how to enjoy the holiday foods you love - without the bloat

Written By Holly Bradich

Do you ever dread the holidays—not because of the chaos, but because you feel like you have to avoid all your favourite foods?

The cookies, the stuffing, the dips, the charcuterie… it all looks amazing, but you already know how you’ll feel later: bloated, uncomfortable, gassy, inflamed, or “off” for the rest of the night.
So you avoid these foods… or you eat them and suffer.

But here’s the truth:

What feels like “food sensitivities” in midlife is often something completely different.

As estrogen and progesterone shift during perimenopause and menopause, your gut changes too—and these changes make women much more prone to indigestion, bloating, constipation, and reactions to foods they once tolerated easily.

And once you address the real root causes, those foods become SO much easier to digest.

Let’s break it down.

How Digestion Changes in Midlife

Hormonal shifts have a major impact on your gut. Here’s what naturally happens during perimenopause and menopause:

• Lower microbiome diversity

Estrogen helps maintain a healthy bacterial balance. As levels drop, the microbiome becomes less diverse—which means weaker digestion and more inflammation.

• More constipation

Slower motility is extremely common in midlife. When food moves too slowly, it ferments… creating gas, bloating, pressure, and food reactions.

• Increased intestinal permeability (“leaky gut”)

Lower estrogen weakens the gut lining, making you more reactive to foods—especially gluten, dairy, sugar, and alcohol.

• Reduced bile flow

Bile breaks down fats. When it’s sluggish (or when you no longer have a gallbladder), rich holiday foods hit much harder.

Add holiday stress, late nights, and sugar… and it’s no wonder everything feels like a trigger.

But here’s the empowering part:
Your reactions aren’t your fault—and they’re not necessarily true food sensitivities.

The Hidden Causes of Holiday Bloating & Indigestion

1. Low Stomach Acid (Very Common After 35–40)

Contrary to popular belief, most midlife women don’t have too much stomach acid—they have too little.
Low stomach acid slows digestion, makes proteins harder to break down, and allows food to ferment in the gut, causing pressure, gas, heartburn, and bloating.

Why it happens:

  • Chronic stress

  • Age-related decline

  • PPIs or antacids

  • Low zinc

  • H. pylori infection

  • Autoimmune gastritis: your immune system attacks your stomach cells that make stomach acid

2. Sluggish Bile Flow & Gallbladder Issues

Your gallbladder stores and concentrates bile—critical for digesting fats and detoxification.
When bile becomes thick or sluggish, fats don’t break down well, leading to:

  • Nausea after eating

  • Upper abdominal discomfort (especially under right side of ribcage)

  • Gas, bloating

  • Floating or oily stools

  • Hangovers (because bile supports detox)

Common triggers:

  • Low-fat diets

  • Hormonal shifts (especially low estrogen in perimenopause & menopause)

  • High stress

  • Inflammation

  • Post-birth control or post-pregnancy changes

3. Gut Microbiome Imbalances (Dysbiosis)

Too many “bad” bacteria and other microbes and not enough beneficial species can lead to poor digestion, fermentation of foods, and excessive gas.

Signs of dysbiosis:

  • Food sensitivities (reacting to many foods)

  • IBS symptoms

  • Constipation (that laxatives doesn’t fix) or loose stools

  • Skin issues

  • Fatigue or brain fog

  • Migraines

  • Chronic inflammation with no known cause including body aches and pains and joint pain

4. SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth)

What Is SIBO? (And Why It Causes So Much Bloating)

SIBO stands for Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, and it simply means:

There are too many bacteria living in the small intestine — where they don’t belong.

You want lots of bacteria in your large intestine (your colon).
But the small intestine is supposed to have very few, because that’s where you absorb nutrients from your food.

When bacteria move into the small intestine and start overgrowing, they ferment your food too early, right as you’re eating it.
This fermentation creates gas, pressure, toxins, and inflammation, which leads to the classic symptoms:

Common SIBO Symptoms

  • Immediate bloating (often by the end of a meal)

  • Gas and belching

  • Constipation, diarrhea, or alternating

  • Pain or cramping

  • Reflux or nausea

  • Food sensitivities

  • Fatigue or brain fog

  • “Pregnancy belly” look, especially in the evening

For many women, SIBO is the frustrating root cause behind “trying everything” and still feeling bloated.

  • Immediate bloating (often by the end of a meal)

  • Excessive gas

  • Burping

  • Pain or cramping

  • Constipation or diarrhea

Often triggered by:

  • Antibiotics

  • Food poisoning

  • Post-infectious IBS - new or worsened bloating & gut symptoms after food poisoning or a virus

  • Low stomach acid

  • Sluggish motility (chronic constipation)

  • Chronic stress

5. Leaky Gut

A damaged gut lining allows food particles, toxins, and microbes to leak into the bloodstream activating your immune system and triggering inflammation.

This leads to:

  • Bloating

  • Food reactions

  • Brain fog

  • Joint/muscle pain

  • Fatigue

  • Skin issues

  • Immune dysfunction

Leaky gut is extremely common in:

  • High-stress seasons

  • Midlife hormonal changes

  • People with insulin resistance

  • Those eating lots of processed foods, sugar, or alcohol

6. Constipation

When things sit in the bowel too long:

  • Fermentation increases

  • Toxins recirculate

  • Bloating worsens

  • Gas becomes painful

Slow motility is more common in midlife women due to stress, low thyroid, low magnesium, or not enough fiber/fluids.

7. Eating Too Fast or While Stressed

Your body cannot digest well in “fight-or-flight.” This is because your brain (nervous system) runs digestion, so when it’s stressed, it sends the wrong signals to the gut.


Stress reduces:

  • Stomach acid

  • Digestive enzyme release

  • Bile flow

  • Motility

This leads to gas, indigestion, burping, and bloating—even if you’re eating healthy foods.

8. Food Triggers & Sensitivities

Common offenders include:

  • Gluten

  • Dairy

  • Onions & garlic

  • Beans & lentils

  • Sugar alcohols

  • Carbonated drinks

  • Alcohol

  • Ultra-processed foods (ie anything packaged with a long list of ingredients)

But the real question is:
WHY is your gut reacting?
Food reactions are usually a symptom of deeper issues (low stomach acid, dysbiosis, leaky gut, etc.)

9. Poor Blood Sugar Balance

When blood sugar swings, cortisol spikes—and cortisol slows digestion dramatically.

This leads to:

  • Bloating

  • Cravings

  • Fatigue

  • Mood swings

  • Gas after meals

Midlife women are especially prone to this due to estrogen changes which increase insulin resistance.

10. Hormone Fluctuations (Perimenopause & MENOPAUSE)

Lower estrogen and progesterone slow motility, and rapidly fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone (perimenopause) can also wreak havoc on the gut. This can weaken the gut lining, and disrupt the microbiome.

Common symptoms:

  • Constipation

  • Bloating

  • Heavy feeling after meals

  • More food reactions

  • Weight gain around the waist

11. Undereating or Overeating

Both stress the digestive system:

  • Undereating → slows metabolism & motility

  • Overeating → overwhelms digestion

Many midlife women unknowingly undereat protein and fruits and vegetables (or simply don’t get enough total calories), causing sluggish digestion.

12. Not Enough Digestive Enzymes

Enzymes decline naturally with age, stress, and inflammation.
This leads to:

  • Poor protein breakdown

  • Floating stools

  • Bloating after meals

Simple Strategies to Enjoy Holiday Meals Again

These natural, effective steps help reset digestion quickly:

1. Prioritize Good Sleep

A rested nervous system allows digestion to function smoothly.

2. bOOST DIGESTIVE POWER: Take a High-Quality Digestive Enzyme (with HCl + Ox Bile) AND DIGESTIVE BITTERS

This supports all three digestive pillars:
✔ stomach acid
✔ enzymes
✔ bile flow

Essential for midlife women.

3. WATCH YOUR FODMAP SERVINGS

FODMAPS are fermentable carbs found in a wide variety of foods including wheat and dairy, sugars and fruits and vegetables. Many people with IBS find high FODMAP foods make them bloated, gassy, have gut pain and even diarrhea. It’s important not to cut out higher FODMAP foods completely, but rather, experiment with smaller portions less often, and see how you feel.

4. Sip Peppermint Tea After Eating

Peppermint is a carminative herb that reduces gas, cramping, and spasms in the digestive tract.

5. Add a High-Quality Probiotic

Helps rebalance the microbiome and improve food tolerance by calming inflammation in the gut, repairing leaky gut and producing digestive enzymes and gut healing compounds called postbiotics.

6. Include Small Amounts of Fermented Foods

Sauerkraut, kimchi, kefir, yogurt, kombucha and true fermented pickles. These foods are high in probiotics, acids and enzymes. They calm inflammation and help rebuild microbial diversity, which declines with menopause.

7. DAILY MIND-BODY NERVOUS SYSTEM REGULATION PRACTICES

Adding even 5 to 10 minutes of calming, grounding practices can make a huge difference in your gut function! Some of my favourite ways to calm the mind and body:

  • yoga

  • stretching while listening to calming music

  • guided affirmations or meditations

  • deep belly breathing

  • journalling

  • having a cry

  • QiGong (I love QiGong with Kseny on YouTube)

8. SPEND TIME IN NATURE

Go for a walk on a local trail and take in the beauty of the snow on the trees, the smell of the pines. Bring some bird seed and feed the birds. Being in nature has been proven to lower blood pressure and stress hormones and boost mood.

With the right support, your digestion can bounce back—and fast.

Ready to Enjoy Holiday Foods Again—Without “paying for it”?

If you want clear, simple steps to reduce bloating, strengthen digestion, balance your gut, and feel lighter, calmer, and more energized…

Join me inside the Restore & Radiate Pre-Holiday Gut Reset.

Inside, you’ll unlock the exact strategies I use with clients to banish bloating & IBS, boost energy, mood and metabolism:

✔ My simplified gut Health nutrition guide
✔ 80+ delicious, gut-friendly recipes

✔ Simple strategies to beat bloating fast & stop gut flare-ups
✔ Proven, targeted professional supplement plan
✔ A community of support & inspiration

Imagine walking into holiday dinners feeling calm, confident, and able to enjoy your favourite foods—without the fear of how you’ll feel later.

You deserve that.
And it’s absolutely possible.

👉 Join the Restore & Radiate Pre-Holiday Gut Reset today! Click below to learn more!

Holly Bradich
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