Menopausal Weight Gain Explained — What’s Causing It and How to Fix It Naturally

Midlife weight gain can feel frustrating and confusing — especially when your habits haven’t changed. But during perimenopause and menopause, hormonal shifts affect metabolism, digestion, muscle mass, and fat storage in ways most women are never told about. This article breaks down what’s really happening in your body, and how to support it naturally with food, herbs, and hormone-smart lifestyle strategies.

---

One of the most common and frustrating complaints women bring to clinic during perimenopause and menopause is unexplained weight gain — especially around the middle. For many, it seems to come out of nowhere. Diets haven’t changed, exercise levels are the same, and yet the scale keeps creeping up. What’s going on?

The answer lies in hormones — and how they affect every system involved in metabolism, energy regulation, fat storage, and even appetite itself.

Menopause isn’t just a reproductive shift. It’s a whole-body recalibration involving oestrogen, progesterone, testosterone, cortisol, thyroid hormones, and insulin. These chemical messengers govern not just mood and menstruation, but also how efficiently the body burns calories, where it stores fat, and how easily it builds or loses muscle.

In this article, we’ll unpack what’s really happening to the body during perimenopause and menopause, and why so many women struggle with weight despite doing “all the right things.” Most importantly, we’ll explore how to support the body naturally — through food, herbs, lifestyle strategies, and hormone-smart nutrition — so that you can feel strong, balanced and energised again.

Because weight gain during menopause is not a lack of willpower. It’s a sign your body needs a new kind of support.

The Hormonal Shifts Behind Menopausal Weight Gain

Menopausal weight gain isn’t just about eating more or moving less — it’s the result of a complex hormonal cascade that affects how your body stores energy, regulates appetite, and maintains muscle mass. These changes often begin in the perimenopausal years, typically from age 35 onwards, and become more pronounced through the menopausal transition.

Here’s how the key hormones contribute:

• Progesterone declines first This calming, sleep-supportive hormone begins to drop in perimenopause. Low progesterone can increase stress sensitivity, disrupt sleep, and affect blood sugar regulation — all of which contribute to cravings and weight retention.

• Oestrogen fluctuates, then drops Oestrogen levels rise and fall unpredictably during perimenopause and eventually decline significantly post-menopause. This leads to fat redistribution, particularly around the hips, thighs, breasts, and abdomen. As oestrogen drops, metabolism slows, and insulin resistance increases — making it easier to gain weight and harder to shift it.

• Cortisol increases Ongoing stress (common during midlife) elevates cortisol, which signals the body to store fat — especially in the abdominal area — and suppresses thyroid function, further slowing metabolism.

• Testosterone decreases Though often overlooked, women produce small amounts of testosterone too. This hormone helps maintain muscle mass, strength and stamina. When it declines, muscle tone drops, and metabolic rate falls with it.

• Thyroid function slows Oestrogen plays a role in supporting the thyroid. As levels fall, basal metabolic rate often declines, leading to lower energy output even when dietary habits haven’t changed.

Together, these shifts can make women feel like their bodies are working against them — storing fat more easily, burning energy more slowly, and craving more sugar or refined carbohydrates as the nervous system seeks stability.

But understanding the why is key. Because once we know how hormones are driving the changes, we can start to address the root causes — not just the symptoms.

The Gut–Liver Axis — Why Digestion and Detoxification Matter More Than Ever

Hormones don’t just influence weight directly — they also impact the organs responsible for processing and eliminating metabolic waste. During menopause, the gut and liver often become overwhelmed, and this plays a significant role in fat storage, bloating, and hormonal imbalance.

As oestrogen and progesterone fluctuate, the body’s digestive secretions — like stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes — begin to decline. This means poorer breakdown of carbohydrates, fats and proteins. The result? More fermentation in the gut, increased bloating, discomfort, and inflammation.

Meanwhile, the liver, which is responsible for metabolising and clearing out used hormones (like excess oestrogen), begins to struggle. A sluggish liver can’t break down hormones effectively — meaning that old oestrogen gets recirculated, driving further hormonal imbalance and contributing to fat storage around the belly, breasts, and hips.

Compounding this is the impact on the bowels. If digestion slows, waste products and hormone metabolites don’t move out of the system efficiently. The longer they sit, the more likely they are to be reabsorbed — fuelling a vicious cycle of bloating, toxic load, and hormone dominance.

To break the cycle, we must focus on supporting these elimination pathways.

That means:

• Strengthening digestion with herbs like slippery elm, L-glutamine, or licorice root

• Boosting liver function with milk thistle, dandelion root, lemon water, and bitter greens

• Supporting healthy gut flora with fermented foods (like sauerkraut, kimchi, and kefir)

• Encouraging daily elimination to ensure excess hormones are removed — not recycled

When the gut and liver are functioning well, the whole hormonal system becomes easier to manage — and the body becomes far more responsive to weight loss efforts.

Why Traditional Dieting Doesn’t Work for Midlife Women — And What to Do Instead

One of the most frustrating experiences for women during perimenopause and menopause is watching their usual diet stop working. You might be eating the same foods, following the same routines, and still gaining weight. That’s because menopausal weight gain isn’t just about calories — it’s about metabolism, hormones, inflammation, and resilience.

When hormone levels change, the rules change. Restrictive diets or over-exercising can backfire, increasing stress on the body and further raising cortisol levels — which contributes to weight gain around the middle. Many women cut calories drastically or exercise more, only to feel fatigued, bloated, and emotionally flat.

The solution lies in adapting your nutrition to match your body’s new reality. This is where a modified paleo–ketogenic approach can be powerful.

Here’s how it works:

• Ditch the grains and starches These increase insulin spikes, feed inflammation, and burden the liver. Eliminating refined carbs, grains, root vegetables and starchy foods helps stabilise blood sugar and reduce fat storage.

• Prioritise protein Protein helps preserve muscle mass, supports metabolism, and reduces sugar cravings. For O blood types, red meat may be well tolerated. For A or AB types, plant-based proteins, white meat, fish, and legumes are better suited.

• Shift to healthy fats Replace inflammatory seed oils with high-quality fats like olive oil, avocado oil, flax, hemp, and omega-3-rich fish. These support brain health, hormone production and steady energy.

• Focus on blood sugar balance Every meal should combine protein, fat, and fibre — to reduce insulin surges, support mood, and keep cravings under control.

• Support digestion and detox A lower-carb, higher-protein diet lightens the load on the gut and liver, helping clear out excess hormones and reducing bloating and inflammation.

This isn’t about deprivation. It’s about realignment — eating in a way that supports your new hormonal landscape, rather than fighting against it.

Targeted Supplements and Herbs to Support Midlife Metabolism

As hormones shift and metabolic processes slow, the right supplements can play a powerful role in supporting energy, digestion, thyroid function and fat-burning capacity. These aren’t magic bullets — but when used alongside a hormone-aligned diet and lifestyle, they can make a meaningful difference.

Key areas to focus on include:

1. Thyroid Support Thyroid activity often declines during menopause, dragging metabolism down with it. Support this with:

• Iodine-rich foods: Seaweed, kelp, bladderwrack

• Adaptogens: Ashwagandha is known to support thyroid hormones, especially under stress

• Selenium + zinc: Essential co-factors in thyroid hormone conversion

2. Gut Health Poor digestion slows everything — from nutrient absorption to hormone detoxification. For a healthier gut:

• L-Glutamine: Helps repair the gut lining (500mg 3x/day between meals)

• Slippery elm & licorice root: Soothe inflammation and improve digestion

• Fermented foods: Kimchi, sauerkraut, kefir (or coconut kefir), bone broth (especially for O blood types)

3. Liver & Detox Pathways Efficient hormone clearance relies on a well-functioning liver. Support this with:

• Milk thistle and dandelion root

• Warm water with lemon each morning

• Bitter greens (rocket, dandelion, chicory)

4. Brain & Energy Support As oestrogen and testosterone drop, mental clarity and motivation often take a hit. To counteract that:

• Rhodiola, gotu kola, ginkgo biloba, Siberian ginseng: These herbs support focus, mood and adrenal energy

• Branch chain amino acids (BCAAs): Help preserve muscle mass, particularly when paired with strength training

5. Hormonal Rebalancers To soften the weight-promoting effects of low oestrogen and progesterone:

• Phytoestrogens: Red clover, sage, black cohosh

• Progesterone-mimicking plants: Wild yam cream

• Adaptogenic blends: That target adrenal and nervous system regulation

Taken together, these tools help the body regain a sense of rhythm — supporting metabolism, restoring energy, and easing many of the symptoms that make weight gain feel inevitable.

Final Thoughts — Redefining What Balance Looks Like After 40

Weight gain during menopause isn’t a failure of willpower — it’s a natural response to deep hormonal shifts that affect how your body stores fat, regulates blood sugar, digests food, and manages stress. Understanding this allows us to shift the focus away from restriction, and toward restoration.

What worked in your 30s may no longer apply. That’s not something to fight — it’s something to adapt to. Supporting digestion, calming cortisol, building muscle, eating in rhythm with your hormonal needs — these are the new foundations of a healthy metabolism after 40.

When we stop blaming the body and start working with it, everything begins to change. Weight stabilises. Energy improves. Cravings fade. And most importantly, you begin to feel like yourself again — not the younger version, but a wiser, more resilient version of you now.

This isn’t about getting your “old body” back.

 It’s about building a new relationship with the one that’s carried you this far — and will carry you into the next chapter of life.