How Gut Health Affects Your Hormones

We’ve all experienced our hormones going out of whack when our time of the month rolls around-whether it be in the form of untimely breakouts, bloating that makes us feel ten pounds heavier or mood swings NO ONE is safe from. It’s never fun when you feel like you’re not in control of your body. What if I told you YOU actually can help manage your hormones?? This is where your gut health comes into play.

Your intestinal bacteria a.k.a. microbiome, has many important functions for your body such as assisting with digestion, synthesizing nutrients, releasing chemicals that regulate immune function, mood and metabolism and it doesn’t stop there…the microbiome also plays a central role in the regulation of hormones such as estrogen within the body-these microbes are collectively referred to as the estrobolome.

The estrobolome is essential to keeping healthy estrogen levels in the body. Why? Here’s a quick break down of how the metabolism of estrogen works in a healthy system:

1. Estrogen is produced in the ovaries.
2. Estrogens circulate in the blood through your body to your uterus, breasts and other organs until it reaches your liver.
3. Once in your liver, estrogen is broken down and inactivated where it is then sent to the intestine and exits the body through stool.

So how exactly does your gut health affect this process? If there is harmful bacteria present they can make an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase which causes estrogen to re-activate in your gut. The problem with this re-activation of estrogen is that it then re-enters your body and causes excess estrogen which can lead to heavier periods, headaches, low libido, weight gain, acne,uterine fibroids and chronic diseases such as cancers of the breast, ovaries or prostate. 

If you find that you are experiencing any hormone symptoms, it may be a sign your gut health is not up to par so to help keep your microbiome in check (which will then promote the healthy metabolism of estrogen) check out our recent post on Simple Ways To Improve Your Gut Health and take control of your body now!