Worldwide, steroid estrogens including estrone, estradiol and estriol, pose serious threats to soil, plants, water resources and humans. Indeed, estrogens have gained notable attention in recent years, due to their rapidly increasing concentrations in soil and water all over the world.
Stinging Nettle doesn't stimulate testosterone production, but it may lead to elevated levels of testosterone. The first key to Nettle is preventing a mechanism called aromatase, which converts testosterone to estrogen. A second key is that Nettle may help separate testosterone from red blood cells (SHBG). Nettle Root can block estrogen production throughout the body by inhibiting the enzyme aromatase. Excess estrogen or estrogen toxicity can cause symptoms such as breast lumps, male breasts, irregular periods, and decreased libido.
Nettle root also contains a class of compounds known as lignans. Lignans are phytonutrients that have weak estrogenic activity and can be used for hormonal imbalances, PMS, menopause symptoms, and PCOSIn addition to the estrogen both male and female bodies produce naturally, we are also exposed to environmental estrogens from pollution plastics etc. Many chemicals we come into contact with in our environment or food supply are known as xenoestrogens — “xeno” meaning foreign. Estrogens can enter our rivers and lakes via municipal effluents and can originate from various sources, such as urine from females and feedlots. They cause male fish to develop eggs, in the more severe cases, and feminized male fish have been found in rivers across North America. Estrogen appears in the drinking water in the form of estradiol. It is the most potent form of estrogen, and it can enter the water supply via contraceptive pill, which women excrete through urine or feces.
Though there are still only about two dozen communities in the U.S. using some form of recycled water for drinking, that number is projected to rise. The shifting attitudes around a concept once dismissively dubbed “toilet to tap” come as dry regions scramble for ways to increase water supplies as their populations boom and climate change intensifies droughts. Other strategies gaining traction include collecting runoff from streams and roads after storms, and stripping seawater of salt and other minerals, a process that’s still relatively rare and expensive.
Though there are still only about two dozen communities in the U.S. using some form of recycled water for drinking, that number is projected to more than double in the next 15 years, according to WateReuse, a group that helps cities adopt such conservation practices.
In most places that do it, the sterilized water is usually mixed back into a lake, river or other natural source before being reused — a step that helps make the idea of drinking treated sewage go down easier for some but it still doesn't alleviate the problem of estrogens and their potential effect on male populations. Men have been known to suffer issues with fertility (specifically, low sperm count), gynecomastia (“man boobs”) and erectile dysfunction. There is also some research that suggests endocrine disruptors may play a role in increased incidence of breast, prostate and testicular cancer. Traditionally, testosterone and estrogen have been considered to be male and female sex hormones, respectively. However, estradiol, the predominant form of estrogen, also plays a critical role in male sexual function. Estradiol in men is essential for modulating libido, erectile function, and spermatogenesis.
If a fetus or neonate is exposed to estrogenic chemicals early in life, studies have shown that a number of reproductive abnormalities can develop. Sons born to mothers who ate food contaminated with polyhalogenated compounds have undersized penises and testicular malformations. Although scientists have postulated a wide range of adverse human health effects of exposure to endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), the nexus of the debate is the concern that prenatal and childhood exposure to EDCs may be responsible for a variety of abnormalities in human sexuality, gender development and behaviors, reproductive capabilities, and sex ratios. Scientists today are asking hard questions about potential human effects: Do EDC exposures impair fertility in men or women? Can they cause sexual organ malformations, stunted reproductive development, or testicular or breast cancer? Do fetal exposures to EDCs alter sex phenotypes? Do they change later gender-related neurobiological characteristics and behaviors such as play activity and spatial ability? Could such exposures even be involved in the etiology of children born with ambiguous gender? In short do these chemicals in the environment make male children feel like they are females?
ER agonists include the pesticide methoxychlor, certain polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), bisphenol A (BPA; a high production volume chemical used to make polycarbonate plastic), pharmaceutical estrogens such as diethylstilbestrol (DES) and ethinyl estradiol, and phytoestrogens, which occur naturally in many plants, most notably in soybeans in the form of genistein and related substances. There are a few known ER antagonists, or antiestrogens. Antiandrogens, or androgen receptor (AR) antagonists, include the fungicide vinclozolin, the DDT metabolite p,p′-DDE, certain phthalates (a group of chemicals used to soften polyvinyl chloride plastics), and certain other PCBs. And there are other types of EDCs that affect particular endocrine targets. The various EDCs differ greatly in their potencies relative to natural hormones, and in their affinity for target receptors. Some have been shown to act via non–receptor-mediated mechanisms, for example by interfering with hormone synthesis.
In many well-documented cases of high-level fetal exposures to known EDCs such as DES, certain PCBs, and DDT, the answer to the question of whether exposure is associated with gender-related effects is clearly yes.
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