Menopause – Not So Taboo
I started experiencing perimenopausal symptoms in my late 40s with irregular periods, more painful periods, increased anxiety and depression, extreme brain fog and many more aches and pains. By the age of 51 my periods had stopped altogether but the perimenopausal symptoms did not go away, they just got worse! I discovered that healing my gut significantly reduced my symptoms and gave me back my energetic body, my mental clarity and the skip in my step.
Nutrition for Menopause
Improving the health of your gut now will have a tremendous effect on your menopausal symptoms and overall health. Look at your entrance into this new stage as the perfect impetus to make some positive changes. The gut is a resilient place; it just needs to be put on the right track by cultivating some simple dietary habits.
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Hormones
Hormones are chemical messengers in the body. They are made in the endocrine system and travel in the blood stream. Your ovaries are an endocrine gland and the main source of oestrogen production. During menopause, the ovaries become less responsive with age and can no longer perform their usual function, one of which is to regulate your oestrogen. Inevitable changes and the natural decline of oestrogen levels during menopause, can significantly affect your health for years to come.
Oestrogen
If you are in the stages of perimenopause your body has begun its decline in oestrogen production. Fluctuating levels of oestrogen are the elemental causes of menopausal and perimenopausal manifestations, such as:
- hot flushes
- depression
- mood swings
- brain fog
- breast pain
- insomnia
- joint pain
Estrobolome
We used to think that the decline in the health of our ovaries was solely responsible for changes in our sex hormones, but now we know the gut plays a pivotal role. There is a subset of bacteria called the estrobolome that specifically work to metabolise oestrogens. Estrobolome maintains homeostasis in a healthy and balanced gut. But an unbalanced and distressed gut can cause either the deficiency or excess of free oestrogen, and consequently, oestrogen-related health issues arise including menopausal symptoms. And there’s also evidence that a compromised estrobolome in postmenopausal women is associated with an increased risk of weight gain, Irritable Bowel Syndrome, osteoporosis and cardiovascular disease.