That Bloated, Sluggish Feeling Isn’t ‘Just Age’

If you're feeling gassy, bloated, or irregular after meals, you’re not alone—and you’re not imagining it. Digestive discomfort is incredibly common for women in perimenopause and beyond, thanks to slowing motility, changing hormones, and stress overload.

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Midlife Gut Shifts That Cause Discomfort

As oestrogen and progesterone decline, they impact how food moves through your digestive tract. These hormones influence the tone and coordination of gut muscles. When they drop, motility can slow down, leading to constipation, bloating, or sluggish digestion. Add in increased cortisol from chronic stress, and you’ve got a recipe for gut dysregulation, food sensitivities, and inflammation.

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Common Digestive Symptoms to Watch

📈 Bloating after meals
🧀 Increased sensitivity to dairy or gluten
💩 Constipation or diarrhoea
🍫 Intense sugar cravings
🌫 Brain fog or fatigue after eating

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These symptoms might be signs of microbial imbalance, enzyme insufficiency, food sensitivities, or poor motility—all of which are impacted by the hormonal landscape of midlife.

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Gentle, Science-Backed Strategies for Relief

Chew more, rush less – Digestion starts in the mouth. Take 10–20 chews per bite and avoid distracted or rushed meals. It signals your body to release enzymes and prepare for digestion.

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Use bitters or apple cider vinegar – A few drops of bitters or a teaspoon of ACV in water before meals can stimulate gastric acid and bile flow, improving nutrient breakdown and absorption.

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Eat more fibre—but increase slowly
Fibre is crucial, but if you’ve been eating a low-fibre diet, going too hard too fast can lead to discomfort.

 

Reset Tip: Fibre
Start by increasing your daily fibre intake by around 5g per week and aim to build up to at least 5 serves of vegetables daily.

One serve veg = ½ cup cooked/raw or 1 cup leafy greens.

Focus on diversity to feed different strains of gut bacteria.

Clinical Tip: Low FODMAP? Go Slow.
If you’re following a low FODMAP plan for IBS or sensitivity, you can still nourish your microbiome and estrobolome—just go gently. FODMAPs are fermentable carbs that can trigger symptoms, but long-term avoidance reduces gut diversity.

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Try low-FODMAP prebiotic swaps like:
• Green banana flour
• Chia seeds
• Oats
• Cooked and cooled potatoes or parsnips
• Kiwi and firm bananas
• PHGG or acacia fibre (gentle, fermentable prebiotic fibres)

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These ingredients support microbial diversity, regulate bowel movements, and assist oestrogen metabolism via the estrobolome—even in sensitive guts.

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Check for magnesium deficiency – Magnesium helps relieve constipation, calms the nervous system, and supports muscle function (including the smooth muscles of the gut). 

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Soothe your stress – Chronic stress elevates cortisol and reduces digestive secretions. Daily breathwork, vagus nerve stimulation, nature time, or gentle yoga can down-regulate your stress response and soothe the gut-brain axis.

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A Calm Gut Is a Happy Gut—And a Happier You

Addressing your digestion isn’t just about physical comfort—it’s essential for your energy, mood, hormone metabolism, and brain clarity. As your hormones shift in midlife, your gut needs extra support—not restriction.

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Prioritise gentle nourishment, microbial diversity, and consistent habits that calm your nervous system and feed your gut flora. Your digestion can thrive again—without fads or extremes.