Why Probiotics are Perfect for Women During Menopause?

Women are more prone to bacteria and infections during menopause. Probiotic supplements can help prevent this.

What Happens During Menopause?

Changes in Fat Distribution

Although age and lifestyle are the most important factors in weight management, many women have increased problems in maintaining a healthy weight, especially during the menopause transition.

There is a considerable quantity of menopausal women who are overweight, where a once pear-shaped body morphs into an apple-shaped body type, with more unwanted fats stored above the waist.

Low-quality sleep, reductions in metabolism, and muscle mass due to the drop in estrogen levels are all reasons why menopause worsens weight management issues.

Increased Occurrence of Hot Flashes

Decreased estrogen levels cause the hypothalamus to become more sensitive to even the slightest changes in body temperature. Hence, hot flashes are one of those menopausal symptoms that one cannot fully avoid.

Hot flashes are known to affect two out of three women during menopause, and this experience can repeat and hunt your life for as long as 15 years.

As many of us have experienced, hot flashes are unwanted and very much uncomfortable rise of heat in body temperature. This rush of heat could lead to sweating, heart palpitations, and even feelings of dizziness.

Some women who experience extravagant episodes of hot flashes even faint, most common to women who are obese.

Susceptibility to Infections

Bladder infections, yeast infections, and chronic digestive diseases such as colitis are some of the infections that women are prone to during menopause.

The decrease in estrogen and progesterone is likely to impact a woman's immune system, resulting in a reduction in the body's usual ability to fight bacteria and infections.

We know that urinary tract infections are more common to women than men because the female anatomy has a shorter urethra than a man's. That shortens the distance the bacteria needs to travel to reach the bladder. However, the bladder is also loaded with estrogen receptors, so the reduction of this hormone during menopause is not helping the body fight off bad bacteria at all.

Why Probiotics are Perfect for Women During Menopause

Prevent Bladder Infections

A woman's bladder is loaded with estrogen receptors because it is the number one protection against bladder infections. Hence, the decline of estrogen production will likely cause bladder infections.

Probiotics help women prevent bladder infections during menopause by increasing the presence of lactobacilli, a healthy microbiome that helps resist bladder infections in the absence of estrogen production.

Treat Irritable Bowel System

An irritable bowel system includes moments of diarrhea, constipation, bloating, and abdominal pain.

The cause of irritable bowel system during menopause is likely due to hormone fluctuations, which is why women's bowel systems generally improve after menopause.

During menopause, probiotics treat an irritable bowel system by stabilizing and normalizing a woman's bowel functions. Probiotics do this by stimulating the body to produce necessary mucus, therefore enhancing the intestinal barrier function and normalizing bowel movements.

Ward Off Yeast Infections

Menopausal women are at risk of experiencing yeast infections due to the much-reduced production of estrogen, which we know to be the number one protection against bladder infections.

Changes in the vagina during menopause occur when the estrogen content of the vaginal tissue decreases, resulting in vaginal dryness and thinning of tissue. This all leads to an inflammation of the vagina, commonly known as a yeast infection.

Relieve Hot Flashes

During menopause, the slightest changes in body temperature could trigger uncomfortable hot flashes.

Besides avoiding any food or activities that trigger hot flashes, many women find that increasing their intake of probiotics helps reduce episodes of hot flashes.

This is because good bacteria contribute to healthy metabolism and recycling of hormones in the body, which then supports hormonal balance and reduces the body's sensitivity to increases in temperature.