Part 1: Gut Health Age 50+

The Hidden Link between Gut Health & Menopause!

Hello Golden Divas!

I came across a great article called“GUT HEALTH” and I would like to share it with you. It had some great information pertaining to weight loss and the fact that we are not losing it fast enough. As women over 50, we know that stubborn weight isn’t going anywhere FAST!!! But the question is why it isn’t even budging? I’m not just talking about the slowdown of your metabolism when you’re over 50. I’m talking about the hidden causes behind the slow movement!

The hidden causes that are responsible for the GAS, BLOATING, FATIGUE and the inability to lose the weight; which can trigger cravings for sugar and refined carbs.

Did you know the hidden key to accelerating your weight loss over 50 and minimizing your cravings is depended upon ‘YOUR GUT HEALTH?’

YES! You read that correctly!

This is the main reason why so many women feel their body has become unresponsive to diet and exercise. See Golden Divas if you understand how the GUT WORKS and have the strategies to fix it you can increase your ENERGY and LOSE weight easily.

I bet you’re saying that is easily said than done. Heck, I know you’re saying it because I have said it as well. Stay with me ladies because after you read this post you will have a better understanding, more knowledge, and methods so that you can start losing the weight that is plaguing you since you have turned 50.

Did you know that all DISEASES start from your GUT?

Yes, it is true! The gut is the ‘control center’ for our health ladies. The Greek Philosopher Hippocrates said ‘All disease begins in the Gut’ makes you wonder huh? This was said over two thousand years ago! It has been made clearer of course in recent years just how right Hippocrates was.

Did you know the Gut is responsible for a huge range of functions that go well beyond digestion?

Ladies your Gut contains 80% of your immune system, it is vital for regulating our hormones and is our primary means of eliminating toxins.

So what exactly is your gut?

The gut is basically the entire intestinal system or GI tract. It is home to a massive amount of bacteria and other microorganisms – over 100 trillion in all. In fact, it may shock you to learn that there are more cells with the DNA of other life forms in our body than our own. And guess where the vast majority of these bacteria are located….you’ve guessed it in the ‘GUT!’

Did you know there is Good bacteria and Bad bacteria?

People often think of all bacteria as bad – but in fact, without the complex ecosystem living in our bodies, we would not be able to survive. These creatures literally educate and inform our immune system, and work as equals with the brain in producing and regulating the building blocks of our own behavior – our hormones. When people have a ‘gut instinct’ it’s because the gut has almost as many nerve endings as the brain itself, and hormonal messages can be sent back and forth between the gut and brain in an instant.

Golden Divas remember we learned about the ecosystem in school. Well, if you remember correctly the ecosystem in the gut is incredibly complex, but what we do know is that although it’s a constant competition for dominance between various organisms, balance is the most important thing of all. Opportunistic organisms like candida are normally a healthy part of the gut flora – but under the right conditions, they can grow out of control, starving and crowing out bacteria, other potentially deadly bacteria live in our gut and are a vital part of the system.

Okay, let’s talk about this ‘WORLDWIDE EPIDEMIC!”

Poor gut health is an EPIDEMIC in the developed world and leads to all sorts of health issues. Good bacteria are under constant attack from our modern lifestyles and become used up and worn out from the onslaught of toxins we ingest. When this happens, the gut wall itself is left defenseless and is no longer watertight. This allows toxins, bacteria, and undigested food to enter the bloodstream where it is attacked by the immune system, causing a cycle of inflammation, allergies and a host of debilitating symptoms.

Symptoms of Compromised Gut Health:

Gas and bloating

An unhealthy gut is unable to digest food properly, and so it sits in the gut and spoils, releasing gases and eventually working its way back into the bloodstream to cause yet more mischief.

Constipation and/or diarrhea

Although constipation and diarrhea are often seen as no big deal, they are a warning sign for more serious gut related issues in the near future. Both can show that your gut can’t absorb food properly, is suffering from inflammation and that the barrier between your gut and bloodstream are compromised. If you find yourself fluctuating between these two regularly, consider it a warning sign to fix your gut before more serious issues develop.

Fatigue

This is often a sign that your good bacteria have been overwhelmed or crowded out by gut damaging, toxin containing bad bacteria. This literally stops your whole body from working as efficiently on a cellular level and inhibits your ability to absorb nutrients and create energy. The bacteria that help you just can’t do their job anymore, making you feel heavy and sluggish

Headaches

Headaches can be a sign that toxins have found their way into the bloodstream. This could be because you have an excess of toxin-containing bacteria, that there is a hole in your gut, or, usually, both. Those toxins often find their way into the brain, causing not just headaches but increasing the risk for diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Sugar cravings

It’s not just good bacteria that produce hormones. The difference with bad bacteria is that when they are dominant, they are able to send their own hormones to the brain. This triggers cravings for their favorite foods – sugar and heavily refined carbohydrates. This just feeds them more and more, tipping the balance in their favor and making it even harder for the good bacteria to recover.

Difficulty losing weight

For many people, gut health puts the brakes on their weight loss efforts, increasing water retention, compromising the ability to absorb nutrients, increasing sugar cravings and reducing fat burning hormones. However, most people respond to this by going on a diet and harsh exercise regime. This is like putting one foot on the gas while the other is on the brakes! Fat burning is a byproduct of a healthy gut and body, so let’s look at 7 major brakes that wreak havoc on gut health:

7 Culprits That Wreak Havoc On Your Gut:

1. Sugar

Reducing sugar is one of the quickest ways you can improve your gut health. Not only does sugar feed bad bacteria and other organisms like Candida, it also inhibits the immune system, increases inflammation and makes you convert food to fat instead of energy.

2. Artificial sweeteners

Artificial Sweeteners are sold as a way to avoid the calories in sugar to help lose weight. However, there is a growing body of evidence that the opposite could be true. A new study found that artificial sweeteners cause good Gut bacteria to develop an intolerance to sugar, paving the way for weight gain and other metabolic diseases. Don’t fall for all the marketing hype about them being a healthy alternative to sugar – they are chemicals, plain and simple

3. Processed foods

Whole foods tend to contain the perfect balance of nutrients we need to absorb those very foods. That means less stress for the body, fewer calories needed, and a happier gut. However, processed foods do practically the opposite. Not only do they contain very little actual nutrition, but they are also very difficult to absorb. The result is a lot of stress for the gut, very little benefit and lingering hunger. The laundry list of preservatives and additives in processed foods just serve to damage gut flora and increase inflammation.

4. Chlorinated water

Chlorine is a disinfectant designed to kill damaging microbes, so it’s no surprise that it can disrupt our gut flora. It’s also been shown that it’s even easier to absorb through the skin from showers or baths than by drinking. Most tap water is disinfected with chlorine and other chemicals, so purchasing a chlorine filter, switching to mineral water and avoiding long, hot showers can also help.

5. Pollution

Air pollutants are very strongly linked to inflammation of the bowel and have been shown to disrupt bacteria and damage the gut wall barrier. However even if you live in the city you can still greatly reduce the air pollutants you ingest by minimizing mold, toxins, and dust in your own home.

6. Agricultural chemicals and pesticides, household chemicals, hormones and more

The amount of toxins in our daily lives is more than ever before. It’s a huge stress on gut health, and a large part of these chemicals can be found in our food supply. For that reason, always try and buy organic – this will minimize your exposure to Gut-damaging ‘extras’ like pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, steroids, growth hormones, and antibiotics. These substances also have an Estrogenic effect, which as we’re about to discuss can cause huge issues for gut health and menopausal symptoms. Perhaps the biggest source of Estrogenic chemicals, or ‘Xenoestrogens’, is plastics, which leech into the food we eat – especially when hot. If you use Tupperware or other plastics to store your food in, consider replacing it with steel or glass containers.

7. Antibiotics

They are often the catalyst for gut health issues in many people. Antibiotics wipe out the entire gut population, good and bad. Bacteria then compete to grow and fill the space, and good bacteria that used to stop unhealthy microbes from getting a foothold are suppressed themselves. In spite of this, it’s become common for doctors to prescribe antibiotics for conditions that don’t require them, and along with high toxins is a major cause of gut health issues.

The Hidden Link between Gut Health & Menopause!

What Really Happens During Menopause?

 Normally, menopause is simply a return of female sex hormones to the levels they were at before puberty. It’s a natural changing of gears. The two main hormones that decrease are Estrogen and Progesterone. Both these hormones keep each other in check, and throughout menopause they both fluctuate, causing uncomfortable and inconvenient symptoms like the following:

• Hot flashes
• Brain fog
• Weight gain
• Mood swings and more

 If you’re like most woman over 50, your gut health isn’t perfect, then it’s likely that these symptoms are much worse than they ought to be. If your gut flora is unbalanced, then it’s not going to be able to balance your hormones properly – which is the last thing you want if you’re also going through menopause.

As a result of this, many women over 50 experience a condition called ‘Estrogen Dominance’ which is when there is not enough progesterone in proportion to Estrogen. During menopause, natural levels of progesterone and Estrogen decrease – but that doesn’t account for the huge estrogenic effect industrial toxins have on our bodies? They are called xenoestrogens and can result in a big imbalance. At the same time, a naturally slower gut at that age makes it harder to eliminate that external Estrogen, so it just builds up in the bowel and gets reabsorbed.

Estrogen Dominance

Too much Estrogen further damages gut health, and so the gut symptoms mentioned earlier can develop into full-blown immune issues that can linger after menopause. A breach in gut integrity can mean increases inflammation throughout the whole body and a host of more serious degenerative problems like joint pain, fatigue, and even diabetes.

It’s normal for fat burning to slow down as we age, but an unhealthy gut can make weight gain even more of a problem. When Estrogen is no longer balanced by progesterone it can make things even worse. Estrogen inhibits metabolism even more, and when fat cells increase, they actually produce MORE Estrogen which makes inhibits the metabolism even more.

Increased Estrogen and fat storage also makes the body produce too much of a fat storing hormone called insulin. Not only does this cause yet more fat storage, but it also increases sugar cravings, which further feeds the types of gut organisms we want to reduce.

The Vicious Cycle

It’s easy to see how gut health, fat gain, hormonal balance and menopausal symptoms all make each other worse – but that also means they can be healed together as well. Fixing gut health is the key, and if you do this you can expect to see less extreme menopausal symptoms due to stabilized hormonal cycles, more energy due to reduced inflammation, as well as increased fat burning and better mood. A healthy gut during menopause means protection from degenerative diseases later in life.

There you have it, ladies, let’s try to understand exactly what our ‘GUTS’ are trying to tell us. 

Sources:

susan@healthqueens.com