402: The Menopause Gut: What’s Really Happening to Your Hormones | Cynthia Thurlow
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Anxiety, night sweats. How
do we know if it's perimenopause or not?
What is the gut‑hormone connection and why does it matter?
If you suspect you're in it, you're probably in it. When perimenopause, our estrogen levels or estradiol can be 20 to 30% higher in some cycles than it's been at any time in our lives.
How does the estrobolome influence estrogen metabolism?
Can you tell us about this bidirectional relationship between our gut health and our hormones?
Our gut has a lot of roles beyond just digestion. It is a hormonal hub.
Why do estrogen‑dominance symptoms flare during perimenopause?
It is a place where we are packaging up and processing hormones. Our body produces
estrogen, progesterone, testosterone. We use it and then what happens?
How do sleep quality and stress impact hormonal balance?
So You're listening to Be Well by Kelly Levesque. Alright everyone, welcome back to the V Well by Kelly podcast. I'm so excited about today's guest.
What tests and personalized data should I use to track my hormones?
Cynthia Thurlow wrote the book The Menopause Gut. And this is about the connection between our gut microbiome and our hormones. We're gonna learn all about everything, gut and hormones. We're gonna talk about HRT, we're gonna talk about signs and symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. Well, the current conversation gets wrong about HRT, GLP1s, protein goals, insulin resistance, all the good stuff. But it is a phenomenal book. I found it invaluable, uh, especially at this stage in life. Um, we were talking before the show started. I am like, am I in Perimetta Boz? I think I am. Yeah. And there's some signs and symptoms here. So Cynthia, thank you so much for being on the show and thank you for writing this book.
No, thank you for having me. I was excited when you reached out over Instagram.
Can intermittent fasting and protein goals help perimenopausal weight gain?
Yeah. And I slid into your DMs and I was like, wait a second, we need to talk about this. My audience knows a little background for you is, you know, I've always been about blood sugar balance. I've built a 14 year career on blood sugar balance in the Fab Four, I like to tell people to eat protein fat, fiber, and greens. That fiber piece and the greens piece was always about, you know, you have essential amino acids and essential fatty acids, but everyone says there's no essential carbohydrate, but knowing gut health, I'm like, you gotta have that fiber and greens. So can you tell us about this interconnection, this bi-directional relationship between our gut health and our hormones?
Yeah, I mean, I think that it's the missing link in many conversations, not just amongst those of us in the health and wellness community, but even between clinicians and patients to help them understand that our gut has a lot of roles beyond just digestion. I mean, it is a hormonal hub. It is a place where we are packaging up and processing hormones. It aids in blood sugar regulation. It's important for immune system function. It's also a place where our body makes neurotransmitters. So, you know, that food and mood connection that we talk about a lot. And then also just simply the connection between the gut and the brain via the vagus nerve.
How do GLP‑1s and peptide therapies affect gut health and menopause?
So I think for a lot of people, they solely think about digestion as the sole, you know, di that's the one thing that we focus on in terms of functionality of the the gut and the gut microbiome. And it's so much more than that. So I I think for a lot of people they're humbled to know. The gut's really the epicenter of everything.
It it truly is. So when you think about just specifically like gut health and hormones, you talked about it packaging. So how does it work? Like our body produces estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, then we use it and then what happens?
Yeah, so it's a good question. So there's a special place in the microbiome. So the microbiome is 40 trillion bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa that are part of our large intestine or colon. And it's heavily influenced by a lot of things that happen in our lives that I'm sure we'll talk about. But one part of the microbiome is the estrobilome. So it's this estrogen processing center of the microbiome, but we also process progesterone there as well. And so one of the things that influences How we break down our hormones and effectively bind them up and get rid of them has a lot to do with what we eat, how we manage our stress, whether or not we've been put on antibiotics, were we on oral contraceptives, like my entire generation.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:04
2
What is the gut‑hormone connection and why does it matter?
0:04–0:14
3
How does the estrobolome influence estrogen metabolism?
0:14–0:25
4
Why do estrogen‑dominance symptoms flare during perimenopause?
0:25–0:34
5
How do sleep quality and stress impact hormonal balance?
0:34–0:51
6
What tests and personalized data should I use to track my hormones?
0:51–1:32
7
Can intermittent fasting and protein goals help perimenopausal weight gain?
1:32–2:46
8
How do GLP‑1s and peptide therapies affect gut health and menopause?
2:46–1:00:52
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Be Well by Kelly Leveque
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396: What Every Parent Needs to Know About Sleep, Behavior + Brain Development