Understanding your hormones is one of the best ways that you can understand your body overall. We tend to think about hormones in the context of menstrual cycles, sex life, and acne breakouts, but your body’s hormones, aka “chemical messengers,” play important roles throughout virtually every body system you have. One of the biggest links: hormones and gut health.
While hormone levels can certainly affect your gut health, in an interesting example of a two-way relationship, gut problems can also affect your hormones.
Keep reading to learn more about this important connection so you can get on a path to better health, in your gut and beyond.
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Hormones produced in the gut
When we’re talking about your “gut,” we’re referring to the many different organs involved in your digestive tract. This includes your mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach, large and small intestine, rectum, and anus.
Several hormones are produced and secreted here by enteroendocrine cells. Many of the hormones made here are crucial for regulating your metabolism.
Ghrelin
Ghrelin, a hormone that is produced in your stomach, is sometimes called the “hunger hormone” because it plays a role in stimulating your appetite and spurring on hunger according to your mealtime schedule and how much food is in your system. It also influences how your body stores fat and stimulates the secretion of growth hormone, making it an integral hormone for maintaining your metabolism.
Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP1)
The hormone GLP1 is another important hormone for keeping your digestive and metabolic processes running smoothly. It works by stimulating the secretion of insulin, the hormone that influences how your body metabolites carbohydrates. It also inhibits the secretion of another hormone, glucagon, which works in conjunction with insulin to keep your blood sugar levels stable. GLP1 is produced by endocrine cells in your intestine.
Peptide YY (PYY)
Peptide YY (PYY for short) is another hunger-regulating hormone, this time produced in your small intestine. It has the opposite effect of ghrelin, which stimulates your hunger and encourages food intake: as you eat and take in calories, your PYY levels increase, which inhibits your hunger cues and ultimately curbs your food intake.
Serotonin
Serotonin is probably best known as a “happy” or “feel-good” neurochemical, but it also functions as a hormone that regulates some of the digestive actions in your gastrointestinal system. It’s also a precursor to another hormone, melatonin, which helps you doze off and fall asleep at night. Interestingly enough, more than 90% of your serotonin is thought to be produced in your gut and regulated by your gut microbiome, or the bacteria species that colonize your gut.
How can gut health impact hormones?
In addition to being the starting point for some of your most important metabolic hormones, your gut can also play a crucial role in maintaining the regulation of many others.
A lot of this influence is thought to be due to your gut microbiome. The trillions of bacteria, yeasts, and other microorganisms that colonize your intestines create byproducts that play a variety of roles in aiding your digestion and also influencing your hormone production. If you experience gut dysbiosis, or an imbalance of “good”-to-”bad” microbes in your gut, this can unfortunately lead to undesirable effects on your hormone levels.
One of the best examples of how poor gut health can hurt your hormone balance is the relationship between estrogen and your gut microbiome. While estrogen is primarily made in the ovaries, certain species in your gut microbiota can secrete an enzyme called betaglucuronidase that regulates estrogen levels. This relationship is sometimes collectively referred to as the “estrobolome.” Because of this connection, gut dysbiosis IS sometimes implicated estrogen-driven issues like metabolic syndrome, endometriosis, and polycystic ovarian syndrome (POS).
A disrupted gut microbiome could also lead to a state of chronic inflammation, which can wreak havoc on your hormones and overall health. Some researchers now believe that the presence of certain bacteria in your gut microbiome may initiate an inflammatory response by your immune system. Unfortunately, inflammation can also lead to insulin resistance, a condition in which your body no longer responds properly to the hormone insulin. Since insulin is a necessary hormone for metabolizing carbohydrates, this can then go on to have a wide range of consequences and put you more at risk for developing metabolic conditions like Type 2 diabetes and central adiposity. Inflammation from gut dysbiosis is also linked to uncomfortable and painful inflammatory chronic illnesses that affect your digestive system like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), ulcerative colitis, and Crohn’s disease.
Can hormonal imbalances impact gut health?
We’ve established that your gut health can affect your hormone levels: now, let’s take a look at the other side of the coin and talk about how hormonal imbalances can impact your gut.
First up is the link between chronic stress, high cortisol levels, and your gut. In today’s busy and hectic world, chronic stress is a common issue. If you experience consistent stressors, both mental and physical, you might also deal with elevated levels of cortisol, the hormone that regulates your response to stress, as a result. Unfortunately, high cortisol can go on to impact your gut health in a couple of ways:
- High cortisol levels can increase your gut barrier permeability, which basically allows for bacteria to get into your bloodstream through your gut and trigger inflammation. In one particularly interesting study, researchers found that people in unhappy marriages were more likely to experience this “leaky gut” syndrome than those in less-hostile relationships.
- High cortisol levels can lead to food cravings and encourage food consumption (aka stress-eating). If left unchecked, this overeating in response to chronic stress can lead to weight gain. What’s more, the consumption of unhealthy foods like saturated fats and refined sugars can encourage low bacteria diversity in your microbiome and increase gut leakiness.
There’s also a link between your hormones and inflammatory gastrointestinal disorders like IBS. Levels of serotonin, the neurochemical and hormone that is regulated by your gut bacteria, are often found to be low in people who suffer from IBS.
Last but certainly not least, a ton of other hormones play normal regulatory roles in your digestive process, which means that changes and imbalances can negatively affect your gut as a result. For example, changes to estrogen and progesterone levels during menstrual cycles and/or perimenopause are often implicated in upset stomachs. In another example, clinically low thyroid hormones, or hypothyroidism, are also sometimes thought to be to blame for bloating since it can slow down the speed at which food travels through your gut to be fully digested, promoting fermentation and gas as a result!
Ultimately, your hormones are an intrinsic part of the bigger picture, both for your gut health and for your overall wellness. It’s a two-way street that means that hormonal imbalances can affect your gut, your gut can affect your hormones, and it can contribute to a cycle of poor health if you don’t correct both issues.
Blood Tests: How They Can Help
If you think you’re dealing with gut dysbiosis and/or a hormonal imbalance, what should you do?
First, you should figure out what kind of hormonal and nutritional imbalances you’re actually dealing with. While symptoms can leave you guessing, taking a blood test helps you know for sure. Visit your doctor for a full blood draw or, more conveniently still, use an at-home testing kit like Base’s Diet Testing to take a look at key biomarkers like inflammatory proteins and fat-burning hormones.
From there, you’ll be able to make more educated changes to your diet and lifestyle to better improve both your gut health and your hormone balance. For example:
- High cortisol levels can be improved with a combination of exercise, supplements, and mindfulness practice
- Your gut microbiome can benefit from increasing your intake of probiotics and fermented foods like yogurt, sauerkraut, and kombucha
- Chronic inflammation might be addressed with an anti-inflammatory diet rich in healthy fat and complex carbohydrates, or with weight management if you are overweight
- Thyroid hormones that are too high or too low can be corrected with medication
- Insulin resistance can be addressed with a regulated diet
But you can’t figure out the right solution for your particular set of digestive issues unless you understand what’s causing them in the first place! Talking to a medical professional and checking in with your blood work can save you the guesswork and help your gut find peace at last.
Concerned about gut health?
Take our quiz to build a bespoke testing plan that will help you identify and overcome the cause of your gut issues!
