A bit about gut health and our hormones

Gut health and our hormones

Gut health and microbiome is all the rage but what does it all really mean? How does our gut health affect our hormones? How can we improve our gut health? The good news is you can change your gut microbiome for the better in just 2 weeks!!! Yay!!

What is microbiome and what does it do?

Friendly bacteria and other types of microorganisms live in our gut and also in the digestive tract that begins in our mouth and ends in our colon. There are thousands of different types of bacteria in each inch of our gut lining. These microbes have many benefits including:

• Assisting healthy digestion/absorption of nutrients.

• Helping to balance our immune system so that it isn’t prone to allergies and foods sensitivities.

• Positively impacting on our emotional health/anxiety/depression due to a bi-directional communications system called the gut brain axis.  They can positively affect brain function also.

• Helping with weight management.

• Helping to control cholesterol levels.

• Having an anti-inflammatory response in the body.

How do they help our hormones?

Our gut and hormones are closely interlinked. Oestrogen and progesterone have direct effects on hormone receptors in the gut which can influence the workings and sensitivity in the digestive system. In reverse, the state of the gut will affect our hormones. Inflammation caused by alcohol, highly processed diets, painkillers, food intolerances, stress etc. can negatively affect hormonal metabolism.

So we need good gut health to keep our hormones in balance as one of their functions is to get rid of unwanted oestrogen and to optimise progesterone production. For our bodies to work efficiently, all hormones after they have done their job (hormones already in the body and any additional ones we take i.e. HRT) need to be processed and eliminated from the body via the liver and gut. The liver metabolises the oestrogens ready for them to be excreted either in urine or stools.

As we age women lose oestrogen but it can still be too dominant over our progesterone.  Oestrogen is amazing and helps with many many functions in the body and we need her (think of her like the party queen oozing confidence and strutting about) but if oestrogen gets too big for its boots and is too dominant over progesterone (the soothing, relaxing anti-anxiety hormone) then that can cause negative symptoms including:

• Decreased sex drive

• Increased PMS symptoms

• Irregular periods

• Depression, anxiety, mood swings, irritability

• Headaches

• Bloating

• Hot flushes

• Breast tenderness

• Weight gain

• Fatigue

• Difficulty concentrating

• Insomnia

• Allergies

This applies to teenage girls too.  Oestrogen can be dominant over progesterone due to lack of sleep, stress, bad diet, lack of exercise and this could lead to PMS, heavier periods, migraines etc.

Eating foods that improve your gut health is one of the things you can do to help your hormones. So:

• Try to eat the rainbow – as many colours and types of vegetables and plants as you can. Plants include grains such oats, brown rice, pulses, seeds, nuts.

• Eat a combination of soluable fibres (i.e oats, apples, oranges, flaxseeds, nuts, beans) and insoluable fibres (i.e green leafy veg, brown rice, broccoli, sweet potatoes).

• Eat pre-biotic foods that help to grow the good bacteria such as garlic, leeks, tomatoes, flaxseeds, legumes, bananas, berries.

• Introduce some fermented foods into your diet such as kefir, kimchi, miso pastes, yoghurt, kombucha. These foods already contain the good bacteria.

A word of caution – introduce fermented foods and pulses/legumes gradually otherwise they can cause stomach pain, bloating and IBS symptoms. Just try a spoonful of kimchi, a few tbsps. of kefir each day. Pulses once a week to start with -not every day. Don’t go crazy!!

Lastly a word on constipation, it’s basically another big no no – if you suffer from irregular bowel movements this will affect the oestrogen levels in your body and the process of elimination.  When you are constipated the oestrogens can re circulate in the body and the liver has to deal with them again.  If the hormones get re-absorbed it can result in symptoms such as mood swings and acne.