The Missing Piece of Every Menopause Conversation? Your Gut

The bloating that arrives without explanation. The brain fog that won’t lift by midmorning. The sleep that breaks at 3 a.m. and doesn’t come back. For women in perimenopause and menopause, these symptoms are usually framed as hormonal—and they are. But hormones don’t operate in isolation. They move through systems. And one of the most influential, most overlooked of those systems is the gut.

Science now frames this relationship through the gut–brain axis—a constant, two-way communication system linking the digestive tract and the brain. And recently, this framework now includes another factor—hormones—revealing a more complex and relevant picture for women navigating midlife.

That’s what Kim King, nutritionist, gut health coach, and founder of Kim King Wellness, came to address at Rise, Reset, Renew, a Peri/Menopause Forum organized by The Beauty Edit for EO Philippines (Entrepreneurs’ Organization). Known as Asia’s Broth Queen, Kim King’s approach sits at the intersection of nourishment and function—and her message was unambiguous: if you want to support your hormones during menopause, you have to start with what’s happening in your gut.

When Balance Becomes Visible

For most of our lives, the body compensates quietly. Hormones fluctuate, stress accumulates, diets shift—but systems adapt—until they don’t.

Menopause is often the moment that exposes what was already fragile. Digestion slows down, sleep becomes inconsistent, and mood shifts feel sharper and less predictable. Food intolerances appear where there were none.

So the real question is not just what’s changing?—but what’s no longer working the way it used to?

At the center of that shift is the microbiome. A healthy gut exists in a state of balance, or gut eubiosis—where beneficial bacteria support digestion, regulate inflammation, and even assist in hormone metabolism. But when that balance is disrupted—through stress, poor diet, lack of sleep, or hormonal decline—it shifts into dysbiosis. And dysbiosis doesn’t stay in the gut.

It shows up as bloating, yes—but also as brain fog, fatigue, low mood, and hormonal instability. Especially during menopause, when estrogen itself helps regulate microbial diversity, that imbalance becomes harder to ignore.

So again: why the gut? Because when it’s out of balance, everything else follows.

Start Where the Body Listens

Since King’s work sits at the intersection of nourishment and function, her approach isn’t about extremes—it’s about restoring communication within the body, starting with how we eat and the quality of what we consistently give it. Here, gut health isn’t built on a single intervention—it’s built on an ecosystem.

What we eat determines what thrives. Diets rich in prebiotics—fibers from vegetables, fruits, and whole plant foods—feed beneficial bacteria, allowing them to grow. Probiotics, found in fermented foods, help introduce and replenish these microbes. 

But the real impact lies in what happens next: these bacteria produce postbiotics, compounds like short-chain fatty acids that reduce inflammation, strengthen the gut lining, and influence everything from immunity to hormone balance. The question then becomes this: Are you just eating—or are you feeding your microbiome?

Fasting, detoxing, eliminating—these are tools—but without proper nourishment, they lose their value.

The Gut Reset Mix-Up

The idea of a gut reset has been widely adopted, but poorly understood. And more often than not, they ignore a basic truth: You cannot starve your way into balance.

Especially for women, this pattern is familiar—undereating early in the day, only to overcompensate later. As King explains, “A lot of people will be on a fast, but then towards the day, we catch ourselves taking more junk—because the body doesn’t get the satiety of the nutrients that it’s lost during this time.”

When the body lacks nutrients—particularly protein, fiber, and micronutrients—it doesn’t feel satisfied. And when satiety is missing, the cycle of cravings and dysbiosis continues.

Then if menopause is added to the equation, the body is already under physiological stress, restriction can deepen dysbiosis rather than correct it. Under-eating leads to nutrient gaps. Nutrient gaps lead to cravings, instability, and further imbalance.

The Effective Gut Restoration

A functional gut reset is less about intensity and more about sequence and consistency. It begins with reducing the load: ultra-processed foods, excess sugar, and constant snacking that keep the gut in a constant state of work. King even suggests, “No snacking in between—we don’t really see the impact of snacking throughout the day.”

Why does this matter? Because the gut needs space to complete its natural processes—not just digestion, but microbial regulation and repair.

Then comes rebuilding through food.

This is where prebiotics become essential—not optional. Without them, beneficial bacteria cannot thrive. A diverse, fiber-rich diet supports microbial diversity, which is directly linked to better metabolic and hormonal outcomes. Probiotic-rich foods add another layer of support—but they are only effective if the environment allows them to survive.

And ultimately, it’s the production of postbiotics—those anti-inflammatory, gut-repairing compounds—that signals real progress. That’s when the system begins to stabilize. The goal isn’t to follow a rigid identity. It’s to restore function.

Then comes repair—and this is where simplicity wins. Warm, easy-to-digest foods, like broths and slow-cooked meals, reduce strain while supporting the gut lining.

And finally, the most underestimated factor: sleep. If food builds the system, sleep restores it. It’s when the gut lining regenerates. When inflammation is regulated. When the microbiome stabilizes.

So ask the obvious question: Can the gut heal without sleep? It can’t. Yet sleep is often the first thing sacrificed—and the last thing addressed.

Fasting as Support, Not Stress

If a gut reset is about restoring balance, then fasting—when done correctly—can be a powerful tool. But the keyword is ‘correctly.’

Why does fasting work for some and backfire for others, especially women in midlife? Because without structure and proper nourishment, it becomes another form of stress.

With a quick, crash-course from King, the approach becomes measured. Instead of long, aggressive fasts, she recommends a rhythm your body can actually sustain: 12 to 16 hours, practiced two to three times a week. Enough to give the gut space to rest—but not so much that it triggers depletion.

The way you begin and end the fast matters just as much as the fast itself.

Start simply: hydration first. Water, ideally with a pinch of salt, helps restore electrolyte balance and supports cellular function after hours without intake.

Then, when it’s time to eat, the question isn’t what do I crave?—but what does my body need?

Breaking the fast with protein and fermented foods is intentional. Protein provides satiety and stabilizes blood sugar, while ferments introduce beneficial bacteria—helping the gut transition back into digestion without shock.

And then comes the discipline most people overlook: no snacking in between meals. Because constant grazing doesn’t support the gut—it interrupts it. It keeps digestion switched on, preventing the body from completing its natural cycles of repair.

Why It Works

Done properly, fasting doesn’t deplete—it recalibrates. It helps reduce inflammation, a key driver of both gut imbalance and menopausal symptoms. It activates autophagy, the body’s cellular cleanup process. And by giving the digestive system defined periods of rest, it improves overall gut function.

But its impact isn’t just internal—it’s felt. It shows up as less bloating, a steadier mood, fewer cravings, clearer skin, and, most importantly, deeper, more restorative sleep.

None of it requires intensity. It requires consistency, sequencing, and the understanding that the body isn’t working against you—it’s waiting to be properly supported. That shift in perspective, King would argue, is where the real reset begins.

To learn more about Kim King’s gut reset approach, broth recipes, and products, follow her on Instagram @brothqueen or visit www.kimkingwellness.com.