Your gut doesn’t lie — and in perimenopause, it’s sending distress signals most doctors completely ignore.
Nurse practitioner, two-time TEDx speaker, and Everyday Wellness podcast host Cynthia Thurlow joins Dr. Stephanie for a conversation that starts in Morocco (food poisoning, a hospitalization, and a perimenopause wake-up call nobody saw coming) and ends with a clear-eyed framework for supporting your gut, your bones, your immune system, and your sleep through the hormonal chaos of midlife.
This one is for every woman who’s been told her symptoms are “just aging.” It’s not aging. It’s a system that was never designed with you in mind — and it’s time to build a better map.
Episode Overview:
0:00 Intro/Teaser
6:08 How a parasite became a perimenopause wake-up call
10:28 Why women resist the word “perimenopause.”
15:31 The gut-hormone connection nobody’s talking about
20:52 The medical system was never built for middle-aged women
29:24 Body composition, the scale, and the comments that stick
33:03 The ACE study: how childhood trauma rewires the gut and immune system
40:32 Oral contraceptives, antibiotics, and the developing microbiome
47:26 The estrobolome
52:28 The 6–12 window
55:27 Sleep, stress, and nutrition — the three biggest levers in perimenopause
1:01:18 Advice for mothers of daughters
1:04:22 Cynthia’s personal daily protocol
1:12:28 The Menopause Gut: elevator pitch and where to find it
1:14:34 After Party — Dr. Stephanie’s key takeaways
Resources mentioned in this episode:
- The Menopause Gut: Balance Your Microbiome to Reclaim Your Health in Midlife and Beyond — Penguin Random House, April 28, 2026
- Cynthia Thurlow TEDx Talk: Intermittent Fasting: A Transformational Technique (TEDxGreenville, 2019)
- CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study overview
- Felitti VJ et al. (1998). Relationship of childhood abuse and household dysfunction to many of the leading causes of death in adults. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 14(4), 245–258:
- Baker JM et al. (2017). Estrogen–gut microbiome axis: Physiological and clinical implications. Maturitas, 103, 45–53
- ZRT Laboratory — The Estrobolome: The Bidirectional Relationship Between Gut Microbes and Hormones: zrtlab.com
- Dr. Andy Galpin — Perform Podcast : performpodcast.com
Bio:
Cynthia Thurlow is a nurse practitioner, host of the Everyday Wellness podcast, author and international speaker, with over 15 million views for her second TEDx talk (Intermittent Fasting: Transformational Technique). With over 25 years experience in health and wellness, Cynthia is a globally recognized expert in perimenopause/menopause and intermittent fasting. More at cynthiathurlow.com
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I’m Dr. Stephanie
Part geek, part magic, and all the way passionate about being a well-lived woman.
I want to throw my grandkids in the air in my 70’s. I want to be squatting even more weight than I am now, and putting my OWN luggage in the overhead bin. Sound like weird goals? For me these are just some of the little things that represent a life well-lived.
My health is MY job – I’ll be damned if I rely on luck, ‘good genes’ or a cocktail of drugs that over promise and under deliver.
The Betty Body is my first book-baby, and a collection of what I’ve learned after thousands of clinical hours, hundreds of conversations with the world’s top experts, and most importantly…
This book is an outline of what took ME from “rock-bottom health” at 38, to being my own version of a Betty in my perimenopausal mid 40’s. A woman who is physically strong, full of energy, enjoys mental clarity, great sex and a joyful family life. Is it all roses? Of course not. But I have the stamina and tools to deal with the push and pull of life so that it doesn’t turn into chronic stress.
I want this for you too. Let’s go Bettys!
