Healthy digestion is high up on the list of health priorities for most women; however did you know that abdominal bloating, irritable bowel, constipation or diarrhea can be causing hormonal imbalances such as premenstrual syndrome, heavy periods, hot flushes, night sweats, insomnia, anxiety, skin problems and mood changes?

In fact, bloating and tummy troubles are a sign that you are suffering from an imbalance in digestive flora or ‘dysbiosis'. This stems from a condition called Bowel toxemia or a breakdown in the balance between protective versus harmful intestinal bacteria and puts you on a slippery downhill slope of hormonal havoc and poor health.

Abdominal bloating and its causes

Perhaps you follow a healthy diet and already take probiotics, so what could be triggering these imbalances? Common causes of dysbiosis are stress, diet (sulphur, excessive protein, excess refined carbohydrates, alcohol, lack of fiber, excess dietary fat intake, caffeine, a lowered immune system, medications and intestinal infections and infestations. Dysbiosis is more than an upset tummy - it is a chronic health condition that needs urgent attention as it influences your reproductive health, metabolism and immune system on a daily basis.

Abdominal bloating triggers chronic health conditions

Poor digestion or Bowel toxemia (BT) has been found to be linked to a number of chronic health conditions such as chronic fatigue, depression and auto immune disorders, like Hashimotto's Thyroiditis, Arthritis and Lupus. It has also been linked to female reproductive imbalances such as unexplained infertility, Poly Cystic Ovarian Disorder (PCOS), Endometriosis, Fibroids, Cysts and Menopause. Unfortunately, for many women, the cause of BT is never addressed, leaving them on a slow painful and frustrating decline in health and unwanted weight gain, especially around the middle!

Hormonal imbalances and abdominal bloating

Abdominal Bloating, irritable bowel symptoms and constipation are associated with estrogen dominance and the connection is largely misunderstood. So, let me explain.

Firstly, Bowel toxemia (BT) extends as far back to Hippocrates and is the belief that excess food intake or the wrong type of foods leads to production of toxins often via fermentation that can then lead to disease. This is why knowing what to eat for your individual profile is fundamental to good health.

Over time, bowel toxemia evolves into intestinal dysbiosis and is best explained in three categories:

1. Helicobacter pylori presence in the stomach, small intestinal over growth, colonic flora imbalance such as parasites (protozoa) or yeasts (Candida)
2. High protein low carbohydrate diets trigger putrefaction that leads to higher bad bacteria levels (bacteroides) and lower good bacteria levels (Bifidobacteria sp). This is caused by high dietary fat consumption with a low fiber intake. The problem is, high protein low fiber diets trigger bacterial enzymes such as urease and beta-glucuronidase to metabolize and break down bile acids in a way that stop excess estrogen removal. In short, it creates estrogen dominance and in addition, these broken down bile acids are toxic to bowel tissue causing diarrhea, bloating, flatulence and constipation.
3. Carbohydrate intolerance occurs when there is excess fermentation induced by an overgrowth of bad bacteria within the digestive system. This promotes an imbalance in hydrochloric acid leading to symptoms such as distention, flatulence, diarrhea, and constipation. For many women, this is why taking additional fiber in the form of psyllium will make this worse and a far better choice would be slippery elm powder. In fact, research now supports eating in a propbiotic way and tailored pro biotic therapy incorporating antimicrobial herbs is effective in the management of bloating, constipation irritable bowel syndrome and gut dysbiosis associated with weight gain. So it's not just avoiding foods to stop bloating, it's knowing what foods to introduce into your diet to repair and replace digestive function naturally.

For some women, its digestive imbalance causes hormonal imbalance and hormonal imbalances are triggering their digestive imbalance, so it's a frustrating interconnected cycle!

For example, bloating and constipation is often related to the menstrual cycle and the level of hormones and estrogen receptors in the bowel may play a role. When hormones are unbalanced digestive function slows down and gas moves more slowly through the intestines primarily due to the hormone progesterone. This triggers further dysbiosis and a greater imbalance in estrogen which makes the whole bloating cycle worse!

Getting on top of your tummy troubles and health is like peeling back the layers of an onion and takes expertise, experience and time. In clinic, I help women every day to establishing the cause of their tummy troubles and over the years it is clear that every woman is different. This is one reason why you may not be getting the results from traditional anti Candida diets or creams and acidophilus alone may not be working.

Establishing the cause of your bloating and digestive upsets is an involved process, requiring professional symptomatic screening techniques and targeted dysbiotic testing. But this is only the first stage to get past. The next stage is to identify the underlying factors triggering it, repair the damage and restore balance - both to the digestive system and hormones, so you can finally be symptom free!

Narelle Stegehuis, CEO of Mass Attack is a practicing naturopath with over 30,000 hrs of in-clinic experience. Specializing in the natural treatment of women's hormonal imbalances, she has a trained eye for hormonal weight gain. Uniquely, for patient convenience, her programs are offered via the internet. She is both an accomplished writer and recipient of the Australian Naturopathic Excellence Award. To find out if your hormones are causing your symptoms, visit http://www.massattack.com.au/DIGESTION_Test.html