What’s the link with your liver and hormones?

I remember when I was in my early 20s living in a houseshare and my housemates and I used to notice that our PMS and period pains were much worse when we’d been out partying and drinking lots that month.

At the time I guessed it was something to do with our livers but I didn’t quite know what was going on. Now I do!

The liver is an amazing organ responsible for detoxifying chemicals we put into our body. One of its many other jobs is to metabolise oestrogens so they can be excreted. Oestrogens are metabolised in two phases. During phase 1 (hydroxylation) oestradiol & oestrone (two of the three types of oestrogen made by the body) as well as substances such as caffeine, alcohol. pesticides, medications, parabens, PCBs found in plastics and other toxins are converted into smaller substances so they can be excreted more easily.

If however the liver is ‘busy’ detoxifying these toxins it may not be able to excrete oestrogen so efficiently leading to oestrogen dominance (when oestrogen levels are high in relation to progesterone). Oestrogen dominance is linked to PMS, painful & heavy periods, endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS, oestrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer, infertility and weight gain.

There is lots one can do in terms of diet to optimise liver function. However, the best place to start is to reduce the amount of toxins you are putting in.

Depending on your health goals, it might not be necessary to cut alcohol and caffeine out completely but limining caffeine to max two cups a day and alcohol to a couple of units per week is a good place to start.