4 Foods To Keep You Leaner And Meaner
If you ask most of the men hanging around the gym about estrogen, almost everyone every single one of them will tell you that it’s is a bad, bad thing. And that high estrogen levels imply that a man is, well, less of a man.
Although that statement is not entirely true, an estrogen imbalance in men can lead to some uncomfortable and disrupting side effects and certainly can hinder muscle gains and weight loss. It is important to note that a healthy balance of estrogen and testosterone is natural in both the male and female bodies. However, in males, improving the ratio of testosterone to estrogen can lead to some eye-opening results.
Believe it or not, there are certain foods that can help slow the production of estrogen in the body and lead to some significant physical results in both men and women. More importantly, they can help the risk for some kinds of cancers and heart disease.
In men, a decrease in estrogen means less water retention and potentially more muscle mass. All too often men think about estrogen’s alter-ego, testosterone, but forget about estrogen itself when it comes time to get lean and mean.
Here are four foods that you can turn to as an anti-aromatase (a fancy of way of saying estrogen preventing!) to help you get the internal and external results that you want.
CRUCIFERIOUS VEGETABLES
Finally, a valid excuse to go back for a second helping of broccoli and cauliflower! Broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and cabbage are excellent preventers of estrogen build-up in the body. They contain several nutrients that are key to inhibiting estrogen build up; mainly Indole-3 Acetate which is a phytochemical found predominantly in broccoli. To put this into effect, try having about 8 oz of broccoli a couple of times per day and watch that bench press climb on up!
MUSHROOMS
Don’t run out to pick wild mushrooms just yet! You can find most white button and shitake mushrooms at your grocery store. Because of the flavones and isoflavones found in mushrooms, as well as the conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), they are one of the top aromatase-inhibiting foods available. Aromatase is the conversion of androgens to estrogen in the body – by inhibiting the aromatization process, you can slow the conversion of testosterone into estrogen, which is extremely important if you are an older male with potential testosterone decline looming in the future. Try adding a few mushrooms to that nightly salad!
RED GRAPES
One of the more popular supplements these days is resveratrol, with most companies using its anti-oxidant and performance enhancing properties as a selling point. But what most don’t know is that it simply comes from the skin of red grapes (or even a few ounces of red wine). In addition to being a great super-supplement, resveratrol is proving to have quite phenomenal anti-estrogenic effects as well. So break out the glass of red wine at night or pop a couple of red grapes for a pre workout snack!
GREEN TEA
Green Tea is a wonder drink if you ask most people, from the anti-oxidant effects down to the quick little healthy burst of energy it provides. Recently, some have caught wind of the fact that green tea contains phytochemicals that may help in the reduction of estrogen in the blood stream. But green tea has an additional perk as well – it’s a great, yet gentle diuretic. So this means in addition to fighting estrogen, it helps remove the excess water as well. Looks like it might be time to swap out that morning cup of coffee!
Well there you have it, four ways to reduce the estrogen in your body without having to touch a single chemical or a pharmaceutical. As always, try to eat organic whenever possible to avoid any alteration that may occur in a genetically modified growing situation. Keep it as down to earn as possible!
