Naperville Integrated Wellness

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Dr. Clinton Sexton  

Part #3 Hormones

(Part A)

Welcome to Part 3 of the Women’s Digestion Solutions health series. This is Part 3 of the 5-part series and I will discuss the importance of Hormones and digestive health. In Part 1 explained the importance of Diet and in Part 2 we covered the necessity of proper nutrient levels.

Let’s get started!!!

Hormones Related to Digestion

As a woman, you have probably noticed changes in your digestion with hormone fluctuations. It is not uncommon to experience alterations in bowel function during different points in your menstrual cycle; this is driven by hormones like estrogen and progesterone.

There is however another hormone that can significantly affect your digestive tract and it is called cortisol. This hormone is often referred to as a “stress” hormone and it is produced by your adrenal glands. You have two adrenal glands and they rest on stop of each kidney. Let’s start our discussion of hormones with the hormone related to stress; cortisol.

Cortisol / Stress

Cortisol is released from the adrenal glands when you experience stress; this can be an emotional stress or a physical stress. Common emotional stresses include family matters, finances and worry over your health. Physical stresses can include poor sleep, chronic inflammation or skipping meals. When you experience stress, cortisol is released and if this occurs too often, it can lead to poor digestive health. Excess cortisol cause breakdown of the lining of your small intestine and contribute to a condition called leaky gut syndrome. This is a very common condition that functional medicine practitioners address. Having a leaky gut means substances from your digestive tract are permitted to “leak” into your bloodstream. This leads to many health problems including pain, inflammation, fatigue, brain-fog and many other unwanted symptoms.

In addition to the release of cortisol, stress activates a division of your nervous system called the sympathetic nervous system. This is part of a larger system called your autonomic nervous system which is composed of the sympathetic (fight/flight) nervous system and the parasympathetic (rest/digest) nervous system. Ok, hang in there, this is actually pretty simple…when you are under stress your sympathetic nerves kick into action and shut down your parasympathetic nerves that permit digestion to occur.  When you are stressed you can’t digest! When you experience stress, your brain is more concerned with survival than digestion; it shuts off digestion and directs the body to go into “defense-mode” so you can either run away or fight.

The result of chronic stress is increased cortisol, which breaks down the lining of your digestive tract and your brain shuts down the processes of digestion. So why is this such a common problem for women? I believe that women experience stress differently than men do. Studies show that once a female reaches puberty until the age of 50, she is twice as likely to suffer from anxiety than a man. Women are also much more likely to suffer from depression than men. Several reasons for this have been proposed including:

  • Women tend to be more invested in relationships than men. This can cause increased stress.
  • Women tend to think about things more than men do. Men tend to be more reactive / act and walk away, whereas women will think about and try to mentally process what has occurred.
  • Women tend to have higher sociocultural demands placed on them. Many women are often required to work as much as men, but also manage the family. They also have greater perceived social pressure especially in terms of physical appearance.

Whatever the exact causes are, I  believe that women are subject to more stress than men. This contributes to poor digestive function.

Progesterone

Progesterone of one of the most abundant hormones produced by your ovaries. This hormone can influence digestive health in various ways. First of all, if you lack sufficient progesterone, it can also affect your cortisol levels. Your adrenal glands convert progesterone into cortisol. If you are under prolonged stress, it can reduce your levels of cortisol. This has been called “progesterone steal” and can lower your progesterone levels.

In addition to balancing the effects of estrogen, progesterone tends to exert a calming influence. One mechanism for this calming affect is that progesterone improves the function of a calming brain chemical (neurotransmitter) called GABA. If you are not maintaining ideal levels of progesterone this can lead to poor GABA function, which leads to greater stress or anxiety, which leads to increased stress response, increased cortisol and increased sympathetic nervous system activation and shutting down of the digestive system. As you can now see, progesterone imbalance can lead to chronic digestion problems for women.

Take a few moments and “digest” what you have just read. You are going to know so much about your digestive tract by the time you are done with this series!!!

Health and Happiness,

Dr. Sexton

                    If you are looking for a functional medicine doctor in Aurora, Wheaton or Geneva, please contact us today!

If you would like more information about women’s digestion, functional medicine or Dr. Sexton go to www.napervilleintegratedwelness.com

Do your own research, inform yourself and ask lots of questions. When collecting information you MUST consider the source. There is no shortage of false, misleading, outdated, profit-driven and utterly biased information in healthcare today; even from the most respected sources and organizations.

This approach to healthcare is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, mitigate, or prevent any disease. Why is this? The FDA enforces its position that these words can only be used with drugs. This approach does not use drugs.

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