Foods that affect the aromatase enzyme
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Testosterone and estrogen (estradiol) are at bottom of the sex hormone cascade. The aromatase enzyme converts testosterone to estrogen and can disrupt the balance in hormone levels and cause health issues in the endocrine system.
There are breast cancers that are sensitive to estradiol and the folks at Foodforbreastcancer have compiled a list of foods that increase aromatase and a list of foods that decrease aromatase. The foods are hotlinked to supporting research.
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According to that article, beef and lamb increase aromatase expression. Sounds like bullshit to me.
In time there is life but no knowledge; outside time there is knowledge but no life
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@jamezb46 said in Foods that affect the aromatase enzyme:
According to that article, beef and lamb increase aromatase expression. Sounds like bullshit to me.
I would say the high PUFA foods would cause the rise of cortisol and an concomitant rise in aromatase.
From Peatbot:
User: Does high PUFA result in the rise of estrogen?Peatbot: Yes, high levels of polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) are associated with an increase in estrogen levels. The context provided indicates that PUFA can increase estrogen and have some directly estrogen-like effects. Additionally, the studies mentioned in the context suggest that a maternal diet high in n-6 PUFA, such as linoleic acid, can elevate circulating 17beta-estradiol (E2) levels in pregnant rats. This increase in estrogen levels is linked to changes in mammary gland development and an increased risk of breast cancer in the offspring.
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@jamezb46 = I do not know how you came to that conclusion.
Eating meats will increase the cholesterol that feeds into the diagram in my original post and these will increase testosterone levels.
If you view the cascade as buckets of steroids, testosterone is a leaky bucket. The aromatase enzyme is the leak.
Having more testosterone in the bucket does not mean that the leak has been fixed. Without fixing the aromatase leak too much estrogen will be formed. Dr. Peat has written about the dark side of too much estrogen.
When the imbalance of testosterone and estrogen within the body becomes too great, things like gynecomastia develop in men.
The general strategy is to eat a diet that contains enough foods that decrease aromatase to keep the body in balance.
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Let's reveal what the linked article claims. "The following foods contain compounds that have been shown to increase aromatase activity, thereby increasing the production of estrogen."
Beef
Lamb
Your argument is that beef and lamb will increase the synthesis of testosterone because of their cholesterol content, thereby increasing the amount of estrogen that will be synthesized.
That's not the claim that the article makes. It claims that lamb and beef increase aromatase activity. That is a different claim than your claim that eating beef or lamb will increase the amount of estrogen synthesized. You could have a given level of aromatase activity but because there are more substrates for aromatase, you produce more estrogen. The article's claim is far more radical, though I think your claim and the article's claims are both wrong.
For one, lamb and beef are high in SFA. Aromatase is most highly expressed in adipose tissue. High PUFA adipose tissue expresses more aromatase than does low PUFA adipose tissue. Insofar as lamb and beef resaturate adipose tissue, they should decrease aromatase expression.
Testosterone is also a mild aromatase inhibitor, as is its metabolite DHT.
