Make Digestion Your Friend
Have you been taking hormones, but are still experiencing post-menopausal symptoms like decreased libido, mood swings, anxiety or depression?
It may seem counter intuitive, but you might want to take a look at your gut health. We sat down with Rita Wadhwani, Nurse Practitioner and Clinical Nurse Specialist for over 15 years, who is now combining her clinical experience and newly acknowledged education of 7 years in functional medicine to help patients with chronic health, hormonal, and autoimmune issues, to discuss the connectivity between our gut and hormones.
Rita tells us, “Studies suggest it’s no longer just about giving estrogen, progesterone, or testosterone to women (or men) to regulate their hormones, particularly in their post-menopausal state, but it’s also looking at the gut-health and the role gut bacteria plays in hormone regulation, specifically estrogen regulation.”
The overarching term for this is ‘estroballone’, which is essentially how estrogen and microbiome interact with one another. In other words, how is the microbiome (gut bacteria) metabolizing our estrogen? If we can improve the function of our microbiome, we can better metabolize our estrogen. This creates better hormonal balance and even better experience with bioidentical hormone replacement.
So, what can we do?
1) Get Tested: Rita let us know there are several tests on the market to help us see what’s going on in the gut. One in particular she suggests taking to identify the issue is the GI Map. This test looks at the Beta Glucuronidase level. Beta Glucuronidase is an enzyme that reactivates and metabolizes estrogen. If you do not have optimal Beta Glucuronidase levels, they are not able to metabolize estrogen well.
It’s worth noting that there are a variety of hormone related female and male cancers that relates to the function and dysfunction of Beta Glucuronidase, including breast cancer. Endometriosis is a disease that is also linked to the dysfunction of Beta Glucuronidase.
2) Incorporate healthy changes to your diet and nutrition: The American diet can be a challenge in maintaining a healthy Beta Glucuronidase level.
The easiest change or addition you can make is to add color to your diet. Rita recommends to include at least three different colors to each meal. Some items to consider are apples, brussel sprouts, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, dark leafy lettuce or oranges.
Another addition in the area of diet and nutrition is to include fiber. If you do not think you are getting enough fiber in your diet, you can supplement this deficiency with fiber. There are many to choose from, but make sure you choose a soluble fiber, derived from natural ingredients without additives. Pacific Pharmacy carries Sun Fiber, a high-quality fiber that meets those requirements for better digestive health with 6 grams of fiber per scoop.
3) Make quality sleep a priority: Estrogen has a relationship with Cortisol, our stress hormone. When we’re experiencing hot flashes, we tend to automatically attribute it to problems with estrogen. Estrogen actually triggers the circuitry to go off, but the Cortisol is what lights the fire. So, it’s important to balance our Cortisol level and Melatonin levels. It is recommended to get and good night’s sleep and morning sunlight exposure before 10:30am for at least 10-20 minutes. This way, you can still avoid the harsh UV rays while getting the benefits of keeping your Melatonin Circadian Rhythm in balance.
Some of you may be able to incorporate the morning sunlight, but what about a good night sleep? Some thoughts on how to improve sleep are to eliminate electronics from the bedroom. This can be a challenge, but if we can start with committing to not using electronics first thing in the morning and before you go to bed, that will help. If you are someone who likes to read, reading before bed is a great way to calm the mind down for sleep. Adding essential oils like lavender to the bedroom is also a good way to calm the mind. Finally, Rita suggests including affirmations into your daily routine. These are phrases or statements we repeat to ourselves to encourage positivity in our lives.
4) Pay attention to your skin health and what we’re putting on our skin: It’s important to remember that skin is the largest organ in our body. Many skin care products contain synthetic xenoestrogens including some widely used industrial compounds, such as PCBs, BPA, and phthalates, which can add to hormonal imbalances. What does this mean?
We can start paying attention to reading the ingredients for our skin care including cleansers, creams, oils, sunscreen, and makeup. Try to start investing in your skin care regime with items that are free of PCBs, BPA, and phthalates, which can add to hormonal imbalances. We may not be able to read what’s on the label, but a good barometer is that if you cannot pronounce it and the list is long, chances are it’s probably not a product that will benefit you.
You can also go to the Environmental Working Group (EWG) website, whose mission is to empower you to make informed choices and live a healthier life. They have an application called EWG’s Healthy Living app that allows you to inquire about a product, and it will score it so you can decide whether its okay for you to use or not.
It can be daunting to experience pain and discomfort in our bodies, especially when we’re not sure of the root cause. If we’ve learned anything over the years, it’s that it’s all connected, and that includes our gut and hormonal balance. One of the best things we can do is to start more paying attention to our bodies, our environment, and our daily lifestyle to identify what might be triggering that discomfort.
When we’re not able to easily remedy what feel on our own, reaching out to medical and mental health professionals, where appropriate, can be the next step in our journey. Most changes do not happen overnight. Be patient with yourself and allow yourself to be supported by family, friends and professionals who can help you. We’re here if you need to guidance as well.
References:
Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021; 9: 631552.
Guo Y, Qi Y, Yang X, Zhao L, Wen S, Liu Y, Tang L. Association between Polycystic Ovary Syndrome and Gut Microbiota. PLoS One. 2016 Apr 19;11(4):e0153196.
Britton RA, Irwin R, Quach D, Schaefer L, Zhang J, Lee T, Parameswaran N, McCabe LR. Probiotic L. reuteri treatment prevents bone loss in a menopausal ovariectomized mouse model. J Cell Physiol. 2014 Nov;229(11):1822-30. doi: 10.1002/jcp.24636. PMID: 24677054; PMCID: PMC4129456.
Baker JM, Al-Nakkash L, Herbst-Kralovetz MM. Estrogen-gut microbiome axis: Physiological and clinical implications. Maturitas. 2017 Sep;103:45-53. doi: 10.1016/j.maturitas.2017.06.025. Epub 2017 Jun 23. PMID: 28778332.
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