Estrogen and the Microbiome

I watched an Out of the Doldrum presentation about the estrobolome. This refers to how estrogen in the body reacts to the microbiome.

Estrogen circulates in the blood stream. The liver attaches a molecule called glucuronic acid to estrogen to excrete it into the intestines. This is a natural function of the liver. No problem here.

A group of bacteria, called Bacteroides, can remove the glucuronic acid from the estrogen. This allows the estrogen to be reabsorbed into the body. People who eat animal products have a greater percentage of Bacteroides than people who do not. The greater percentage results in more estrogen being reabsorbed. This can lead to a higher-than-normal level of estrogen in the body.

The significance of a higher estrogen level could result in physical symptoms such as bloating/water retention, nausea, headache, or breast tenderness. A health care provider would normally not be asking about what you ate last night. A pharmacist would be examining your drug therapy and looking for the medication that would most likely cause the symptom. Nausea in the evening would presumably be a medication taken at supper. The pharmacist would look for an alternative medication and contact the prescriber. Theoretically, this symptom could be constant because animal products could be consumed on a regular basis. Changing the medication could solve the problem. However, the root cause of the problem is never addressed.

Please consider minimizing your animal products in your diet. You will be healthier for it! Thanks for reading!! #lifestylemedicine #menstrualproblems #womenshealth #wholefoodsplantbased

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