There has been a recent increase in women presenting with symptoms of perimenopause and we are seeing younger aged clients experiencing the onset earlier. What could contribute to this increase and early onset? We know that toxins and foreign chemicals in our foods have increased dramatically; see our previous post on how to limit your and your family’s to these environmental toxins. The first line of defense for these invaders is our gut. It takes the brunt of the workload trying to sort bacteria and eliminate unhelpful organisms. But if our gut is not healthy, we end up accumulating instead of eliminating. This is why we start with a full microscopic examination of the gut lining, microbiome, and assess any insults causing inflammation to build a good foundation for balancing those hormones.

GI Tract

Optimal absorption of nutrients impacts everything. Our body runs on biochemical pathways with each step needing a nutrient to get to the next step. Without ideal digestion, we simply do not have the precursors for healthy hormones or neurotransmitters causing our moods and energy level to bounce around all day. The microbiome is a microbial community that lives in the gut and contributes to the health of our gut lining by processing some foods and producing short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). These are the building blocks of a healthy gut wall.


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If we have helpful bacteria, we have a healthy gut digesting our food well and support healthy toxin processing and nutrient absorption. However, if we have “opportunistic bacteria,” what I call party bugs, we are not building a healthy gut wall and they can build overgrowths that cause GI dysfunction. We may experience bloating or constipation, distention or gas frequently when we eat. These guys are not helping to rid our body of toxins nor support hormone balance. We run the GI Map test to look at your gut health.

Toxin Accumulation

We can reach ‘allostatic load’ more quickly in life (by our early 40s for instance) if we are not good detoxifiers. That is when the body reaches its peak ability to manage the toxic load. How well we ‘methylate’ dictates how quickly and efficiently the body rods itself of toxins. And our MTHFR genes determine if we have methylation dysfunction or not. There are easy natural remedies when we determine what support you need for optimal methylation. This also is connected to mental health— and whether you have the right nutrients to support your moods and hormones— again, impacting how we feel in the world. We run an organic acid test to look at these factors.

Hormones

And of course, dysregulation of our sex hormones is clearly part of the overall picture— but as we see, they are not the whole story. A disparity, or imbalance, in our estrogen, progesterone and testosterone is the greatest reason for perimenopause symptoms such as hot flashes, headaches, heavy or irregular menstruation, hirsutism (excessive hair growth), sleep problems, brain fog, night sweats and most importantly, dramatic mood shifts throughout the day.

We run the D.U.T.C.H. Plus hormone test (with waking cortisol) which is a very advanced functional medicine test that assesses all three estrogens, your progesterone, testosterone but also the precursors for these— DHEA and pregnenolone. We need to generate the precursors to effectively make the hormones. Identifying the imbalance or break down and supporting that specific pathway can sometimes help us avoid jumping on medication or supplements long term.

When we are under chronic stress— which is likely everyone in this current economic and political landscape— our adrenals steal the precursor, DHEA, to make cortisol— the stop gap hormone that helps us get through high intense moments in life when energy is lacking. If you suffer with poor gut health (and microbiome deficiencies called dysbiosis) and toxin accumulation, you are likely to use more cortisol day to day than is helpful. Looking at all three areas is the most comprehensive way to get back to balance, shed unwanted bacteria or toxins, absorb nutrients, make mood and health support while taking the pressure off our adrenals.

Modulating stress with simple breathing techniques is another way to support the process and we work with individuals to find the right techniques for their busy life. Our packages are designed to also support lifestyle changes to minimize the impact of stress, like walking and yoga, help to redirect some of it back to regular production. We recycle cortisol (to cortisone- the inactive form) and back to cortisol; so, support our body back to homeostasis can long-term support sex hormone balancing.

Macronutrients and Blood Sugar

Blood sugar spikes throughout the day are also a direct contributor to hormone dysregulation. When our glucose spikes- due to a skipped meal, imbalanced macros such as protein, healthy fats or complex carbohydrates, our body sends insulin to manage the spikes. Insulin is a hormone as well. Once insulin is called in a few times in a day, we are back in the sympathetic (fight or flight) instead of the parasympathetic, the rest, digest, and fuel or fat burning state. We do not lose weight in a sympathetic state. This is why we’re all gaining weight in the midriff area - called visceral fat— eating the same thing and living seemingly in the same ways. Blood regulation distinction causes all of our hormones to go out of whack while causing weight gain, brain fog and low energy.

Our packages are designed to walk you through both the tests and a macro assessment to monitor blood sugar levels, identify easy tricks and support to help you maintain healthy levels throughout the day. This helps us not crash and chase caffeine or sugar to bring our energy back mid-day.

Figuring out where you are with gut health, toxin accumulation and hormone creation can slow the perimenopause process entirely and get you back to the life you once had. We run three tests to look microscopically at your gut, at your biochemical pathways for methylation, nutrient absorption and detox functioning while also offer the gold-standard hormone DUTCH test (with a cortisol panel) to get underneath the root causes for these life altering symptoms. Here we can identify what support you need and implement natural supplements, diet and a few adjustments to support your body so you can get back to your life with the verve and vinegar you once had to pursue your dreams!

Schedule your free consultation-- call with us today to see if we are the right fit to support your healthy hormone journey.

With love-
Jen Vitry, DCN, MS, CNS, LDN
Vitry Wellness