Microbiota helps reduce menopausal symptoms

Menopause does not come overnight. There is a transition time called perimenopause that can last about 4 years until the ovaries stop working and menstruation disappears completely.

During those years the estrogen percentage decreases and women have to deal with symptoms such as hot flashes, vaginal dryness and loss of libido. In addition, difficulty falling asleep is a frequent symptom. For many women this stage can be exhausting, but others notice these symptoms with much less intensity.

Stroboloma, what is it?

The microbiota is the group of microscopic organisms that live inside us and protect us from pathogens, help regulate the immune system and assist in digestion or synthesize vitamins. In this population of microorganisms there is a group of bacteria called stroboloma that have the ability to regulate the proportion of estrogens circulating in our body.

These microorganisms develop an enzyme called beta-glucuronidase which, in the intestine, transforms estrogens into their active form. With this transformation, the stroboloma bacteria alter the presence of estrogens in the blood, generating a close relationship between the intestinal microbiota, the vaginal microbiota and the volume of estrogens in the body.

Health and early menopause

An adequate estrogen level is the basis for an improvement in symptoms.

A deficit of this hormone causes a loss of bone mass or an increase in body weight.
But an excess of estrogen is not good either because it worsens endometriosis and can increase the chances of breast, ovarian and cervical cancer.

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Depending on the state of our microbiota, estrogens will be activated to a greater or lesser degree. If our vaginal microbiota is balanced, it will help estrogens to be activated to the precise extent. This is essential in the process towards menopause, when estrogens begin to decline.

Menopause and vaginal microbiota.

The microbiota changes during a woman’s life, for example because hormonal scenarios will condition which microbial class will predominate.

Thus, we will see a very different microbiota in a girl, a mature woman or an elderly woman.

In menopause, we can see that, as a rule, there is a reduction in estrogen percentages and this generates a loss of bacterial heterogeneity.

And both the loss of bacterial diversity and the decrease in estrogen affect the vaginal microbiota that secures the vaginal mucosa, causing vulvar and vaginal atrophy and less cervical mucus.
These changes develop a hostile environment in the vagina: the pH changes and this causes even more vaginal flora to be lost. This is why menopause increases vaginal dryness and infections.

Recommended exercises for the menopause

But if in the years of transit to menopause we maintain a healthy microbiota and, consequently, an optimal estroboloma, estrogens -even if they go down naturally- will remain more active and the symptoms will be lower.

This will help to reduce inflammation, hot flashes, vaginal atrophy and dryness, urinary tract infections…

How to regulate the estrobolome?

Probiotics are very useful in helping to regulate the estrobolome at this stage of a woman’s life. Those with different strains of lactobacilli are suggested, since it is a key bacterium in the vaginal flora and one of the most lost at this stage. It has been scientifically proven that probiotics with lactobacilli help to support estrogen stability and prevent bone loss.

Foods that can help us

Fermented foods such as probiotic drinks contain probiotics that bring beneficial bacteria to the intestine. In parallel, it is essential to continue a diverse diet, rich in fresh vegetables, which are a source of prebiotics, the food of beneficial bacteria. We recommend to try our Colondrink.