Bloating & Digestion

Keep Your Hormones in Balance With a Little Gut TLC

Keep Your Hormones in Balance With a Little Gut TLC

Men, women, children, and teenagers, we all have hormones...lots of them! Although frequently associated with the reproductive system, hormones are chemical messengers that control major functions all over our body. Created in the endocrine glands (like the pancreas, thyroid, ovaries, and testes), our hormones help dictate everything from our hunger and sleep to our blood sugar and mood.

When in balance, our hormones can keep us feeling our best, ready to tackle each and every day with vitality. But, even small imbalances in this delicate system can cause our entire body to go haywire, leaving us feeling depleted and out of sorts.

The good news is that new research indicates that taking care of your gut health can be the key to maintaining hormonal balance throughout your body.

What’s the Gut Got to Do with It?

Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria, most of whom are working very hard on your behalf to support your health on many different fronts. You see, when taking into account the number of cells in our body, we are only 10% human! The other 90% is called our microbiome, and is made up of all the microbes living in and on our body.

The beneficial bacteria in our microbiome—called probiotics—work with our own bodily systems to help maintain our blood sugar levels already within a normal range, support our immune system and moods, and even help to keep our metabolism healthy. With a hand in so many of our body’s functions, it’s no wonder that our beneficial microbes interact with our hormones as well.

Although researchers are discovering more each day about how our friendly flora impact our hormones, we do know that these tiny heroes can help metabolize and recycle hormones in our body, which can help us navigate all of life’s stages with clarity and health.

Now that we know how important hormones are to our health and well-being, let’s take a look at the connection between the beneficial bacteria in our microbiome and specific hormones in our body.

Friendly Flora and Your Hormones

Our body’s endocrine system produces more than 50 hormones, many of which have a major impact on our health and well-being. The relationship between our microbes and these hormones can support our health in a variety of important ways:

Encourage Relaxation
Cortisol: Often called the “stress hormone,” cortisol is released during times of stress and has a hand in our blood sugar levels, metabolism, and even our ability to form memories. The good news is that our friendly flora can work to reduce levels of cortisol in the body, helping you maintain a sense of calm and peace. In one study, students preparing for a large exam who consumed a probiotic-rich beverage for eight weeks had lower levels of cortisol1.

Maintain Your Mood
Estrogen: While men do have small amounts, estrogen is primarily a female hormone associated with puberty, the menstrual cycle, bone health, and mood. Levels of estrogen in the body are affected by our digestion—a normal bowel transit time allows excess estrogen to pass out of the body, rather than be reabsorbed. By supporting healthy digestion, beneficial flora help the body to keep excess estrogen out of circulation. Lactobacillus acidophilus bacteria can also decrease activity of Beta-glucoronidase, an enzyme that enables estrogen to be reabsorbed.

Keep You Feeling Energetic 
Insulin: The pancreas secretes insulin, which allows our cells to absorb glucose from our blood to be used for energy. Studies indicate that probiotics like Lactobacillus reuteri can support healthy insulin levels—just four weeks of supplementation with this mighty microbe can lead to a 49% increase in insulin secretion2.

Support a Moderate Appetite
Leptin: Our body’s fat cells make leptin, a hormone that helps determine how full we feel and signals our brain when it’s time to stop eating. Unfortunately, we can become resistant to this satiety hormone, making our brain think we need to keep filling up, leading to challenges with maintaining a healthy weight and other health issues. Friendly flora in our gut can increase our body’s sensitivity to leptin, so our brain gets the message to stop eating when we are full3.

Encourage Restful Sleep
Melatonin: Melatonin, the “sleep” hormone, signals the body when it’s time to rest in response to diminishing light at the end of the day, but we need the amino acid tryptophan to convert serotonin (the “happy” chemical) into melatonin. By impacting our body’s levels of tryptophan, beneficial bacteria can help to support healthy levels of this sleepy hormone in the body4.

Let You Love
Oxytocin: In women, oxytocin (the “cuddle” hormone) signals contractions during labor, promotes lactation, and helps to trigger the bond between mom and baby. In men, oxytocin affects testosterone production and may even intensify feelings of love and attachment. Fortunately, our helpful bacteria can help increase levels of oxytocin in the body5.

Maintain Your Libido
Testosterone: Produced in both men and women, testosterone enhances libido, stimulates the body’s production of new blood cells, and triggers puberty and development of male characteristics in men. Now, research shows that beneficial bacteria can help increase testosterone levels (and testicle size) in male mice6.

Support Blood Sugar Levels Already Within a Normal Range
Vitamin D: Vitamin D isn’t a vitamin at all, but a hormone responsible for helping the body absorb calcium, balancing blood sugar, and regulating adrenaline and serotonin. In one research trial, just nine weeks of supplementation with L. reuteri led to a more than 25% increase in serum vitamin D levels7!

It’s clear that our friendly gut flora play a starring role in keeping our hormone levels in optimal balance. So, how do we properly support our magnificent microbiome so our bacteria can return the favor? Here are three simple steps to get you started:

1. First and foremost, take a daily, multi-strain, high-quality probiotic supplement like Hyperbiotics PRO-15 to help maintain your population of beneficial bacteria.

2. Revamp your diet. You see, probiotics need loads of prebiotics—specific fibers found in many whole, plant-based foods—to thrive. And since the Standard American Diet is often full of refined and processed foods, it can wreak havoc on your gut flora—and your hormones may follow suit.  And, because it’s hard to get enough prebiotics from food alone, include an organic prebiotic powder supplement to care for your microbes.

3. Stay away from things that deplete your microbiome, like stress, antibiotics in food and as medicine, antibacterial cleaners, and processed foods.

Hormones are involved in nearly every bodily process, and if yours have ever been out of whack, we doubt you underestimate their impact on your overall health and well-being. Supporting your friendly gut flora can help you find your balance and feel like you true self, so you can enjoy your healthiest, happiest days.

References:

1. Kato-Kataoka, A., Nishida, K., Takada, M., Kawai, M., Kikuchi-Hayakawa, H., Suda, K., . . . Rokutan, K. (2016). Fermented milk containing Lactobacillus casei strain Shirota preserves the diversity of the gut microbiota and relieves abdominal dysfunction in healthy medical students exposed to academic stress. Applied and Environmental Microbiology doi:10.1128/aem.04134-15

2. Simon, M., Strassburger, K., Nowotny, B., Kolb, H., Nowotny, P., Burkart, V., . . . Roden, M. (2015). Intake of Lactobacillus reuteri Improves Incretin and Insulin Secretion in Glucose-Tolerant Humans: A Proof of Concept. Diabetes Care, 38(10), 1827-1834.

3. Everard, A., Lazarevic, V., Derrien, M., Girard, M., Muccioli, G. G., Neyrinck, A. M., . . . Cani, P. D. (2011). Responses of Gut Microbiota and Glucose and Lipid Metabolism to Prebiotics in Genetic Obese and Diet-Induced Leptin-Resistant Mice. Diabetes, 60(11), 2775-2786.

4. Desbonnet, L., Garrett, L., Clarke, G., Bienenstock, J., & Dinan, T. G. (2008). The probiotic Bifidobacteria infantis: An assessment of potential antidepressant properties in the rat. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 43(2), 164-174.

5. Poutahidis, T., Kearney, S. M., Levkovich, T., Qi, P., Varian, B. J., Lakritz, J. R., . . . Erdman, S. E. (2013). Microbial Symbionts Accelerate Wound Healing via the Neuropeptide Hormone Oxytocin. PLoS ONE, 8(10).

6. Poutahidis, T., Springer, A., Levkovich, T., Qi, P., Varian, B. J., Lakritz, J. R., . . . Erdman, S. E. (2014). Probiotic Microbes Sustain Youthful Serum Testosterone Levels and Testicular Size in Aging Mice. PLoS ONE, 9(1). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0084877

7. Jones, M. L., Martoni, C. J., & Prakash, S. (2013). Oral Supplementation With Probiotic L. Reuteri NCIMB 30242 Increases Mean Circulating 25-Hydroxyvitamin D: A Post Hoc Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 98(7), 2944-2951. doi:10.1210/jc.2012-4262

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Emily Courtney is a Writer and Editor at Hyperbiotics and mom to two fun and active boys. Emily is passionate about natural wellness and helping others learn about the power of probiotics for vibrant health! For more ideas on how you can benefit from the power of probiotics and live healthier days, be sure to subscribe to our newsletter.