrogen levels can also help reduce the risk of health conditions, including:
Having balanced estrogen means enjoying all the perks of a healthy body and mind while feeling confident about your long-term health.