Part 5: Enhancing Performance and Body Composition with Gut Health

Written by Laura Tarbell, Board Certified Wellness Coach, Functional Nutrition Practitioner, Precision Nutrition Level 1 Coach, Clean Health Level 3 Personal Trainer, Advanced STOTT Pilates Instructor, IFBB Pro Bikini Competitor, and Contest Prep Specialist

Photography by Paul Buceta

Hair & Makeup by Monica Kalra

PART FIVE of a six-part series dedicated to learning how to navigate midlife hormonal and metabolic chaos, with vitality, to live your menopausal years to the fullest.

The trillions of microorganisms present in your gut microbiome not only influence digestion, but also hormonal balance and body composition by altering metabolic function. “The microbiome is central to both systemic and estrogen metabolism, and is altered by the menopausal transition, suggesting an important role of the microbiome in the increased metabolic risk faced by menopausal women”⁽¹⁾. For this reason, maintaining a healthy gut microbiome is particularly essential to master your midlife years. 

In our pre-menopausal years, estrogen levels are regulated by specific bacteria in a subset of the gut called the estrobolome. These bacterial species are capable of converting estrogens into their active or inactive forms and ensure proper hormonal balance through modulating estrogen levels.

However during perimenopause, the estrobolome undergoes significant changes due to the dramatic reduction in estrogen production by the ovaries. This decrease in circulating estrogens can alter the composition and function of the estrobolome, leading to a reduction in the diversity and abundance of these estrogen-metabolizing bacteria. As a result, the gut’s ability to regulate estrogen levels diminishes, which can affect overall hormonal balance and contribute to more severe menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, mood swings, and osteoporosis. Additionally, due to less bacterial diversity, these changes in the estrobolome can impact overall gut health as well, leading to issues like bloating and changes in bowel habits. 

But maintaining a healthy and diverse gut microbiome through diet, probiotics, and lifestyle adjustments is absolutely feasible. Let’s first look at why maintaining a diverse and healthy gut in perimenopause is helpful. 

3 Key Benefits of A Healthy Gut in Perimenopause

1. Better Body Composition

The most common complaint I hear among perimenopausal women is the unfavorable body changes that occur in their muscle to fat ratio during this time frame and your gut health can play a positive or negative role in this change. Yes, you read that right—body composition can be much more than the oversimplified ‘calories in, calories out’ principle we’ve been led to believe! 

The gut’s microbiota is mostly composed of two dominant bacterial divisions: Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes. Research shows that Firmicutes-dominant gut microbiomes are associated with increases in inflammation, weight gain and associated chronic diseases. 

Firmicutes love sugar and send strong sugar craving signals to the brain. So to reduce the level of Firmicutes in your gut, stay away from processed foods and refined sugar. 

On the flip side, having a Bacteroidetes-dominant gut is associated with having a leaner body composition⁽²⁾. Bacteroidetes love fiber rich foods and decrease inflammation while boosting metabolism. Studies confirm that “fat mass and waist circumference were found to correlate positively with the Firmicutes taxa and negatively with the Bacteroidetes taxa. In contrast, lean body mass and muscle mass demonstrated a positive correlation with the Bacteroidetes taxa”⁽³⁾. So if you’d like to improve body composition, give Bacteroides more of what they like: fiber, which is abundant in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and legumes.  

2. Better Sleep

Given that sleep is already disrupted in perimenopause from vasomotor symptoms (aka night sweats), ensuring you protect your sleep from every possible avenue is important. Research shows “strong evidence that gut microbiota has an important role in bidirectional interactions between the gut and the central nervous system (CNS). It interacts with the CNS by regulating brain chemistry and influencing neuro-endocrine systems associated with stress response, anxiety and memory function. Many of these effects appear to be strain-specific”⁽⁴⁾. An overabundance of strains that stimulate the sympathetic nervous system can prevent you from getting adequate restorative sleep and your recovery, performance and fitness goals may take a hit. 

3. Improved Lactic Acid Breakdown

Beneficial changes in your gut from exercise actually improve your athletic performance. It’s one of the body’s amazing positive feedback loops. Athletes have a higher population of bacteria from the Veillonella genus, which metabolize, or feed on, lactic acid, or lactate. When lactate builds up faster than the liver and kidneys can break it down during exercise, it causes muscles to tire and makes it harder for them to contract. Improving lactic acid breakdown and metabolism can help you exercise longer and harder. 

So with all this to benefit, here are ways you can make daily deposits into your gut health account and avoid anything that may undo your efforts.

How You Can Support Your Gut

1. Aim For 25g+ Of Fiber From Plant Sources Every Day

These foods not only support good gut microbes that are linked to lower risk of heart disease and other common illnesses, but also increase the bacteria that specifically use estrone, a weak form of estrogen formed in the adrenals, ovaries and adipose tissue during menopause, as a fuel source. This has an indirect but positive benefit of less menopausal symptoms and decreased risk of cancer. 

2. Add Polyphenols To Your Diet To Keep A Good Firmicutes To Bacteroidetes Ratio

Foods high in this micronutrient help protect the body from oxidative stress and inflammation and “modulate the gut microbiota toward a more health-promoting profile”⁽⁵⁾.  Top polyphenol foods include berries and other fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, dark chocolate, coffee, tea, olive oil and red wine. 

3. Eat A Serving Of Fermented And Prebiotic Foods Daily

Fermented foods include yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, and kimchi. These contain natural probiotics, fostering a balanced gut microbiome. Prebiotic foods contain fiber that feeds the beneficial bacteria. Common prebiotic-rich foods include barely, ripe bananas, asparagus, apples, onions, garlic, leeks, oatmeal, legumes, dandelion greens, apples, chicory root and Jerusalem artichokes.

4. Exercise

Did you know athletes have a different microbiome than sedentary people? Athletes exhibit greater bacterial diversity, with an increase in beneficial species, particularly those involved in the production of butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that plays several beneficial roles in gut health⁽⁶⁾. 

Steer Clear of These Gut Wreckers

1. Alcohol

Alcohol encourages the overgrowth of harmful bacteria while suppressing the good ones, throwing your microbiome off balance. Drink only in moderation. If you’re going through gut issues, it’s best to eliminate all alcohol. 

2. NSAIDS

Your gut is lined with a thin, protective mucosal barrier that works as a gatekeeper allowing good nutrients out into the bloodstream while locking down harmful substances and not letting them out. However, overuse of NSAIDS, such as ibuprofen and aspirin, not only weaken your intestinal lining potentially creating leaky
gut, but can cause a host of other issues such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), gas, constipation or diarrhea, and create bacterial imbalance.  

3. Refined Sugars, Artificial Sweeteners And Sugar Alcohols (Like Xylitol And Sorbitol)

Too much refined sugar eliminates healthy gut bacteria and a study in the The British Medical Journal reports that sucralose, aspartame and saccharin can be detrimental to gut health and may disrupt the balance and diversity of gut microbiota⁽⁷⁾.

4. Stress

Stress has long been linked to gut flare-ups. Researchers have uncovered exact details of ways that stress can harm the intestines—by setting off a biochemical cascade that reshapes the gut microbiome. It causes the body to divert blood flow from the intestines toward vital organs, such as the heart, lungs and brain. Additionally, stress inhibits the two-way signaling between the gut and brain via the vagus nerve. These changes can cause pain, cramping, bloating and spasms, which may lead to anxiety, nervous system dysregulation, slowed bowel movements and increases in gut barrier permeability leading to leaky gut. Techniques like progressive muscle relaxation, yin or vinyasa yoga, mindful breathing and meditation are effective ways to shift into a more parasympathetic state which favors relaxation and healthy digestion.

Overall, to improve any aspect of your health, consider how connected the body’s unique systems are. Often, in order to achieve improved body composition or performance, addressing the connection between gut and hormone systems is the key to really make the dial move. And because every individual has their own distinct needs, always work with a functional practitioner to utilize comprehensive testing and holistic solutions to address the root cause of issues.

References 

1. Becker, Sarah L. BA; Manson, JoAnn E. MD, DrPH, NCMP. Menopause, the gut microbiome, and weight gain: correlation or causation?
Menopause 28(3):p 327-331, March 2021. | DOI: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001702   2. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/oby.20466   3. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu16050660   4. PMID: 25830558   5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6188999/  
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30356594/   7. https://www.bmj.com/content/361/bmj.k2179