The Gut Hormone Connection

“My acne has no pattern, I've tracked it and I can't find any connection to my hormones,” Rebecca shared during her first visit with me. Rebecca isn't the first patient to be baffled by how their skin seemed to take a dive at random times. While Rebecca's acne issues did have a hormonal component, the bigger issue at play had to do with the gut hormone connection.

Rebecca had additional concerns about her gas, bloating and constipation. “If I'm not consistent with my magnesium then I can go 3 and sometimes even 5 days without pooping,” she explained.

I explained to Rebecca that her constipation was keeping her from getting her estrogen out, which meant her body was dealing with more hormones then it was prepared to handle. This is one of the common ways estrogen dominance can develop.

While Rebecca's primary concern was her skin, she was also dealing with heavy, painful periods and mood swings that brought her to tears days leading up to her period. Like most women, Rebecca thought these symptoms were just a normal part of being a woman.

PMS and other hormone-related symptoms are not normal. In fact, with a little medical detective work and a holistic approach, you can totally reverse symptoms like:

• Heavy, painful periods
• Cramps
• Acne
• Headaches
• Hair loss
• Sensitivity to stress
• Mood swings
• And more!

Oftentimes the root cause of these and other hormone imbalances start in your gut. Your digestive system is responsible for absorbing the nutrients from your food, which in turn helps you make the hormones your body needs and break down and excrete (get rid of) the hormones you don’t.

Gut symptoms like the following could all be signs that your gut needs some love:
• Gas
• Bloating
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Signs of nutrient deficiencies

However, sometimes the only way to assess the real state of your gut health is with functional lab testing. Testing for conditions like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), bacterial dysbiosis, and parasites can be the key to getting your hormones on track.

Learn how your gut health could be impacting your hormones and how to start healing from PMS and other hormone-related symptoms.

Do you suffer from PMS or heavy, painful periods? Grab my Hormone Starter Kit and say bye-bye to those unwanted monthly symptoms!

 Read more:

Natural Solutions to PMS & Heavy Painful Periods

The Thyroid Gut Connection 

5 Ways to Eliminate Estrogen Dominance 

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Women's medicine is often done TO women, not WITH them as an active participant. This is what I observed early on in naturopathic medical school that changed my trajectory and led me to pursue women's medicine. Thankfully I had amazing mentors in med school who practiced medicine with the patient as a partner. . Did you know I was originally going to focus on gut health? Um, good thing I started there because that is for sure foundational to hormone health. . Your gut is how you move out your metabolic waste and the hormones you no longer need. This is especially important for avoiding estrogen dominance. . You see, your liver packages up estrogen for excretion and then it is up to your gut to move it out! . Click the link @drjolenebrighten to learn more about the Gut-Hormone Connection and what you can do to balance your hormones naturally! . Psst…yes, I’m totally rocking @spanx and if you watched my live today then you know I’m basically trying to live in them. 😉. . . . #drjolenebrighten #beyondthepill #pbcsawareness #postbirthcontrolsyndrome #drbrighteninparis #guthealth #hormonebalance

A post shared by Dr. Jolene Brighten – Hormones (@drjolenebrighten) on Jan 8, 2019 at 9:35am PST