April 08th, 2025

Your child’s gut microbiome lays the foundation for healthier brains, bodies, and immune systems - and even their hormones. Your microbiome plays a critical role in how your hormones - like estrogen, cortisol, and thyroid hormones - are produced, regulated, and cleared from your body.

Here’s the problem: most of us, including our kids, have some level of gut microbiome disruption. From processed foods to chronic stress, our microbiomes are inflamed, imbalanced, and overburdened. And when your gut is out of whack, your brain, immune system and hormones don’t stand a chance.

With early puberty, late puberty, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, PCOS, endometriosis, period problems, and adrenal dysfunction all on the rise in our kids and teens, we need to understand what to do now to protect our kids’ hormones, and their microbiomes.

Here’s what you need to know:

• Up to 90% of your immune system resides in your gut. If your gut is inflamed (think leaky gut or imbalances in bacteria), it triggers systemic inflammation that wreaks havoc on hormone signaling.
• Imbalanced gut bacteria disrupts the estrobolome (a group of gut microbes that regulate estrogen recycling), leading to symptoms like painful periods, bloating, and mood swings.
• A leaky gut creates a leaky brain. When the gut barrier is compromised, inflammatory molecules reach the brain, driving anxiety, depression, and cognitive issues—all tied to hormone dysfunction.