How Gut Health Affects Your Estrogen?

Estrogen is a group of hormones that controls various aspects of women’s health, The dominance in circulating estrogens may contribute to obesity, metabolic syndrome, cancer (breast, uterine), endometrial hyperplasia, endometriosis, polycystic ovary syndrome, fertility, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cognitive function. Emerging research shedding light on the role of the  specific gut microbiome in the regulation of estrogen level in the body. This blog post is all about, how specific microbiome estrobolome affects the estrogen level? and how we can balance our hormone by improving our gut health?

Why Balance Estrogen Level Is Important?

Healthy estrogen level is crucial for women throughout the life as it plays an essential  part in bone, skin, heart and reproductive health. Adrenal gland, ovaries and fat tissues produce estrogen and for a good health, balance level of estrogen is very important.

Inadequate estrogen may cause various health conditions, such as mood swings, hot flashes and irregular menstrual cycle. On the other hand, Excessive estrogen may increase the risk of PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), breast cancer, osteoporosis, and cancer etc.

Estrogen is not just a female hormone, It affects men’s health as well. Libido maintenance and sperm maturation is depends on the estrogen level in the men.

Gut-Hormone Connection

Now it is scientifically proven that gut microbiomes play a crucial role in many aspects of the human health. Gut health and its microbiome are related to the hormonal balance in the body as well, this connection is called the gut-hormone connection.

Our gut health is the key to optimal health as gut microbes have many functions to play, some include:

• Improves immunity
• Increase macro and micro nutrient absorption
• Regulates hormones and neurotransmitters
• Regulates the estrogen level in the body

It is essential to keep gut-microbes in balance, because imbalance gut-microbiome in the gastrointestinal tract may cause Gut dysbiosis and the impact estrogen level in the body.

What Is Estrobolome?

The estrobolome is a group of bacteria present in the gut and which is capable of metabolizing and processing of estrogen in the body. The estrobolome is made up of:

• Estrogen
• Estrogen metabolites
• Enzymes: In the estrobolome, microbes produce an enzyme beta-glucoronidase, that activate estrogen to bind to the receptors.

Estrobolome is a friendly gut bacteria and plays a significant role in estrogen metabolism. Estrogen metabolism occurs in the liver and gut. This process completes in two phases:

• Phase-1

In this phase liver converts estrogen (estrone form) into a metabolite by a series of hydroxylation reaction.

• Pase-2

Estrogen metabolite further convert into water soluble through a detoxification pathway. This water soluble metabolite  excreted from the body via the kidneys (in the form of urine) or bile (in feces form).  The fate of estrogen, whether it would excreted through bowel movement or it would be sent back to the body’s circulation is depended on the bacterial composition of the estrobolome.

How Gut Health Is Linked To Estrogen Dominance?

A balance estrogen level is directly connected to a healthy gut. As we know that the gut-microbiome plays a crucial role in regulating hormones including estrogen.

Poor gut-microbiome condition is associated with elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, hormone sensitive cancers such as breast and prostate cancer.

Excess estrogen can show up many health problems such as weight gain, heavy bleeding during menstruations, period cramps, and infertility etc.

Symptoms Of Estrogen Dominance?

How To Balance The Estrobolome?

Simple diet and lifestyle changes can support a healthy estrogen balance. Here are some points, that may be helpful to naturally improve gut health and hormonal balance:

• Eat Mindfully

  • Cruciferous vegetables such as cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli and kale are beneficial for gut microbiome.
  • Consume more plant based food such as green leafy, avocado etc
  • Include more nuts, seeds, legumes, beans and a variety of fruits and vegetables to your diet

• Eliminate Artificial Sugar 

  • Aspartame present in artificial sweeteners stimulate the growth of harmful gut bacteria.

• Do Not Take Antibiotics Unneccessory

  • Excessive consumption of antibiotics can affect the gut microbiome as antibiotic cannot differentiate between good or bad bacteria, it will kill both.
  • It is recommended that always consume probiotic along with your antibiotic doses to restore the gut microbiome.

• Eat Anti-inflammatory Diet

  • Add anti-inflammatory food to your diet

• Eat Food That Support Liver Health

  • A healthy liver is important for detoxification of estrogen, eating a diet such as anti-inflammatory diet can help in regeneration of liver cells.

How Can We Restore A Healthy Estrobolome?

A healthy gut microbiome is essential for optimal health. The balance of estrobolome in the gut microbiome can be maintained by following some easy steps. Here we recommend the basic steps to recover and restore your microbiome for optimal estrogen level.

• Eat fermented food- kefir, kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, youghurt etc.
• Increase Probiotic and Prebiotic intake- Include a variety of probiotic and prebiotic food as it is beneficial for gut microbiota.
• Include more fiber in your diet- Eat a plant based diet, include more fruits and vegetables in your meal.
• Eat d-glucaric acid rich food- Apple, apricots, bean sprouts, broccoli, grapefruits, tomato etc.
• Limit alcohol intake- It has been seen that regular alcohol may increase serum estrogen level and can cause SIBO.
• Keep yourself well hydrated- It will help to eliminate the excess estrogen from the body
• Reduce stress– Studies show that stress alters the gut microbiome.
• Be physically active- Any kind of exercise at least 20 minutes and 5 days in a week.
• Lower exposure to Environmental Toxins- synthetic xenoestrogen like bisphenol A (BPA) may cause endocrine disrupt.
• Multi-strain probiotics from lactobacillus and bifidobacterium species at least 12 strains and 50-100 billions CFU’s daily.

Important FAQ’s

• The plasma copper levels are higher in women than men due to estrogen.
• Decreased plasma zinc levels in blood reports may result from stress, infection, inflammation, use of estrogen, oral contraceptive and corticosteroid.
• Leptin influences estrogen metabolism and increases DNA  adduct formation in breast cancer cells.
• Excess estrogen affects the conversion of T4 to T3 (active thyroid hormone).
• In women, low levels of estradiol can be a risk factor for osteoporosis and bone fracture. Estrogen hormone therapy may improve menopausal women’s quality of life. Increased levels of estradiol in women suggest an increased risk of breast or endometrial cancer.
• In men, Low levels of estradiol affect bone density, raising men’s risk for fractures as their estradiol level decreases.
• High levels of estradiol in men are associated with abdominal obesity, an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, insulin sensitivity, and blood sugar dysregulation.
• DHEA-S is a precursor  for estrogen, To check DHEA-S in blood can be helpful to detect estrogen level.

Conclusion

For women, it is very important to ensure the hormonal balance and gut health are in check. Balance estrogen plays an important to the body and estrogen imbalance may lead some serious condition like cancer, osteoporosis, endometriosis etc. The gut microbiome and estrobolome can be affected by many factors, making simple diet and lifestyle changes can help you to balance your estrogen level naturally.

It is recommended that before doing any diet and lifestyle changes it is better to consult your health care provider.