If you’re in perimenopause, you know how the transition brings its share of frustrations. Hormones fluctuate wildly, triggering a slew of symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal dryness, to name a few.

But here’s something many women don’t realize: Your gut health influences the severity of these symptoms.

That’s right! Your gut microbiome doesn’t just affect your mood and immune system. It impacts your hormones, too. Translation? Improving your gut health can help you move through the transition with more ease. As a functional medicine doctor, I’ve seen this time and time again.

So, if you’re wondering if your gut health could be making perimenopause harder, read on. We’ll cover how gut health affects perimenopause and what you can do to restore balance to your body —including how functional medicine in Orland Park, IL can help you address the root causes behind your symptoms.

Meet the Estrobolome

Your gut microbiome is a colony of bacteria, fungi, and viruses that live in your digestive tract. These microbes play an important role in your health. They affect your digestion, immunity, mood, brain function, and yes – even hormones, including estrogen.¹

Enter the estrobolome: a part of your microbiome that helps metabolize and regulate estrogen. These microbes secrete an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase, which reactivates metabolized estrogen.^2,3 This allows estrogen to be reabsorbed instead of eliminated.

When your estrobolome is healthy, it helps your body maintain optimal hormone balance. However, if the gut becomes unhealthy, due to poor diet, infections, or dysbiosis, it can throw off the delicate balance of this ecosystem. This can disrupt your hormone levels and potentially worsen perimenopause symptoms.

The Gut Hormone Axis: A Two-Way Street

Your gut and hormones have a bidirectional relationship. Meaning, imbalances in your gut can affect your hormones, and vice versa. This is known as the gut-hormone axis, or the gut-hormone connection.

This relationship illustrates one of functional medicine’s key tenets perfectly: interconnectedness. Let’s take a closer look at how this can play out in perimenopause:

How the Gut Affects Hormones

As mentioned, your estrobolome is part of your microbiome that helps regulate estrogen. These microbes release beta-glucuronidase, which reactivates metabolized estrogen. This allows it to recirculate in the bloodstream.

Woman placing her hands on her stomach. If your gut health is disrupted it can imbalance your hormones. With the help of functional medicine in Orland Park, IL you can restore your health.

When your estrobolome is healthy, it produces just the right amount of beta-glucuronidase to keep estrogen in balance. But if the estrobolome becomes imbalanced, it can disrupt your hormones. This can go two ways:

Estrogen dominance. If your estrobolome produces too much beta-glucuronidase, it may reactivate more estrogen than you need. This can lead to estrogen dominance, which can contribute to weight gain, mood swings, and worsen PMS symptoms.
Low estrogen. If your estrobolome doesn’t produce enough beta-glucuronidase, it may speed up estrogen elimination. This can worsen estrogen deficiency, something that’s already common in perimenopause. This may amplify low estrogen symptoms like hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and fatigue.

How Hormones Affect the Gut

The gut-hormone connection is a two-way street. This means when your hormones shift, your gut goes along for the ride. Here are three ways hormonal changes of perimenopause can affect your gut:

Reduced microbiome diversity. As women move through perimenopause, estrogen levels begin to fluctuate and gradually decline. Studies suggest this shift may reduce microbiome diversity – a key marker of gut health.³ Another strange shift? The female microbiome becomes masculinized. Meaning that after menopause, the female gut microbiome starts to resemble a male gut microbiome.³
Slower gut motility. Hormones like estrogen and progesterone influence how food moves through your digestive tract.⁴ As these hormones drop in perimenopause, gut motility often slows down. This can contribute to constipation, bloating, and weight gain.
Increased intestinal permeability. Estrogen and progesterone may play a role in maintaining a healthy gut barrier. Studies suggest they may strengthen the gut’s tight junctions and reduce intestinal permeability. This means when estrogen and progesterone dip in perimenopause, it may weaken the gut barrier and contribute to a “leaky gut.”³

Signs Your Gut Health May Need Extra Support

If you’re in perimenopause and your gut could use some TLC, your body may send you some signals. Digestive symptoms are the most obvious ones. However, gut imbalances can also show up in unexpected ways.

Signs your gut may need extra support include:

Gas, bloating, or constipation, especially if these symptoms are new or worsening
Increased food sensitivities, or feeling unwell after eating certain foods
Unexplained weight gain, especially around the belly
Fatigue or brain fog, even with adequate sleep
Worsening hormone-related symptoms like hot flashes, breast tenderness, or mood swings
Skin issues like acne, dry skin, or rashes
Increased inflammation, which can lead to joint pain and insulin resistance.⁵

Since the gut affects estrogen balance, inflammation, and blood sugar, gut issues can show up as multiple symptoms at once. This explains why gut health can play such a big role in perimenopause.

How to Improve Gut Health During Perimenopause

If you feel like your gut health is adding some bumps to your perimenopause journey, you’re not alone. The good news is that your gut is highly responsive to healthy changes. Here are some of my top tips to support your gut health throughout perimenopause and beyond:

Focus on fiber

Bowl of overnight oats sitting on a wooden cutting board with oats spilled on the counter. With the support of a functional medicine doctor in Orland Park, IL you can learn how to support your gut health throughout perimenopause.

Fiber is a must for gut health during perimenopause. It helps keep your digestive system moving, so estrogen can be excreted properly.

But fiber does more than keep things moving. Certain types of fiber, called prebiotics, feed your gut bacteria. Eating prebiotic foods regularly can help keep your microbiome healthy.

Prebiotic-rich foods include:

Apples
Oats
Flaxseed
Onions
Garlic
Asparagus
Bananas
Leek
Legumes
Chicory

Eat the rainbow

Bowl of colorful vegetables sitting on a wooden table. With the help of functional medicine in Orland Park, IL you can learn to control your perimenopause symptoms and keep them at a minimum.

Different plant foods contain different strains of bacteria. That’s why it’s important to eat a variety of colorful fruits and veggies. It increases your microbiome diversity. The more colors on your plate, the better!

Add fermented foods

Fermented foods contain beneficial bacteria that support a healthy gut. Eating them regularly can help keep your microbiome balanced. Try adding fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, miso, or kimchi to your meals.

Limit sugar and processed foods

Alcohol, sugar, and processed foods can trigger inflammation and disrupt your gut microbiome.⁷ This may worsen perimenopause symptoms, so it’s best to keep them to a minimum.

Consider probiotics

Probiotics help repopulate the gut with friendly bacteria. These can be especially helpful in cases of dysbiosis, when the “bad guys” outnumber the “good.” Look for high-quality products that include Lactobacillus strains.⁶

Manage stress

Woman sitting on the floor with her eyes closed and hands clasped together doing yoga. Learn to restore your gut health and overcome your unmanageable perimenopause symptoms with the help of functional medicine in Orland Park, IL.

Chronic stress can disrupt hormones and aggravate gut issues via the gut-brain axis. To prevent stress from getting out of hand, practice relaxation techniques like:

Slow, deep breathing (e.g., belly breathing, 4-7-8 breath, box breathing)
Meditation
Yoga or tai chi
Spending time in nature
Vagus nerve exercises

How Functional Medicine Can Help Restore Balance

Sometimes, lifestyle changes alone aren’t enough to restore gut health. This is especially true in perimenopause when hormones are shifting. That’s where functional medicine can help.

Functional medicine doctors look for the root cause of gut imbalances, which may include:

Dysbiosis (aka an imbalance of “good” and “bad” bacteria)
Chronic inflammation
Hidden infections
Gut barrier issues (i.e., leaky gut)

At Anchored in Health, we use advanced testing to get a clear picture of what’s happening in your gut. Our test of choice is the Gut Zoomer by Vibrant Wellness, which looks at:

Microbial balance
Inflammation markers
Gut barrier integrity
Short-chain fatty acid (SFCA) production
Enzyme markers, including beta-glucuronidase!

This data allows me to create a personalized plan to help get your gut back on track. This may include nutrition guidance, lifestyle strategies, and targeted supplements. The best part? As gut health improves, many women find perimenopause symptoms easier to manage.

Ease Digestive and Perimenopause Symptoms with Functional Medicine in Orland Park, IL

Perimenopause and digestive issues can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to navigate them alone. At Anchored in Health, we use advanced testing and personalized functional medicine care to support your gut and help you feel more balanced during the transition.

Live in the Orland Park or Chicago area and are ready to feel better? Here’s how to get started:

Contact us with questions.
Book your first appointment with our functional medicine doctor in Orland Park.
Discover how improving your gut health can ease your perimenopause journey.

Other Holistic Health Services at Anchored in Health in Orland Park, IL

At Anchored in Health, we’re committed to helping you live a vibrant, healthy life. That’s why we offer a variety of services to support you, including chiropractic care, acupuncture, massage therapy, and the Shape ReClaimed program. We also offer thermography, genetic testing, and Vibrant Wellness testing to help you gain valuable insights about your body. If you live in Orland Park and are looking for holistic support for perimenopause or gut issues, reach out to us today!

Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The content is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the guidance of a qualified healthcare provider with any questions you may have regarding your health or a medical condition.

Reading this blog does not establish a doctor-patient relationship between you and Anchored In Health or any of its practitioners. Reliance on any information provided in this blog is solely at your own risk.

Can Gut Health Influence Perimenopause Symptoms? What Functional Medicine Says