Estrogen Blockers for Men: Supplements and Foods. Do They Work?

Ever since I wrote my article on male menopause, I’ve been getting questions about estrogen blockers for men. And my answer to all those questions thus far has been mostly “good question, but it’s a long answer.” Well, today you get that answer, in complete detail.

In this article, we will cover:

• What estrogen blockers are
• Why estrogen blockers are used
• Medications vs. natural estrogen blockers (including estrogen blocker foods)
• Do estrogen blockers work?

But before we jump in, we should address the very basics of improving testosterone, like:

• Improving poor sleep.
• Do some strength training to improve lean body mass (and along with that, bone mineral density and healthy estrogen levels for men).
• Improve your stress management skills.
• Decrease/eliminate alcohol.

The very bare basics, which aren’t glorious or sexy will often have as much as, or more of an effect than testosterone treatment or estrogen blockers.

With that out of the way, let’s get to it. Here is an example of the effects estrogen could have:

Man taking estrogen before and after — Original source: here.

WHAT ESTROGEN BLOCKERS ARE

When we refer to estrogen blockers (which we’ll refer to interchangeably as “estrogen antagonists”), we’re talking about a wide array of different things. As group, they are self-explanatory. Substances, supplements, or foods that lower estrogen (estrogen is typically a female hormone, although men have it as well). This is usually done in one of 2 ways:

1. Decreasing the body’s natural production of estrogen
2. Decreasing the amount of testosterone that is converted into estrogen (yes, testosterone is converted into estrogen).

Which begs the question “why would someone want to lower their estrogen levels?”

Read on.

WHY ESTROGEN BLOCKERS ARE USED

So there are really 3 major uses for estrogen blockers:

1. To reduce cancer risk in people who have, or have had…