Estrogen in Women: What It Does and Why It Goes Out of Balance

By Tina Chagoury, Clinical Dietitian · 7 min read · 2026-09-27

Estrogen reaches far beyond your cycle. Here is what it does, how to recognise it running too high or too low, and what food can and cannot change.

At some point you have probably been told that your symptoms are "hormonal". More often than not, the hormone people have in mind is estrogen. It is also the hormone women hear the most about and receive the least explanation for.

So let me explain what estrogen in women actually does, how it looks when it runs too high or too low, and where food makes a real difference.

Estrogen is a family, not a single hormone

Estrogen (spelled oestrogen in British English) is the name for a group of related hormones. Three matter most:

• Estradiol, the main and most active form during your reproductive years, made mostly by the ovaries.
• Estrone, a weaker form that becomes the main one after menopause, made largely in fat tissue.
• Estriol, which rises mainly during pregnancy.

When a blood test reports your estrogen, it is almost always measuring estradiol.

What estrogen does in a woman's body

Estrogen is often called the female hormone, but its reach goes far beyond the reproductive system.

• Your cycle. In the first half of the cycle, estrogen rises, thickens the lining of the uterus and helps an egg mature. Its peak helps trigger ovulation.
• Your brain and mood. Estrogen influences serotonin and other brain chemicals involved in mood, sleep and memory. This is part of why mood shifts with the cycle and in perimenopause.
• Your bones. It slows the breakdown of bone. When estrogen falls at menopause, bone loss speeds up.
• Your heart and blood vessels. It helps keep blood vessels flexible and supports a healthier cholesterol pattern.
• Your metabolism. Estrogen supports insulin sensitivity and influences where fat is stored. As it falls, fat tends to move from the hips and thighs towards the abdomen.
• Your skin, vaginal and urinary tissue. It supports collagen, moisture and elasticity.
• Your immune system. Estrogen stimulates immune activity, while progesterone calms it. That balance matters for autoimmune conditions.

How your body clears estrogen: the liver and the gut

Making estrogen is only half the story. Clearing it matters just as much.

Once your body has used estrogen, the liver processes it and packages it for removal. That package travels in bile into the gut and leaves the body with your stool.

Three things have to work for this to go smoothly. The liver has to process it, the gut has to keep moving, and there has to be enough fibre to bind it on the way out. If you are constipated, or your gut bacteria are out of balance, some of that packaged estrogen can be unpacked and reabsorbed into your blood.

This is why I treat digestion as part of hormonal health rather than a separate topic. I explain the full route in Your Gut and Your Hormones Are the Same Conversation.

Signs that estrogen may be too high

You will often see the term estrogen dominance. It rarely means estrogen is extremely high on its own. More often it means estrogen is high relative to progesterone, or that the body is clearing it slowly.

The common signs are:

• Heavy, painful or clotty periods
• Breast tenderness or swelling before your period
• Bloating and water retention in the second half of your cycle
• Worse premenstrual mood, irritability or tearfulness
• Headaches around your period

The common reasons are:

• Perimenopause, when estrogen can swing higher than it was in your thirties.
• Cycles without ovulation, as in PCOS, which leave progesterone low.
• Excess body fat, because fat tissue produces estrogen.
• Constipation and low fibre, which slow clearance.
• Regular alcohol, which changes how the liver handles hormones.

Fibroids and endometriosis are both sensitive to estrogen. They are medical diagnoses and need a doctor, not a diet.

Signs that estrogen may be too low

• Hot flushes and night sweats
• Vaginal dryness or pain during sex
• More frequent urinary infections or urgency
• Poor sleep, low mood and brain fog
• Joint aches and drier skin
• Periods that become irregular or stop

The most common cause is perimenopause and then menopause itself. Before that stage, the usual causes are eating too little, training too hard, very low body fat, breastfeeding and some medicines. I regularly see periods stop in women who are doing everything "right" but are simply underfed, which I cover in Underfed and Overtrained.

Low estrogen with missed periods before the age of 40 always needs a doctor, because it can point to premature ovarian insufficiency.

Why symptoms alone cannot tell you which one you have

Mood swings, poor sleep and headaches appear on both lists. In perimenopause, a woman can have signs of high and low estrogen in the same month, because the level is swinging rather than simply falling.

A blood test helps, within limits. Estradiol changes across the cycle, so your doctor will usually time the test to a specific day, often alongside FSH, LH, progesterone, prolactin and thyroid tests. In perimenopause a single result can look normal one week and not the next. Your symptoms and your cycle pattern count as much as one number.

What food can do for estrogen, and what it cannot

Food cannot replace the estrogen your ovaries stop making at menopause. No food, tea or seed will do that. What food can do is support how estrogen is made, balanced and cleared.

• Fibre, every day. Vegetables, pulses, whole fruit, oats and ground flaxseed help bind estrogen in the gut and keep things moving.
• Cruciferous vegetables. Broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage and rocket support the liver pathways that process estrogen. I explain the mechanism in Why Broccoli Keeps Coming Up in Conversations About Hormones.
• Stable blood sugar. High insulin lowers SHBG, the protein that carries estrogen and testosterone in the blood, which leaves more of both active. Protein at every meal and fewer sugar spikes help.
• Less alcohol. It is one of the most direct dietary influences on estrogen levels.
• Enough food. If your periods have stopped because you are undereating, eating enough is the treatment.
• Soy and flaxseed. They contain plant compounds that act like a very weak estrogen. In normal food amounts they are safe for most women, but they are not a substitute for hormone therapy.

How to raise estrogen depends on why it is low. Low estrogen from undereating or overtraining can be reversed with food and rest. Low estrogen from menopause cannot, and hormone therapy then becomes a conversation for your doctor. Food and hormone therapy do different jobs, as I explain in Do You Still Need Nutrition Support If You Are on Hormone Therapy?

When to see a doctor

• No period for three months or more, and you are not pregnant
• Any bleeding after menopause
• Very heavy bleeding, or bleeding between periods or after sex
• A new breast lump or nipple discharge
• Hot flushes or missed periods before the age of 40
• Severe pelvic pain

This article is nutrition education, not medical advice. Hormone testing and hormone therapy decisions belong with your own doctor or gynaecologist.

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About the author. Tina Chagoury is a licensed clinical dietitian specialising in women's hormonal health, inflammation and gut health, and the creator of the Hormone Reset Method™. Learn more about the Hormone Reset Method.

Frequently asked questions

What does estrogen do in a woman's body?

It runs the first half of your cycle and supports your bones, brain, mood, heart, skin and metabolism, which is why a change in estrogen is felt in so many places at once.

What are the symptoms of estrogen dominance?

Heavy or painful periods, breast tenderness, bloating and worse premenstrual mood are the most common. They usually mean estrogen is high relative to progesterone or is being cleared slowly.

How can I raise my estrogen naturally?

If undereating, overtraining or very low body fat is the cause, eating enough and resting more can restore it. If menopause is the cause, food cannot replace it, and hormone therapy is worth discussing with your doctor.

Do soy and flaxseed raise estrogen?

They act like a very weak estrogen. In normal food amounts they are safe for most women but do not work like hormone therapy. If you have had an estrogen sensitive cancer, ask your doctor first.

Should I test my estrogen level?

It helps when it is timed correctly and read alongside your symptoms, cycle and other hormones. In perimenopause one result can mislead, so a pattern over time tells you more.

Related reading

• Your Gut and Your Hormones Are the Same Conversation
• Perimenopause and Menopause Are Not the Same Thing
• Low Progesterone: Symptoms, Causes and What Food Can Do