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.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Hello and welcome back to theJoyful Menopause Podcast.
Today we are talking aboutsomething that doesn't usually
get a spotlight, but plays ahuge role in how you feel every
single day.
It's fiber.
Yes, fiber.
Maybe not that interesting, butstay with me because this humble
nutrient, may be the missinglink between your hot flashes,

(00:21):
brain fog, bloating, and bellyfat.
So let's get into it.
Menopause doesn't have to feellike you are living in someone
else's body.
Your host, Lynda Enright, hasspent the last 25 years helping
women to thrive in midlife.
Here you'll find science-basedpractical advice that you can
start using today to get realresults for your health.
Welcome to Joyful Menopause.

(00:45):
So why does fiber matter?
Most women in perimenopause andmenopause are getting just 12 to
15 grams of fiber a day.
It's low for most people acrossthe country.
That's really half of what weneed and our bodies need it now
more than ever.
Estrogen is declining and thataffects your gut, your
metabolism, your immune system,even your mental health and

(01:08):
fiber supports all of thosethings.
It acts sort of like thisscaffolding for your health.
It's not a quick fix, it's afoundational fix.
I talk so much about building ahealthy foundation, and fiber is
a key component of that.
When fiber is low, you may feelmore bloated, inflamed,
constipated, moody, foggy,fatigued, even without even

(01:31):
really understanding why.
So if you're checking all theboxes trying to do everything
right, but you still don't feelbetter, fiber might be the
missing piece.
But what if I told you also,that fiber could be playing a
key role in balancing your bloodsugar, reducing cravings, and
helping you lose stubborn weightduring menopause.

(01:51):
So let's dig into that first.
You've probably heard me say itbefore.
Blood sugar balance iseverything during midlife.
As estrogen drops, our cellsbecome more resistant to insulin
and blood sugar tends to spikeand crash more easily.
So what does that look like?
It's cravings that are out ofcontrol.
It's afternoon crashes, it'sweight gain, especially around

(02:12):
the belly.
It's waking up at 3:00 AM with aracing mind.
Fiber slows down digestion.
It blunts the blood sugar spikeand keeps you feeling full
longer.
It's like this anchor for yourmetabolism.
I had a client that told merecently I stopped reaching for
sugar at 3:00 PM I didn't eventry to quit.
It just stopped happeningbecause I was eating more fiber.

(02:34):
I was feeling more full.
And that's the thing, we don'tneed to like white knuckle our
way through menopause.
We need to work with our bodies,not against them.
But what happens after your bodyis done with hormones like
estrogen?
So you know we're decliningestrogen, you still have
estrogen, but what is happeningwith that estrogen after we use
it?
How do you make sure that itdoesn't stick around and then

(02:55):
cause more symptoms?
Fiber's got an important rolethere too.
So let's talk aboutdetoxification next.
So this one is big and oftenoverlooked.
Once your body uses estrogen, itneeds to be detoxified by the
liver and eliminated throughyour bowels.
So if you're constipated or yourfiber's too low, guess what?

(03:16):
That estrogen doesn't leave, itrecirculates.
It goes back around into yourbloodstream, and that can lead
to heavier or irregular periodsif you're still having a period,
can lead to hot flashes, breasttenderness, mood swings, and
stubborn weight, that just won'tbudge.
Fiber, especially from wholefoods like vegetables, legumes,

(03:38):
and seeds binds to excessestrogen in the gut and it helps
it to move out of the body.
So it's not just aboutdigestion, it's hormone therapy
through food.
It's helping your body toutilize hormones and excrete
them as necessary.
And then thinking aboutdigestion, if your gut has been
feeling off lately, bloating,irregularity, discomfort.

(04:02):
There's another thing that'simportant to look at the
microbiome, so let's dig intothat next.
Something that people don'toften realize is that your gut
bacteria helps to regulate yourhormones.
There's a group of bacteria inyour gut called the estrobolome.
They literally help to processestrogen.
So if your gut is inflamed orout of balance, estrogen may not

(04:24):
be broken down and metabolizedproperly, and you might feel it.
So fiber helps to feed the goodbugs, those good bacteria in
your gut.
That's the food, that's theprebiotics, that's the food for
the bacteria, the probiotics.
So soluble fiber, things likeoats, flaxseed beans, legumes,
apples are good prebiotics.

(04:45):
They help your microbiome tostay diverse, to stay healthy.
So we have a lot of differentgood bacteria floating around.
We, we want to have the goodguys beat out the bad guys.
We want to feed those good guysand get good growth of those
bacteria.
So this can impact a lot ofthings.
It can impact your mood, yourimmunity, your energy levels,
and your hormones.

(05:06):
So why do so many women oftenreally consciously avoid fiber,
especially during perimenopause,one word, bloating.
I hear it all the time.
So I want to next, I want tobust that myth that bloating is
going to happen if you get toomuch fiber.
So that's our final sectionhere, talking about bloating.
So if you've ever said, fibermakes me bloated, you're not

(05:29):
alone.
I hear it all the time, buthere's what I want you to know.
Bloating is often a sign of lowfiber intake, not high.
If your gut bacteria aren't usedto fiber or you increase it too
quickly, it can causediscomfort.
So that's a lot of what I, I seepeople 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.

(05:50):
But that's temporary.
And there's ways to sort oftransition a little bit more
smoothly.
So first of all, just startslow.
We don't want to, we don't wantto make giant changes to our
diet in any way because ourbody's just not used to it.
So when you start slow, when youhydrate really well and you kind
of build gradually the fiberover maybe two to three weeks,
then you can start to feel a lotbetter.

(06:11):
So one client of mine added atablespoon of chia seeds to her
breakfast.
She made a, a breakfast smoothieeach day, and within, a short
period of time, she went frombeing constipated to regularly
daily having bowel movementswithout feeling the bloat that
she was worried about.
You know, it's not about addinglike a fiber bar.
Chicory root is something yousee in a lot of these pre-made

(06:34):
processed foods, and that givesyou a lot of fiber.
So when you look at the nutrientfacts, you'll see a high number
of grams of fiber.
But that isn't what I'm lookingfor.
I want fiber that comes fromreal food because that supports
your whole system in a lot ofways.
And then you don't get all theadditives and other things that
come from these processed foodsthat just add isolated fibers.

(06:56):
We want the whole food.
We want the nutrients.
We want to ease your body intoadding fiber in a way that's
going to feel really good andnot leave you feeling bloated.
So if you've been feeling stuck,low energy, feeling bloated,
feeling inflamed.
Adding more fiber might be oneof the easiest and really
powerful shifts that you canmake.

(07:18):
So to wrap up, I'm going to giveyou a few simple ways that you
can get started today.
So let's recap with a few easyfiber boosting strategies that
you can start now.
So number one, what can you doto upgrade your breakfast?
Adding things like flax seeds orchia seeds to smoothies.
Oats can be a good choicebecause they have good soluble

(07:39):
fiber.
I'm a little cautious abouthaving oatmeal for breakfast
because it can spike bloodsugar.
So if you're choosing oats,having that as part of a
balanced meal, having someprotein and fat with that as
well.
Um, yogurt can be a great partof a nourishing breakfast if
it's a good yogurt.
So we want yogurt that doesn'thave any additives, doesn't have

(08:00):
sweeteners, has low levels ofsugar, a Greek yogurt.
Um, can be a good choice.
The purpose of yogurt is it'sgiving us some of those good
bacteria, so that can behelpful.
Um, but again, you do have to becareful about yogurt'cause
there's so many out there andthey're not all great.
The second thing is to snacksmarter.
So skip the crackers, the chips,the granola bars.

(08:21):
Try things like hummus withveggies or a pear with maybe a
small handful of nuts.
Those are things that are goingto give you some high fiber,
really nutrient rich choices.
Number three, lots ofvegetables.
Fill your plate.
Half, at least half withvegetables would be great for
lunch and dinner.
Looking for color and variety.

(08:43):
Again, remember that we want towork our way up to this so you
know, to start adding hummus forsnacks with vegetables and
vegetables, with dinner andvegetables, with lunch.
That could be a lot if your bodyis not used to that.
So you might want to start with,you know, just one of these
things and, and build your wayup.
Uh, and number four, drink morewater.
So fiber only works if it hasfluid to move with it, so we

(09:06):
want to make sure we're gettingadequate water.
Um, and then lastly, sort of apowerhouse is legumes, choosing
legumes, dried beans like two tothree times a week.
Lentils, chickpeas, black beans,things like that.
Again, slow careful.
We don't want to add tobloating.
We just want to start movingthings through your body.
So if you're ready to feel morevibrant.

(09:27):
Less confused about what'sactually working in midlife.
I'd love to help you.
You can learn more about workingwith me or grab my free guide.
Is this perimenopause?
Um, the link for moreinformation is below in the
comments.
This is exactly the kind ofsupport I offer inside my joyful
menopause coaching program.

(09:47):
Tailored whole person nutritionthat makes you feel like
yourself again.
I'm giving you some generalthings that work for so many
people, but when I work withpeople individually, we're
figuring out what's going towork for your body.
We start with nutrient testingto find out what your body is
missing, and then we build adiet to help you to feel your

(10:07):
best and to help move thingsthrough your gut.
That's a big part of a part of,uh, great health during the
years of perimenopause andmenopause.
So thanks for being here today.
Thank you for taking this timefor you.
You deserve to feel good in yourbody and it does not have to be
complicated.
Until next time, stay kind toyourself and stay joyful.