Hormones at Play: Navigating Estrogen's Influence on Your Gut Symptoms

Can your hormones impact your gut health? How about your gut health affecting your hormones? Where to start first?? Listen in today as Katie talks through all things estrogen, gut motility, and where to start!

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Transcript

Katie Lovitt: 0:00

But if your gut is a hot mess, as I call it, you know, it doesn't matter what other things and what other systems you're trying to work on. If your gut's a train wreck, other things are going to be more resistant to the changes that you're trying to make, you're not gonna see those results as well. And you're gonna feel more frustrated and stuck.

0:21

Hey, everyone. Welcome to The Nourished and Thriving Show. I'm your host, Katie Lovitt. I'm a registered dietitian on a mission to help you increase your impact and legacy on the world while healing your gut and reducing your IBS symptoms. I'm so grateful to have you here. Each week I'll inspire you to live vibrantly and provide valuable resources and information that empowers you to take bold action towards your health goals. Before we dive in, make sure you follow or subscribe to my show wherever you're listening so you never miss an episode. Ready? Let's go!

Katie Lovitt: 1:00

Hey guys, welcome back. Today we're gonna be talking about a topic that I just went through personally and really had some huge light bulb moments with, as well as just speaking with my clients over the years and working with so many people, just seeing over and over again these effects. So we're gonna be talking about gastric motility, gut motility, which honestly. It's at the root of a lot of, you know, gut issues, whether you're struggling on either end with constipation or diarrhea. And then of course along with that goes any indigestion, reflux, you know, feeling like food is repeating on you or just sitting in your stomach as well as bloating. People ask me like, what is the worst gut symptom? Like around, or like the symptom that you hear about the most. And honestly, I have to say it's bloating. And that's because bloating really comes alongside pretty much any other digestive symptom. Bloating is just kind of like the telltale, you're dealing with some gut issues, symptom because people have it no matter like what other combinations of symptoms they're having, even if they. Don't you know, typically associate like symptoms as being similar. So like, say you have people on the opposite ends of that spectrum where they're struggling with diarrhea and constipation, those feel very different. But really the modality and the cause of why they're experiencing those issues can be the same, just the opposite in some of those ways. But regardless, bloating is still kind of the, the common denominator across the board with all of that. So with that being said, we're gonna be talking about motility because you know the rate at which food and waste is passing through your digestive tract is either constipation or diarrhea, basically, right? So if your motility is too slow, you're gonna be constipated. If it's too fast, you're having diarrhea. And so it is really important to figure out. There's a lot of different reasons and a lot of different causes for why this motility can be off or compromised or not working like it should. But one factor that we're gonna talk about that actually ties into a different, you know, system. Is sex hormones, specifically estrogen. So we're gonna explore some of that. I know we've talked about hormones before and you guys really liked that conversation. So we're gonna dig in today in a little bit of a different light and just look at it from a different perspective. Now you guys always hear me say that our bodies are systems of systems and I love focusing on the gut because so many other things can fall into place whenever your gut is right. But if your gut is a hot mess, as I call it, you know, it doesn't matter what other things and what other systems you're trying to work on. If your gut's a train wreck, other things are going to be more resistant to the changes that you're trying to make, you're not gonna see those results as well. And you're gonna feel more frustrated and stuck. So working on the gut first is really ideal because so many other things, like I said, fall into place once the gut's better. And then also you know, You're able to more, do more pinpointed targeted strategies for those other things that are still outliers once you get your gut in a better place. So instead of feeling like you need to go fix 20 different problems, maybe you fix your gut and 15 of those issues resolved, and then you're just left with five, you know, little things to go pick at and, and fix from there. Does that make sense? So, you know, with gut motility and hormones and estrogen and all of that, let's dig in. So, Estrogen, you know, whenever estrogen levels are high. And this is part of why women struggle with gut issues. So many more, so much more than men. Our hormone levels fluctuate throughout the month. And honestly, right now in our country, women are really struggling and, and men too. But they're, they're levels don't fluctuate as much throughout the month as, as women's do. But people are really struggling with imbalanced hormones. You know, we are a stressed out society. We're a busy society. We're not fueling our bodies well. We're not sleeping like we should. We're not getting outside time. We're not having, you know, connection and relationships and support and community like we are really created to have. And all of that can add up to a whole boatload of hormone issues. Our hormones are very sensitive. They are. Our body's communication system. And so if something doesn't feel safe or supported or feels stressed out, you know, our hormones are gonna be carrying those messages all throughout our bodies, and it, you know, really impacts the way that they work. This is a really overly simplified way of explaining it, but it's really important to me that you understand what I'm saying with all of this and that, you know what I'm saying, makes. Sense for you? So women's hormones fluctuate throughout the month and we're already at a disadvantage because of the society and culture and world that we're living in. Right. If you have high estrogen levels, your GI motility is decreased. Okay, so high estrogen, decreased gut motility. So what can that tell you about what's going on? If your hormones are involved? If you already know, your hormones are a little unbalanced. How can you tie in? This is some independent thinking for you because you guys know my goal is to empower you to be a master and an expert in your own body instead of just relying on somebody like myself to tell you the answers forever. Now, there's something to be said for partnering with me short term to. Get clarity to get better understanding, to help me walk, you know, have me help you walk through some stuff to get you in a better place. But the ultimate goal is for you to be able to think through and see these connections for yourself. Okay, so let's practice together. If your estrogen levels are high, you know, or say you have, you know, your period, your cycle is off. Okay, let's start there. Your cycles are off and you're constipated. What does that tell you? It tells you that your estrogen levels are maybe high if you're the opposite. If you have off cycles or a lot of symptoms, you know, throughout the month based on your hormonal changes and you're struggling from diarrhea. That tells you that maybe your estrogen levels are low and anywhere in between too. So say your GI symptoms really fluctuate through the month, you know, say at the beginning of your cycle, which is technically your period you're struggling with diarrhea. And then as you move through your cycle, you tend to get more constipated again, and then as your period starts again, you get more diarrhea again. Like that's a pretty common thing, right? That's just telling you that your, your hormones are fluctuating throughout the month and you're really sensitive to them. And that's something that, that you can dig into and really see, like, what are my hormone levels throughout the month? Are they within range? Are they getting wonky at certain phases of my cycle? Yes, wonky is the scientific term I'm using there. But you know, to really dig in and take a look and see so, What are some signs and symptoms for you to be looking at? You know, hey, could my hormones be playing a role? And you know, like I said, I just experienced this myself, you know, personally where I was having some like, You know, symptoms throughout the month, you know, that were changing. So like, first of all, my cycle has always been super regular and since having bo my baby, whenever it started back, it was a little bit off. Like it was like very in length. It was getting shorter. It was getting longer. Like it was really hard to predict. I was holding onto a little bit of extra weight still from my pregnancy now two years ago, despite eating really well and getting enough sleep and managing my stress and exercising and all of the things. And then I started getting migraines during my period and like premenstrual I'd never had migraines before. And for those of you guys who suffer with these, I am so sorry because they are miserable. They really take you out. And then on top of that, even if I wasn't having a migraine, like whenever I was in my luteal phase which is, you know, right before your period, and then during my menstrual phase, I was just feeling like taken out, you know, just really tired and just run down and like I needed to go rest in bed and. You know, that is not normal, right? Like I think that as women sometimes we're just told like, oh, well it's just part of being a woman. Like it doesn't have to be, you know, like that's not normal if you're having to interrupt your daily life because your hormonal symptoms are so strong. Like some, that's a sign that something's off and not working as it should. So, you know, I knew based on my symptoms what was most likely happening. I knew that my estrogen was probably a little bit high and that was causing all of those symptoms. So I started taking some actions to correct it, and within a month, I felt so much better. I didn't get migraines anymore that next month. My cycle was back to its normal schedule and I dropped a little bit of that weight that I was holding onto, that I was wanting to lose, and my gut got regular again too. See, it happens even to me like you don't even realize maybe over time that hey, actually some of my gut symptoms that I hadn't seen. And like for a really long time, it kind of crept back in. And so I started getting my hormones fixed again and you know, I felt a whole lot better. And so for me, like my estrogen was high, so my motility was slow. And so whenever I got my estrogen levels back into healthier place, I started feeling a lot better with my gut health too. So, you know, I tell people over and over again, you know, stop. Stop, stop, stop doing all the elimination diets. Stop just cutting out food and blaming food for all of your problems. Like even though it feels like. You're reacting to these foods and so food is the problem and you need to cut those foods out. Food is not the problem most of the time. Sometimes, yeah, sometimes it is, you know, activating the immune system in your gut and you are having an actual immune response in your gut, and every time you eat that food, it's triggering inflammation and breaking down that gut barrier. I'm not saying food is never the problem. I'm saying most of the time there's more going on and there's more to the story, and even if food is the problem. There's still most likely more going on and more contributing to the problem than just the food. So, you know, in my case it was my hormones were off, you know, and probably from being an entrepreneur, being a mom of three really young kids, being involved in my community, you know, all of the things I'm doing, I probably did run myself a little bit too rugged and you know, just need a little boost. To get back on track. And so now I'm feeling a whole lot better. So I've also seen this happen in my clients where, you know, they're having some P C O S or endometriosis and you know, we really work on balancing out their hormones and their gut issues also get better. And you know, I'm not saying that you should do just your hormones in a vacuum. Like I was just saying, you know, there's multiple things contributing. I've said it before, like, There's almost never one root cause for all of your gut symptoms. Like most of the time it's multiple things, and that's the really great thing about gut rehab, my program. As we're looking at all of those things, and it can take some time and it can take some digging and exploration to figure out what all of the moving parts are. And oftentimes it's not until you start down that process of healing that other things are revealed to you and shown to you that, hey, this is also contributing. You know? But if you never get started, then you're never gonna see the whole picture either. So it's all about taking, you know what I call that shortsighted or that strategic shortsighted action. So you're like being very strategic. You're taking a baby step forward. You're seeing what happens, what the effects are, objectively deciding what your next move is from there. And that's what's gonna get you real results. So I hope that this was helpful for you guys today. I hope. You know, if you're dealing with hormonal symptoms, take a look at your hormones while you also work on your gut health, because most likely, if you're dealing with hormonal issues, you know, how did those come about? You know, maybe it did start in the gut and then your hormones got imbalance too from stress or from inflammation, and now they're just exacerbating the problem and making it worse. But then there's still some other issues going on, so it's not something to be looked at in isolation, but you know, it's just a part of the picture of what can be going on. So let me know if this was helpful for you. Let me know what questions you guys have about hormones. Reach out if you are struggling with this. You guys, it's not easy, it's not simple, it's not straightforward. I really wish it was. I've done all of the heavy lifting and all of the legwork and all of the research so that you don't have to be an expert in your entire body and human physiology like I am the expert on nutrition and gut health and, you know, functional medicine, nutrition, so that you don't have be. All you have to do is worry about becoming an expert in yourself, and that is what I can help you do in my gut rehab program. So, Hit one of the links in the show notes to, you know, talk some more. I'm on Instagram all the time. Come say hi. Send me a message. I love talking to you guys and I hope this is helpful for you. Share it with someone else who needs to hear it and we will talk.

15:14

Thank you so much for listening to the entire episode. I hope you are feeling inspired and empowered to take bold action towards your health goals. If you enjoy what you heard, don't forget to follow my show so you never miss a new episode. And it would mean the world to me, if you left me a review, so others know what to expect from my show. Last, get in touch. Let me know what bold action you're taking. Let me know how you're inspired. Follow me on Instagram@the_healthygut_dietitian. I've put a link in my show notes for you, so you can simply click and follow. Come say hi, I respond to all my messages and I can't wait to get in touch.