Probiotics for Optimal Health and Fertility
Probiotics are gaining attention for their wide-ranging health benefits. The microbiome of the intestines is now being recognized as more than just part of a healthy, functional digestive system. Rather, the bacteria of the human digestive system are symbiotic with the human endocrine system, influencing the production and use of hormones with significant effects across the body. In fact, the balance or imbalance (dysbiosis) of the gut microbiome is now known to affect everything from neurotransmitters to the hormone leptin, which regulates the sensation of hunger.
Scientists are mapping missing beneficial bacteria strains and overgrown harmful bacteria strains. They are correlating that information against many disorders, finding connections to immune function, mild to severe mood disorders, developmental disorders and metabolic disorders. Now researchers are probing the connection between fertility and probiotics. They are finding that the gut microbiome does indeed influence the hormones critical to fertility in both women and men.
PCOS and Probiotics
Probiotics have been studied for their healing influence on metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Now the research has pivoted naturally to PCOS, which is associated with those conditions. Women with PCOS tend to have lower levels of beneficial probiotics and high levels of pathogenic bacteria, with such dysbiosis leading to chronic inflammation and oxidative stress affecting multiple organs. Lack of probiotic Bifidobacterium lactis in particular has been linked to PCOS. Patients with PCOS also had higher levels of a microbial-produced enzyme which increases the absorption of androgens. This correlates with the characteristic over-expression of androgenic (male-type) physical characteristics in women with PCOS.
Endometriosis and Probiotics
Researchers noted that many women with endometriosis also exhibited gastrointestinal symptoms. They began looking at the link between the gut microbiome and endometriosis. They found indications of a vicious cycle of gut inflammation and inflammation from endometrial lesions which escalated endometrial symptoms over time. Treatment with lactobacillus was found to decrease the endometrial pain symptoms, with highest effect after eight weeks on the probiotics. Preliminary animal studies showed that lactobacilli may actually reduce the size of endometrial lesions. Antibiotics have been considered as treatment for endometriosis because of pathogenic bacteria associated with endometrial lesions, but this is a concern because antibiotics also destroy beneficial bacteria. This new research suggests that intensive probiotic therapy to crowd out pathogenic bacteria may be helpful, certainly as a follow-up to antibiotics.
Other Protective Effects of Probiotics in Women
A healthy microbiome in women has protective effects over her whole lifetime. One study shows that probiotic needs vary over time, increasing with age. Younger women showed improvement in fertility with just probiotic therapy. Women over age 35 showed improved fertility with additional support to counteract oxidative stress due to age—support that was as simple as adding prebiotic flavonoids to their diet along with probiotics.
A healthy microbiome in the mother is protective during pregnancy as well. Probiotics combined with bioflavonoids, a plant-based prebiotic that supports probiotic growth, can have a protective effect against group B strep, a common pathogen present in many women, and typically treated with IV antibiotics during labor to prevent transmission to the infant during birth. Overgrowth of group B strep can weaken the amniotic sac, resulting in premature rupture of membranes. As a related anecdote, a mother tested positive for group B strep over multiple pregnancies and had corresponding repeated premature rupture of membranes. During her last pregnancy, she took probiotic supplements three times a day. At term, she tested negative for the harmful bacteria for the first time; she did not experience a premature rupture.
The healthy female reproductive tract is also protective of male fertility because it is typically colonized with beneficial lactobacilli. This bacterium protects sperm cells from reactive oxidative stress and related membrane damage from the harmful byproducts of the common pathogen E. coli. So, a healthy microbiome in the woman has benefits reaching beyond her own personal health.
Male Fertility and Probiotics
A healthy gut microbiome is also a key aspect of male fertility. Cutting edge research shows that dysbiosis is harmful to male fertility because it increases systemic inflammation and damaging oxidative stress, and it also disrupts the endocrine system. The cascading effects of dysbiosis can result in genetic problems in the sperm cells, impacting fertility and even the genetic health of the child if conception does occur. For example, a healthy microbiome is integral to processing folate, and disruption of folate and B12 production can cause DNA disruption in sperm cells. The damaging results of dysbiosis for male fertility are significant but readily treatable. A recent review article found wide-ranging improvement in men with diagnosed infertility, including greater sperm motility and morphology, indicating greater genetic health, and increases in sperm count and concentration after treatment with common probiotic strains, such as lactobacillus and bifidobacterium.
Optimizing Microbiome Health
The intestinal microbiome plays a critical role across all aspects of human health, with effects even touching the genetics of the next generation, and probiotic therapies have proven promising, cost-effective and safe. Researchers strongly suggest the dietary strategies they used in their studies be implemented before conception, recommending foods that support a healthy gut microbiome, such as fermented dairy products, high-fiber foods like broccoli, chickpeas and avocado, and foods high in flavonoids which support beneficial bacteria. These recommendations dovetail with studies on the benefits of the Mediterranean diet and flavonoid- and polyphenol-rich fruits and herbs, such as pomegranate, ginger and turmeric, all of which show marked benefits for health and fertility.
For couples hoping to optimize their health and fertility, it is helpful to know that simple changes can make such a difference: reducing sugar and processed foods, regularly adding probiotic and prebiotic foods to their diet and taking a wide-spectrum probiotic supplement for optimum health.
Written for Family Foundations magazine by Rosemary Shannon Imrick. Rosemary is mother to twelve children by birth and international adoption, and homeschools her children along with her husband Michael in Fort Wayne, Indiana. A freelance writer and copyeditor, she taught English Composition at Purdue University Fort Wayne for sixteen years. She now manages Shannon Haven, an agricultural business dedicated to continuing the Shannon family legacy.
Marilyn Shannon, Rosemary’s mother, wrote Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition, which also contains helpful information for optimizing male and female fertility. Find the book in the CCL store. Find more healthy recipes and information about PCOS in our book combo: Food for Fertility & PCOS.
References
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