Our gut microbiome can influence hormone levels!

A really excellent article was published in Nature that reviews the relationship between the bacteria living in our intestines (otherwise known as the “microbiome”) and hormone levels in our blood. This connection has significant potential ramifications on so many aspects of our health. In this article, the authors primarily emphasize the relationship between the microbiome and the levels of estrogen and estrogen-related hormones that could potentially affect hormone-responsive cancers, like breast cancer. They highlight, “This bidirectional crosstalk influences hormone-driven carcinogenesis through inflammation, genomic instability, and epigenetic changes.” Realizing this important interaction should help guide future research looking at how specific types of gut bacteria (both good and bad) can influence disease within the human body and also the various factors (diet, nutrition, medications, lifestyle, etc.) that can influence the types of bacteria living inside our body. By optimizing the wellbeing of our gut microbiome we can enhance our own health and wellbeing, in a very symbiotic fashion. I discuss the implications of our gut microbiome, and how to maximize the health of our microbiome, throughout my book, Optimized.