Menopause and the gut microbiome

The menopause transition is associated with significant hormonal, metabolic and physiological changes, with emerging evidence showing alterations in the gut microbiome too. Bringing more than 25 years of clinical experience in functional and integrative medicine, Dr Sally Moorcroft will explore this important and commonly requested topic in women's health during this 90-minute webinar.

Covering how the gut microbiome shifts through perimenopause and menopause, and what this means for patients in clinic, Sally will explore the microbiome patterns she observes during this period, drawing on the emerging evidence base alongside her extensive clinical experience of supporting women through hormonal change.

The webinar will pay particular attention to digestion and food intolerances associated with high-protein diets, an increasingly common dietary strategy among peri- and post-menopausal women seeking to protect muscle mass and metabolic health. The session will also explore gastrointestinal symptoms commonly experienced during midlife, and consider how the menopause transition may influence gut barrier function and systemic inflammation.

Using examples from the Microba Microbiome Explorer, Sally will demonstrate how microbiome findings can be interpreted alongside symptoms, dietary history and wider clinical context. The session will conclude with a practical framework for supporting the menopausal microbiome through personalised nutrition and lifestyle strategies.

Learning objectives

1. Describe the key hormone-microbiome mechanisms relevant to perimenopause and menopause, including the estrobolome
2. Use the Microba Microbiome Explorer to identify common microbiome patterns associated with the menopause transition, and understand their potential relevance to gastrointestinal and metabolic health issues
3. Explain the digestive symptoms and intolerances that can arise with high-protein diets in midlife women, and the microbial mechanisms behind them
4. Apply evidence-based dietary strategies to support microbial diversity, gut function and wider health during perimenopause and menopause
5. Construct a practical management approach for patients presenting with new or worsening gastrointestinal symptoms during the menopause transition

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About Dr Sally Moorcroft

Dr Sally Moorcroft has over two decades of clinical experience in integrative and functional medicine, with a particular focus on herbal medicine and women's health. She is the Clinical Director and Founder of the award-winning Dr Sally's Clinic in Lincolnshire, UK, and is a certified IFM functional medicine doctor, medical herbalist and homeopathic doctor, with further training in bio-identical hormone therapy, medical acupuncture, Traditional Chinese Medicine and menopause care from the British Menopause Society.

Dr Moorcroft has 19 years of experience teaching herbal, integrative and functional medicine at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She lectures nationally and internationally on herbal medicine, integrative medicine and women's health, and leads mentoring programmes for new practitioners and doctors transitioning into functional and integrative practice.

With a lifelong interest in food as medicine, her clinical work is grounded in a broad, root-cause integrative approach. Her areas of special interest include women's health, menopause, the microbiome and trauma. Drawing on extensive clinical experience, she has supported thousands of women with complex hormonal and endocrine conditions, including endometriosis, PCOS, thyroid disorders, perimenopause and menopause.