Copper and Estrogen

During pregnancy women experience an increase in Estrogen. Did you know this raise in estrogen also increases Copper absorption from the gut and transfers it to the placenta during pregnancy.

In pregnancy this is an effective use of the copper, a natural and safe mechanism. However, elevated levels of estrogen OUTside of pregnancy also increases copper absorption. But we have no where safe to put it. So hopefully our healthy liver is able to increase proteins to bind copper and help us clear it, but if this doesn’t occur free levels of copper increases and can cause a lot of problems to our eyes, brain, liver, and overall oxidative stress. 

Normally, we only experience this hyper absorption of copper a few days a month at our peak estrogen points throughout our cycle. However when we are taking Birth control or HRT, we need to be careful with your copper intake, specifically from supplements. 
Be mindful of this in your individual situation and stick to an upper limit intake of around 5mg copper if you are taking any form of estrogen and or have any conditions that cause you to struggle with higher than normal estrogen levels. 

You dont know unless you test. If you feel like you could be struggling with estrogen excess or abnormal copper levels test them! We need our estrogen levels in check. Elevated estrogen not only can contribute to copper toxicity but has many other dangerous side effects.