Dr. Betty Murray explains how estradiol acts as an immune modulator affecting nearly every cell in the body, and how the gut microbiome functions as an endocrine organ that communicates with the vagina, ovaries, brain, and bones. The gut produces most neurotransmitters and houses much of the immune system, which helps explain weight changes during hormone therapy and links between gut health and mood.
As an example, estradiol is a potent immune modulator in the body. So I think we think about estrogen as bikini medicine. It's responsible for our menstrual cycles, it's responsible for fertility, and then it probably doesn't have a lot of other, it doesn't have any other components in the body. And I would make the argument that all of these hormones that we're talking about have potent effects on nearly every cell or system in the body. And the gut microbiome is no different. There's important communication patterns with our vaginas, our oral microbiome, our ovaries, our bone, our lungs. Literally every organ system in the body is connected to the gut. So it's really been the last 5 to 10 years that we've started to learn so much more about it and why it's so important. It explains why some women go on hormones and they gain weight. It explains why some women, you know, consume certain diets like ketogenic diets, which were all the rage for a long period of time, but can be very therapeutic, why they work well for some and not others. And also, like, why we're impacted, you know, food and mood. I always remind people that, you know, the bulk of our neurotransmitters, our immune system are all housed there. And so it's just really important for people to understand that the gut microbiome is more than just a digestive organ. It is actually a unique endocrine organ with signaling molecules that are going all across the body, you know, just kind of like little messengers or mailmen or mailwomen, however you want to phrase it.
