While fibre is most commonly associated with symptoms such as constipation, it can also have a huge impact on your hormones! If you have a hormonal imbalance such as Endometriosis, PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome), heavy or painful periods, fibroids, fluid retention, sore breasts or a family history of breast or other hormonal cancer - fibre can help!
Most of these symptoms and conditions involve excess estrogens (PCOS is different - usually androgens/testosterone is high) which can accumulate in your body and fat cells from dietary and environmental sources. These include pesticides on food, hormones in farmed animals, use of the oral contraceptive pill, fragrances and other chemicals in body/beauty products and plastics. Many of these act as xeno-estrogens, meaning they can bind to estrogen receptors throughout the body and mimic the effects of estrogen.
An increased level of estrogens is associate with an increased risk of hormonal cancers such as breast, ovarian, cervical and endometrial.
Fibre is your friend in helping to reduce excess levels of hormones and to help keep them in balance. While there are other factors involved in treating hormonal imbalances, this is one thing you can easily improve and utilise in your daily life to support happy hormones and reduce your risk of disease.
Fibre works its magic by binding toxins/chemicals and excess hormones and removing them through your colon. If you are not consuming enough fibre, hormones can be reabsorbed back into your body, instead of being eliminated! Fibre reduces the activity of the enzyme (B-glucuronidase) that allows this reabsorption.
Your gut bacteria and gut health are also reliant on adequate fibre, and also help regulate estrogen removal and reabsorption. Your gut health is also a huge part of your immune system, and poor gut health including leaky gut (intestinal permeability) underlies auto-immune conditions. There is research suggesting an auto-immune component to Endometriosis and even PCOS, due to the underlying changes throughout the body and the similarities to other auto-immune conditions.
PCOS commonly involves issues with insulin and this can also be improved by consuming enough fibre and following a low sugar diet. Insulin regulation is also impacted by estrogen levels - so you can see how hormones influence each other and that supporting the balance of all hormones is beneficial to your overall health.
My favourite fibre family is cruciferous vegetables! These include broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussel sprouts, radish and other leafy greens such as rocket, bok choy, kale and collard greens. While these vegetables provide fibre they also contain a sulphur compound (as does onion, garlic and leeks) which helps to support liver detox enzymes which help our body to remove chemicals and excess hormones. These compounds have also been shown to improve estrogen metabolite ratio (the ratio between 2/4/16-hydroxyestrone metabolites, a higher level of 4 and 16 metabolites are associated with increased risk of hormonal cancers) and have many protective effects in the body against disease.
Aspragus is another great vegetable which has a prebiotic action to feed your gut bacteria. Aim to get most of your fibre from a variety of fresh, seasonal, local and spray free (whenever possible) vegetables. You can also include 1-2 pieces fruit (berries, kiwi, papaya, passionfruit, pear, apple), along with legumes and whole grains (oats, rice, quinoa, buckwheat) depending on your tolerance to these foods. Soaked and sprouted grains/legumes/nuts/seeds are easier to digest.
Sauerkraut and Kim Chi are another great addition as these fermented vegetables have the benefits of fibre as well as containing beneficial bacteria. Introduce slowly - start with a forkful per day and build up if you feel good on this. If you have issues with fermented foods you may have a significant gut imbalance which needs correcting first.
The more fibre you get through whole foods the better, but if you need a fibre supplement please speak to your Naturopath, Nutritionist or health food shop. Many popular fibre supplements use less nutritious fibre and can contain added nasties such as chemical sweeteners, colours and sugars. Slippery elm powder and chia seeds are great natural fibre supplements. With any fibre supplement it's best to start slow and build up, along with keeping up adequate water intake.
A qualified Naturopath or Nutritionist can help you assess your hormone levels and estrogen metabolite ratio. If you have hormonal symptoms or a family history of hormonal disease, this can be a great way to check your risk level and work on balancing hormones and preventing disease in the future.
Marion McConnell is a degree qualified Naturopath who helps women with stress, hormone imbalances, anxiety and fatigue. The clinic is located in New Farm Brisbane, and consultations are also available via Skype. You can contact Marion here.
