20 years ago I was diagnosed with stress-related depression and prescribed anti-depressants. I was also suffering from bloating and skin issues. Today, we are more enlightened, and it might well be called perimenopause combined with poor gut health. I believe taking care of your gut can help with perimenopausal & menopausal symptoms, and who knows, if I knew then what I know now, my story could have been different.

So read on to demystify the term “gut health”, learn why it’s important and discover my top tips for keeping your own microbiome in great condition.

What is gut health?

Your gut health is all about the gut microbiome, which consists of trillions of bacteria lining our gut from mouth to anus. See it like a garden full of beautiful flowers and green green grass. That is a healthy gut and, like any garden, it gets weedy, if neglected, the flowers need deadheading, the grass needs mowing, it desperately needs weeding and the whole thing needs watering. It looks unhealthy and needs tending. So too our gut microbiome.

Why is gut health important?

It is massively important because that is where our health is centralised. It affects our mood, how our mind works and our immune system, even our very sense of wellbeing. Hormones can also become imbalanced and, as we all know, menopause is all about hormonal change

Some facts

Our microbiome represents a key component of our body’s defence system against the outside world & over time those lovely friendly bacteria in our guts have been decimated by food additives, high stress levels, the overuse of antibiotics and much much more and this appears to have resulted in an increase in food intolerances and chronic degenerative disease

70% of our immune system takes place in and around our gut and what we eat impacts on our immune system .. after all it is a foreign body entering our body and that’s what the immune system is there for, wouldn’t you agree? So if it feels under attack, inflammatory responses are generated including skin rashes, mood problems and joint pain

And also 90% of our serotonin (feel good hormone) is made in the gut

And what about hormones? A drop in progesterone and oestrogen levels, as happens in peri-menopause, when your hormones fluctuate, affects hormone receptors in the gut and these affect how efficiently your gut works. Add to that lack of sleep and increased stress and there may well be an impact on your gut health and therefore how you feel overall

Some causes of poor gut health

There are many factors that can upset the delicate balance of gut flora, here are the most common:-

Stress is a key cause in the modern world. It prevents us from digesting our food adequately and absorbing the nutrients we need. When we’re stressed, our body produces cortisol, and if that stress is chronic, cortisol levels stay high and are associated with significant health issues. Cortisol levels naturally increase with age from the late 40s, and when combined with yoyoing hormones can change the way we respond to stress
Overuse of sugar: Hidden sugars catch many people out as they are lurking in seemingly healthy foods, particularly the low fat variety like yoghurt.
Dependence on processed foods which do not contain the density of nutrients our body needs and often have hidden sugars.
Soil depletion and over-farming so that the food we buy lacks the nutrients we would once have had from it.
Overuse of antibiotics kills off the good bacteria in our gut.

Signs of an unhealthy gut.

You may have experienced some or all of these at some point, but you don’t need to live with them! Improving your gut health could see these dramatically reduce:-

Bloating
Diarrhoea or constipation
Low mood
Difficulty losing weight
Poor or irritated skin
Sleep disturbances or low energy
Brain fog

You may have noticed many of these signs are also associated with menopause

How to look after your own gut health

The good news is that there are things you can do to improve your gut health and, in doing so, improve your overall health and enjoyment of life:-

Let’s start with your diet:-
Un-process what you eat. If a food product contains more than five ingredients, it is too processed, so don’t buy it!!
Cut down your sugar intake and look out for hidden sugars in food products
Eat brightly coloured fibre rich vegetables: according to Dr Rangan Chatterjee in his fabulous book “The 4 Pillar Plan”, the best to eat are spinach, broccoli, red onions, asparagus, red lettuce, shallots, carrots, artichokes and both green and black olives. He has a wonderful rainbow chart so you can record your colours!
Cut down on your caffeine and alcohol
Drink 1.2 to 3 litres of water a day depending on your level of exercise
Consider using supplements: we really do need them more as we age and, because of the soil depletion I have already mentioned, we can no longer rely on getting them from a good healthy diet; for example magnesium, vitamin D, B vitamins, ashwagandha which can help balance cortisol & a good probiotic

Your lifestyle: it really is important to find ways to cut down on that stress, and these ideas will help you do that as well as improve your gut health:-

Exercise daily and do something you enjoy, that way, you’ll be more motivated to keep doing it
Spend time outside .. that’s why walking, running, and gardening are so good for you
Look at your sleep routine. Do you have 7-9 hours of sleep a night? Hot flushes may be interrupting your sleep, but improving your gut health may help with these too
Spend time with people you love

So what to change first? The last thing you want to do is cause yourself more stress! Let’s go for top 3 as your homework but I must emphasise this is my opinion:-

Do the exercise: this has so many benefits, particularly if you’re out in the fresh air. A brisk walk or a run can raise your endorphins so you feel good. I go out for an hour every day but it started as 10 minutes because it was all I felt I had time for, I appreciated the benefits and I increased it bit by bit. Now I wouldn’t be without it!
Ditch the sugar whether you have it in tea, coffee, chocolate, fizzy drinks or processed food and do it bit by bit
Drink that water, have a glass, a jug, a water bottle on your desk or wherever you are spending most of your time. I did hear of somebody who had 5 glasses of water lined up on her desk when she started her day!

Finally, you may wish to discuss using HRT with your doctor and whilst I’m not against this I am a huge advocate of looking after your gut health through menopause and beyond as well so that you can lead your best possible life.

There is so much written on this topic now and I have only been able to give you a summary of why it’s important and some tips so you can help yourself. I’ve referenced a couple of books which I would highly recommend.

I am now 72 and I believe we can take charge of how we age by looking after our health and our gut health in particular. I enjoy good food and wine but my tastes have changed since I started learning more about this stuff. I was someone who used to think that healthy food was boring, now I know it’s not. I also thought I didn’t need supplements, now I use loads and I honestly feel healthier now than I ever did when I was younger.

If you want to improve your overall health and reduce symptoms of hormonal changes, book a virtual coffee with me today. My e mail address is below.

It’s not hard and you definitely do not have to lead a monastic life .. life is too short to live without the things we enjoy! I look forward to speaking to you!

Gut Health & Menopause

A Return to Love: Marianne Williamson

My Story