Known as the female hormone, 'Estrogen' is a group of compounds that tends to work in opposition to androgens (like testosterone) and mediate fat metabolism, cognition, blood flow, and female reproduction. Men sometimes wish to lower estrogen via aromatase inhibition.
Our evidence-based analysis features 89 unique references to scientific papers.
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Q: Is soy good or bad for you?
A: Moderate consumption of soy foods is unlikely to have adverse effects in adults; it may even benefit cardiovascular health and reduce cancer risk. Eating large amounts of soy foods for 6 months or more, however, may cause problems. Also, the use of soy infant formulas should probably be minimized.
Read full answer to "Is soy good or bad for you?"
The Human Effect Matrix looks at human studies (it excludes animal and in vitro studies) to tell you what supplements affect estrogen
| Grade | Level of Evidence |
|---|---|
| Robust research conducted with repeated double-blind clinical trials | |
| Multiple studies where at least two are double-blind and placebo controlled | |
| Single double-blind study or multiple cohort studies | |
| Uncontrolled or observational studies only |
|
Level of Evidence ?
The amount of high quality evidence. The more evidence, the more we can trust the results.
|
Outcome |
Magnitude of effect ?
The direction and size of the supplement's impact on each outcome. Some supplements can have an increasing effect, others have a decreasing effect, and others have no effect.
|
Consistency of research results ?
Scientific research does not always agree. HIGH or VERY HIGH means that most of the scientific research agrees.
|
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dehydroepiandrosterone |
All comparative evidence is now gathered in our A-to-Z Supplement Reference. The evidence for each separate supplement is still freely available here. |
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| Maca | ||||
| Red Clover Extract | ||||
| Saffron | ||||
| 7-Keto DHEA | ||||
| Alcohol | ||||
| Black Cohosh | ||||
| D-Aspartic Acid | ||||
| Fenugreek | ||||
| Gamma Oryzanol | ||||
| Garcinia cambogia | ||||
| Green Tea Catechins | ||||
| Horny Goat Weed | ||||
| Melatonin | ||||
| Panax ginseng | ||||
| Royal Jelly | ||||
| Vitamin K | ||||
| Boron | ||||
| Grape Seed Extract | ||||
| Licorice | ||||
| Pueraria lobata | ||||
| Punicalagins | ||||
Both the alpha subset (ERα) and beta subset (ERβ) of the estrogen receptor are present in the skeletal muscle tissue of rats[1][2] and humans[3][4][5] of both sexes.
Estradiol is known to attenuate the rate of inflammatory processes following damaging exercise[6] (also seen in ischemia/reperfusion[7]) by reducing neutrophil accumulation, which is thought to explain the reduce rates of muscle tissue regeneration in ovarectomized rats (model of menopause) relative to those given estrogen[8][9] with similar effects in male rats[10] and is thought to explain the higher than average rates of sarcopenia observed in menopausal women relative to premenopausal women[11] which is alleviated with hormone replacement therapy.[12] This anti-inflammatory response does not appear to be mediated by either estrogen receptor.[13]
Treatment of male[14] and female[15] rats with estradiol results in increased muscle cell recruitment following damaging exercise by an estrogen receptor dependent mean[13] and particularly satellite cell recruitment is mediated through the alpha subset (ERα).[16]
Selective activation of the β subset (ERβ) results in muscle protein synthesis, as ablation of the receptor exacerbates damage from exercise while treatment with agonists causes satellite cell activation and proliferation;[17] Activation of ERβ appears to enhance IGF-1 related anabolic pathways.[17]
Both estrogen receptors and injections of estrogen (to reach a higher circulating level) are associated with increased recovery rates of skeletal muscle secondary to anti-inflammatory effects and increased satellite cell activation
"Estrogen," Examine.com, published on 12 March 2013, last updated on 29 April 2017, https://examine.com/topics/estrogen/
