The Simplicity Sessions
The Simplicity Sessions
Jenn Pike
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The Menopause Gut with Cynthia Thurlow
1 hour 14 minutes Posted Apr 20, 2026 at 10:00 am.
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If you've been feeling like your body has stopped cooperating in midlife — even when you feel like you're doing everything right — this episode is for you.

In this episode, we go deep on something that doesn't get nearly enough attention: the connection between your gut health, your hormones, and how you feel as you move through perimenopause and beyond.

Key Topics:

  • Why Cynthia wrote The Menopause Gut — and what no one else is talking about when it comes to midlife gut changes

  • The gut microbiome explained simply: what it is, where it lives, and why it intersects with every system in your body

  • The four lifestyle foundations that either support or sabotage your gut health — and why doing less is often the answer in midlife

  • Why the "double down and work harder" approach backfires for so many women (and what to do instead)

  • Sleep as the non-negotiable #1 priority — Cynthia's exact words: "If you are not sleeping through the night, I cannot get you to lose weight"

  • The hyperlink between chronic stress, cortisol, leaky gut, and autoimmune risk — women are 4–5x more likely to develop autoimmune conditions in perimenopause and menopause

  • Why the inability to sit still or slow down is often a trauma response, not a personality trait

  • Estrogen as a people-pleasing hormone — and how declining hormones can actually help you find your voice

  • The three big gut changes happening in perimenopause: loss of digestive fire, changes in motility, and the estrobolome (your body's estrogen-processing plant in the gut)

  • What to look for on stool testing, and why Cynthia does the lifestyle foundations first before running labs

  • The gut-brain connection via the vagus nerve, and how gut inflammation drives anxiety, depression, brain fog, and joint pain

  • Histamine, mast cell degranulation, and why your wine reaction at 38 might have been your first perimenopause symptom (this one hit home for me personally!)

  • The supplement overwhelm problem — why Cynthia is intentional and evidence-based before recommending probiotics

  • What "digestive fire" means and the practical role of enzymes, bitters, and TUDCA

  • Elimination diets as a starting point — and when to escalate to GI diagnostic testing

  • The rise in colorectal cancer in younger people, and why we cannot afford to ignore bowel changes

  • Cynthia's take on HRT: why she prefers to dial in lifestyle and gut health first, and what happens when women go straight to hormones without the foundation in place

  • Thin phenotype PCOS (teaser for part two — this conversation is happening!)

 

Let's dive in!

Thank you for joining us today. If you could rate, review & subscribe, it would mean the world to me! While you're at it, take a screenshot and tag me @jennpike to share on Instagram – I'll re-share that baby out to the community & once a month I'll be doing a draw from those re-shares and send the winner something special!

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This episode is sponsored by:

  • withinUs | Use the code JENNPIKE20 at withinus.ca for a limited time to save 20% off your first order and 20% off your first subscription order

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