You may have come to see me about something and I have explained to you that we need to rebalance your microbiome.  This might seem a little strange and unrelated to you, but believe me... it`s so important.

Hippocrates, the father of modern medicine once said that “All disease begins in the gut”.

He said a lot of wise things that are timelessly very pertinent where health is concerned, but this phrase is paramount in importance.

If there's one thing that we know, it is that you can't achieve your optimum health if your digestion is out of balance. 
​This is the same for every organ system in your body but where our menstrual symptoms are concerned, it's very simple; you can not have balanced hormonal health if your gut is affected in any way.

Your microbiome is a colony of beneficial bacteria that live inside your body.  You have various microbiomes, which will all be different… the nasal microbiome, the microbiome in your ears, the oral microbiome, the gut microbiome, vaginal microbiome and the microbiome of your skin.

In this case, I am referring to your gut microbiome, which largely exists in your large intestine, and to a smaller extent in the small intestine.

This colony of beneficial bacteria are diverse in the number of different species that co-exist together and outnumber the cells in our body by 3 times.  There are around 100,000 billion bacterial cells in there.  That`s massive!  The population of the planet is only 7 billion. The bacterial genetic material in our microbiome outnumber the body`s genome by 150 :1.  We have more bacterial DNA in our bodies than our own!  It is thought that the bacterial mass we carry is around 1.5kg in weight in the average adult.  

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​Our immune systems normally react to foreign bodies. 
It will do everything it can  to either remove the foreign matter or destroy it, yet our immune system is accepting of these bacteria and lets them reside inside of us quite peacefully.

Fascinating isn't it.

So why do we offer these microbes a home?  What`s their purpose?

We acquire our core microbiome at birth and it will stay with us for the rest of our lives… if we look after it.  
The interaction of these bacteria with our bodies is far reaching and the positive, health promoting effects of our symbiotic relationship with them is essential to our well - being, both physically and mentally.

70% of our immune system lies in our gut area.  These bacteria are intricately involved in keeping our immune response balanced and working well.  If our bacterial microbiome in the gut is on the low side, or outweighed by the wrong sort of bacteria that sometimes takes over, we can become more susceptible to allergies, hives and histamine responses.  Our bodies may not fight off viruses or pathogens as well as they should.
Our microbiome is responsible for metabolising certain products that the body makes (metabolises means breaking down).  One of these products is oestrogen - old oestrogen that the body no longer needs and intends to eliminate in our waste.  If our microbiome is not balanced, we sometimes end up with our old oestrogen being activated again and being reabsorbed into the bloodstream.  When this happens we can end up in the position of having too high oestrogen, resulting in a whole host of painful and uncomfortable menstrual symptoms.  
High oestrogen goes hand in hand with high histamine, so it also means that our bodies become very reactive to seemingly harmless triggers like dust, pollen, dander etc.

Having high circulating oestrogen can also trigger high insulin.  When this happens our blood sugar levels become unstable and we are more likely to suffer with the rollercoaster effect of sugar crashes that cause fatigue, weakness and brain fog and then needing carbs, caffeine and sugar to pick us back up again.

Fascinatingly, around 60 - 70% of our serotonin - a neurotransmitter responsible for having a positive mood, is made in our digestive tract.  If our microbiome is out of balance, our mood can really suffer.  If we can't manufacture our happy mood hormones because of an imbalance in our gut bacteria colony, we can be prone to anxiety, depression and other mood disorders.

Our skin is a direct reflection of what is happening in our gut.  Most skin conditions are trying to get your attention that the digestive tract needs some serious help.

Along with these systems, our beneficial bacteria directly influence just about every organ system in the body, so it is so important to look after them.

What can go wrong?

Our beneficial bacteria are vulnerable to chemicals and toxins, both environmentally and from our food.  If we eat foods that are laden with artificial ingredients, our colony of good guys will suffer.

They are affected and wiped out by certain medicines.  The most prolific loss of beneficial bacteria is from antibiotics.
Antibiotics are necessary sometimes, and can be life-saving but unfortunately, they are so good at killing bacteria that they cannot discern good bacteria from bad bacteria and wipe out the whole lot.  If you have had courses of antibiotics in the past and didn`t supplement with probiotics at the time, you can pretty much expect that your microbiome took a severe loss.

Other medicines that cause problems to our gut microbiome are parasite medications, steroids, anti-histamines, SSRI`s (antidepressants), Hormonal contraception and as a knock on effect - stomach acid lowering medications (PPI`s).

When our good guys get destroyed, it's a bit like a nightclub door having no bouncer on it to keep the riff-raff out!  
We have certain “bad” bacteria that live inside of us in small numbers.  These guys are not bad when they are small in numbers, but if they grow too large, they cause problems.
If our good bacteria are taken out, it allows these “bad” bacteria to multiply and take over and before you know it, the nightclub is overrun with trouble makers and no one nice wants to go there anymore!  Our digestive tract is taken over by colonies of undesirable bacteria that cause all sorts of problems that can show up as digestive discomfort, bloating, IBS, menstrual problems, inflammatory conditions, mood disorders, skin conditions such as eczema, psoriasis and hives.

When this happens, we call it dysbiosis - an imbalance in the number of good and undesirable bacteria.
Dysbiosis can disrupt your HPA axis - the way that you react to stresses in life.  It is a common reason for many period problems, can affect your thyroid function and has a knock on effect in your vagina microbiome - often resulting in recurrent bouts of yeast infections (thrush) or bacterial vaginosis.

So it's really important to keep our microbiome healthy…

You can do this by 

• Avoiding as much medication as possible, including:birth control pills, antibiotics, stomach acid lowering medicines and steroids.
• Avoid high sugar diets - sugar feeds the undesirable bacteria and encourages them to multiply
• Have a low starchy carb diet - starchy carbs (white, unrefined carbs such as white bread, pasta, rice, pastries etc) quickly turn to glucose and have the same effect on the bad guys as sugar.
• Eat plenty of vegetables and healthy starch (like brown rice) - these foods feed the good guys and keep the area clear of debris.
• Reduce alcohol - alcohol causes dysbiosis.
• Reduce stress - also causes dysbiosis
• Avoid wheat and dairy - these foods cause inflammation in the gut and effect the environment that the bacteria live in.  
• Eat fermented foods - kimchi, sauerkraut, water kefir… these foods are supportive to the gut microbiome.
• If you do need to take antibiotics, ALWAYS take a probiotic at the same time and for at least a month after you have finished your course of antibiotics.  Try to space out taking your probiotic away from swallowing your antibiotic at the same time.

Listen to the advice in your health plan and do your very best to get your microbiome back up to scratch.  You will really reap the benefits in ways that directly relate to your symptoms.