The gut microbiota does play a major role in the reproductive endocrine system, throughout a woman’s life, by interacting with hormones like estrogen, androgen, insulin and others. It is the imbalance in the gut microbe composition that can lead to several diseases and conditions such as pregnancy complications, PCOS, endometriosis, thyroid etc.
Estrogen is a hormone that plays a major role in skin and reproductive health. A lack of estrogen can cause hot flashes, mood swings and an irregular menstrual cycle while an excess of it can increase the risk of endometriosis and PCOS. Estrogen regulation occurs in the gut through the estrobolome.
“The estrobolome is a group of bacteria found in your microbiome that helps metabolise estrogen. If you have a higher count of the harmful gut bacteria than the helpful ones in the gut, this leads to an estrogen imbalance which is associated with the symptoms mentioned above,” says Tanisha Bawa, Certified Nutrition Coach, Founder, TAN|365.
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A healthy gut microbiome not only keeps your immunity system healthy, but also activates thyroid functioning. However, if you have a leaky gut i.e. where the gut lining is extremely permeable and allows various substances to leak out of the digestive tract into the bloodstream, this can negatively affect the thyroid function by slowing it down and triggering an immune response.
“The gut produces hormones which directly communicate with the thyroid through the vagus nerve and this process is referred to as the gut-thyroid-axis. If the gut is unhealthy and unable to communicate well, it can weaken thyroid function,” adds Bawa.
Additionally, the quality of microbiota influences the uptake of minerals like iodine, selenium and zinc that are important in maintaining a healthy thyroid. All these minerals play a major role in supporting thyroid function and there is a clear link between thyroid dysfunction and insufficient levels of these minerals.
Your gut and brain are connected via the vagus nerve, a major component of the nervous system, which is able to send messages from your brain to intestines and vice versa.
“This strong gut-brain connection, the gut is extremely sensitive to emotions like anger, anxiety, sadness and joy and the brain reacts as per the signals from the gut,” opines Bawa.
80% of our happy hormone, serotonin, are produced in the gut and it has an implication in almost every type of behaviour such as hunger, being emotional, being moody, cognition. Therefore, if you often tend to feel quite low or are extremely moody, you may need to pay attention to your gut.
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