Ep. 52 How Your Body Really Detoxes Hormones (And Why It Matters So Much)

🎙 Episode Summary:

Detoxing isn’t about starving on green juice or surviving a 3-day cleanse—it’s a daily, intelligent process your body is already doing. The problem? Most women have no idea how it works, why it matters for hormone balance, or what actually supports it.

In this episode, Tracy breaks down the real science behind hormone detoxification, explains the 3-phase process your liver and gut go through, and shares the exact habits and nutrients your body needs to process estrogen and reduce symptoms like bloating, mood swings, PMS, and stubborn weight.

If you’ve ever been told to “just do a cleanse” or you’re stuck doing all the “right” things but still not seeing results, this one’s for you.

🔍 What You’ll Learn:

• Why detox isn’t something you do—it’s something your body does 24/7
• The real reason hormones like estrogen get backed up and stored in fat
• The 3 phases of hormone detox (Activation, Conjugation, Elimination)
• Why your poop is more important than any supplement
• Nutrients and habits that fuel daily detox without extremes
• How a sluggish detox system causes PMS, inflammation, low energy, and more
• Actionable steps you can take today to support your liver and bowels

🧠 Key Takeaways:

• Detox ≠ deprivation. You don’t need a juice cleanse. You need a daily rhythm.
• Your body clears estrogen through three phases—each requiring specific nutrients like B vitamins, magnesium, sulfur-rich foods, fiber, and water.
• If you’re not pooping daily, your detox system is backed up—and that leads to hormone recirculation.
• You can gently support all three detox phases through food, movement, hydration, and simple practices like lemon water and castor oil packs.

✅ Your Detox Homework:

• Start your day with lemon water (2 drops doTERRA lemon oil in 8 oz water)
• Add 2 cups of cruciferous veggies to lunch + dinner
• Include probiotic or prebiotic-rich foods daily
• Prioritize daily bowel movements—non-negotiable
• Try a detox bath, sauna, or castor oil pack to enhance elimination

🧬 Want to Know How Your Body Is Detoxing?

The DUTCH Test shows your hormone pathways in detail—so you’re not guessing. It’s a core part of the Balanced Hormone Solution.

💌 Ready for Real Support?

If this episode resonated, don’t just listen—do something about it. Join us inside The Balanced Hormone Solution, Tracy’s 90-day program that helps women balance hormones naturally, break the burnout cycle, and feel like themselves again.

👉 Apply now or book your free hormone assessment at TracyErinWellness.com
📩 DM "BALANCE” on Instagram to learn more.

✨ Share the Healing:

Know another woman who's tired of feeling bloated, irritable, or off in her own body? Send this episode her way.

And don’t forget to subscribe + leave a review. Every share helps women get the truth about their hormones.

Transcript

Speaker 3: 0:09

Welcome to the Balance Hormone Solution Podcast. If you're a woman 35 plus feeling exhausted, struggling to lose weight, and wondering where your libido went, this is for you. I am Tracy Aaron, a functional medicine practitioner who helps women balance their hormones naturally. Without prescriptions, guesswork, or trending Nonsense.'cause here's the truth, your symptoms aren't random. They're signals. And if you know how to listen, you can fix the root cause and start feeling like yourself again. If you're ready for real solutions, let's get to it.

0:50

Welcome back to the Balance Hormone Solution Podcast, where we cut through the noise and teach you how to actually feel like yourself again, if you've ever felt confused by the word detox, if you've ever been told to drink a green juice and call it healing, or if you've been doing all the quote unquote right things, but you still feel bloated, moody, or stuck, this episode is for you. Today I am walking you through how your body really detoxes hormones, not the trendy way, but the actual science-backed no-nonsense process that your liver and gut go through every single day. And here's the best part, once you understand it. You can support it without extremes. So let's get one thing straight. Detox isn't some three day juice fast. That leaves you starving and cranky. It's something your body does 24 7, especially when it comes to your hormones. Every estrogen molecule, your body makes every dose of hormone replacement therapy or birth control. It all has to be processed and cleared, otherwise it builds up. It recirculates, recirculates. It gets stored in fat, and that's when symptoms show up. Things like PMS, breast tenderness, mood swings, inflammation, and weight, that just won't budge. So I want you to think about detox, like taking out the trash. You don't just bag it. You need to move it, seal it, and actually take it outside. The same goes for your hormones. So let me break down the three phases that your body goes through. Phase one, we call it activation. So think of this like the sorting room, and it happens in your liver. Your body uses enzymes mostly from a group called Cytochrome P four 50 to start breaking down hormones, and they basically take a hormone like estrogen, and it begins to change its form. But here's the kicker. Those new forms, they're sometimes more toxic than the originals. It's like taking the trash out of the bin, but leaving it leaking on your kitchen floor. Not ideal, and that's why you need things like antioxidants to neutralize the damage while your body is doing the work. So what are the things that helps phase one B Vitamins, especially B2B three B six B12 B vitamins are energy for a woman's body, and most women are low in them. Next is magnesium. The unsung hero, we can never have too much magnesium taking it before bed. Yes, it helps us sleep. Yes, it helps us move our bowels, but it is a part of most enzymatic processes in the body, and we truly need magnesium on repeat. Next would be glutathione, vitamin C, vitamin E. These are powerhouse antioxidants that we're likely not getting enough of. And lastly, it's protein. And we need the protein for the amino acids. Now let's go into phase two. Phase two is called conjugation. So think of this like the packaging department. So now that your body sorted the waste. It needs to seal it up. And that is when your liver binds those activated hormone metabolites to molecules that make them water soluble so they can actually leave your body. So you can think of this like bagging up the trash properly. Before it goes out to the curb, it needs to be in a usable form in order to be able to eliminate it. So what are the tools that help phase two? Well, sulfur rich foods are the star of the show here. Those would be things like onions, garlic, and cruciferous vegetables, things like broccoli and cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, right? Amino acids. Again, we need that protein. So glycine, glutamine, torin. Very important here. Zinc, selenium, and more. B vitamins, methylation nutrients, things like choline and folate. We need all of these to package up the trash. This is where the toxins are bound and neutralized and move them out of the body, which leads us to phase three elimination, which we can think of as actually taking out the trash. So now we send those sealed bags outta the house, and that happens through your poop, through your urine, and through your sweat. And if your gut's not moving, if you're constipated or if you're not sweating or hydrating, well. That trash just sits and it leaks, and sometimes your body reabsorbs it and estrogen recirculates, and guess what? It ends up stored in fat. So what helps this phase three process fiber at least 30 grams a day. We need it from flax. We need it from chia. We need it from leafy grains. Water helps. I recommend all my clients drink half your body weight in ounces a day. Daily movement. We have to get things moving physically in order to get things moving. Internally. Things, extra tools that we can bring in would be things like castor oil packs, sauna. Dry brushing, right? So when these systems are sluggish. We get constipated, we get dehydrated, we have poor bile flow, and then your body's gonna reabsorb these hormones, especially estrogen, alright? And that's where these symptoms of like bloating, heavy or irregular periods, mood swings, weight gain, especially belly fat, that's when all of that's going to come in. So remember your Dutch test. Is what's going to show you how well this is happening, especially with estrogen metabolites like two oh h, which is good, versus four oh H and 16 oh h, which ends up being like the more inflammatory pathway. So if you haven't done the Dutch test to take a deeper look at your hormones, I cannot recommend it enough. We learn a tremendous amount from just peeing on four strips. Mailing those in, you do it at home, you get a wealth of information back. So amazing. Right? So what happens is when these things get clogged, our detox systems don't work. Okay? And this is not something that a juice or a fast is really going to optimize, okay? But the good news is you can support this process gently. And it takes rhythm, it takes awareness, and it takes proper nutrition. And occasionally we can use targeted supplements to help this process as well. So as far as your takeaway this week, I want you to know that you don't need to be perfect. I. You don't need to do a cleanse, quote unquote. You just need to support all three detox phases daily. Okay, so here's your homework. Start your day with lemon water. I love doTERRA's lemon oil. It's so fresh. They use a lot of oils to get one little teeny, a lot of lemons to get one little teeny tiny bottle. One or two drops. And eight ounces of water is a great way to wake up digestion and start the process. In these three phases, eat two cups of cruciferous veggies with every single meal, particularly lunch and dinner. Get your breakfast with some fruit. Add a probiotic or a prebiotic rich food. Okay? Remember, the difference between those two is a probiotic is actually the bacteria that will live in your gut, but the prebiotic is the food that that bacteria needs in order to thrive. Okay, and we need both or add in a detox bath or a castor oil puck. But most importantly, you need to poop daily. Seriously, it matters more than any supplement. If you are not having at least one bowel movement a day, send me a message, girl, we need to talk. We've got to get your bowels moving better. Okay, so your body knows what to do. Your body has these instructions, it just needs a little bit assistance from you. But what I need you to know is that you're not broken. You're just hormonally misunderstood. But when you support your liver, your gut, your rhythms, your hormones, get the message that you're safe and you can heal Now. All right, so if this episode helped you, would you share it with another woman who needs it? And if you're ready for deeper support, I'd love to walk you through this, inside the Balanced hormone solution because you don't have to figure this out alone. All right. Until next time, friends, stay hydrated. Eat your broccoli and trust your body. She is on your side.

Speaker: 10:29

That's it for today's episode of the Balanced Hormone Solution Podcast. If this resonated, don't just listen. Do something about it. Make sure to subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next. And if you know another woman who's tired of feeling like a stranger in her own body. Send her this way for more support. Check out the show notes. I've got resources to help you get started. Just remember, your body isn't broken, you just need the right tools. See you next time.