Oddbean

Doc, if I may ask, what is your take on people (specifically women but I guess applies to males too) staying carnivore long term and any effect on estrogen levels? My understanding is the body processes excess estrogen from the liver and into fiber in the colon and out it goes. Is there is no fiber, then would it get recycled or broken down some other way? 🙏

Hey, no problem, ask away. There aren't any studies that I'm aware of that look into the effects of the carnivore diet long term in relation to sex hormones. But generally, ketogenic diets have shown to reduce the level of estrogens circulating in the blood, most likely due to the loss of adipose tissue (a source of estrogen production), therefore resulting in a lowering of aromatase activity in fat tissue (aromatase is an enzyme that converts androgens to estrogens). So it seems excess estrogen isn't a problem while on a carnivore diet, for both men and women, it's actually a way of reversing gynecomastia in men. The liver metabolizes estrogens into conjugated estrogens, making them more watersoluble and then eliminating them mainly through the kidneys but also through biliary excretion. Some of the conjugated estrogens in the bile can then be deconjugated by bacterial enzymes in the gut and reabsorbed. Fiber can help reduce some of this reabsorbtion, but that might be "helpful" for people on a SAD diet, where they might actually have excess estrogen. That doesn't seem to be the case on carnivore. Cheers! TLDR: It doesn't seem excess estrogen is a problem on a ketogenic diet, therefore it would probably be even less of a problem on carnivore. Also, most of estrogens are eliminated through the kidneys and not the bile, so no worries about reabsorption there.

I've watched plenty of videos with doctors explaining various estrogen-related topics in connection with low-carb diets, and what impresses me the most is the amount of symptoms and hardships connected with menopause and infertility that are reversed or alleviated. My overall take is that eating a proper human diet helps to bring estrogen and testosterone into balance, in both men and women. But I must admit, that was a great answer!

That is what always baffled me about what another practitioner warned me about estrogen and keto. My body does exceptionally well with low carb; my experience contradicted his info. But I thought, well maybe short term it is okay, but longer term, it would not be 🤔 It was very confirming and comforting to have Dr. Morales' explanation. 🙏🤙

I had been wondering about sex hormones and keto/carnivore for months and wasn't able to find a good answer, until now. Thanks, doc! #ketostr #healthstr #carnivore nostr:nevent1qqs8uerx6yvlz09s5vszgdgvweraneg6mmzxjc0cadjlvt5fsjfsaaqpz3mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujuerpd46hxtnfdupzq66wex8s9ej8uq2ypdrnh0vj5lawy8spk64xce0r9ku55dsfyfewqvzqqqqqqy06tm2q