Fiber—it’s not exactly the most glamorous part of your diet, but when it comes to midlife health, it’s an absolute superstar. Many of us think of fiber as the thing that “keeps you regular” or might help with heart health, but that’s just scratching the surface. For women navigating perimenopause and post-menopause, fiber plays a critical role in gut health, blood sugar regulation, bone health, mood, and even brain function.
Additionally, dietary adjustments and lifestyle changes can help alleviate various perimenopause symptoms, making fiber an essential component of your diet during this transitional period.
Grab an herbal tea and let’s talk about why fiber deserves a front-row seat at your table.
Midlife is a pivotal chapter in a woman’s health journey, especially during the perimenopause and menopause stages. This period is marked by significant hormonal changes that can impact various bodily functions, including metabolism, mood, bone health, and overall well-being.
Navigating these changes can be challenging, but a balanced diet and healthy lifestyle habits can make a world of difference. By focusing on nutrient-rich, high fiber foods and lean protein, you can alleviate symptoms, support bone health, preserve lean muscle mass, and promote overall health during this transformative stage.
Understanding the Importance of Gut Health
Gut health is a cornerstone of overall wellness, particularly during midlife. The gut microbiome, a bustling community of trillions of bacteria or “gut bugs”, plays a crucial role in regulating digestion, immune function, and even hormone production.
When this delicate balance is disrupted—a condition known as dysbiosis—it can lead to a host of health issues, including digestive problems, bone density loss, anxiety and depression, and metabolic syndrome. Maintaining a healthy gut is essential for keeping these issues at bay and ensuring your body functions optimally.
Why Dietary Fiber Intake is Crucial During Midlife
As we approach midlife, the hormonal changes of perimenopause and post-menopause bring about changes that can throw our systems a little off balance. Estrogen, our mighty multitasking hormone, regulates much of our physical and emotional well-being—including the diversity of the gut microbiome.
When estrogen levels decline, our gut bugs—the bacteria that influence everything from digestion to mood—can get out of whack. This shift can lead to problems like body-wide inflammation, poor insulin sensitivity, reduced bone density, and, yes, even changes in brain function (hello, brain fog).
The solution? Fiber. That magical, often-overlooked nutrient is here to balance the scales and support your gut microbiome diversity, overall health, and more.
Gut Microbiome Diversity and Why It Matters
Your gut is home to trillions of bacteria (sounds creepy, but it’s actually amazing). When these bacteria are diverse and balanced, they keep inflammation in check, boost your energy, improve metabolic flexibility, and even regulate your mood and appetite hormones, while helping to maintain a healthy weight.
When we have a wide variety of gut bugs they are able to keep our bodies in an equilibrium state and help to:
- regulate inflammation
- increase energy and reduce fatigue
- improve metabolic health and flexibility (our ability to switch between fat and carbs as fuel for different things)
- increase neurotransmitters for mood control and better sleep
- improve signals for bone remodeling to maintain bone density
- increase neural and brain tissue growth
- boost nutrient absorption
- regulate how much energy is harvested, stored, and used which helps to maintain body composition
But as estrogen levels decline, gut bug diversity can take a hit, leading to issues like:
- increased total body inflammation
- loss of bone mineral density
- poor blood sugar control
- increased sleep disturbances
- brain fog
- depression
- anxiety
- increased fat storage, reduced muscle mass development, and lean body mass loss
- increased risk for conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and Alzheimer’s
The good news? Fiber-rich foods can help. They feed the “good” bacteria in your gut (like Bacteroidetes) while keeping the less desirable ones (like Firmicutes) in check. Creating this balance improves everything from digestion to immune function.
The Cholesterol Connection
Have you noticed that your cholesterol levels creep up during perimenopause or post-menopause, despite eating the same healthy diet? Blame it on fluctuating hormones. Estrogen helps regulate cholesterol levels by promoting the removal of LDL (the “bad” cholesterol) from your bloodstream. When estrogen drops, fatty acids circulating in the blood and LDL can rise—and so can your risk of cardiovascular disease. Adequate vitamin D intake is also crucial during this time, as it plays a vital role in bone health and cholesterol regulation.
Enter soluble fiber, the MVP of your heart health. Soluble fiber forms a gel-like substance in your gut, trapping excess cholesterol and sending it out with your waste. Regularly eating foods rich in soluable fiber like oats, beans, and flaxseeds can decrease “bad” cholesterol by 5–10%—a significant win for your heart.
Dietary fiber in combination with reducing your saturated fat intake can go a long way in minimizing your risk factors for cardiovascular disease.
Blood Sugar Regulation
If you’re managing pre-diabetes, fiber is your best friend. Fiber helps to regulate blood sugar. It slows down digestion and helps stabilize your post-meal glucose levels. This keeps you feeling fuller longer and prevents those sugar highs and lows.
Fiber For Fat Loss and Weight Management
Carrying extra weight in midlife is common, frustrating, and—truth bomb—often feels impossible to tackle. Menopausal hot flashes can also be influenced by dietary factors, such as caffeine and alcohol.
But fiber can make a difference. Because it isn’t digested, fiber slows the passage of food through your gut, which helps you feel full on fewer calories. Fiber-rich foods tend to be lower in calories and more nutrient-dense, aiding in fat loss while preserving lean muscle (especially when paired with strength training and protein-rich foods).
The Gut-Brain Connection
We can’t talk fiber and gut health without mentioning the gut-brain axis—the communication superhighway between your gut and your brain. Healthy gut bacteria produce neurotransmitters like serotonin (the “feel-good” hormone), which can influence everything from sleep to mood to cognitive function. Adding fiber restores a healthier gut environment, which benefits your mind just as much as your body.
What Happens Without Fiber?
When your diet lacks fiber, it’s not just your gut bugs that suffer. Foods low in fiber don’t help manage inflammation, regulate blood sugar, or keep your digestive system humming along. Worse, skipping fiber often amps up the imbalance between Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes (remember those?)—leading to more visceral (deep belly) fat, insulin resistance, and reduced brain health.
Probiotics, Prebiotics, and Gut Health
Probiotics are live microorganisms that can work wonders for your gut health by restoring the balance of your gut microbiome. Found in fermented foods like yogurt, kefir, and sauerkraut, or available as supplements, probiotics offer a range of health benefits. They can alleviate digestive problems, boost immune function, support weight management, and even help to reduce perimenopausal symptoms. Probiotics also promote bone health, reducing the risk of osteoporosis.
According to Dr. Stacy Sims in her Menopause 2.0 Course, your upper gut can be directly influenced by specific strains of probiotics that will benefit peri to post-menopausal women. Look for lactobacillus strains, specifically the NCFM and Lactobacillus reuteri RC-14, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and lactobacillus plantarum. Together, these strains are responsible for improving bone health, immune responses, iron absorption, brain tissue health, mood, and vaginal health as well as reducing body-wide inflammation.
But according to Dr. Sims, the lower gut is a different story. “We can’t use probiotics to help the lower gut. We need to look at what we call prebiotics. What are prebiotics? It is all the fiber that we find in colorful fruits and veggies and grains. We want a wide variety of different colored fruit, veggies, whole grains, ancient grains, because this is what creates that diversity, reduces the Firmicutes and increases our Bacteroidetes. So we want to influence our lower gut with lots and lots and lots of fiber. So this is your colorful plate. Not only because it gives you overall better homeostasis for your blood glucose, helps fill you up, but the basis of fiber is to really help that deep gut bacteria, which changes so much in the menopause transition.”
Alongside probiotics, a diet rich in whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats like olive oil can further promote gut health. However, it’s essential to consult with a healthcare provider before starting any supplements to ensure they are safe and effective for your individual needs. By making these dietary changes and staying active, you can enhance your gut health and navigate midlife with greater ease.
Getting More Fiber Without Belly Woes
Here’s the deal—if you’ve been getting by on low-fiber foods, jumping straight into a 35-grams-a-day goal may leave you feeling bloated or uncomfortable. Instead:
- Start slow: Gradually add fiber to one meal each day until your gut adjusts.
- Hydrate: Drink plenty of water to help fiber pass smoothly through your digestive tract.
- Spread it out: Don’t cram all your fiber into one meal; space it throughout the day.
- Pair it smartly: Balance fiber-rich foods with protein and healthy fats for a satisfying meal.
Your Fiber To-Do List
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 14 grams of fiber per 1000 calories consumed per day.
If you’re not sure how many calories you eat each day, experts recommend aiming for 25–35 grams of fiber per day.
Unfortunately, most people eat less than half of that.
Fiber comes in two types:
- Soluble fiber dissolves in water and helps with cholesterol and blood sugar regulation. Found in oats, apples, citrus fruits, beans, peas, white potatoes, flaxseeds, and certain vegetables
- Insoluble fiber adds bulk to stool, prevents constipation, and reduces the risk of colon disease. It’s found in the outermost portion of grains (which are often removed in refining, ex. in the conversion of whole wheat to white flour or brown rice to white rice), fruits, vegetables, and seeds.
Excellent Sources of Fiber
Get these wholesome foods on your plate:
- Oats
- Popcorn
- Brown and wild rice
- Whole grain products like pasta, breads, tortillas, and fortified cereals
- Wheat or oat bran
- Lentils and beans like chickpeas, black beans, pinto beans, kidney beans, edamame, and split peas
- Nuts and seeds like chia seeds, flax seeds, sesame seeds, pistachios, almonds, and walnuts
- Root vegetables like carrots, beets, potatoes, and sweet potatoes
- Cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, kale, and bok choy
- Avocado
- Berries like raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries
- Oranges
- Pears
- Apples
- Bananas
For best results, aim for a mix of both soluble and insoluble fiber.
Takeaways for Your Perimenopause Nutrition and Bone Health
Whether you’ve been looking for ways to energize your midlife routine, manage cholesterol, or alleviate perimenopause symptoms through dietary adjustments, fiber is your under-the-radar health hero. Include more fiber-rich foods in your diet, prioritize gut health, and gradually make sustainable changes—all with a side of grace and self-love.
Your wellness is worth it. Start with just one fiber-packed bite at a time. Lettuce (yep, we went there!) make gut health your new best friend—you’ve got this! 🌱 —Alison
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Alison Heilig is the Editor-in-Chief at FBG and Head Hypewoman at Miles To Go Athletics. She divides her time between running, lifting, hiking with her dogs, snuggling with her dogs, and supporting strong women in the world (and coaching up those who aspire to be). You can find and connect with her on IG @itsalisonheilig.
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