The Secret to Balancing Energy and Digestion Through Perimenopause
By mid-afternoon, many women in perimenopause feel like the day is slipping away. Bloating builds, energy tanks, and focus blurs into brain fog. Stress or lack of sleep may seem like the obvious culprits, but the truth usually runs deeper.
Hormonal changes during perimenopause affect digestion, nutrient absorption, and energy production all at once. When those three systems are out of sync, balance feels impossible.
🎧 Prefer to Listen?
Reading’s great, but sometimes it’s nice to just listen in. So we turned today’s blog into a conversation. Our two AI sidekicks, Max and Chloe, break down today’s blog so you can listen on the go!
When Hormones Shift, the Gut Feels It
Estrogen and progesterone influence not only reproductive health but also the digestive system. During perimenopause, fluctuations in these hormones can slow motility, trigger bloating, and heighten gut irritation. Research has shown that ovarian hormone changes can directly affect gastrointestinal symptoms, making digestion less predictable and more uncomfortable.
When nutrient absorption drops, fewer vitamins and minerals reach the cells that fuel the body. The result? Fatigue, brain fog, and unstable moods that can feel like they come out of nowhere. It’s about how well the gut processes and delivers what the body needs to sustain energy.
Why Bioavailability Matters More Than Ever
“Bioavailable nutrients” simply means the forms your body can actually absorb and use. During perimenopause, efficiency goes down, which makes it harder to keep iron, B vitamins, and magnesium at stable levels. These nutrients are central to energy, mood, and focus.
That’s why foods rich in highly bioavailable nutrients are especially valuable. Beef liver is one of the most concentrated natural sources of vitamin B12, vitamin A, copper, and heme iron, a form the body absorbs far more efficiently than plant-based iron. These nutrients directly support mitochondria—the body’s energy powerhouses—and help sustain cognitive function through hormonal ups and downs.
Gut Comfort and the Lining
Hormonal shifts may also increase gut permeability—sometimes called “leaky gut”—which can worsen bloating and discomfort. Protecting the gut barrier is essential for keeping digestion smooth and energy steady.
Collagen peptides have been shown to strengthen barrier integrity in lab models, protecting the intestinal lining from dysfunction. In human trials, daily collagen peptide supplementation improved mild digestive discomfort, including bloating.
Traditional botanicals like slippery elm and yarrow add another layer of support, soothing irritation and easing digestive tension. Together, these tools reinforce the gut lining so nutrients can be absorbed more effectively, translating to steadier energy.
Nutrients That Work with Your Body
Organ meats offer concentrated, ready-to-use nutrition. Beef liver supports energy and focus with bioavailable vitamins and heme iron, while beef intestine contributes collagen peptides and minerals that strengthen gut comfort. Combined with herbs such as slippery elm and yarrow, plus absorption enhancers like black pepper extract, these nutrients work together to support digestion and energy through perimenopause.
Gentle Support for a Transitional Season
Many organ supplements on the market require large daily doses—sometimes over 3,000 mg—which can lead to nausea, bloating, or the dreaded “organ burps.” For women already managing perimenopausal symptoms, gentler is better.
That’s why a formula like Sarenova’s Formula No. 06 offers a sustainable option: just 600 mg daily, blended with collagen peptides, slippery elm, and yarrow. Designed specifically for women in transition, it supports digestion, balances energy, and reduces discomfort without overload.
Choosing Steadier Days with Formula No. 06
Perimenopause doesn’t have to mean living with constant fatigue or digestive distress. Small, intentional steps—prioritizing bioavailable nutrients, protecting the gut lining, and leaning on gentle botanicals—can restore balance.
With support designed for women in transition, steadier energy and calmer digestion don’t have to be out of reach. Formula No. 06 blends grass-fed organ blends and soothing herbs to give the body nutrition it recognizes—and uses.
Join the waitlist today for first access to beef organ supplements for women and exclusive perks.
💡 Key Takeaways
Hormonal shifts in perimenopause slow gut motility, disrupt nutrient absorption, and drain cellular energy.
Bioavailable nutrients like heme iron, B vitamins, and magnesium are essential as absorption efficiency drops.
Beef liver and organ meats provide concentrated nutrition that directly fuels the mitochondria.
Collagen peptides, slippery elm, and yarrow protect the gut lining and ease bloating.
Gentle blends like Formula No. 06 support balance without the overload of high-dose organ supplements.
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(AI-generated conversation and transcript)
Max: [00:00:00] Welcome to the deep dive today. Uh, we're diving into something so many people experience that massive disruption during perimenopause. You know, the feeling, right? The mid-afternoon energy [00:00:10] crash, the bloating that just won't quit. Brain fog, it can feel totally overwhelming. We often just blame stress or maybe just getting older.[00:00:20]The material we've looked at, well, it poised to something much more specific. Almost mechanical. Okay. Let's unpack this. Our mission today is to really get into how those big [00:00:30] hormonal shifts mess with three key things. Yeah. Your digestion, how you absorb nutrients, and ultimately how your cells even make energy.
Chloe: That's right. It's crucial to understand this isn't just [00:00:40] about stress or not sleeping enough, though those play a role. Of course, there's a very direct, uh, profound link between ovarian hormones. We're talking estrogen and progesterone, and what goes on in your [00:00:50] gastrointestinal tract? It's biology. Plain and simple,
Max: right?
So let's start there. We know estrogen and progesterone are well all over the place during this time. How exactly does that chaos [00:01:00] translate into, you know, feeling miserable in your gut?
Chloe: Well, it's fascinating 'cause people often focus on the hot flashes or the mood swings, which are definitely there, but they sometimes miss how [00:01:10] directly these hormones talk to this smooth muscle lining.
Your entire digestive system. The research shows that shifts in these hormone ratios, especially changing estrogen or lower [00:01:20] progesterone, can significantly slow down. Gut motility. Motility.
Max: Yeah. So like the speed things move through.
Chloe: Exactly. Think of it like an assembly line for your digestion. Smooth muscles [00:01:30] keep things moving along.
But the receptors on those muscles get confusing signals when hormone levels are erratic. So the whole line just slows down, ah, bogs [00:01:40] down. And that mechanical sluggishness, that's often the root cause of that persistent bloating feeling full all the time. The sheer unpredictability of digestion.
Max: Okay, that makes sense.
But hang on. Usually [00:01:50] when I'm stressed, my system kind of speeds up, right? Like IBS symptoms sometimes. Why does this hormonal shift cause the opposite of slowdown? How do you tell the difference between stress gut and [00:02:00] hormone? Gut?
Chloe: That's a really sharp question. It highlights how complex the body is.
Stress tends to be more acute, right? Adrenaline kicks in. But these hormones, estrogen and progesterone, they're more [00:02:10] like long-term regulators. They modulate that smooth muscle activity constantly. So for instance, when progesterone drops, it can relax muscle in some places, but in the [00:02:20] gut, these hormonal fluctuations often lead to that sluggishness, less muscle tone needed to push things through efficiently.
And when transit time slows way down, everything just [00:02:30] sits there longer, irritating the gut lining more easily.
Max: Ah, okay, so the slow mechanics caused a second problem.
Chloe: Yeah,
Max: you can't absorb nutrients properly if food is just hanging around too long in an [00:02:40] irritated environment. Yeah. I guess the body just isn't grabbing the good stuff efficiently.
Chloe: Precisely, and this is where we hit what I call the bioavailability imperative. Mm-hmm. If your gut's compromised, the delivery truck is slow, the [00:02:50] road is bumpy, you have to give it fuel that needs almost no processing. Fuel the body can grab and use immediately.
Max: Bioavailability. Let's define that a bit [00:03:00] more.
We hear absorbable, but what does high bioavailability actually mean when we're talking about getting energy into our cells?
Chloe: Good point. It means we need nutrients [00:03:10] already. In the chemical forms your cells. Especially the mitochondria, your little energy factories actually need. We're not just looking for any form of a nutrient.
We need the active forms, the [00:03:20] co-factors, because during times like perimenopause, the body just isn't as efficient. So we need really concentrated inputs of the key players for energy. Mood [00:03:30] focus. Things like iron, B vitamins, magnesium.
Max: Got it. Not just vitamins, but the specific forms the cells power grade uses.
Chloe: Exactly. They're vital parts of the, [00:03:40] uh, the electron transport chain, the Krebs cycle, basically how cells make energy. If you need, say B12 to convert food to energy and you're not absorbing enough or the form isn't right, the whole chain breaks [00:03:50] down. That's where that deep fatigue comes from. The brain fog that feels like wading through mud.
Max: Okay. This connects directly to the food strategies and the material. They really focus on beef liver. Not just [00:04:00] because it's high in B12 and vitamin A, but specifically the iron. If absorption is the main problem, why is the type of iron so critical, especially [00:04:10] when people try plant-based iron?
Chloe: Oh, what's fascinating here is that the difference between heme iron and non-heme iron, heme iron, which you only get from animal sources, like liver has its own [00:04:20] VIP absorption pathway in the gut, it gets absorbed.
Way more efficiently, maybe four or five times better than non-heme iron from plants
Max: four or five times. Wow.
Chloe: Yeah. Non-heme [00:04:30] iron needs more steps, more enzymes, and it often competes with other things in plants like phytates for absorption. So during perimenopause, when your system is already struggling with [00:04:40] efficiency, relying on plant iron, which needs a really efficient gut is, well, it's asking a lot,
Max: right?
You need the easy rev. You
Chloe: need the most. Direct delivery possible. And that's what the [00:04:50] heme iron in something like beef liver offers. It's like a targeted fuel drop straight to the mitochondria.
Max: Yeah.
Chloe: Functional food used strategically.
Max: Okay, so fuel the mitochondria directly [00:05:00] raise that baseline energy.
Makes sense. Now let's shift focus a bit from the fuel to the contain. The gut barrier itself. These [00:05:10] same hormonal shifts messing with motility. They're also linked to increased gut permeability, what we call leaky gut.
Chloe: That's the other piece of the puzzle. Yes.
Max: How do hormones actually affect those [00:05:20] connections?
The tight junctions between gut cells? Yeah. What does that leakiness feel like? Bloating, irritation.
Chloe: You can picture the gut lining like a very fine mesh screen, right? Yeah. It [00:05:30] lets tiny nutrient particles through, but keeps bigger stuff, undigested food, toxins out. The seams in that mesh, the tight junctions between cells are regulated by lots of [00:05:40] things, and hormones definitely play a destabilizing role when they fluctuate.
So increased permeability means that mesh screen is getting. Loose gaps are forming
Max: and the consequence,
Chloe: local [00:05:50] inflammation when stuff that shouldn't get through, like undigested food bits or bacterial fragments, slips past those loose injunctions. It meets immune cells waiting right underneath.
Max: Ah, so the [00:06:00] immune system reacts,
Chloe: it triggers an immune response.
Yeah. That causes inflammation right there at the gut lining, symptomatically, that shows up as more sensitivity, that [00:06:10] intense bloating, general digestive discomfort, and it's a vicious cycle because inflammation makes absorption even worse.
Max: Okay, so we need to fix the structure [00:06:20] and calm the irritation. The sources mentioned collagen peptides for structural support.
What's the evidence there? How does collagen help the barrier?
Chloe: [00:06:30] Collagen peptides essentially provide the building blocks for connective tissue in the gut. Specifically, they help support the integrity of that lining. Lab studies show these peptides can help [00:06:40] stabilize barrier function. Think of it as reinforcing the cellular matrix, making that mesh screen stronger, less leaky.
Max: Does that translate to feeling better?
Chloe: While [00:06:50] some human trials support this, they found daily supplementation seem to improve mild digestive symptoms, particularly reducing bloating, which is such a common complaint for women in this phase.
Max: [00:07:00] Okay, structure sorted. What about the soothing part? Traditional herbs like slippery alman, yaro come up.
What do they do specifically for irritation?
Chloe: Slippery elm is really interesting. It's a [00:07:10] mucilage agent. When it mixes with water, it forms this gel-like coating. It basically acts like a temporary soothing bandage over irritated tissues in the [00:07:20] gut. Calms things down
Max: like a protective layer.
Chloe: Exactly. And euro that's traditionally valued for easing digestive tension, reducing that sort of [00:07:30] spasmodic irritation or cramping.
Max: That's a combined approach,
Chloe: right? If collagen is patching the foundation, a slippery elm is like applying a soothing balm while the repairs are happening. [00:07:40] It reinforces the lining, helps nutrient absorption, and that translates. Directly to steadier energy because your body isn't fighting constant low grade inflammation.
Max: This [00:07:50] really underscores the need for synergy, doesn't it? Yeah. You can't just dump fuel into a leaky system, and you can't just repair the system without giving it high quality fuel.
Chloe: Precisely. [00:08:00] That functional synergy is absolutely key for managing this transition effectively, and we see that reflected in the formulation strategies discussed in the material.
They talk about combining the [00:08:10] concentrated ready to use nutrition from something like beef liver for the energy, the focus that bioavailable iron and B vitamins in inspo with [00:08:20] structural support like collagen peptides, maybe from beef intestine sources, which also provide minerals you're building and fueling at the same time,
Max: and the herbs fit in there too.
Chloe: Yes, adding [00:08:30] things like slippery elm and yaro, maybe even absorption enhancers like black pepper extract. It's all designed to make the core nutrients work harder while keeping the digestive system [00:08:40] comfortable, maximize benefit, minimize irritation.
Max: Speaking of comfort. Here's where it gets really interesting.
The material dives into formulation and dosing. We see [00:08:50] a lot of organ supplements out there requiring really high doses, like over 3000 milligrams a day.
Chloe: How come?
Max: But that can cause side effects, right?
Chloe: Absolutely. That's a major practical challenge.
Max: Nausea, those [00:09:00] unpleasant organ burps stuff. Women already dealing with sensitive systems really don't need.
What's the issue with those high doses?
Chloe: Well, think about it. Your body is [00:09:10] already potentially sensitive, maybe reactive. If you suddenly ingest a large amount of very dense concentrated animal protein, several grams of dried organ meat, it puts a [00:09:20] big load on your stomach and intestines. It can just be too much, too fast leading to digestive upset.
Reflux or just feeling generally unwell from it.
Max: So forcing it isn't the answer.
Chloe: The [00:09:30] material we reviewed leans towards a principle that, um, gentler is better during perimenopause. So the formulation strategy shifts away from just maximum dose towards [00:09:40] sustainable comfort.
Max: How does that look practically?
Chloe: Instead of just packing in 3000 milligrams or more of organ meat alone, the idea is precision. You use a smaller, more [00:09:50] sustainable based dose. The material mentioned examples around 600 milligrams, and then you strategically blend it with those targeted support ingredients. The collagen peptides. The slippery elm.
The [00:10:00] yarro.
Max: Ah, so it's not just about raw quantity.
Chloe: Exactly. The goal shifts from overwhelm the system with nutrients to support the system effectively without causing more [00:10:10] disruption. It respects the sensitivity that's already there.
Max: That approach feels much more manageable, doesn't it? S restoring balance through intentional synergistic steps, [00:10:20] focusing on that bioavailable fuel, reinforcing the gut structure.
It makes steadier energy and calmer digestion seem actually achievable, not just wishful thinking.
Chloe: It really does. [00:10:30] And if we connect this to the bigger picture. This whole conversation shows how resilient the body can be when you give it high quality nutrition. It recognizes in forms it can easily [00:10:40] use, delivered efficiently.
You're providing the tools it needs to find balance. Again, even during a challenging transition like perimenopause, focus on the gut integrity, focus on absorption, and the [00:10:50] energy tends to follow.
Max: Which leads us with a final thought for you to consider. We've established this strong direct link between fluctuating ovarian hormones and the mechanical function [00:11:00] of the gut.
A system vital for energy, immunity, mood. So what might that reveal about other maybe subtle, hard to diagnose shifts you might be feeling elsewhere, good issues with [00:11:10] muscle recovery, maybe joint comfort, even sleep patterns. Could they also be downstream effects? Consequences of a system struggling with nutrient delivery because its main hormonal regulators are in [00:11:20] flux.
Something to think about, exploring, balance way beyond just reproductive health.
