Hormones are chemical messengers that stimulate or inhibit certain biological functions. Glands and organs produce hormones throughout your body, including your brain and pancreas. They help regulate growth, metabolism, sexual development, and reproduction.
Hormones are divided into two categories: steroid hormones, produced by endocrine glands (such as the pituitary gland), and non-steroid hormones, which include growth hormone and prolactin.
An organ secretes some hormones into the bloodstream; others are produced internally. Hormones are made in glands (such as the pituitary gland and thyroid gland) and released into the bloodstream. They then travel through the body to target specific organs and tissues.
What is the Gut-Hormone Connection?
The gut is a very important component of your body. It’s where you absorb nutrients and store them for later use. These nutrients have a direct effect on how you feel. If you don’t eat enough or eat the wrong types of food, it can affect your hormones.
Your gut produces hormones called peptides and neurotransmitters essential to maintaining a healthy immune system, regulating your metabolism, and keeping your mood stable.
One of these peptides, pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), has been linked with depression because it regulates serotonin levels in the brain. You may be familiar with serotonin from its role in sleep; however, this neurotransmitter also plays an important role in many other bodily functions: it helps regulate appetite, pain sensation, mood regulation, memory formation, and memory retrieval.
When you don’t eat enough or eat foods that don’t provide enough nutrition to your body (like processed junk foods), these peptides are not produced in adequate amounts by your body’s cells, leading to depression symptoms such as low energy levels and fatigue.
The gut-hormone connection is very important in maintaining good health. Gut health can be affected by several factors, including poor sanitation and diet choices. Good nutrition can help restore gut function and support healthy hormone production.
What Nutrients Make Hormones?
Many nutrients play a role in regulating hormones. They include;
- Vitamins D3, E, K2, A, B6, and C
- Minerals such as magnesium and zinc
- Amino acids such as arginine and tryptophan
- Fatty acids like linoleic acid (omega-6) and eicosapentaenoic acid (omega-3).
How Do Nutrients Help With Hormones?
Nutrients regulate the hormones that you produce in your body. Some nutrients help to make hormones, while others help to regulate their levels. Hormones work together with other hormones and nutrients to affect many aspects of our lives.
Nutrients make hormones work properly by supplying them with what they need to make hormones or modifying how they do so. For example, Vitamin D helps with hormone production; vitamin A regulates growth; iron helps with red blood cell production.
How Do Nutrients Affect the Gut?
When you eat food, it goes through your small intestine. This is where most digestion happens. Nutrients are absorbed into the body through this process. Too many nutrients in your diet and insufficient energy from food sources can lead to an overgrowth of bacteria in your digestive tract—which can cause bloating, gas, constipation, and diarrhea (among other symptoms).
Some nutrients that affect how well your digestive system works include;
- Calcium for bone health
- Iron for iron absorption
- Fiber for colon health
- Vitamins A and D for immune system support
- Zinc for antioxidant activity
- Omega-3 fats such as EPA/DHA (eicosapentaenoic acid/docosahexaenoic acid) which has anti-inflammatory properties
- Vitamin K2 (menaquinone)
What Hormones are Affected by Gut Health State?
Your gut health plays a role in hormone balance as well. Some hormones affected by your gut health include;
Estrogen
Estrogen is a sex hormone that regulates things like bone density and the menstrual cycle. It’s also involved in many other functions, including heart health, skin health, and fertility. The best way to improve your gut’s ability to produce estrogen is by taking probiotics or consuming foods that contain prebiotics (foods that feed bacteria in the gut).
Thyroid
Your thyroid gland controls how fast your metabolism runs, how much energy you have, and how well you feel overall. A healthy gut can help keep your thyroid functioning properly by producing enough thyroid hormone for its needs. Your diet can also impact thyroid hormone, so ensure you’re getting enough fiber!
Melatonin
Melatonin is a sleep hormone in your brain that helps regulate circadian rhythms (the cycle of day length). This means that it helps regulate things like appetite control during sleep cycles, which makes it an important player in our overall health.
Does the Gut Regulate Hormones?
The gut regulates hormones like estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, and thyroid. When you eat the right foods, you can improve your gut and hormone health. When you don’t eat enough of the right foods, it negatively affects your hormones by increasing stress on the body, which can lead to hormonal imbalance.
How Does Not Eating Affect Your Hormones?
In the case of gut health, hormones can be affected by the nutrients in your food, which is why it’s so important to pay attention to what you eat. Gut health is an important part of being healthy because it affects your hormones and how they work. Your gut bacteria play an important role in regulating hormones by making them more bioavailable and producing substances that affect their function.
When you don’t eat enough of the right foods, it negatively affects your hormones by increasing stress on the body, which can lead to hormonal imbalance. This can cause mood swings, fatigue, and a lack of energy. You may also experience weight gain as part of this cycle if you eat too much junk food or processed foods that don’t contain nutrients needed for optimal body functioning.
How to Improve Gut Health and Hormones
Gut and hormone health are a lot more than just your digestive system. It’s a huge part of your overall health and wellness. You’re likely to have better hormone balance when you have a healthy gut. This is because the gut is where so many important hormones are produced and stored in the body.
When your gut health is compromised, you may experience an imbalance of certain hormones in your body, which can lead to various symptoms and diseases. Fortunately, there are many things you can do to improve your gut health—and even some surprising things that will help improve your hormones!
Here are four ways to improve your gut and hormone health:
Take Probiotics Regularly
Probiotics are beneficial bacteria that aid digestion and help build up a healthy microbiome in the gut (the population of good bacteria). By taking probiotics regularly, you’ll be able to prevent bad bacteria from gaining ground inside your body—and if there are any bad bugs present already? They’ll be killed off before they can cause any damage!
Avoid Alcohol
It would be best if you cut your alcohol intake since it can increase the amount of melatonin released by the pineal gland (the gland in your brain that regulates melatonin production)
Diet
Eat a diet rich in antioxidants like blueberries because they help reduce inflammation affecting the gut wall, where much of our intestinal bacteria live. The more diverse your gut bacteria, the better they’ll be able to help us absorb nutrients from food.
Gut Nutrients Supplements
Take a Binto supplement made with Lactobacillus acidophilus and Bifidobacterium bifidum strains to restore balance to your gut flora. These two strains are thought to be one of the primary causes of imbalance in gut bacteria levels.
If you think your hormones are out of whack because they aren’t working right or you have other symptoms like bloating or mood swings, there are ways to improve them naturally with Binto supplements.