HOW GUT MICROBIOME DRIVES HEALTH RISK – AND WHAT YOU CAN
DO TO RESTORE BALANCE
As women age, especially during and after menopause, the gut microbiome often shifts, leading to issues like SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), persistent bloating, fatigue, and increased risk of inflammation, hormone disruption, and cancer.
The Gut Microbiome: A Hidden Ecosystem With a Big Role
The gut microbiome—trillions of microbes crucial for digestion, immunity, and maintaining the gut barrier—is damaged by modern factors like processed foods and antibiotics. This often results in a widespread condition called SIBO, where harmful colonic bacteria (like Proteobacteria) invade the small intestine, causing chronic, low-grade inflammation and potentially increasing cancer risk.
How Gut Microbes Influence Cancer Risk
Gut microbes significantly influence cancer risk. When fecal microbes overgrow in the small intestine, they die and release endotoxins into the bloodstream, a process called endotoxemia. This systemic inflammation accelerates aging and increases cancer risk. Studies show women with breast cancer often have gut overgrowth of fecal-type bacteria, high endotoxin levels, and microbes that process estrogen into more carcinogenic forms, stimulating tumor growth.
The Estrogen-Microbiome Connection
After menopause, certain harmful gut microbes produce the enzyme beta-glucuronidase, which reactivates (deconjugates) estrogen into carcinogenic forms that continue to stimulate cancer growth. This mechanism is a key reason breast cancer risk rises after menopause. Gut dysbiosis also contributes to:
Colorectal Cancer: Via oral microbes that promote tumor growth.
Endometrial and Uterine Cancers: Due to disrupted estrogen metabolism.
Systemic Inflammation: Endotoxemia creates an internal environment that supports tumor development in other organs.
Why Modern Life Damages the Gut
Modern life damages the gut through several factors:
- Processed Diets: Ultra-processed foods contain emulsifiers (like polysorbate 80) that weaken the gut barrier and preservatives that act as antimicrobials, killing beneficial bacteria.
- Toxins and Pharmaceuticals: Environmental chemicals like PFAS and the weed killer glyphosate act as gut-disrupting antibiotics. Common stomach acid-blocking drugs (PPIs, H2 blockers) allow oral bacteria to migrate down and colonize the small intestine.
Restoring Balance: A Gut-First Prevention Strategy
A gut-first strategy can be a powerful tool for cancer prevention:
- Reintroduce Beneficial Bacteria: Use complex probiotics and fermented foods like Bravo to suppress harmful bacteria, reduce inflammation, and restore healthy estrogen processing.
- Feed the Good Microbes: Consume prebiotic fibers to nourish beneficial microbes and strengthen the gut barrier.
- Reduce Microbiome Disruptors: Eliminate ultra-processed foods, preservatives, emulsifiers, and environmental toxins such as glyphosate.
- Strengthen the Gut Barrier: Restore the protective mucosal layer using beneficial microbes.
Practical First Steps
Practical steps to rebuild the microbiome include: Eat a diverse, fiber-rich, minimally processed diet rich in fermented foods or highly biodiverse probiotics; support the gut barrier with appropriate supplements; maintain good digestive health to prevent bacterial migration; avoid unnecessary antibiotics and microbiome-disrupting additives.
A New Lens on Cancer Prevention
While conventional oncology treats cancer after it develops, microbiome-based medicine thinks that nurturing the gut and addressing gut dysbiosis early are powerful, missing pieces in prevention.
Yours truly,
Dr. Marco Ruggiero
