The last 3 years have seen significant progress in the understanding of the role of our gut microbiota on our health. Not only does our gut health influence our mental health, we now know it impacts our skin, the quality of our sleep and our ability to maintain a healthy weight too.
If you’ve found yourself struggling with bloating, weight gain, new intolerances to food..and constipation too, it may be that the tools you used to use to keep your body well need a rethink.
This chimes with the latest research into our guts when our hormones are out of whack too.
Whether it’s the result of PCOS, painful cycles or menopause, fluctuating sex hormones inhibit the health of our gut microbiota. And when we lose diversity of the good bacteria our bodies are less able to:
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Metabolise oestrogen: which is associated with weight gain, particularly around our middle area
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Manage inflammation: Dysbiosis (an imbalance in gut bacteria) can trigger inflammation by increasing the permeability of the gut lining, leading to what’s often called "leaky gut." This allows harmful substances to enter the bloodstream and trigger an immune response that promotes fat storage and weight gain.
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Produce anti-inflammatory microbes: A healthy gut microbiota helps maintain a balanced immune response, reducing systemic inflammation, which is important for regulating fat accumulation and maintaining a healthy weight.
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Regulate both hunger and our sense of fullness: The gut microbiota plays a direct role in regulating hunger and satiety signals by influencing hormones such as ghrelin (which stimulates appetite) and leptin (which suppresses appetite).
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Balance blood sugar levels: Specific strains of gut bacteria are associated with improved blood sugar regulation, which may reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes—a condition that we become more prone to during our menopause transition
So, what can we do to bring our bodies back into balance?
1. Embrace bitter flavours:
Did you know that bitter flavours on our tongue play an important role in preparing our guts to digest and extract maximum nutritional value from food? Bitter tastes stimulate digestive enzymes as well as bile production, both of which are critical to maintain a healthy metabolic rate. Bitter foods help us manage our hunger levels too. So, alongside ensuring you’re eating protein, fibre and good fats with every meal, make 2025 about retraining your taste buds to embrace bitter flavours! Start with leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables with every dish - and ensure you keep up variety too.
2. Harness the power of botanicals:
Some of the most powerful bitters are herbs and spices. And some of the best researched sources are at the heart of LIMINAL’s foundational powders, Peri-Boost and Meno-Boost too. From moldavian dragonhead to moringa, turmeric and ginger, our formulations are proudly free from flavour masks to ensure that you benefit fully from the taste.
3. Replace your probiotic with a prebiotic supplement:
Nutritionists and naturopaths regularly report seeing women in clinic taking probiotics and seeing symptoms of gut discomfort increase rather than diminish. The reason? If we take bacterial stains we don’t need or already have too much of, we exacerbate issues. If that sounds like you, you may be better off upping probiotics on your plate and exploring the power of prebiotic supplementation instead. Our sell-out Gut Instinct is one of the few purely prebiotic formulations available. Using only the best researched bitters, carminatives and demulcent herbs, it is designed to soothe our gut, feed our gut microbiota, improve digestion and bowel regularity too. Customers regularly report a positive impact on cravings and weight balance too.
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