The Gut-Hormone Connection: How the Microbiome Impacts Menopause

Credit

Speaker

Cindi Lockhart, RDN, LD, IFNCP Related seminars and products

Lockhart Wellness Solutions, LLC

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Cindi Lockhart, RDN, LD, IFNCP, is board-certified as an integrative and functional nutrition practitioner with over 30 years in professional practice. She has trained nutrition, fitness, and medical practitioners throughout most of her career, yet maintains a personal practice with clients as she believes that the only way she can effectively educate and inspire other practitioners is through her own practical experience with clients. In addition to educating on how Food is Medicine, Cindi also specializes in coaching clients and practitioners on the importance of managing stress, optimizing sleep, proper exercise and movement, and reducing exposure to environmental toxins. Cindi has extensive expertise in women’s health issues including perimenopause/menopause and thyroid dysfunction as well as autoimmunity, gut health, weight management, cardiometabolic health (insulin resistance, diabetes, heart disease), fasting, histamine intolerance, mold detox, and long COVID.
 

Speaker Disclosures:
Financial: Cindi Lockhart is the owner and founder of Lockhart Wellness Solutions, LLC. and is a contributing author for Experience Life Magazine. She receives compensation from Fullscript. Cindi Lockhart receives a speaking honorarium and recording royalties from PESI, Inc. All relevant financial relationships with ineligible organizations have been mitigated.
Non-financial: Cindi Lockhart is a member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, Dietitians in Integrative & Functional Medicine, the Institute for Functional Medicine, and the Integrative & Functional Nutrition Academy.

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Objectives

1. Describe the role of the estrobolome and gut microbiome in estrogen metabolism during menopause.
2. Identify how dysbiosis and gut permeability contribute to hormonal imbalances affecting cortisol, insulin, thyroid, and sex hormones.
3. Apply the 5R gut repair framework to develop individualized treatment plans for menopausal patients experiencing gut-hormone disruptions.

Outline

Microbiome + Menopause: A Two-Way Street

• Overview of the gut microbiome’s role in systemic homeostasis
• How sex hormones shape the microbiome—and vice versa
• Estrobolome defined: estrogen recycling, β-glucuronidase, and detoxification pathways
• Menopause-related changes to:
  • Gut microbial diversity
  • Genitourinary flora and vaginal microbiome
  • Gut barrier function and systemic inflammation
• Clinical implications for fat distribution, appetite regulation, and metabolic disease risk

Hormonal Disruption via the Gut Axis

• Cortisol: chronic stress, gut permeability, and HPA axis dysfunction
• Insulin & blood sugar: microbiome-driven metabolic shifts in menopause
• Thyroid: gut-thyroid connection and how dysfunction mimics menopause
• Sex hormones: how poor detox pathways and dysbiosis compound menopausal symptoms

Clinically Applying the 5R Gut Repair Protocol

• Remove: inflammation triggers (foods, toxins, pathogens)
• Replace: enzymes, stomach acid, bile
• Reinoculate: probiotics and prebiotics for menopausal populations
• Repair: targeted nutrients for gut barrier integrity (e.g., glutamine, zinc, polyphenols)
• Rebalance: circadian rhythm, movement, and nervous system regulation
  • Emphasis on sleep, stress recovery, and low-impact exercise

Target Audience

• Registered Nurses
• Nurse Practitioners
• Physicians
• Physician Assistants
• Physical Therapists
• Doctors of Chiropractic
• Women’s Health Specialists
• Other Licensed Healthcare Professionals