So why do people take a DIM supplement? Today, we are going to look at 4 science-backed benefits of DIM AKA Diindoylmethane.

1. DIM Improves Estrogen Metabolism

The first thing to know, is that DIM has been studied to improve estrogen metabolism.

A 2013 study of women with TPD found that DIM can improve the 2:16 estrogen metabolism ratio. Why is this important? Well, when we break down estrogen, it metabolizes into smaller estrogen metabolites.

These smaller metabolites can be good, with less "estrogenic effects", and others can be "bad", with more estrogenic effects that we typically associate with estrogen dominance.

In the study, DIM improved the break down into more of the "good" metabolite 2 hydroxyestrone, and less into the bad 16 hydroxyestrone.

The conclusion of the study writes "Our data suggest that DIM enhances estrogen metabolism in TPD patients and can potentially serve as an antiestrogenic dietary supplement." [1]

2. DIM Improves Phase 1 Liver Detox

Think of your liver's ability to detox like a dishwasher in a restaurant. When there is a normal number of dishes coming in, the dishwasher can handle them. But, when there are too many dishes, the dishwasher gets overwhelmed.

Like the dishwasher, our liver detoxifies, or "cleans out" toxins and bad estrogens in Phase 1 Liver Detox. The problem is, it's easy to overwhelm our liver if we expose our body to too many chemicals. When we do, the dishwasher breaks down - we can't get rid of enough estrogens, and so we feel the effects of estrogen dominance.

Like upgrading the dishwasher, Diindolylmethane has been studied to upgrade our Phase 1 Liver Detox process.

A quick side note: Our environment is full of toxins, and you can find chemicals with estrogenic-like effects in shampoos, body-washes, and many household products. A good source to find out if products contain estrogenic chemicals is to run them through the EWG Skin Deep search engine.

3.DIM Stops Excess Testosterone Converting into Estrogen 

Many people who have high levels of testerone (characteristic of PCOS) get the all too familiar features of estrogen dominance. This is because excess testosterone hormone actually converts into estrogen.

So, if you have been diagnosed with PCOS, and you have symptoms of estrogen dominance (stubborn, cold-feeling body-fat, or a pear bodyshape), this may be because of high levels of testosterone.

A University of Arizona study found that DIM is an an aromatase inhibitor. In other words, it stops the aromatase enzyme from converting testosterone into estrogen, thereby reducing estrogen levels. [2]

4. If you have too little estrogen, DIM helps improve estrogen activity. 

A study by a Korean university found that for people with too little estrogen hormone, DIM increases estrogen activity by acting as a phytoestrogen. [3]

This is great for women with PCOS, women in menopause, andropause and also post-competition female athletes.

We could therefore say that DIM is a great balancer of estrogen. If you have too much, it reduces it. If you have too little, it increases it.

Lifetropics DIM (Diindolylmethane)

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References

[1] Rajoria, Shilpi et al. 2011. ‘3,3′-Diindolylmethane Modulates Estrogen Metabolism in Patients with Thyroid Proliferative Disease: A Pilot Study’. _Thyroid_ 21(3): 299–304.

[2] Thomson, Cynthia A., Emily Ho, and Meghan B. Strom. 2016. ‘Chemopreventive Properties of 3,3′-Diindolylmethane in Breast Cancer: Evidence from Experimental and Human Studies’. Nutrition Reviews 74(7): 432–43.

[3] Lee, Geum-A., Kyung-A. Hwang, and Kyung-Chul Choi. 2016. ‘Roles of Dietary Phytoestrogens on the Regulation of Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition in Diverse Cancer Metastasis’. _Toxins_ 8(6).