Female Hormones and Gut Health: Are Yours Imbalanced?
As a woman battling gut issues like bloating, constipation, and digestive discomfort, you may not realize that your hormones may be playing a larger role than expected.
In fact, a growing body of research demonstrates the link between gut health and female hormones. According to gatherings from a 2019 study, women are nearly twice as likely to experience bloating than men (19 percent to 10.5 percent, respectively). Even further, women report a greater severity of symptoms (24 percent) in contrast to their male counterparts (13 percent).
While a diverse range of factors affect digestive function and symptoms, in this article, we’ll take a closer look at the connection between gut health and female hormones, including:
how hormone imbalance causes gut problems
the key female hormones that impact gut health
if probiotics can help with hormonal imbalance
natural ways to balance your gut and hormones
Can hormone imbalance cause gut problems?
Hormones are involved in nearly all of the body’s functions, with digestion among them.
It’s also worth noting that your gut and your hormones have a symbiotic relationship and hormone imbalances are usually downstream of gut imbalances. (The gut not only helps produce certain hormones, but also communicates to glands throughout your body as to when hormones should be generated and released.)
When your hormones or your gut are imbalanced, this creates a domino effect that ripples across countless other aspects of your health and well-being.
The connection between gut health and female hormones
Let’s take a deeper dive into the female hormones at play when it comes to gut health and digestive issues.
Estrogen and the gut
If you menstruate regularly, you likely experience the ebbs and flows of estrogen on a monthly basis (pun not intended).
If fluctuating estrogen levels are a key culprit of your bloating, there’s a good chance you experience it like clockwork around the same time each month: at the onset of the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. During this time, estrogen levels take a significant dip before rising and staying high. The entire luteal phase lasts for up to two weeks post-ovulation, which indicates that estrogen is typically high before menstruation begins.
High estrogen levels typically equate to high water retention and thus a greater chance of bloating. Fluctuating estrogen levels can also cause spasms in the digestive tract, potentially contributing to an increase in bowel movements.
Progesterone and the gut
Next, progesterone is another female hormone that, when imbalanced, can trigger digestive distress.
Similar to estrogen, progesterone levels are high during the luteal phase and can also cause bloating. Yet progesterone is also closely tied to transit time, also known as motility or the rate at which your food moves through the digestive tract.
High progesterone levels can slow down transit time, which can result in bloating and constipation before you get your period. However, once menstruation begins, progesterone levels begin to dip, which can lead to the opposite effect: increased bowel movements and diarrhea. (If you’ve ever noticed that your period poops are more frequent or fiery than your BMs throughout the rest of the month, you’re not imagining things: progesterone is the main culprit here.)
The Cleveland Clinic also notes that bloating comes from different sources, especially when hormones are involved. When estrogen is high and progesterone dips, it’s common to experience bloating caused by fluids. (They also note that the volume of the uterus expands right before menstruation, which also contributes to the appearance of a bloated stomach.)
Pregnancy hormones, digestive symptoms, and gut diversity
Unfortunately, hormonal imbalance and digestive issues aren’t limited to women who currently menstruate. Of course, pregnant women experience a hormonal roller coaster throughout phases including but not limited to conception, delivery, postpartum, and lactation.
During pregnancy in particular, progesterone levels remain high in order to stimulate the body to provide blood vessels that will nourish the fetus. Yet as we saw above, high levels of these female hormones are linked to slow motility, constipation, and bloating, so it’s no wonder that pregnant women often suffer from digestive distress.
Next, your gut microbiome undergoes massive changes during pregnancy, which contributes to digestive symptoms among many other side effects. As one 2017 study confirms, “The rise in estrogen and progesterone during pregnancy alters gut function and microbiome composition.”
A healthy gut microbiome is one that’s diverse and balanced. If your female hormones are imbalanced on account of pregnancy or any other reason, the status of your gut microbiome will take a hit, resulting in not only digestive issues, but also the likes of weakened immune function, increased vulnerability to pathogens, inflammation, and much more.
How to balance your hormones and gut naturally
While female hormones naturally fluctuate throughout the month and through life stages including pregnancy, perimenopause, and menopause, you don’t inevitably have to experience digestive discomfort (or other adverse symptoms and hormonal health conditions) on account of this.
Fortunately, there are many natural ways to balance your hormones and your gut simultaneously. Here are just a few of my top RD-approved tips to promote hormonal balance and gut health:
1. Increase your intake of probiotics
While more research is needed to conclusively show that probiotics promote hormone balance in humans, some studies show that probiotics improve interactions between the gut microbiome and estrogen.
However, there’s currently a growing body of research around the estrobolome, a collection of gut bacteria tasked with metabolizing and regulating your estrogen levels. Since probiotics help to balance the gut microbiome, it makes sense that this would positively impact the estrobolome, thus supporting:
more balanced estrogen levels
a decrease in digestive symptoms like bloating and diarrhea
a reduced risk of developing greater estrogen-related diseases
While I support supplementing with probiotics (mainly after clearing out bad gut bacteria, and also strains that are specifically beneficial for your personalized needs), I also suggest upping your intake of probiotic-rich foods and drinks such as kimchi, sauerkraut, and kefir (if you can tolerate them).
2. Reduce your intake of dietary triggers
Common dietary culprits that can trigger gut and hormonal imbalances include the likes of:
dairy
sugar
caffeine
alcohol
gluten
chemical additives in processed food
pesticides in produce
In some way or another, each of these triggers has the potential to trigger hormonal spikes/dips and gut imbalances. While this list isn’t comprehensive, you may want to take a closer look into how much of these items are included in your current diet, especially if you experience bloating, constipation, and other symptoms of hormonal imbalance (such as mood swings, irritability, and others related to PMS).
However, every human has a unique composition; some people may be able to tolerate these foods and drinks more than others (excluding pesky chemicals and proven toxins, of course), which is why I prioritize functional testing with all of my clients. It’s important to get a clear picture of what foods do and don’t work for you—and also get an accurate measurement of your gut, hormone levels, and more at the current stage of your life—in order to assess the root causes of your health issues and begin to heal your gut and balance your hormones for good.
3. Create a solid game plan to manage your stress
As a functional dietitian, I can’t stress enough how integral stress management is for your gut and your hormones alike (pun intended this time around).
When your body is in a constant state of high alert, your gut, energy, mood, immune function, and more take a serious beating. While cortisol is commonly associated with stress, so are epinephrine and norepinephrine—as are melatonin (which regulates sleep), testosterone (a male sex hormone that exists in females as well), and others—including estrogen and progesterone.
Simply put, too much stress won’t only contribute to fatigue, a poor mood, and digestive issues, but full-scale hormonal imbalances across the board.
Luckily, there are countless options you can choose from to help you manage your stress. You can choose to:
engage in your favorite hobbies to get some feel-good hormones flowing
stick to a low-intensity exercise regimen (walking, hiking, swimming, yoga)
practice calming self-care rituals (meditating, taking soothing baths, journaling)
spend time with and confiding in loved ones
join a women’s group to share your stories and know that you’re not alone in your struggles
No matter which options you like, be sure to practice them regularly to keep stress under control and help to keep your hormones and gut in balance.
Summary
While it’s clear that female hormones affect gut health and vice versa, there are many other factors that contribute to balances (or imbalances) of them both. While it’s important to be aware of the gut-hormone connection so you can start to boost it, I highly encourage you to take a thorough, holistic approach to your health and well-being—especially if you’re suffering from any of the symptoms we discussed above and can’t find relief no matter how hard you try.
I invite you to book a *free* 30-minute health audit, in which we’ll discuss your current health concerns and history, plus how my functional medicine approach has worked for hundreds of clients—and can also work for you, too.
If your hormones and digestive distress are bringing you down, I promise you that there can be light after the tunnel, so long as you take a proven approach that focuses on your body and its unique needs. Let’s get there together!