This question gets asked in more than a fair share of our hormone replacement therapy appointments, so we thought we’d share some insight! A number of components can influence the efficacy of
HRT, but rather than give you a dozen action items we wanted to give you one clear focus that will pack the most punch - your Gut Health. Gut health lies at the heart (pun intended) of your overall health, and it plays a significant role in regulating your hormones. The gut microbiome, made up of trillions of microorganisms, actually influences how efficiently estrogen, progesterone, and other hormones are processed and eliminated. So, if you’re still feeling off despite starting HRT, or perhaps you’re just getting started with your hormone replacement therapy and you’re eager to know how to optimize your results, your gut is the first thing to look at!
Signs Your Gut Needs Attention
Everyone gets an occasional upset stomach… right? Sometimes it’s not as easy as we think to know how healthy our gut actually is. While some indicators of gut health may be obvious, sometimes the signs of gut imbalances can be quite subtle. Here’s our quick list of symptoms to think about when you’re trying to get a gauge on your gut:
- Bloating, gas, nausea, or digestive discomfort
- Persistent fatigue - Like waking up from a full night’s sleep and still being tired
- Skin issues - this may seem odd to some but often they are tied to gut health
- Hormone-related symptoms not improving on HRT
- Brain fog or mood swings
- Stubborn weight gain, especially around the midsection
- Feeling like you’re “doing everything right” but not getting the health results that you want.
Practical Gut Health Tips - With an Emphasis on Practical
It’s easy for a nurse practitioner to tell you ‘if you have any of these symptoms, work on improving your gut health!’ The problem with vague advice like this is that without a plan, most people fail. Most human beings we have met who are told to simply improve their gut health start imagining some sort of restrictive diet that includes only vegetables. While yes, veggies are great, we really have found that the smallest shifts in what we eat, what we do, how we live, are what make the biggest changes in our health. So, we tell you to work on your gut health, but also be practical about it, this is what we mean:
1. Eat More Gut-Friendly Foods Than You Used To
Making a huge shift all at once is often temporary. And even if you know that your diet is a complete disaster now, the tiniest habits that you are willing to create and stick to food-wise are the ones that you’re going to stick with… And therefore will have the most impact! So, what’s the actionable item here? Every time you go to the grocery store pick up one new gut-friendly food (think fiber-rich vegetables, leafy greens, fermented foods, whole grains, whole foods, etc), and one
less processed food (think highly processed foods, sweets, artificial sweeteners, chips, etc). Start eating fruit with your breakfast. Add in one new veggie. Instead of picking up the frappucino from Dunkin’, make your own coffee a few days a week. Little habits are a big deal!
2. Support Your Liver Too
Your liver works closely with your gut to process and eliminate excess hormones. The foods you eat help support how well your liver functions. Foods like broccoli, Brussels sprouts, garlic, and beets can actually help improve estrogen metabolism. We are definitely not saying start eating broccoli every morning even if you hate it and make yourself miserable! But, maybe try out a new summer beet salad with goat cheese or burrata! Or, add a few extra gloves of garlic to a weekly pot of soup. Your liver (and your gut!) will thank you!
3. Stress Much?
Stress can come in so many shapes and sizes it can be difficult for us to measure just how much of an impact it has on our health, but gut health can be one of the major factors affected by having too much of it. Chronic stress doesn’t just take a toll on things like sleep health and heart health - it can actually change your gut bacteria composition and increase gut permeability (also known as leaky gut). Reducing stress in our lives is best done by changing lifestyle habits… But these can often be things that can be challenging for us to change. Here is where it can be important to committing to tiny changes in our habits:
- Going to sleep a tiny bit earlier - And, at the same time every night.
- Getting off our phone a little bit sooner before going to bed.
- Reducing clutter in our home
- Considering the stress of our work life and if that is having a negative impact
- Considering how much exercise and movement we are incorporating into our daily lives
- Considering our relationships with family and friends and if that is reducing our stress (or creating it)
At the end of the day, some of these stress components can be difficult (or impossible) to change, but we encourage you to consider where your life does have wiggle room.. Can you take a walk and get outside for your lunch break at work? Can you plug in your phone across the room before you go to bed, rather than falling asleep with it on your pillow? Can you schedule an evening once a month to unplug from the stress of the day-to-day and connect with a friend or spouse? These tiny changes can make all the difference!
4. Supplement with Intention
When we talk about supplements here, we specifically want to talk about probiotics to help promote that healthy gut microbiome! Not all probiotics are created equal. We may recommend a targeted probiotic at your appointment based on your specific symptoms, labwork, and medical history. Don’t just buy something off of Amazon - Let’s make sure it’s right for
your gut.
5. Test - Don’t Guess.
Many of the patients that come into our office have tried dozens of supplements and suffered through ultra-strict diets, but haven’t actually had a gut health assessment. Our functional medicine approach includes lab testing to give us a clear roadmap to support your digestion, microbiome, and overall wellness. If this sounds like you, it might be time to come in for a consult.
How Unique Health Can Help
At Unique Health, we believe in a whole-body, functional medicine approach - While you might come in seeking hormone replacement therapy, we often integrate
gut health,
healthy weight loss,
IV Hydration,
Supplementation and other lifestyle changes into our treatment plans to help you feel your absolute best. If you’re reading this and it sounds like you, let’s
schedule a consultation and dig deeper. Sometimes it’s not just the hormones - it’s the gut, too!
