HSOS #10: What's Your Gut Telling You?

Your gut isn’t just about digestion—it’s basically your body’s mood factory. In this episode, Kim breaks down the wild connection between your gut microbes and your mental health, why food sensitivities can suddenly pop up in midlife, and how hormone shifts play a role. She also dishes out fun, doable tips to keep your gut (and your mind) happy—from fiber and fermented foods to probiotics, hydration, and stress-busting strategies. 

 Let’s talk. 

Welcome to Her Season of Strength—where women over 40 reclaim their bodies, their energy, and their voices, without apologies. I'm Kim Duffy—registered dietitian, personal trainer, mom, and your biggest hype woman when it comes to aging like you mean it. 

This show isn’t about chasing skinny or counting wrinkles. It’s about building real strength—physical, emotional, and hormonal. Each week, I’ll share straight-talking nutrition tips, sustainable fitness strategies, and conversations that help you feel powerful in your skin once again. 

Menopause is not an ending, it is only the beginning. This is your season of strength. 

📝 Here’s what you’ll hear in this episode: 

• Life update: wrapping up the Midlife Momentum Challenge with 130 powerhouse women 
• Gut-brain axis explained: your belly and brain are besties with a two-way hotline 
• Why 90% of your serotonin (the happy hormone) is made in the gut 
• Meet your microbiome: trillions of good and not-so-good bacteria 
• Estrogen dips = less gut diversity (and more midlife moodiness) 
• The mystery of midlife food sensitivities: why dairy, wine, or coffee might suddenly bug you 
• Red flags of an out-of-balance gut: bloat, fatigue, brain fog, mood swings 
• Gut-friendly tips: fiber, fermented foods, balanced meals, hydration, stress relief, sleep 
• Probiotics decoded: what to know before buying a supplement 
• Weekly challenge: pick one gut-friendly food and see how your mood and energy shift 

Links & resources for this episode:

Fit After 50 Plus Program: 8-Week Nutrition Coaching & Fitness Program for women 50+. Next session starts winter of 2026. Join the interest list today for the best bonuses and discounts offered.

Free cheat sheet: "20 Tips to Crushing Menopause"

Join my free weekly newsletter list and get a new high protein recipe sent to your inbox every Thursday.

Find me on social media: Instagram I Facebook I Tiktok

Transcript

[00:00:00] Hi there, and welcome to her season of Strength, where women over 40 reclaim their bodies, their energy, and their voices, without apologies. I'm Kim Duffy, registered dietician, personal trainer, mom, and your biggest hype woman. When it comes to aging like you mean it, this show isn't about chasing skinny or counting wrinkles.

It's about building real strength, physical, emotional, and hormonal. Each week, I'll share straight talking, nutrition tips, sustainable fitness strategies. And conversations that help you feel powerful in your skin. Once again, menopause isn't an ending. It's only the beginning. This is your season of strength.

Hello. Hello. Welcome back to her season of Strength. I am so glad you're here with me today. I have had a crazy couple of weeks. I just finished my five day Midlife Momentum challenge. Which was basically just brief little taste. Five days of workouts on my trainer eyes program, and five days [00:01:00] of just some nutrition focuses each day that were easy, simple things like increasing protein, maybe having more balanced type meals.

And I had almost 130 women, actually, I had over 130 women who signed up for it, so it was awesome. I really love. Getting to know new women, and I love to to show women in the same season of life that I am, just how easy these changes can be and how it doesn't have to undo, you don't have to undo everything that you were doing before in order to see results and to see progress.

Even just small changes here and there, you know that all you have to do is just. Be consistent and get those repetitions in, and the next thing you know, they become habits and they become much easier to do. So today I wanna talk about something that has such a huge impact on how you feel every single day, but [00:02:00] is often overlooked, and that's your gut health and more specifically how it affects your mental health.

Because we know in this stage of our lives we can start to feel more irritable. We can start to deal with things like brain fog or just feeling out of it, not feeling like ourself. And sometimes it's not just related to the change in your hormones, it can be related to your gut. Okay, in sciencey terms, your gut and your brain are in constant communication through something called the gut brain access. So think of it like this two-way highway. When traffic is flowing, everything feels nice and smooth. We have energy, we have focus, and we have a steady mood. But when there's a traffic jam, things get blocked up.

We can feel it everywhere. So here's the wild part. About 90% of your serotonin, that's that feel good hormone is produced in the gut. That means your gut's, like your [00:03:00] body's mood factory and inside of your gut lus. Lots and lots of bacteria, both good and bad. I know that's scary, but together they're called the microbiome.

So when these good bacteria are thriving, they're gonna help us to digest our food and absorb nutrients. They'll help us to produce vitamins and neurotransmitters that boost our mood. They're gonna support our immune system, and they're gonna help to decrease that. Overall body inflammation, which can make our joints hurt more, which can cause increased risk of diseases like cardiovascular disease or cancers or diabetes.

So your gut is super important. So when we, when the balance tips between the good and the bad bacteria, if we have too many of those bad ones and not enough of those good ones, we can feel it. In our body and in our brain. So that's when we're gonna see things like gas and bloating. We're gonna see brain fog, we're [00:04:00] gonna see increased fatigue, low energy levels, and our mood swings can even show up.

So why specifically do women over 40 need to pay attention? Because as our estrogen levels dip during perimenopause and menopause, the diversity or the different types of our gut bacteria can decrease. And we know that when we have less variety and diversity of those bacteria in our guts. We are gonna see more issues and it's things are not gonna work as smoothly as they should when it comes to digestion and our moods.

Then when we add in stress, those busy schedules, we're not getting enough sleep. We're eating maybe more junk food, processed foods, maybe we're eating out more often it, it's a recipe for imbalance. So that's why women in midlife often notice that they're having more stomach issues and [00:05:00] more mood changes, which are happening simultaneously, which are just, make life wonderful.

Those two things. So why specifically can those food sensitivities increase? So if you're finding, you're like all of a sudden I can't eat dairy, or I can't I don't tolerate. Wine or I don't tolerate coffee or certain foods that you can no longer eat, you can't eat fish anymore.

It's that when our gut lining gets irritated or inflamed, it can become sometimes what they call leaky means that tiny food particles that should stay inside our digestive track and actually be excreted can slip through and go into the bloodstream. So what happens is our immune systems then go, Hey, wait a minute.

This isn't supposed to be happening. And it reacts to those little tiny food particles like their invaders, right? Creating symptoms like bloating, fatigue, joint pain, and [00:06:00] even skin issues. That's why foods, you used to tolerate just fine can suddenly give you issues. Okay? The good news is that as we strengthen our guts and strengthen those junctions.

Of our, the lining of our gut, it can reduce those sensitivities and actually calm your system down. Okay, so it's not all is not lost. So what are some signs that our gut might be out of balance's? Gonna be things like gas and blo. Some of that's, some of that can be normal, but if it's to a degree where like every time you eat something, you get bloated, maybe you have extreme constipation.

Maybe you're only having bowel movements once every, once a week or twice a week, that's not enough, right? Or maybe every time you eat something, you're running to the bathroom, or you're having frequent loose stools during the day. Other signs would be that, those food sensitives, food sensitivities keep increasing.

You're keeping on seeing more and more foods that you're [00:07:00] just not tolerating if you're feeling tired all the time, or just having severe brain fog. And also those mood swings, irritability, and low motivation or productivity. These can all be signs that your gut might be outta balance, right?

Among other things. I'm not saying that this is the only thing that might cause some of these symptoms, but what I'm saying is that in menopause we know that our mental health can take a hit, right? And we wanna make sure we're doing everything that we can naturally to try to heal that. At least it's at least if we do those things first, then we can all, then we can look outside of the box and be like, you know what?

None of these things are working, so maybe I need to, to think about therapy, think about medication, think about other things when it comes to our mental health. So what are some ways that we can improve our gut and mental health? First one's fiber. And I know you're like, oh, dieticians.

They're just always talking about fiber. Fiber is like the number one key element to help to heal [00:08:00] that gut. All right? And fiber comes from plant foods. You're not gonna get it from your meats or your eggs or your dairy products. You're gonna get it from your fruits, your veggies, your beans and legumes, your whole grains and other plant foods.

You are gonna get it. Also from like nuts and seeds, these high fiber diet is gonna feed the good bacteria, okay? I usually recommend at least 25 grams of fiber per day. Okay, just to give you an idea if you're someone who thinks that they, maybe they're taking in five grams now, I would not do that.

Jump from five to 25 because you might be in pain. Your stomach might might get really angry for a little bit. I'd say take a nice slow approach at increasing that fibrin. N next is fermented foods. You know why? Because they add in those healthy bacteria or probiotics. You're gonna get that from your fermented dairy products.

Things like Greek yogurt cottage cheese, keefer. You're gonna get [00:09:00] it from fermented veggies like sauerkraut or kimchi. You're gonna get it. Ferment, fermented soy products like Tempe and nato. You can get it from drinks like kombucha. Just wanna make sure it doesn't have a lot of sugar in it. And those are all good sources of those healthy bacteria.

Next is balancing your meals. So focusing on regulating those blood sugars, avoiding those blood sugar spikes and drops. And I know that in other episodes I have talked about that a lot, so I won't go too deep into that. But, balancing your meals just means that, you always start with that protein, nice protein source.

Those healthy fats and then those good quality carbohydrates that have a lot of fiber in them, okay? And a portion control that's gonna help to maintain that nice steady blood sugar because the gut doesn't like those, the rollercoaster of the highs and lows, and the spikes and the falls. The next thing is hydration.

And when I talk about hydration, I'm talking [00:10:00] about typically non-sugar sweetened non-caffeinated beverages. Trying to hit, get in, I'd say at least 64 ounces, if not closer to a hundred ounces of those fluids a day. Just because that's gonna help to keep everything moving through your GI tract.

We don't want anything sitting in one spot for long. It's, we're meant to, it's gonna move through that small intestine where our body is gonna take. What it needs from that food that we've consumed. And it's gonna get absorbed through that lining and go into our body. And then what we do not need to use is gonna go to the colon.

The colon's gonna pull out fluid. And then what we don't need, we're gonna evacuate. Okay? So that hydration is just super important to help keep everything moving through. Not to mention we know it's gonna affect how we feel as far as our energy levels and brain fog and that good stuff next.

Stress management. I know. You're like, oh, stress. We know. How does that help my gut? We [00:11:00] know that moving into the parasympathetic nervous system, using things like meditation, walking, deep breathing, getting outside and feeling that sunshine, doing things that help to manage your stress and help you to chill.

That is very important, right? For our overall body health and our gut health. 'cause our gut literally feels our stress. And then lastly, sleep. Sleep is so important because our gut repairs itself at night. So we need to get, try to get in those seven to nine hours of quality sleep as we can.

Now, granted, during menopause, we know that. It can be more challenging to get quantity, quant quality sleep, when you're waking up at 3:00 AM every night, just wide awake. But, trying to have that nice sleep habits the sleep routines trying to turn your phone off at least an hour or two before bed so that you're not.

Your brain's not trying to process all of the things that you watched on your phone, helps to decrease [00:12:00] that dopamine level. That's, that could keep you up, taking a nice warm bath, maybe having a cup of chamomile tea. You can even do meditation or, stretch.

Just finding those ways to relax so that your body can just go easily into sleep. I do just wanna touch real quick on probiotic supplement. They are so popular right now and they are absolutely everywhere and people are always asking me, should I be taking a probiotic supplement?

And that is such an individual. It's something that I need to ask lots of questions about. If you are someone who is having a lot of gut issues, if you are someone who does not consume any of those fermented type foods that I listed maybe you can't tolerate dairy. Maybe you dislike fermented vegetables.

Maybe you know, you really don't like, you don't eat any soy. Fermented soy or whatever. But more importantly that you're having specific issues. So probiotics are supplements [00:13:00] with live bacteria that are supposed to help balance our microbiome to replenish those good bacteria.

But here's the catch, not all probiotics are created equal. Different strains of bacteria are gonna do different things. Some are gonna help with digestions, others are gonna help with mood, some with immunity. A one size fits all capsule may not solve everything. Quality matters. So look for brands that are third party tested, that they list the strains of bacteria and the number of live organisms, and have good storage guidelines.

So are you supposed to keep 'em in the refrigerator? Are you supposed to keep 'em in a dark place? When are you supposed to take 'em? And remember that food first is always best. Trying to consume those fermented foods that provide probiotics naturally. 'cause truly you are going to digest and absorb things so much better when they're in that food form versus when we strain everything out and we make it, a supplement all by itself because they come, it come, foods come [00:14:00] packaged with other nutrients that.

Your body needs to absorb everything together. So think of supplements as that backup, not the first line of defense. Okay. And they're a very individual recommendations, right? It's not something I'm like, everybody should be taking this probiotic supplement, right? So I have one little challenge for you for the, this week, and that is I want you to pick one gut friendly food, and I want you to add it in.

Okay, so maybe you're like, oh, I don't normally eat beans, but I'm gonna try some beans. Maybe you add in one serving a third or a half of a cup. You add it to a salad, you add it to your dinner meal. Maybe you try to eat higher fiber, carbohydrates. Maybe you add in a few extra servings of vegetables, maybe you add in, a snack of cottage cheese or your breakfast yet, and some Greek yogurt. Then I want you to actually think about how you feel. Do you notice a difference, with increasing your fiber intake or adding in that probiotic [00:15:00] type food, not just in your digestion, but think about, your energy, your mood, or your clarity.

Just think about that. Do you notice any difference? Wrapping it up, just remember that your gut and your brain are in constant conversation. A healthy gut can mean that better mood, it can mean more energy and it can mean less brain fog. So just remember small, consistent changes. It doesn't have to be perfect.

Are, these are what makes the difference. So I'd love to know what gut friendly food you're gonna try this week. So send me a message, let me know. And if you found this episode helpful please share it with a friend or rate and review the podcast so that more women can find it, because this is about progress over perfection.

We're in this for the long haul, and this is your season of strength. Have a fantastic day.