Raising estrogen levels can involve dietary changes, supplements, or prescription hormone therapy, depending on how low your levels are and what’s causing the drop. For most people, the most reliable way to increase estrogen is through hormone replacement therapy prescribed by a doctor, but food sources and certain supplements can also nudge levels upward in meaningful ways.
How Your Body Makes Estrogen
Your body produces estrogen primarily through an enzyme called aromatase, which converts testosterone and other androgens into estrogen. Before menopause, the ovaries handle most of this production. After menopause, smaller amounts are still made in fat tissue, the adrenal glands, and other tissues, but overall levels drop significantly. This is why age is the most common reason people look to raise their estrogen, though other causes include surgical removal of the ovaries, certain medications, eating disorders, and excessive exercise that disrupts the menstrual cycle.
Because aromatase needs androgens as raw material, anything that affects your androgen levels or aromatase activity can influence how much estrogen your body produces on its own. Body fat plays a role here: fat tissue contains aromatase, so people with very low body fat sometimes produce less estrogen. This is one reason extreme caloric restriction and intense endurance training can lead to missed periods and bone density loss in younger women.
Foods That Contain Plant Estrogens
Phytoestrogens are plant compounds that bind to estrogen receptors in your body and produce a weak estrogenic effect. They won’t raise your blood estrogen levels the way hormone therapy does, but they can partially activate the same receptors and may ease mild symptoms of low estrogen like hot flashes.
Soy foods are the richest dietary source. A half cup of soybeans provides about 47 milligrams of isoflavones (the active phytoestrogen in soy). Other amounts per serving:
- Miso, half cup: 59 mg isoflavones
- Tempeh, 3 ounces: 37 mg
- Soy milk, 8 ounces: 30 mg
- Tofu, 3 ounces: 20 mg
Flaxseeds are the top source of a different class of phytoestrogen called lignans. Cereal grains and certain vegetables also contain lignans, but in much smaller amounts. Ground flaxseed is absorbed better than whole seeds. Adding one to two tablespoons daily to smoothies or oatmeal is a common approach. Sesame seeds are another lignan source, though less concentrated than flax.
The research on phytoestrogens and symptom relief is mixed. They seem to work best for people with mild symptoms and when consumed consistently over weeks to months. If your estrogen is significantly low, dietary sources alone are unlikely to be enough.
Hormone Replacement Therapy
Prescription estrogen therapy is the most effective way to raise estrogen levels. It comes in several forms, each with different advantages. Systemic options that raise estrogen throughout the body include pills, skin patches, gels, sprays, and a vaginal ring designed for whole-body absorption. Standard doses for transdermal patches typically deliver 37.5 to 50 micrograms per day, while oral estradiol usually starts at 1 to 2 milligrams per day.
If your symptoms are mainly vaginal (dryness, discomfort, urinary issues), topical vaginal estrogen may be all you need. It comes as a cream, tablet, insert, or ring and works locally without significantly raising estrogen levels in the rest of your body.
People who still have a uterus need to take a progestogen alongside estrogen to protect the uterine lining from overgrowth. This combination most commonly comes as pills or patches. Those who’ve had a hysterectomy can typically use estrogen alone.
Who Should Avoid Estrogen Therapy
Estrogen therapy is not safe for everyone. It is contraindicated for people with a history of estrogen-sensitive breast cancer, uterine cancer (unless the uterus has been removed), unexplained vaginal bleeding, deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism, blood clotting disorders like Factor V Leiden, or a history of stroke. Uncontrolled high blood pressure (above 180/110) and very high triglycerides (above 400 mg/dL) are also relative contraindications because they increase stroke risk.
For people with clotting disorders, transdermal estrogen (patches or gels) may still be an option since it bypasses the liver and has a lower impact on clotting factors. This is a conversation to have with a prescriber who knows your full medical history.
DHEA Supplements
DHEA is a hormone your body naturally produces that serves as a precursor to both estrogen and testosterone. It’s available over the counter in the United States, and a large meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials found that it does raise estrogen levels in postmenopausal women, but only at doses of 50 mg per day or higher. At those doses, estradiol levels increased by an average of about 8.65 pg/mL. Doses below 50 mg per day did not produce a statistically significant change.
The effect was more pronounced in women over 60. However, DHEA at higher doses comes with side effects including acne, excess hair growth, and oily skin, because it also converts into testosterone. There’s also a concern that prolonged elevation of estradiol from DHEA could stimulate the uterine lining, potentially increasing the risk of endometrial problems over time. If you’re considering DHEA, lower doses are generally preferred to minimize these risks, though the trade-off is a smaller effect on estrogen.
Herbal Supplements
Several herbs are marketed as natural estrogen boosters, but the evidence for most of them is thin or complicated.
Red clover contains isoflavones similar to those in soy, and it does bind to estrogen receptors. In a randomized controlled trial, red clover reduced hot flashes by 57%, but this was not significantly better than placebo, which reduced them by 63%. Interestingly, red clover did reduce anxiety compared to placebo, possibly because the type of estrogen receptor it activates (ER-beta) is linked to mood regulation in animal studies.
Black cohosh is one of the most popular menopause supplements, but a rigorous clinical trial found it was actually less effective than placebo at reducing hot flashes (34% reduction versus 63% for placebo). Researchers believe black cohosh does not work through estrogen pathways at all but may have some effect on serotonin, which is a different system entirely. If your goal is specifically to raise estrogen activity, black cohosh is not the right choice.
Dong quai has shown estrogenic activity in laboratory studies, including the ability to stimulate the growth of estrogen-receptor-positive breast cancer cells. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center notes that it promoted the growth of estrogen-sensitive breast tumors in animal models. This means it may have real estrogenic effects, but that same property makes it potentially dangerous for anyone with a history of hormone-sensitive cancers. Human clinical data on dong quai for raising estrogen in healthy women is limited.
Lifestyle Factors That Support Estrogen Production
While no lifestyle change can replace hormone therapy for someone with significantly low estrogen, several habits influence how much estrogen your body makes and how well it functions.
Maintaining a healthy body weight matters because fat tissue is a production site for estrogen after menopause. Being significantly underweight reduces this source. On the other hand, excess body fat can lead to estrogen levels that are too high, so the goal is balance rather than extremes. Regular moderate exercise supports hormone balance, but excessive endurance training (think marathon-level volume without adequate nutrition) can suppress estrogen production by disrupting the signals from the brain that trigger the hormonal cascade.
Sleep and stress management play indirect roles. Chronic sleep deprivation and high stress hormones can interfere with the hormonal signaling chain that leads to estrogen production. Alcohol in excess can disrupt hormone metabolism, though moderate intake has a less clear effect. Smoking is associated with earlier menopause and lower estrogen levels, likely because toxins in cigarette smoke damage the ovaries and accelerate the decline in egg-producing follicles.
For people whose low estrogen stems from being underweight, over-exercising, or under-eating, the most effective intervention is restoring adequate caloric intake and reducing training intensity. In many cases, estrogen levels recover within a few months once the body no longer perceives an energy deficit.