Our gut is essential to our reproductive health. Want regular and manageable periods, hormone balance or pregnancy success?

It’s time to focus on nurturing a fertile gut!

 

Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria, and we call this community living in your gut your microbiota. Your gut microbiota contribute to metabolism, balance hormones, regulate your immune system, extract nutrients from the food you eat and boost your mood.

We care a lot about your gut microbiota because they also influence your fertility.

 

What Does a Fertile Gut Look Like?

 

A healthy, fertile gut has lots of microbes so your gut can do lots of different jobs. This is called diversity.

When our gut is not working as well it may be, because there are not enough good microbes or too many bad microbes, this is called dysbiosis.

Disruptions in your gut microbiota do not necessarily mean you experience gut symptoms. While bloating, frequent trips to the loo, cramping or stomach pain are signs that your gut is less than happy, it is possible to not experience gut symptoms and have an imbalance in your microbiome.

 

Symptoms of Dysbiosis

 

Imbalances in our gut microbiome can manifest in several ways. Signs your gut is disrupted can include:

- brain fog
- fatigue
- inflammation
- autoimmune conditions
- frequents colds and illness
- difficulty losing weight
- reflux
- psoriasis and acne
- irregular periods
- anxiety
- infertility

 

These gut disruptions are found in conditions impacting fertility such as:

- polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
- endometriosis
- low testosterone in males
- obesity
- autoimmune conditions (including Grave’s disease and rheumatoid arthritis)
- Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Irritable Bowel Disease (IBD)
- Unexplained infertility

 

Do I have ‘Leaky Gut’?

 

An important role of your gut microbes is to keep your intestinal tract functioning well, and to produce compounds that help your gut cells stick together.

When you feed your microbes the prebiotics they love they produce beneficial short chain fatty acids SCFAs (such as butyrate) that help the cells of your gut stay linked together. An imbalance in your gut microbiota weakens the bonds between the cells of your gut.

This dysbiosis leads to an increase in inflammation and these signals further disrupt the tight junction proteins that hold your gut cells together. Ever heard of ‘Leaky Gut’?

While ‘Leaky Gut’ is not a medical diagnosis, it does describe what happens to your gut barrier when your gut microbiota are not as happy as they could be – it becomes more permeable or ‘leaky’.

This increase in permeability allows potent immune stimulating compounds from bacteria in the gut to cross over into the blood stream which is not good news for your fertility.

An increase in circulating levels of bacterial endotoxin contribute to inflammation in the ovary, reduce progesterone production, increase levels of sperm DNA damage and impact embryo development and implantation.

 

Getting Your Gut Back on Track

 

Nurturing the diversity of your gut microbiome will:

Reduce oxidative stress and inflammation. Over 70% of women with unexplained infertility have elevated levels of oxidative stress and inflammation. Inflammation is also higher in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS), endometriosis and male infertility.

Regulate blood glucose & improve insulin sensitivity. In women with PCOS and insulin resistance, implantation (11·6% vs 28·7%), clinical pregnancy (23·5% vs 53·1%), and ongoing pregnancy rates (21·6% vs 46·9%) are reduced when compared to women that have PCOS but do not experience insulin resistance [1]. Even without diabetes or PCOS, women with recurrent pregnancy loss (2 losses before 20 weeks) have been shown to have higher fasting insulin levels.

Boost your immune system. A gut community that contains lots of beneficial microbes will be effective at fighting off pathogens- keeping you fighting fit for enhancing fertility!

Improve nutrient absorption. A well-balanced ecosystem in your gut will extract more phytonutrients from food.

Reduce toxin absorption and systemic exposure. Your microbiota can alter the metabolic outcome of pharmaceuticals, environmental toxins, and heavy metals. A diverse microbiota will limit this absorption and toxicity.

Modulate oestrogen concentrations. There are over 60 species of bacteria in your gut that regulate oestrogen. A disrupted microbiome is seen in endometriosis and PCOS, and improving diversity supports oestrogen balance.

Lower testosterone concentrations in females. Greater diversity in your microbiome lower androgens, including testosterone, for improved fertility.

Strengthen the gut barrier. Prebiotics increase the expression of proteins that hold your gut cells together to make a strong barrier against any foreign pathogens, and to limit endotoxin entering the bloodstream.

 

How Can I Increase My Gut Microbiome Diversity?

 

A good diet is the best natural remedy to support gut health and tackle conditions like inflammation, PCOS and endometriosis to boost fertility. Being mindful about what we eat and drink should always be the first step in feeling your very best.

Besides good sleep, exercise and a fibre-rich diet, Fertile Gut goodness is scientifically formulated for its proven benefits to nurture gut diversity and support your fertility. 

Want to enhance the diversity of your microbiome for optimal fertility? You are in the right place!

 

 

Learn how to nurture your gut microbiome for pregnancy success with Create a Fertile Gut