Phytoestrogens are a topic of hot debate in the medical literature. To eat, or not to eat? To cure cancer, or to beget it? As chemicals that act–but are not similar to–estrogen in the human body, phytoestrogens complicate a lot of biological functions. Sometimes it appears as though they have a helpful role, but many other times, as in the case with female fertility and typically with PCOS, phytoestrogens can cause a lot of harm.
Phytoestrogens are found in plant foods. They can also move up the food chain into animal sources, which is a consideration for women with endocrine issues who eat factory farmed animals. They are reasonably well tolerated by people with “healthy” hormonal systems and livers. The body responds easily to these semi-natural disturbances and can flush the phytoestrogens out of the system. OR the body responds easily by maintaining estrogen production even while phytoestrogens are consumed. This is not always the case for women. Some are extraordinarily sensitive to phytoestrogens.
For more on the science of phytoestrogens, and specifically how they relate to estrogen deficiency and dominance in the female body, check out my post Phytoestrogens in the Body, and How They Interfere with Natural Hormone Balance.
What I say in sum is that phytoestrogens take up places on estrogen receptors in the body. This has big time implications. Many medical professionals hypothesize that this is helpful for estrogen deficient women. This would be by filling up unused estrogen stores, and therefore hypothetically increasing estrogen levels. But other health researchers (including myself) believe that supplementing with phytoestrogens plays a reverse role: instead of increasing estrogen activity, the increased phytoestrogen load (especially given the fact that phytoestrogens are far less efficacious in performing bodily functions) tells the body to stop producing it’s own estrogen, which ultimately results in a decline in estrogen-related power in the body.
Phytoestrogens can also be harmful for women with estrogen dominance, if their bodies do not respond to the increased estrogen load and instead end up over-burdening their systems.
All that being said, I still believe phytoestrogen intake can be helpful for some women if their bodies respond in a hormonally healthy way. This may particularly be the case for menopausal women, whose bodies have more or less stopped produced estrogen in the ovaries anyway. Phytoestrogens may alleviate the pains of menopause while not causing any pituitary-related damage. However, this is an issue, again, of individuality. Some women may find it works, while others find it horrific.
My personal experience is that I am enormously sensitive to phytoestrogens. I have narrowed down over many years the list of foods that give me acne, and aside from dairy, they are all phytoestrogens. This past summer I achieved clear, soft skin for the first time in three years (save for the scars). I experience small acne bumps when stressed, which is something I am okay with and working on slowly. The only times, however, in which I have experienced cystic breakouts are when phytoestrogens I didn’t know I was eating were sneaking into my body.
These were flax, soy protein isolate (did you know it’s in virtually all brands of chewing gum?! and tootsie rolls?! and also that I consumed tootsie rolls?!), and thyme.
We all talk about the dangers of soy and phytoestrogen intake, but the list of phytoestrogenic foods is long and complicated. Many different studies list different foods as having different phytoestrogen content. My inability to navigate them has been the bane of my skin for years. But now I have compiled, however, a list of all of the foods, herbs, and substances that seem to be the most problematic and crop up in continuous studies.
Finally!
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They can be summed up as: virtually all beans, peas, seeds, and nuts, some herbs, and a handful of fruits and vegetables.
They are as follows, with the most potent foods listed with an asterisk:
**Flaxseed and flaxseed oil (3 x as potent as soy in some studies!)
**Soy, soy oil, soy protein isolate, tofu, textured vegetable protein, and all of it’s derivates
All beans:
*Mung beans
*Bean sprouts
*Chick peas
Peas
*Sesame, sesame seeds, and sesame oil
*Sunflower seeds
*Fennel
*Alfalfa
*Licorice
*Verbena
*Tumeric
*Thyme
*Red Clover
*Yucca
Cinnamon
Sunflower seeds
*Red Clover leaf and extract
Garlic
Olive Oil
Apricot (especially dried)
Prunes (dried)
Dates (dried)
Sweet Potatoes
Parsley
Thyme
Whole grains: Rye, *Oat, Barley, Millet, Wheat, Corn, Quinoa
*Most nuts:
Chestnuts
Almonds
Peanuts
Cashews
Walnuts
Hazlenuts
Pistachios
And to a somewhat lesser extent the fruits and vegetables…
Blackberries
Pomegranate
Asparagus
Winter squash
Broccoli
Green beans
Collards
Onions
And the substances…
*Hops
*Marijuana
For a complete listing of the fruits and vegetables in this list and their respective phytoestrogen contents, click here: phytoestrogens. I got the data in it from Gunter et al 2006.
Other sources are here, here, and here, for example. For phytoestrogens in animal products (all ~low, and none in seafood and butter), see here.
And, yes! Marijuana and hops (a primary ingredient in beer) are both phytoestrogens. It is worth noting that crude marijuana extract smoke and not just the physical plant matter competes for the estrogen receptor in receptor studies. This means that inhaling marijuana, whether through one’s own cigarette or in the company of others who are smoking, counts as potential estrogenic activity. All that being said, these chemical results were not replicable in vivo on rats, so it’s as yet undecided in trials if it has an effect on humans. Personally, I don’t risk it these days.
Sorry. I’m sad, too.
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And as I final note, I strongly encourage you to check the label on anything processed you are considering consuming. Like I noted above, Tootsie Rolls are made out of soy. I had three on a road trip with my family and woke up the next morning with a painful cyst. I didn’t think to check– I though the risk small– but it turns out I was wrong. It took me a week to figure out what I had done wrong, and when I finally checked the ingredients in Tootsie Rolls I face palmed myself in a big way. Lots of anxiety over nothing at all.
Other big sources of soy protein and phytoestrogens in a processed diet are protein bars, cereals–particularly “protein plus” cereals, oat-based cereals, granolas, flax-containing granolas, granolas or cereals made with any kind of seed oil, triscuits, wheat thins, every kind of chewing gum, the more chewy types of candy, and probably most baked goods.
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All of which is to say, again, that phytoestrogens are complicated. I don’t advocate that you go crazy controlling your intake of all of these substances. Absolutely I do not. Please keep eating broccoli. But for those of us who are particularly sensitive to estrogen flucutations, such as I am, it can be enormously helpful for understanding why we are getting breakouts, experience fluctuations in our sex drive, or failing to produce as much vaginal discharge as we normally do on occasion. Huge doses of peas or garlic over a couple of days can make a real impact, as can the accidental consumption of soy. So if you’re into the nitty gritty of troubleshooting, this list should be helpful.
If I’ve missed any phytoestrogens that should be on the list, please let me know!
More about progesterone competitors coming soon.
And finally: what is your experience with phytoestrogens? Anyone as sensitive as I? Or the total opposite, and robust?
Are they helpful? Harmful? In menopause, or at reproductive-age?
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Wow! I already cut out gluten, wheat, and dairy, and I suspected I was having issues with soy so I try to avoid it too. But I had no idea that all those other foods were potentially causing issues too!! Thanks for the great info!! I’ll have to start watching my intake of some of the other items on that list now!! Don’t know if I can ever give up garlic, but perhaps I can limit how much I eat in a week, or just limit some of the other items on the list like some of the nuts, seeds, and their oils.
Wow! Thanks for this list! As one who has estrogen dominance issues thanks to a thyroid & adrenal imbalance, I knew to avoid/severely limit some of the items on this list, but others were a total shock (but explain a lot of thing!)
I have a question regarding the table you link to – there’s no context for the amount of food for the amount of phytoestrogens. So is it 1 apricot that will yield 443 phytoestrogens or 1 oz, or 1#. Couldn’t quite discern from the article.
Thanks!
Yeah, I’m sure it’s in the “methods” section, but I’d have to take a look and don’t have the time at this precise moment. What I can tell you is that it’s all the same amount of each compound: for example, in 10 grams of soy there’s x micrograms of phytoestrogen. The same goes for 10 grams of apricot, dried apricot, etc. This similarity is what enables us to have a basis for comparison. In fact, I’d argue that the absolute values aren’t necessarily that important. We’d have no use for them. Just being able to compare the amounts is probably sufficient. Knowing that soy is 100,000 units of potency and flax is 3 times that, we can see how much we want to avoid flax. And the same goes for broccoli, which is only 100 units per x amount of material.
Thanks! That makes sense…
Thanks again for pulling all this information together.
I think I’ve responded to another comment similarly– I’m not sure on the amount. But the whole point is to relativize it anyway. The exact measure doesn’t matter so long as we can compare the foods. If you know that soy is “SO BAD” then you can tell that 300,000 units in it is 10,000 times worse than half a serving of broccoli.
When I saw this list, I thought, ‘Surely she’s not suggesting giving up all of these foods.’ Then, at the end of your article, I was relieved to see that you don’t. You might want to move that advice up to the top of the list, though, since not everyone reads the entire article, and you’re such an advocate for people to not over-restrict themselves.
I also get cystic acne from certain foods. I have literally spent two years tracking everything I eat in an effort to narrow it down. Soy is TOP on the list (I avoid every variation of it – no small feat), as is dairy (though I’ve determined whey is somehow okay), and all grains. Some of the reactive foods also cause constipation, which helped me pinpoint them since that’s a more immediate raction than a cyst, which takes a couple days to show up (for me).
However, I do still get acne from time to time, usually from restaurants (I’ve learned to get very very detailed in my order – which I hate), and sometimes I can’t pinpoint ingesting any of my “known” reactants. This list will help! I can easily eliminate things I eat regularly without reactions, the things I KNOW cause reactions – and what I’m left with are foods I shall test. Thank you!
I guess if I’m eating a number of many of the items on this list it can really add up quickly, eh? Looks like I need to reevaluate my meal plans. : (
So long sweet potatoes…?
Just do some playing around and see what works. I personally do just fine on sweet potatoes but the legumes, nuts, and seeds all make differences in my acne.
Many of those vegetables are high in histamine, which is also linked to acne!
Also, you listed sunflower seeds twice, as *high* and not high. Which is it?
I’d say “moderately.” It’s all relative. I can’t do seeds at all or they give me acne.
Interesting note on the histamine, definitely. I’ll try and write on histamines as soon as I can.
I have question. I had a hysterectomy in May 2012. I struggle with endometriosis, hashimoto’s, Sjögren’s syndrome & celiac. I’m on estrogen therapy & the autoimmune protocol but my allergies are getting worse! I eat meat, non starchy vegetables & fruit. I can’t tolerate any spices or starches & my allergies continue to worsen. Any suggestions?
When I stopped eating grains I had a daily “one minute muffin” made with flax to replace the bread and cereal. A few weeks in I started spotting, which gradually progressed to bleeding and then very heavy–almost hemorrhagic–bleeding. My doctor told me it was “just menopause” but I was anemic after 8 weeks of bleeding and getting frightened by the intensity. I googled and found that bleeding was linked to flax ingestion so I stopped immediately and the bleeding stopped two days later. So much for menopause!
Omigosh–this is SO helpful! I’ve had phytoestrogens on my mind a lot lately. I used to be a vegan, and I randomly developed amenorrhea after about 8 months of my soy-heavy animal-free diet. That, and my horrific acne (which seemed correlated with my vegan diet) was one of the primary motivators for my trying Paleo. Everything else, health-wise, seemed to get better, including the acne to some extent, but no return of menstruation. So I did some research and bought raw maca powder. Within two weeks, I had my period back.
I’m concerned, because I think I’m doing more harm than good in continuing to feed my body phytoestrogens. I think the soy destroyed my body’s ability to make its own hormones, and now I need to supplement with plant estrogens just to have my body function as it should…
Anyway, I so appreciate all of your fantastic info–maybe I need to take a look at my diet and see where I can start cutting down on the plant estrogens to just give my body a chance to reset…
Great post…!!! pulling all this information together in a great way.
I am so glad I have found this site. I do have a question for you Stefani regarding PCOS. I have a fairly advanced case of PCOS to the point of consideration of the removal of my ovaries. I’m not too concerned about the reproducing anymore offspring but I am very concerned about the hormonal shifts that are going on with my body. I am currently on hormone treatment but in all honesty, I feel worse than when I started as everything feels off center. I stumbled upon your website researching the Paleo lifestyle and was pleasantly surprised to see the tie in to PCOS! I’m sure you’re wondering why I’m commenting on this article but being an avid consumer of marijuana, I had to click and read. Admittedly, I was quite disappointed in what I read not about marijuana but more about seeds, nuts and quinoa. I was under the impression that quinoa was NOT a grain but rather a seed. I’ve successfully omitted all grains, beans, soya (always had a sensitivity to this so this wasn’t that hard!) from my diet and this was a major bummer to read
I am feeling very deprived right now thinking of the possibility of having to omit this as well. Thank you for the great article however and keep up the great work.
Ha! Scratch that first line. I really don’t have a question regarding I meant to say quinoa but took the long winded route asking!
This is really helpful. Another case against nuts for me — which I know I do better without, but have a tendency to eat anyways because they are so snackable — thank you for the info!
Hi! I just found out i have high levels of progesterone in my body and i want to make sure i cut out foods that are adding to this hormonal imbalance. i am confused as to if the foods listed in this article INCREASE estrogen or INCREASE progesterone?! Thanks for your information, it is so appreciated!!!
So you have said before to eat carbs….but what carb is possibly left? Do you have any advice on particular brands of pre packaged food that we CAN eat? I don’t always have time to make everything from scratch, and I am a huge snacker! I think this list was very helpful, but making a list of things we can eat would help me soooooo much! At least some ideas….and maybe some less obvious choices, like this nut is ok, and this carb is ok, and this pre packaged snack food is also ok. I am looking forward to that!!!! Thank you for all of your help tho!
I think fruit is great — what about some raisins or other dried fruits? They are enormously calorically dense, so I’d step a bit cautiously around them. Nuts of course are okay in moderation, too, so that makes trailmix all right. And with dark chocolate… sounds quite tasty! Some protein bars are also okay to throw on the list so long as you are someone who can tolerate that moderate amount of nuts… Lara bars come to mind. There are also “tanka” bars (google!) which are expressly paleo, if you’re into that kind of thing.