Gut health in Menopause
Why has it changed & how to manage it
A healthy gut microbiome is a diverse microbiome, which has a large number of bacteria. When we have a healthy gut, then we also help to improve our mental and emotional health. During menopause, this includes anxiety, foggy brain and depression. It is absolutely vital that women turn around their gut health, in order to improve their mental health and overall health as they age. Read on to learn how and why...
Maintaining a healthy diet during your menopause is probably the single most important thing you can do
How is your gut health? Do you suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)? Or diverticulitis?
Do you swing between being constipated and having diarrhea? Maybe your brain feels foggy all the time and you find it difficult to concentrate?
And perhaps these changes have just come on during your menopause transition but you have no idea that they might be connected in some way?
According to Professor Rosemary Stanton “ After 4 generations of a low-fibre diet, since modern food processing arrived in the 1960's & 1970's, the gut microbiota has changed to the extent that it no longer supports our immune health. Never before have we seen so much chronic disease caused by the western diet. Diversity in vegetables has the single greatest influence on the gut microbiota. The Mediterranean way of eating is the way to turn this all in a round.”
The increase in GI symptoms around the time of menses and early menopause occurs at times of declining or low ovarian hormones, suggesting that estrogen and progesterone withdrawal may contribute either directly or indirectly.
The link between your changing estrogen levels and your gut health could well be the cause of your menopause bloating, IBS or leaky gut.
Not only are we the first generation to come into menopause having experienced so many changes to our food environment, but we are also the first generation to have been exposed to harmful substances that have a negative effect on our gut bacteria – and according to researchers, one of the greatest influences on our gut health that has lead to negative gut changes, has been our exposure to antibiotics.
The gut microbiome is one of the largest organs in the body (along with our skin). Professor Thomas Borody, reported that the gut is responsible for producing 70% of your energy. With the powerful connection that your gut has with your brain, many symptoms that we experience in menopause, such as foggy brain, depression, anxiety and mood swings, can be linked to the health of your gut micro-biome… and insomnia.
Can you imagine what happens to your energy levels, sleep, health and moods, when your gut isn't performing to its best?
What is the gut microbiome and why does it matter to us in menopause?
The microbiome is the community of bacteria that lives in our gut and elsewhere in our body.
“The connection between the brain and gut is because messages are sent up and down the vagus nerve (the major nerve that runs from our brain to our heart, stomach and intestines.) The vagus nerve therefore, has a profound influence on the gut microbiota as well as pro-inflammatory markers.
The reason for this is because "the vagus nerve transfers stress cytokines (inflammatory markers) between the gut and the brain so stress is the 'hammer' which acts on the brain and the gut. When we keep activating our stress response, then this increases the 'leakiness' of the gut. When the gut is leaky, we lose the ability to absorb the nutrients we need for our health and this increases oxidative stress in the body." [Professor Zoltan Sarnyai, 2019)
When we aren't sleeping our gut isn't healing properly overnight, so we accumulate pockets of inflammation throughout our digestive system.
Add to this, our changing food and chemical environment over the decades and our increasing exposure to medicines such as antibiotics, then it's no surprise that we arrive in mid-life and we have changing gut health. But there are other changes that occur to our gut as well.
These include changes to the enzymes that break down food, changes to our gut motility (movement) and changes to our liver function (we produce less bile to break down fats). If you are doing lots of exercise and/or you are under a lot of stress, then your body stays in 'fight or flight' mode. This causes your vagus nerve to be stimulated more often. Some of you may experience frequent loose bowels which arrive during menopause. [Conversely, those of you who don't do much exercise, may become more constipated. This is because our gut motility (movements) slow down as we go through menopause].
Why your thyroid matters
Your thyroid gland produces hormones that are integral to the function of your gut microbiome and your brain.
When all of these factors collide in mid-life, then the organ that also suffers is your lovely thyroid gland. It goes into 'distress' as it tries to re-balance the internal hormonal environment. As such you begin to feel your heart rate increase, then in response to this your blood pressure increases, your temperature goes up and boom – your hot flushes and anxiety levels increase as does your irritability, changing mood and of course, for many of you, your depression.
If you do have a digestive disorder, such as Irritable Bowel Syndrome or Diverticulitis, then this inflammation disrupts function in the gut. In turn, your gut microbiome therefore disrupts your thyroid function which often speeds up your heart rate and makes you feel more anxious. When your thyroid isn't functioning as well as it should (too much or too little), this causes further disruption to your moods, motivation and emotional state (this is because your thyroid controls your heart rate, blood pressure and influences the activity of the vagus nerve).
In menopause, this can present as increased anxiety, depression and brain fog. Therefore, restoring gut health and improving your gut microbiome is fundamental to improving your anxiety, brain fog, depression and even your weight.
3 things you can do to help manage your gut health
When we understand the powerful connection between the brain, the gut, the vagus nerve, existing gut inflammation AND menopause, then we need to focus on these three factors:
Adults need around 7-8 hours sleep a night to fully heal, rest, restore and reboot.
Sleep all night
If you aren't sleeping, then you aren't healing and your heart rate stays higher during the day. This alone makes you feel more anxious because your nervous system stays 'wired' all day long and as a consequence of this, your gut which is served by the same nerves as your heart. may become irritable. Our gut is also on a 24 hour circadian rhythm as are all of our major organs, so we need to improve our sleep in order to improve our gut.
Eat the rainbow, eat as many fruits and vegetables as you can. Follow the Mediterranean diet.
Improve your food quality and vegetable diversity
Professor Rosemary Stanton of Australia has been studying the health of the population in Australia for over four decades now. As she stated – “The way to heal the gut is to have diversity in vegetable intake and increase fiber. This is what the gut has been designed for. Decades of low fiber, processed foods have resulted in worsening health of the population and a plethora of diseases which are mainly related to our changing food environment.”
Aim to avoid food for 12-14 hours over night to allow the liver and digestive system to do their job
Allow your gut to empty fully and heal overnight
Allow the digestive system to rest for 12 hours overnight. This means that the timing of food and fluid is important. If we can avoid food for around 12 hours overnight (this changes obviously for shift-workers) then our digestive system gets the chance to actually digest and absorb the food that we eat during the day.
Menopause isn't an easy time of life but there are things we can do to help the transition - and working on improving our gut health, and our sleep are 2 key issues in menopause.