How Estrogen Affects Weight Loss—And Why Fiber Is Your Secret Weapon

In this episode of The Joyful Menopause, functional nutritionist and menopause mentor Lynda Enright uncovers the surprising power of fiber—and why it's so much more than a digestion fix. From balancing blood sugar and supporting hormone detox to easing hot flashes, brain fog, and bloating, fiber plays a starring role in your midlife health.

You’ll learn:

 • Why fiber is essential during perimenopause and menopause
 • How it helps regulate estrogen and reduce stubborn weight gain
 • What fiber has to do with blood sugar, sleep, and cravings
 • The gut-hormone connection you don’t want to ignore
 • How to start increasing fiber without the dreaded bloat

Plus, Lynda shares simple, doable ways to add more fiber to your meals—starting today.

🎁 Download the free “Is This Perimenopause?” guide and learn more about working with Lynda at: https://www.bewellconsulting.com

✨ This episode is packed with practical tips to help you feel clear, confident, and in control of your body again.

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to feel your best during perimenopause and menopause:

1. Want more science-backed health tips? Click here to sign up for my free weekly newsletter for practical advice on navigating menopause with confidence:

2. Click here to get the free guide: 5 Natural Ways To Reduce Menopause Symptoms.

2. For more information about Lynda and how she supports women on their health journey, click here to learn more.

3. Interested in seeing if nutrition coaching with Lynda is right for you? Click here to book a free discovery call with Lynda.

Transcript

0:00

Hello and welcome back to the Joyful Menopause Podcast. Today we are talking about something that doesn't usually get a spotlight, but plays a huge role in how you feel every single day. It's fiber. Yes, fiber. Maybe not that interesting, but stay with me because this humble nutrient, may be the missing link between your hot flashes, brain fog, bloating, and belly fat. So let's get into it. Menopause doesn't have to feel like you are living in someone else's body. Your host, Lynda Enright, has spent the last 25 years helping women to thrive in midlife. Here you'll find science-based practical advice that you can start using today to get real results for your health. Welcome to Joyful Menopause. So why does fiber matter? Most women in perimenopause and menopause are getting just 12 to 15 grams of fiber a day. It's low for most people across the country. That's really half of what we need and our bodies need it now more than ever. Estrogen is declining and that affects your gut, your metabolism, your immune system, even your mental health and fiber supports all of those things. It acts sort of like this scaffolding for your health. It's not a quick fix, it's a foundational fix. I talk so much about building a healthy foundation, and fiber is a key component of that. When fiber is low, you may feel more bloated, inflamed, constipated, moody, foggy, fatigued, even without even really understanding why. So if you're checking all the boxes trying to do everything right, but you still don't feel better, fiber might be the missing piece. But what if I told you also, that fiber could be playing a key role in balancing your blood sugar, reducing cravings, and helping you lose stubborn weight during menopause. So let's dig into that first. You've probably heard me say it before. Blood sugar balance is everything during midlife. As estrogen drops, our cells become more resistant to insulin and blood sugar tends to spike and crash more easily. So what does that look like? It's cravings that are out of control. It's afternoon crashes, it's weight gain, especially around the belly. It's waking up at 3:00 AM with a racing mind. Fiber slows down digestion. It blunts the blood sugar spike and keeps you feeling full longer. It's like this anchor for your metabolism. I had a client that told me recently I stopped reaching for sugar at 3:00 PM I didn't even try to quit. It just stopped happening because I was eating more fiber. I was feeling more full. And that's the thing, we don't need to like white knuckle our way through menopause. We need to work with our bodies, not against them. But what happens after your body is done with hormones like estrogen? So you know we're declining estrogen, you still have estrogen, but what is happening with that estrogen after we use it? How do you make sure that it doesn't stick around and then cause more symptoms? Fiber's got an important role there too. So let's talk about detoxification next. So this one is big and often overlooked. Once your body uses estrogen, it needs to be detoxified by the liver and eliminated through your bowels. So if you're constipated or your fiber's too low, guess what? That estrogen doesn't leave, it recirculates. It goes back around into your bloodstream, and that can lead to heavier or irregular periods if you're still having a period, can lead to hot flashes, breast tenderness, mood swings, and stubborn weight, that just won't budge. Fiber, especially from whole foods like vegetables, legumes, and seeds binds to excess estrogen in the gut and it helps it to move out of the body. So it's not just about digestion, it's hormone therapy through food. It's helping your body to utilize hormones and excrete them as necessary. And then thinking about digestion, if your gut has been feeling off lately, bloating, irregularity, discomfort. There's another thing that's important to look at the microbiome, so let's dig into that next. Something that people don't often realize is that your gut bacteria helps to regulate your hormones. There's a group of bacteria in your gut called the estrobolome. They literally help to process estrogen. So if your gut is inflamed or out of balance, estrogen may not be broken down and metabolized properly, and you might feel it. So fiber helps to feed the good bugs, those good bacteria in your gut. That's the food, that's the prebiotics, that's the food for the bacteria, the probiotics. So soluble fiber, things like oats, flaxseed beans, legumes, apples are good prebiotics. They help your microbiome to stay diverse, to stay healthy. So we have a lot of different good bacteria floating around. We, we want to have the good guys beat out the bad guys. We want to feed those good guys and get good growth of those bacteria. So this can impact a lot of things. It can impact your mood, your immunity, your energy levels, and your hormones. So why do so many women often really consciously avoid fiber, especially during perimenopause, one word, bloating. I hear it all the time. So I want to next, I want to bust that myth that bloating is going to happen if you get too much fiber. So that's our final section here, talking about bloating. So if you've ever said, fiber makes me bloated, you're not alone. I hear it all the time, but here's what I want you to know. Bloating is often a sign of low fiber intake, not high. If your gut bacteria aren't used to fiber or you increase it too quickly, it can cause discomfort. So that's a lot of what I, I see people doing is they think that fiber's good. So all of a sudden they eat, start eating a lot of fiber, and then they get bloated. But that's temporary. And there's ways to sort of transition a little bit more smoothly. So first of all, just start slow. We don't want to, we don't want to make giant changes to our diet in any way because our body's just not used to it. So when you start slow, when you hydrate really well and you kind of build gradually the fiber over maybe two to three weeks, then you can start to feel a lot better. So one client of mine added a tablespoon of chia seeds to her breakfast. She made a, a breakfast smoothie each day, and within, a short period of time, she went from being constipated to regularly daily having bowel movements without feeling the bloat that she was worried about. You know, it's not about adding like a fiber bar. Chicory root is something you see in a lot of these pre-made processed foods, and that gives you a lot of fiber. So when you look at the nutrient facts, you'll see a high number of grams of fiber. But that isn't what I'm looking for. I want fiber that comes from real food because that supports your whole system in a lot of ways. And then you don't get all the additives and other things that come from these processed foods that just add isolated fibers. We want the whole food. We want the nutrients. We want to ease your body into adding fiber in a way that's going to feel really good and not leave you feeling bloated. So if you've been feeling stuck, low energy, feeling bloated, feeling inflamed. Adding more fiber might be one of the easiest and really powerful shifts that you can make. So to wrap up, I'm going to give you a few simple ways that you can get started today. So let's recap with a few easy fiber boosting strategies that you can start now. So number one, what can you do to upgrade your breakfast? Adding things like flax seeds or chia seeds to smoothies. Oats can be a good choice because they have good soluble fiber. I'm a little cautious about having oatmeal for breakfast because it can spike blood sugar. So if you're choosing oats, having that as part of a balanced meal, having some protein and fat with that as well. Um, yogurt can be a great part of a nourishing breakfast if it's a good yogurt. So we want yogurt that doesn't have any additives, doesn't have sweeteners, has low levels of sugar, a Greek yogurt. Um, can be a good choice. The purpose of yogurt is it's giving us some of those good bacteria, so that can be helpful. Um, but again, you do have to be careful about yogurt'cause there's so many out there and they're not all great. The second thing is to snack smarter. So skip the crackers, the chips, the granola bars. Try things like hummus with veggies or a pear with maybe a small handful of nuts. Those are things that are going to give you some high fiber, really nutrient rich choices. Number three, lots of vegetables. Fill your plate. Half, at least half with vegetables would be great for lunch and dinner. Looking for color and variety. Again, remember that we want to work our way up to this so you know, to start adding hummus for snacks with vegetables and vegetables, with dinner and vegetables, with lunch. That could be a lot if your body is not used to that. So you might want to start with, you know, just one of these things and, and build your way up. Uh, and number four, drink more water. So fiber only works if it has fluid to move with it, so we want to make sure we're getting adequate water. Um, and then lastly, sort of a powerhouse is legumes, choosing legumes, dried beans like two to three times a week. Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, things like that. Again, slow careful. We don't want to add to bloating. We just want to start moving things through your body. So if you're ready to feel more vibrant. Less confused about what's actually working in midlife. I'd love to help you. You can learn more about working with me or grab my free guide. Is this perimenopause? Um, the link for more information is below in the comments. This is exactly the kind of support I offer inside my joyful menopause coaching program. Tailored whole person nutrition that makes you feel like yourself again. I'm giving you some general things that work for so many people, but when I work with people individually, we're figuring out what's going to work for your body. We start with nutrient testing to find out what your body is missing, and then we build a diet to help you to feel your best and to help move things through your gut. That's a big part of a part of, uh, great health during the years of perimenopause and menopause. So thanks for being here today. Thank you for taking this time for you. You deserve to feel good in your body and it does not have to be complicated. Until next time, stay kind to yourself and stay joyful.