Gut Health Tips for Women
Is women's gut health different from mens?
Today, I'm giving you my Week 2 update on my Intuitive Gut Healing Journey, AND answering one of your questions. Let's chat all about Gut Health Tips for Women.
Most women don't realize how much gut health affects things like our energy levels and more specifically, our hormone levels. When our hormone levels are imbalanced, we may experience shifts in energy levels and more PMS symptoms too.
That's why I wanted to share really specific tips to help women with their gut health, that will also help improve hormone balance and energy levels too.
Gut Health Tips for Women
Ready for some super tangible and helpful tips to help you with your gut health?
Check out the full video here:
https://youtu.be/bnBWY2WGUWQ
There are two main things to be aware of when it comes to women's gut health specifically:
Know which hormones are affected by gut health
Know how to balance hormones with food
Let's dive into these more.
How Hormones Affect Gut Health
Estrogen, a female sex hormone, is one you've probably heard of a lot. It is a growth hormone, particularly peaking during pregnancy. Estrogen is created mostly in the uterus. It then goes throughout the body to organs that need it, and travels to the liver, where it is inactivated. Once inactivated, estrogen moves to the digestive tract where, ideally, it is eliminated through bowel movements.
However, if you're digestive system is not working well and you are not having regular bowel movements, the estrogen gets reabsorbed into the body. This may lead to estrogen dominance. This is literally when you have too much estrogen in the body.
The symptoms of estrogen dominance include difficulty losing weight around the lower abdomen, heavy menstrual bleeding, breast tenderness, migraines/headaches. Some women often don't even realize that they have estrogen dominance.
How to Balance Hormones with Food
The key to reducing estrogen in the body is increasing your high fiber foods, especially cruciferous vegetables. Cruciferous veggies are things like broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, bok choy etc. Think about those really hardy veggies. Cruciferous veggies specifically help to break down excess estrogen. With their higher fiber content, cruciferous veggies help your digestive system get back on track so that the estrogen can get eliminated through bowel movements.
You can also find fiber in any and all plant foods aka fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds, in varying amounts.
Women should aim for at least 25g of fiber daily. If you're not currently eating a lot of fiber, gradually increase it over time to reduce the potential for gas/bloating while increasing fiber intake. And make sure to drink plenty of water to aid flushing out the digestive system!
You can also aid you gut health, and your hormone balance, by consuming probiotics, either through food or supplements daily.
If you have any questions about nutrition or gut health, drop them in the comments below! You can find out more about my Intuitive Gut Healing journey here and here.
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