Here’s a great study that was done showing how estrogen lowers lean muscle mass.
Yes, the study was done on women.
But, the same result would probabaly be seen in men if they had done the study on men. In fact, obese older men have high estradiol levels, as shown by this study.
But getting back to the study for women, they correlated estrogen with loss of lean muscle mass.
The higher the estrogen levels, the more lean muscle mass was lost on an ongoing basis.
A lot of men may be saying, “what does this have to do with me? Estrogen is a female hormone.”
One of the big mistakes that scientists and drug companies have made, is labeling estrogen as a female hormone.
Estrogen is more dominant in premenopausal women than in men. But both men and women have and need some estrogen.
Postmenopausal women often have LOWER estrogen levels than their husbands or boyfriends (study here)
Too much estrogen lowers lean muscle mass
This study reveals the downside of estrogen. The more estrogen, the more lean muscle is being lost by the women in these studies.
The same is probably true of men. Higher estrogen levels in men probably correlate to quicker loss of lean muscle mass, and more fat in men. In fact, obese men have very high estrogen levels compared to lean men.
No wonder as a man or woman ages, they can see their lean muscle draining away, to be replaced by fat.
We can point a finger at estrogen, especially the most potent form of estrogen, estradiol.
Can you limit the amount of estrogen in your body?
It’s always useful to test for estrogen in your body.
And to try to minimize environmental estrogens, molecules that look like estrogen and act like estrogen in the body are very common.
Even herbs such as quercetin and soy can act like estrogens in the body and may possibly cause a loss of muscle mass.
Aging men may find their testosterone level is normal but they are still high in estrogens, and the estrogen levels may be promoting loss of lean muscle mass and gain of fat in their bodies.
Click for more information on how to Lower your Estrogen, for Living Healthy information, or for information about Estrogen’s muscle mass loss.