FLIPSIDE OF MIDLIFE®: Your Gut-Brain Connection in Midlife and Beyond

Your gut isn't just about digestion or intuition — it's in constant communication with your brain! 

In this episode, I explore what that means for women in midlife and beyond.

From serotonin production to the menopause-microbiome connection, I'm breaking down why your mood, brain fog, and sleep may have more to do with your gut than you realize — and what you can actually do about it.

Your gut is always giving you feedback, my friend. Are you listening?

xo Karli

P.S. While you’re at it, join my FLIPSIDE OF MIDLIFE® email community!

Become a member of ELEVATE - resources and community connection to help you boost your well-being in midlife and beyond

Visit my new website focused on my private one-to-one services. I’d love to guide you as you honor where you are and explore what’s next!

_______________

Transcript

0:00

Have you ever had a gut feeling you couldn't explain and then brushed it aside, talked yourself out of it, ignored it, only to wish that you would've paid attention? Yeah, me too. In this episode, we're going deeper on the gut-brain connection and what it means specifically for women in midlife and beyond. Hey, my friend. Welcome back to FLIPSIDE OF MIDLIFE®. I'm Karli Newman, your favorite Gen X dealer of positive vibes, Life and Wellness Coach, and founder of FLIPSIDE OF MIDLIFE®, a community for women in midlife and beyond. This topic fascinates me, and I think you're gonna learn some things that help you understand more about what's actually going on in your body in midlife and beyond. Let's get into our episode, my friend. First, we're gonna start with something that might surprise you. Roughly 90% of the body's serotonin, which is that neurotransmitter that's associated with mood and calm, and a general sense of well-being, is produced in your gut, not your brain. 90 percent! That means the place where your lunch is digesting is also playing a role in how you feel every day. Gut health is a hot topic right now, and you've probably heard about it. I'm going to assume you have. Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria known as the microbiome, and this complex ecosystem doesn't just break down your food. It's producing neurotransmitters, it's influencing inflammation levels throughout the body. Ding, ding, ding, perimenopause, and post menopause, and it's sending signals directly to the brain via your vagus nerve. So the gut and brain are in constant two-way conversation. What happens in one affects the other---every day, all the time, and that's why this is so relevant for us as women in midlife and beyond. Because our hormones are shifting and those hormonal shifts that our body is navigating, it doesn't just affect your period. It doesn't just give you hot flashes. These hormone shifts also directly impact your gut microbiome. Estrogen plays a role in the diversity and balance of your gut bacteria, and as it declines, that balance gets disrupted. When the microbiome is disrupted, the ripple effects are significant. Here's something, a personal experience that maybe you can relate to, my friend. When I was in my forties, all of a sudden I could not eat raw onions. I could almost watch my abdomen bloat as I ate them. They'd never bothered me ever. Now I understand some of the reasons why. My understanding of hormone shifts, which, let's be honest, at that point I wasn't even thinking that that could be a possibility, wasn't in my mind at all, but that's what was going on. It was affecting my gut and it was affecting what was happening in my gut microbiome. So let's talk about some of those ripple effects. I'm sure you can relate to at least one of these, my friend. That anxiety that comes outta nowhere? That brain fog that shows up and makes you question your sharpness and if you are experiencing early signs of dementia? Yes, that was my situation, too. That low mood when nothing has really happened, you just feel moodier than you used to? Or that sleep that does not cooperate with you? Yes, they are real experiences. They are common experiences, and they're not just about your hormones. Your gut may be playing a much bigger role than you've ever thought about. The gut-brain axis is a key player in midlife and beyond, and understanding that connection gives you more options and more compassion for yourself when those hard days show up. So what does this mean practically? It means that caring for your gut affects your mood. It's caring for your mood, for your clarity, for your sleep, for your emotional resilience. Science consistently shows that a diet rich in fiber and diverse plant-based ingredients supports a healthy microbiome. That doesn't mean you have to go out and adopt a plant-based nutritional plan, my friend. What it is encouraging you to do is to eat more of those ingredients because that's where the fiber lives. Another thing, managing stress impacts our gut health. It matters enormously for us. Paying attention to how different foods make you feel. Remember those onions I mentioned earlier? Not just physically, but how you feel emotionally. Our food, what we put into our bodies, what's happening in that gut microbiome, can affect us physically and emotionally, and this is such a powerful piece of knowledge for you to have. If you're not in the habit of listening to your body on a daily basis, I encourage you to find a way to make that work for you, my friend. Your body is giving you feedback all the time about what supports it and what doesn't. The question is, are you listening? Are you noticing? Are you paying attention? Your gut has a lot to say, my friend, and it might be saying more than ever before here in midlife and beyond. We can help ourselves feel so much better by paying attention to the gut microbiome and how our gut and brain connect and communicate. If you're curious about what it might look like for you to step into optimal wellness and well-being in midlife and beyond, I'd love for you to check out my private workshops. I have 10 different topics that I focus on in these workshops, and we go deep into what your mind, body, spirit are asking for in this season. You get to walk away with clarity. You get to walk away with tools that are yours. You can find out more at karlinewman.com/private-workshops. I'll have that link in the show notes and transcript for you. And before we part today, I encourage you to notice how you feel after different meals. If you write down what you're eating and then how you feel afterwards, you may see some patterns start to arise. This is a great tool for you to use if you are interested in learning more about your personal gut-brain connection. You have more wisdom in you than you know, my friend. Thanks for being here. I'd love to hear what resonates with you. Reach out at karli@flipsideofmidlife.com. I read every message and I love hearing from you. Join me here on Wednesdays for more bite-sized episodes you can apply to your midlife and beyond, and every other Sunday for guided meditations and visualizations. I look forward to meeting you here for all of it. Take care and be well, my friend!