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When eating struggles resurface in midlife, the conversation is often reduced to weight, willpower or “just cutting back a bit”. For many women in perimenopause or postmenopause, this can feel deeply invalidating and can miss what is really going on beneath the surface - which is where a functional medicine, eating-disorder-informed approach steps in

Gut health plays a key role in perimenopause. As oestrogen declines, the gut microbiome changes—often reducing bacterial diversity and affecting hormone metabolism. This can lead to bloating, constipation, loose stools, and food sensitivities, compounding common midlife symptoms. Understanding this connection helps women support their gut, balance hormones, and ease the physical and emotional challenges of menopause transition.

Perimenopause is often discussed in terms of hot flushes, erratic cycles and decisions around HRT. For many women, however, one of the most unsettling changes is a sudden shift in their relationship with food and body image.

Every January, we are bombarded with new diets, detox products, and promises of a "healthy" lifestyle, yet if all these quick fixes worked, the diet industry wouldn’t be a multi-billion-dollar business, right? It thrives on our desire for fast results, but what happens when they don’t last? We end up blaming ourselves for not sticking to the latest trend … and the cycle repeats. Beliefs about the necessity of "Veganuary" or other New Year health trends are often driven by cl