What this episode is about
Your gut holds 40 trillion bacteria, makes 90 percent of your serotonin, and houses 70 percent of your immune system. Most menopause care never asks about any of it.
Key takeaways
- The gut microbiome, roughly 40 trillion bacteria, viruses, fungi and protozoa, produces about 90 percent of the body's serotonin and houses 70 percent of the immune system, yet most menopause care never addresses it.
- The estrobolome, a set of gut bacteria that packages up and eliminates estrogen, determines whether excess estrogen gets cleared or recirculated. When digestion and detox pathways are sluggish, that recirculation worsens bloating, brain fog, and weight loss resistance, even on HRT.
- The vagus nerve is the two-way link between gut and brain, and most of the signal traffic runs gut to brain, not the reverse. Simple parasympathetic practices, deep breaths before eating, humming, time in nature, pull the body out of chronic sympathetic activation.
Moments from this episode
Word for word from the recording. Tap a time to hear it.
The word pause is on purpose
“The word pause is designed to make us stop and reflect on what is working in my lifestyle and what is not.”
After years of people pleasing
“By the time women get to midlife, they have been people pleasers for years and years and years and all of a sudden they're like, this doesn't sit well with me. I can't do this anymore. I need more boundaries.”
Saying no brought me back
“The way that I've really found my way back to myself as a woman was learning how to say no and be very clear.”
Too busy for sex, therapy, exercise?
“If you're too busy, whether it's sex or therapy or exercise, then you're too busy. Think about that. You're way too busy. And try to move those things further up the to-do list.”
“So when we hit midlife and suddenly there's more anxiety, more emotional flatness, mood swings. It's not that we're going crazy or that it's a character flaw. It's biology.”
Gabriella Espinosaat 19:25
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Show notes
Nurse practitioner and author Cynthia Thurlow makes the case that menopause symptoms doctors treat as separate, mood swings, brain fog, weight gain, low libido, are actually one connected story running through the gut microbiome. She walks Gabriella through the estrobolome, the part of the gut that packages up and eliminates estrogen, and explains why sluggish digestion lets that estrogen recirculate and intensify symptoms, even for women already on hormone therapy. From there the conversation moves to the gut-brain link through the vagus nerve, where most signal traffic runs from gut to brain, and how chronic stress and unresolved trauma, including the smaller cumulative kind, show up later as weight loss resistance, autoimmune disease, and earlier menopause. The episode lands on a practical plan that starts with basics, protein, fiber, sleep, boundaries, breath, before it ever reaches a supplement or a lab test.
Read the full show notesShow less
What if the brain fog, the broken sleep, the mood swings, the weight that won't budge, and the libido that has gone missing are not a collection of separate problems? What if they are one connected story and the missing piece of that story lies in your gut?
In this episode of Pleasure in the Pause, Gabriella sits down with Cynthia Thurlow, nurse practitioner, bestselling author, and host of the Everyday Wellness podcast, to explore her groundbreaking new book The Menopause Gut: Balance Your Microbiome to Reclaim Your Health in Midlife and Beyond. Cynthia has spent a decade working exclusively with midlife women, and what she keeps seeing is this: women doing all the right things and still not feeling like themselves. Her book offers a fascinating new lens through which to understand why, and what to do about it.
Cynthia Thurlow is a nurse practitioner, two-time TEDx speaker, international speaker, and CEO and founder of the Everyday Wellness Project. With over 25 years of experience in health and wellness, she is a globally recognized expert in perimenopause, menopause, intermittent fasting, and women's metabolic health. Her latest book The Menopause Gut: Balance Your Microbiome to Reclaim Your Health in Midlife and Beyond is available everywhere books are sold.
In this episode, we discuss:
- What the gut microbiome actually is and why it sits at the center of midlife health
- The estrobolome , the part of your gut that processes and eliminates estrogen , and why it matters on HRT
- How the gut and brain are connected through the vagus nerve and what that means for mood, anxiety, and desire
- Why 90% of serotonin is made in the gut and what that means for midlife mood swings
- How trauma history contributes to weight loss resistance and early menopause
- Practical starting points: protein, fiber, sleep rituals, strength training, and the power of saying no
- Why supporting your gut ripples out into energy, vitality, mood, and pleasure
My hope is that this episode helps you see your symptoms as one connected story , and gives you a clear, practical place to begin.
Cynthia says it simply: major in the majors. Before the supplements and the protocols and the testing, it is the basics , how you eat, how you sleep, how you manage stress, and how honestly you honor your own limits , that move the needle most. Your gut is not a separate system. It is the ecosystem everything else depends on.
If this episode resonated, subscribe to Pleasure in the Pause and share it with a woman in your life who has been doing all the right things and still not feeling like herself. And grab Cynthia's book , it is one of the most practical and comprehensive guides to midlife health I have come across.
If you're seeking to reclaim your pleasure and vitality, join Gabriella at pleasureinthepause.com for this enlightening journey into the heart of female pleasure and empowerment.
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The information shared on Pleasure in the Pause is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider before making any decisions about your health or treatment. The views expressed by guests are their own and do not necessarily reflect the views of the host or Pleasure in the Pause.
About the guest
Cynthia ThurlowNurse practitionerGuest on this episode of Pleasure in the Pause.More about them
