Maybe you've heard of xenoestrogens but don't really know what they are or how they work in your body.  I'm going to explain what they are and why I try to minimize them in my life and more importantly to me - in my <strong>children's</strong> lives.

<strong>Xenoestrogen</strong> means <strong>foreign estrogen</strong> - which basically means any outside substance that acts like estrogen once inside our body.  It includes chemical compounds and pesticides, as well as both synthetic and natural estrogen that we ingest or apply.  Phytoestrogens are another type of xenoestrogen - plants such as soy that have been touted as beneficial or harmful depending upon who you listen too. (I'm not going to discuss phytoestrogens as endocrine disruptors in this post because it is a whole other conundrum but you can read a review about it whether it is beneficial or harmful <a title="The pros and cons of phytoestrogens" href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3074428/" target="_blank">here</a>.)

<strong>Endocrine disrupters</strong> or <strong>hormone disruptors </strong>are similar but actually refer specifically to chemicals and/or compounds that disrupt our hormonal systems.

There's a few ways that disruption occurs but without getting too scientific on you here is one simple explanation of how it works:

Think of it like a game of musical chairs - chemical compounds and pesticides enter your body &amp; jump onto the receptors that are supposed to be there for the estrogen <em>your body</em> is producing.  When your own estrogen comes along it finds that these xenoestrogens have stolen their spot!  So your own estrogen has nowhere to go!  Every time xenoestrogens win the game - your body &amp; hormone health lose.

Your body doesn't even have to be producing too much estrogen to show symptoms of estrogen dominance!    Because our estrogen is now free to roam throughout your body with nowhere to go.

Endocrine disruptors are being blamed for our rising rates of:
<ul>
	<li>Endometrial cancer</li>
	<li>Breast cancer</li>
	<li>PCOS - Poly-cycstic Ovarian Syndrome</li>
	<li>Endometriosis</li>
	<li>Fibroids</li>
	<li>Infertility</li>
	<li>and other problems, including testicular &amp; prostrate cancer in men.</li>
</ul>
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plastic bottles, metal food cans, detergents, flame retardants, food, toys, cosmetics, and pesticides

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Further reading about the negative effects of Endocrine Disrupters on our health:

<a title="Medical News Today - Xenoestrogens" href="http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/245485.php" target="_blank">Medical News Today</a>

<a title="National Institute of Health Sciences" href="http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/endocrine/index.cfm" target="_blank">National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences</a>

<a title="Endocrine Society - Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals - A Scientific Study" href="http://www.endo-society.org/journals/ScientificStatements/upload/EDC_Scientific_Statement.pdf" target="_blank">The Endocrine Society - Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals - A Scientific Statement </a>

<a title="TEDx - The Endocrine Disruption Exchange" href="http://www.endocrinedisruption.com/home.php" target="_blank">TEDx - The Endocrine Disruption Exchange</a>

<a title="Journal of Environmental &amp; Public Health - Endocrine Disrupters" href="http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jeph/2012/713696/" target="_blank">Journal of Environmental &amp; Public Health</a>

<a title="Wikipedia - Endorcrine Disruptor" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endocrine_disruptor" target="_blank">Wikipedia - Endocrine Disruptor</a>

<a title="Natural Resources Defence Council" href="http://www.nrdc.org/health/effects/qendoc.asp" target="_blank">Natural Resources Defence Council</a>

<a title="EPA" href="http://www.epa.gov/endocrine/#eds" target="_blank">Environmental Protection Agency </a>

<a title="NIEHS - Recent Endocrine Research Resources" href="http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/assets/docs_a_e/endocrine_research_resources.pdf" target="_blank">NIEHS - Recent Endocrine Research Resources </a>

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