Probiotics for Menopause: Expert Tips & Benefits

While menopause can come with a host of physical and emotional symptoms, it’s also an opportunity to optimize your health. New research reveals that microbiome changes follow hormonal shifts, triggering many of the symptoms women experience. Various probiotic strains can help balance your changing microbiome and metabolism. Read the most in-depth article on the internet that sums up 43 studies showing you which strains actually work, plus get tips from three leading experts.  

Disclaimer: This post is for informational purposes only. Please discuss your health concerns with your care provider and consult them before taking any supplements to avoid disease and drug interactions.

Probiotics for Menopause: Benefits Summary 

Probiotics during perimenopause and menopause may help:

• Balance hormones by reactivating estrogen and progesterone in the gut
• Support weight loss and improve metabolic markers like insulin and cholesterol
• Ease mood swings, stress, and irritability by acting on the gut-brain axis
• Improve cognitive function and mental clarity, potentially helping with brain fog
• Reduce hot flashes, night sweats, and vaginal dryness
• Support gut, oral, vaginal, and urinary microbiomes for better overall health
• Strengthen bones and joints by improving calcium absorption and lowering inflammation

Microbiome Plus+ has several probiotic supplements containing Lactobacillus strains, which can help balance the microbiome during menopause. 

Menopause: A Time to Crash or Optimize Your Health?

As you enter perimenopause, big shifts start taking place in your body. Many women dread going into menopause because they fear the symptoms that may accompany it—from mood changes to weight gain to hot flashes to joint pain to crashing fatigue. 

If you’re experiencing some (or all!) of these symptoms, you might wonder if there’s a way out. You may even suddenly get diagnosed with heart disease or osteoporosis, even though you were healthy before menopause.1 

The good news is that there are many ways to manage these symptoms and regain your health, from conventional medications to natural strategies. 

The conventional approach includes hormonal therapy, while naturopaths may recommend bioidentical hormones.2,3

Beyond hormones, many herbs, supplements, and lifestyle changes can also help. Probiotics are especially promising since they specifically support your changing microbiome and metabolic health.4 

“Every woman deserves to feel at home in her body again. Supporting the microbiome isn’t just a health strategy, it’s an act of self-honoring in a season that often feels unfamiliar,” says Jenna Richardson, Certified Menopause Specialist and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner (FDN-P). “Menopause isn’t a decline, it’s a biological transition. And your microbiome can be your greatest ally in navigating it.”

A recent scientific review in Nature highlights that viewing menopause is a biological and psychological transition opens opportunities for psychological growth and well-being for women. Within this framework, integrative mind-body approaches can be used to help manage both physical symptoms and mental health concerns.5

Understanding the hormonal and microbiome changes that are happening in your body during this time can empower you to optimize your health on a whole new level. 

In this post, we’ll focus on explaining the microbiome shifts that happen in menopause and the role probiotics can play in helping you feel healthier and more energized again. We’ve also included expert tips from integrative women’s health practitioners, so read on. 

Summary

As you enter perimenopause, major hormonal and microbiome shifts take place. This can be an opportunity to optimize your health. Probiotics are especially promising, as they help balance your changing microbiome and metabolism.

How Your Microbiome Changes in Perimenopause and Menopause 

As your hormones change, so does your microbiome. Supporting your microbiome with targeted probiotic strains may help reduce some of the symptoms of menopause and support your overall health.4

Recent research reveals that the body orchestrates specific microbiome changes in menopause. It’s not only about your gut, though. Shifts are also taking place in your:6-9

• Vaginal and urinary microbiome
• Oral microbiome
• Skin microbiome

Your hormones and microbiomes communicate in both directions. The bacteria that make up your microbiomes metabolize sex hormones, while your hormones influence your microbiomes.9

Are You a Visual Learner?

Here's a breakdown of how probiotics may help support your health during menopause:

Probiotics for Menopause: What Are the Benefits?

Weight Loss

The gut microbiome changes that happen in menopause may contribute to weight gain. This brings hope that rebalancing the gut microbiome can help with weight loss in menopausal women.10  

According to specialists like Jenna Richardson, “A well-supported microbiome improves insulin sensitivity, reduces systemic inflammation, and enhances nutrient absorption, especially key vitamins and minerals that are harder to retain in midlife.”

“In every woman I work with,” she adds, “I’ve seen one thing: when we nourish the gut, everything else, from mood to metabolism, starts to shift.” 

Scientific studies certainly support Jenna’s approach. 

In one clinical study of 48 perimenopausal and postmenopausal women, a multi-strain probiotic helped increase follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) more than diet alone. Women who followed the prescribed diet (~1800 kcal/day, whole grain, no-wheat meals) lost weight in both the probiotic and placebo groups.11

The authors explain that, in overweight menopausal women, probiotics may work precisely by raising FSH levels. Higher FSH levels may help boost gut bacteria that produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFA). This, in turn, can affect the secretion of chemicals that help balance hormones and reduce cardiometabolic risk.11 

Most other studies also agree that probiotics may help with weight loss, but the data are mixed. According to one review of 15 studies, probiotics given to overweight adults (63% of whom were women) helped reduce weight without affecting fat mass.12 In another analysis, probiotics didn’t help with weight loss.13

A recent analysis showed that:14

• Probiotics may improve glucose metabolism
• Probiotic foods tend to increase body mass index (BMI)
• Probiotic supplements tend to reduce BMI

Another review echoed these findings, concluding that probiotics alone (even without dietary changes) help reduce body weight and BMI 66% of the time and waist circumference 80.0% of the time. A combination of various Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus strains was the most effective.15 

The most recent analysis focused on the effects of probiotics on weight loss in overweight or obese women and had similar results, suggesting that probiotics may:16

• Reduce weight circumference
• Lower insulin levels (which can help with insulin resistance)
• Lower LDL cholesterol

The authors of this study conclude that while probiotics can be helpful for weight loss and metabolic health, their benefits are significantly affected by duration of use, diet, and exercise.16

Therefore, menopausal women may have the best weight loss results by combining a probiotic supplement with exercise and a fiber-rich, low-calorie, healthy diet. 

Summary

Most studies suggest that probiotics may help support weight loss and metabolic health in menopause. More research is needed, but menopausal women are likely to get the best weight loss results by combining probiotic supplements with diet changes and exercise. 

Vaginal & Urinary Microbiome Health

As estrogen levels drop during menopause, changes occur in both the vaginal and urinary environments. In the urinary tract, this can weaken muscle tone and lead to symptoms like incontinence. In the vaginal tissue, lower estrogen reduces moisture retention, often resulting in dryness.17 

“A healthy vaginal microbiome is typically dominated by acid-producing Lactobacillus strains that help keep the pH low,” explains Dr. Emma Pollon-Macleod, clinical director and naturopathic doctor at Nutrichem. “But after menopause, reduced estrogen can lower Lactobacilli levels, raising vaginal pH and increasing the risk of urinary tract infections.”

These vaginal microbiome shifts may also affect the urinary microbiome, contributing to conditions like urgency, incontinence, interstitial cystitis/bladder pain syndrome, and neuropathic bladder.18 

Higher levels of Lactobacilli are linked to better vaginal health, while a disrupted microbiome is associated with dryness, burning, and irritation. Probiotics containing Lactobacillus strains show potential for restoring balance during menopause.17 

Summary

Lower estrogen levels during menopause disrupt the vaginal and urinary microbiomes, leading to symptoms like dryness, incontinence, and increased risk of UTIs. Lactobacillus-based probiotics may help restore balance and support vaginal and urinary health.

Mood, Hot Flashes, Stress & Sexual Symptoms

In menopause, vasomotor symptoms like hot flashes are often interlinked with psychological symptoms like low mood and anxiety. The association works both ways: women with vasomotor symptoms are more likely to experience psychological symptoms, and vice versa.19,20  

That’s why studies often track psychological and vasomotor symptoms together when assessing probiotic benefits. 

In one study, a Lactobacillus acidophilus probiotic (YT1) helped improve menopausal symptoms like hot flashes and sexual symptoms in women with menopausal symptoms in one trial. After 12 weeks, women taking the probiotic had much lower menopausal symptom scores compared to those taking the placebo. Their quality of life also improved across all measured dimensions—physical, psychosocial, vasomotor, and sexual.21

The authors suggested that Lactobacillus acidophilus probiotics can be an alternative supplement with low side effects for women who are not eligible for hormonal therapy.21

Another Japanese study used a parabiotic called Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 (CP2305) to target menopausal symptoms.22 

Fun fact: Unlike probiotics, parabiotics are non-viable probiotic bacteria. They’re made by inactivating probiotics but preserving their beneficial components, like cell membranes and metabolites.22  

Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 is a psychoparabiotic because it acts on the gut-brain axis, increasing resistance to psychological stress and helping with sleep. Plus, this parabiotic strain also supports gut health and may help with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).22 

In the study, 80 perimenopausal women aged 40–60 years ingested Lactobacillus gasseri CP2305 or placebo tablets for six consecutive menstrual cycles. 75% of women in the parabiotic group experienced symptom relief, compared to 55% in the placebo group. Parabiotic supplementation:22 

• Improved overall menopausal symptoms
• Reduced vasomotor symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats
• Improved psychological symptoms like irritability, depression, insomnia, and dizziness

Summary

Several Lactobacillus probiotics show promise in improving hot flashes, night sweats, sexual function, mood, insomnia, and overall physical and psychological well-being in menopausal women. 

Brain Fog

Many women complain about brain fog in menopause. While there are no studies on the effects of probiotics on brain fog in menopausal women specifically, studies in the general population suggest they might be helpful. 

In one study in older adults, a combination of Bifidobacteria (Bifidobacterium bifidum BGN4 and Bifidobacterium longum BORI) showed the following benefits over 12 weeks:23

• Improved mental flexibility
• Reduced stress
• Reduction in inflammation-causing gut bacteria
• Increased serum brain-derived neurotrophic factor (involved in cognition)

Brain fog is often linked to high stress, systemic chronic inflammation, gut dysbiosis, and low BDNF—areas that probiotic supplementation helped with in the above study.24-26

Summary

Probiotics may help with menopausal brain fog by helping balance the stress and inflammation response and supporting cognitive function. More research is needed, though. 

Bloating & Gut Health

Your gut microbiome also shifts in response to the hormonal changes in menopause. Menopause is linked with lower gut microbiome diversity and a shift toward greater similarity to the male gut microbiome.27

One study found that post-menopausal women with higher estrogen levels have more gut Ruminococcus, a probiotic bacteria that helps break down complex carbohydrates to short-chain fatty acids. Another study found that postmenopausal women with higher estrogen levels have increased gut microbial diversity, pointing to a healthier gut microbiome.27-29

The gut microbiome may also help reactivate gut sex hormones. This means that optimizing the gut microbiome may help raise progesterone and estrogen levels in postmenopausal women.30 

Lactobacillus probiotics have been shown to increase gut bacterial diversity and improve metabolic and overall health in menopausal women.31 

Evidence suggests that Lactobacillus probiotics may help relieve bloating in some people with IBS and lactose intolerance. It’s uncertain if probiotics can reduce bloating and gas in people with other gut issues, though.32,33

Read More: Best Probiotics for Bloating & Gas: What Works?

Summary

Menopause can change your gut bacteria, lowering their diversity. Probiotics with Lactobacillus strains may help support gut health, balance hormones, and reduce bloating in some women.

Oral Health

You may be surprised that one of the biggest menopausal microbiome shifts happens in the mouth, not the gut. The oral microbiome is highly sensitive to hormonal fluctuations. Recently, cortisol and sex hormone levels in the blood were directly correlated with saliva levels.34,35 

These hormonal changes can change saliva production and favor the growth of certain types of bacteria over others.36

“As a dentist, I see firsthand how shifts in hormone levels during menopause can affect oral health—especially in the form of dry mouth, gum inflammation, and increased risk of periodontal disease,” explains New York City dentist, Dr Sandip Sachar.

The gut and oral microbiomes are closely linked to systemic health. Both the oral and gut microbiomes play major roles in immune system regulation, inflammation pathways, and metabolism.37,38

“Certain probiotic strains, such as Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus rhamnosus, have shown promising results not just for gut and vaginal health, but also in modulating inflammation that can impact the mouth. In clinical conversations, I often recommend targeted probiotics to my menopausal patients who are experiencing dry mouth or gum sensitivity,” Dr Sandip adds. According to her, most adults can safely take probiotics, and many patients appreciate the integrative options.

Summary

Menopause can also affect your mouth—hormone changes may lead to dry mouth, gum issues, and shifts in oral bacteria. Some probiotics, like Lactobacillus reuteri, may help support oral health and reduce inflammation.

Joint Pain & Bone Health

Probiotics show promise for supporting bone health and reducing inflammation related to joint pain in menopause. Certain probiotic strains may help improve bone mineral density, reduce bone turnover markers, and potentially help with joint pain by soothing inflammation. 

Several Lactobacillus strains show promise for reducing joint pain in both animal and clinical studies.39 

According to scientific reviews, probiotics may help with osteoarthritis symptoms like joint pain and poor joint mobility by reducing systemic inflammation in the body.40 

Studies also suggest that probiotic supplements containing Lactobacillus bacteria (including Lactobacillus ssp. casei, helveticus, rhamnosus, and reuteri) may boost calcium absorption, which may help improve bone mineral density in women at risk of osteoporosis.4 

In one analysis, probiotic use during menopause was associated with higher bone mineral density in the lumbar spine. Low bone density in the lumbar spine often points to osteoporosis and increases the risk of fractures. 

Summary

Menopause can lead to joint pain and weaker bones. Several Lactobacillus strains may help by easing inflammation, improving calcium absorption, and supporting bone density.

Best Probiotic Strains for Menopause Backed By Research

Here’s a breakdown of the best probiotic strains for menopause:17,21,15,4,39

• Mood, stress, hot flashes, vaginal and urinary health: Lactobacillus strains
• Gut, vaginal, and oral health: Lactobacillus reuteri and Lactobacillus rhamnosus 
• Weight loss and metabolic health: Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus
• Bone health: Lactobacillus casei, helveticus, rhamnosus, and reuteri
  
• Joint pain: Lactobacillus casei, acidophilus, and rhamnosus

Microbiome Plus+ offers two science-backed probiotic supplements that women can benefit from during menopause.  

Our clinically tested probiotic containing Lactobacillus Reuteri NCIMB 30242 targets gut health and heart health, but it also helps balance your vitamin D levels. 

Menopause puts women at an increased risk of vitamin D deficiency, which further increases the risk of various health complications.42 

Lactobacillus Reuteri NCIMB 30242 aids vitamin D absorption, helping to maintain healthy vitamin D levels in the body throughout menopause.43

We also have a high-potency probiotic blend with Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium strains that help support vaginal and urinary health, cognitive function, and weight management. 

Read Next:

Health Benefits of Probiotics Backed by Science

 

Best Probiotics for Anxiety, Depression & Stress

 

Microbiome Supplements Work & Here's Why

Takeaway: Should I Take a Probiotic During Menopause?

If you’re navigating the physical and emotional shifts of perimenopause or menopause, probiotics may be worth considering. Research shows that hormonal changes during this stage of life trigger shifts in your microbiome, which can affect everything from mood and metabolism to joint pain, vaginal health, and even brain fog. 

Several Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium probiotic strains may help restore microbial balance and improve hormonal and gut health, inflammation, and cognitive function.

While probiotics aren't a cure-all, they can be a valuable part of a broader integrative approach to menopause that includes diet, regular exercise, counseling, and stress reduction. Talk to a holistic healthcare provider if you’re unsure how to get started, are managing a chronic health condition, or are on medications. 

This post references ✔43 trusted sources.

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