How to 'detox' your hormones with fermented foods

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Can fermented foods help to balance midlife hormones?

One of the many ways Gen Xers and early Millennials are redefining the menopause experience is with food — specifically hormone-balancing foods. Whether it’s high-protein diets, intermittent fasting, or phytoestrogen foods, we’re exploring different ways to manage troublesome symptoms through what we eat. And now, the spotlight shines on a food preservation method that has supported gut and hormone health for centuries. Step forward, fermented foods.

What are fermented foods?

In regions all over the world, fermentation is a traditional way of preserving food to improve its shelf life and enhance taste and digestibility. There are several different ways to do this:

1. Dry brining

Sauerkraut is a classic example of dry brining. Cabbage (or other vegetables) is massaged with salt until a natural brine forms. The mixture is packed in a jar and left to ferment.

2. Wet brining

Vegetables are stored in salt water to ferment.

3. Using a SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast)

Sourdough bread, apple cider vinegar, kefir, and kombucha tea are good examples of fermented foods that use a SCOBY. Also called a “Mother,” the SCOBY is transferred from one batch of food to another and produces baby SCOBYs along the way (hence the name Mother).

The earliest evidence of fermented food production comes from archaeological remains in Asia dating back to 8000 BC. It’s a time-honored tradition that’s back in the spotlight now as an easy, low-cost way of making healthy food that supports the gut microbiome.

Research into the gut microbiome is flourishing, and we now know about the connections between gut bugs and mental health, inflammatory diseases, autoimmunity, and hormone balance. So, what does this mean for MidstHers juggling peri/menopause?

3 benefits of fermented foods for hormone health

With peri/menopausal symptoms like anxiety, depression, weight gain, and inflammation all linked to the health of our gut bacteria, it makes sense to nurture these microbes as much as possible.

Fermented foods are great for:

1. “Topping up” your gut microbiome

Natural bacteria in fermented foods strengthen the number and diversity of microbes in your gut. Research shows that microbial diversity in the microbiome drops during menopause, so topping it up with natural food species may help offset this.

2. Hormone detoxification

There’s a subset of gut bacteria called the estrobolome that metabolizes old estrogen, putting some of it back into circulation to the liver. Too much recycling can exacerbate estrogen dominance in perimenopause, but too little is unhelpful, too. As ever, there’s a balance to be had, and general microbiome support can keep the estrobolome happy.

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