The Gut Hormone Connection

Hormones and the gut are not usually thought of as being linked, but the truth is that the state of your gut plays a significant role in hormone balance. One of the critical ways our bodies maintain estrogen levels is through the gut microbiome.

Understanding the Gut Microbiome

The gut microbiome refers to the microorganisms living in your intestines. The body contains more than ten times more microbial cells than human cells, although the whole microbiome weighs only 2 to 3 pounds. The microbiota plays a vital role in supporting our immune system, maintaining hormonal and metabolic equilibrium, and influences other factors like DNA, hereditary traits, susceptibility to diseases, and body type.₁

The Role of the Estrobolome in Hormone Balance

Inside the gut microbiome resides a very important element called the estrobolome. This collection of bacteria plays an important role in maintaining the balance of estrogen in the body.

Beta-Glucuronidase and its Impact on Health

When harmful bacteria within the estrobolome increase too much, an enzyme known as beta-glucuronidase also rises.₂ This enzyme can lead to the reabsorption and recirculation of toxins and hormones in the body. Elevated levels of beta-glucuronidase can be linked to unhealthy changes in the colon and an increased risk of hormone-sensitive cancers or digestive tract cancer.

Factors that Damage the Microbiome

Several factors can negatively affect the gut microbiome and impact hormonal health. These include excessive alcohol use, poor diet, the use of birth control pills, overuse of antibiotics, chronic stress, and gut infections.

Supporting the Gut Microbiome for Hormone Balance

To address hormone balances effectively, it’s essential to focus on healing the gut. Balancing the gut bacteria allows your body to manage hormones well, absorb nutrients from food and eliminate toxins.

How to Support the Gut Microbiome

1. Prioritize Gut Healing Foods: Including nourishing foods like bone broth and a variety of beneficial teas like ginger, slippery elm, peppermint, chamomile, and dandelion root are super beneficial. Additionally, integrating healthy fats that nourish the gut and play a vital role in hormone creation, along with bioavailable sources of animal protein that are rich in essential nutrients, will greatly support your hormone balance.
2. Prebiotic foods: Asparagus, leeks, garlic, raw carrots, artichokes, jicama, apples, radishes, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bananas, and cocoa are some examples of foods that will help nourish and feed beneficial gut flora. Prebiotics also help with regular elimination, helps to trigger your body to create hormones that help with turning on and off your appetite, and help with managing inflammation.
3. Probiotic foods: Add sauerkraut, kimchi, yogurt, kefir, and fermented pickles to your daily meals, or consider taking a high-quality probiotic supplement. Probiotics are helpful in keeping bacteria in balance, destroying harmful bacteria, as well as protecting against inflammation, helping with regularity, and reducing diarrhea.
4. Ensure Regular Bowel Movements: Having at least one bowel movement daily prevents the reabsorption of excess hormones and promotes a healthy gut flora balance.
5. Reduce Toxin Exposure. The gut microbiome can be easily disturbed with exposure to a variety of toxins in our environment.₃ Take steps to minimize toxins in water, air, cleaning supplies, and self-care items. This can seem overwhelming. I’ve been there. A less overwhelming way to approach this is when an item gets used up, replace it with a less toxic version. It doesn’t have to be perfect, but moving towards less toxic alternatives will start to lessen your “toxic bucket” and allow more healing to occur.
6. Support Your Nervous System: Managing stress is crucial, as stress negatively affects digestion. With chronic stress, digestive secretions get downregulated which can cause a cascade of negative effects down through the digestive tract.
7. Address Gut Infections: A GI-MAP Stool Test is a great way to check on the health of the microbiome. This comprehensive assessment can reveal valuable information about your gut health, including beta-glucuronidase levels, possible infections, normal and opportunistic bacteria, and intestinal health markers. Identifying and addressing gut microbiome imbalances, along with the foundations of health, can significantly enhance your overall well-being.

Your gut health and hormonal balance are intricately connected, and nourishing your gut microbiome is key to achieving optimal hormone health. If you’re interested in exploring further, consider enrolling in my Nourish and Flourish 1:1 program, which has the option of adding in the GI-MAP Stool Test and is designed to help you get back to thriving. Besides functional testing, I will also empower you in your healing journey with learning and applying the foundations of health.

If you’re dealing with pesky symptoms, functional testing and the foundations are a winning combination and very helpful in getting to the root cause! For any questions or to learn more, feel free to reach out by replying to this email or by setting up a complimentary discovery call.

Stay nourished,

References:

1. Restorative Wellness Solutions. Digestion-Anatomy and Physiology. 2023. P 11-12.
2. Baker, J. M., Al-Nakkash, L., & Herbst-Kralovetz, M. M. (2017). Estrogen-gut microbiome axis: Physiological and clinical implications. Maturitas, 103, 45–53.
3. Tu, P., Chi, L., Bodnar, W., Zhang, Z., Gao, B., Bian, X., Stewart, J., Fry, R., & Lu, K. (2020). Gut Microbiome Toxicity: Connecting the Environment and Gut Microbiome-Associated Diseases. Toxics, 8(1), 19.