How Poor Gut Health Can Affect Fertility
Your gut health and fertility are related to hormone production and regulation. If you are experiencing certain issues with your gut health it can affect your hormone balance. How fertile you are depends on hormone balance and regulation. Specifically, when estrogen and progesterone are out of balance this can create issues that cause infertility because you are not ovulating properly. Gut health can significantly impact the hormone balance in your body.
Here are 6 ways poor gut health can affect fertility
1. Low Stomach Acid
Low stomach acid can greatly impact gut health and fertility. Stomach acid is needed to break down chewed food to make it easier to digest and absorb the nutrients in the intestines. This is especially important for protein because it is the hardest nutrient to break down in the stomach. The stomach acid is extremely acidic, pH of 3, so that it can break down food efficiently but also protect against pathogens that may have entered the digestive tract. If your stomach acid is too low, the stomach is not able to break up the food as well, and this can cause nutrient deficiencies because the intestines can’t absorb as many nutrients when the food is still in chunks. Some common nutrient deficiencies with low stomach acid are zinc, B12, and magnesium. All of these are compulsory for hormone production, so this is why low stomach acid is one of the connections between gut health and fertility.
2. Constipation
Constipation also affects gut health and fertility. Constipation is when you are having fewer than 3 bowel movements per week, difficult stool to pass, dry and hard stool, or feeling that not enough stool came out after a movement. With optimal gut health and hormone balance, people should have 1-3 bowel movements daily. How constipation affects gut health and fertility is that estrogen needs to leave the body through the stool. Estrogen gets detoxified in the liver and then it moves to the digestive tract where it is excreted through the bowels. If constipation occurs, this process is slowed and estrogen can continue to build up and recirculate in the body. When estrogen recirculates it increases levels and can lead to estrogen dominance where estrogen levels are much higher in ratio to the progesterone levels.
3. Dysbiosis
The gut is made up of a variety of different bacteria that aid digestion and are fueled by fiber. This bacteria is good, and we want a broad diversity of it in order to digest many different foods. Gut dysbiosis is when there is an imbalance in the amount of these good bacteria to bad bacteria in the intestines. Gut health and fertility are affected by dysbiosis because this imbalance of bacteria is what can cause increased estrogen. The gut regulates estrogen through an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase that converts estrogen into its active form, estriol, for elimination. When the gut bacteria is not in balance this process can be defective because of elevated beta-glucuronidase which slows the digestion process and can lead to constipation. This is how dysbiosis is a connection between gut health and fertility.
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4. Inflammation
Inflammation occurs when your white blood cells sense an invader or an area of injury in the body, so they release chemicals to surge the area as well as increase blood flow there. During this time, gut health and fertility are affected. Cortisol is increased, and over time they increase in stress response to inflammation will create hormonal imbalances with estrogen and progesterone. The inflammation can be a source of gut infections, leaking gut, certain medications, and food sensitivities. Inflammation stimulates prostaglandin, which is a hormone that induces uterine contractions or cramps. This hormone works in parallel to estrogen and opposition with progesterone. So when prostaglandin is high, estrogen is high and progesterone is low this creates issues with gut health and fertility.
5. Gut Pathogens
Pathogens are constantly entering our bodies through our food and breathing in unclean air. Usually, our body is good at degrading and attacking the pathogens, but this process can worsen if we do not have good gut health and hormone levels. If an increased amount of gut pathogens enter the intestine and permeate through the lumen this increases inflammation and our stress response. Until the gut pathogens are diminished, our gut health and fertility stabilize, the inflammatory response will continue and can eventually lead to adrenal fatigue from continued cortisol release.
6. Intestinal Permeability
Intestinal permeability can greatly impact gut health and fertility. Intestinal permeability is synonymous with what we refer to as ‘leaky gut’. Basically, the cells in the intestine help absorb nutrients and they let every else pass through to be excreted. The inside of the small intestine is called the lumen, and this lining is one cell thick. In unhealthy circumstances, the junctions between these cells in the lumen can widen, allowing toxins and undigested food particles to pass through which is not good. This increases lots of inflammation and decreases nutrient absorption. Over time this can lead to food sensitivities from the inflammation because the body has a high internal source of stress from the intestinal permeability. Gut health and fertility are affected by intestinal permeability because nutrient absorption can be negatively impacted, and because of that then certain hormones can’t be produced and inflammation will stimulate more hormonal imbalances.
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