If you’re tossing and turning at night, waking up groggy, or struggling to fall asleep in the first place—you’re not alone. Sleep challenges are incredibly common during perimenopause, and they often show up out of nowhere.
What’s surprising to many women is that the key to those restful, rejuvenating nights might actually be found in your gut.
Yes, your gut health plays a bigger role in your sleep (and your hormones!) than you might think—especially after 40. Let’s break down how this gut-sleep connection works and what you can do to support both naturally.
Why Sleep Gets Tricky in Perimenopause
Before we dive into the gut connection, let’s talk about why sleep tends to go haywire in midlife.
During perimenopause, fluctuating levels of estrogen and progesterone can make it harder to fall asleep, stay asleep, or feel rested in the morning. These hormone shifts can also increase anxiety, night sweats, and other symptoms that further interrupt your sleep.
But what many women don’t realize is that your gut health also influences your sleep quality—and it’s often an overlooked piece of the hormone health puzzle.
How a Healthy Gut Promotes Better Sleep
Your gut does way more than just digest food—it’s a key player in your hormone regulation, mood, immune system, and sleep cycle.
Here’s how your gut health directly supports better sleep:
Boosts Serotonin (Your “Feel-Good” Hormone)
About 90% of your serotonin is produced in your gut. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that helps regulate mood, promotes a sense of calm, and plays a direct role in producing melatonin—the hormone that helps you sleep.
When your gut is healthy, it can produce a steady stream of serotonin, helping you feel emotionally balanced and more relaxed at night.
A disrupted gut microbiome, on the other hand, can lead to imbalances that affect your mood, energy, and sleep patterns.
Regulates Your Circadian Rhythm
Your gut has its own internal clock that’s connected to your body’s circadian rhythm—the natural cycle that tells you when to feel sleepy and when to feel alert.
A healthy, balanced gut helps keep your circadian rhythm in check, which makes it easier to fall asleep at night, wake up refreshed, and avoid tossing and turning.
Things like irregular eating, late-night screen time, or high stress can throw off this rhythm—but nurturing your gut can help bring it back into alignment.
Supports Melatonin Production
Melatonin is the hormone that tells your body it’s time to sleep. While it’s produced in the brain, your gut microbiome plays a major role in its regulation.
Certain gut bacteria help synthesize melatonin, which means a diverse and thriving microbiome can support deeper, more restful sleep.
When your gut is off, melatonin production can suffer—making it harder to fall asleep or stay asleep through the night.
Promotes Relaxation via the Gut-Brain Axis
The gut-brain axis is a powerful communication system between your gut and your brain. When your gut is balanced and thriving, it sends calming signals to your brain that help you wind down.
This means a healthier gut can help lower stress levels, ease anxiety, and create a greater sense of calm in the evening.
And it goes both ways—quality sleep also helps support a healthier gut, creating a cycle of better rest and better digestion.
How to Support Your Gut for Better Sleep
Now that you know how important your gut is for sleep and hormone health, let’s talk about simple, effective ways to support it!
Add Gut-Nourishing Foods to Your Plate
One of the easiest ways to support your gut is through what you eat. Try incorporating more fiber-rich fruits and vegetables like leafy greens, berries, sweet potatoes, and carrots. These help feed your beneficial gut bacteria and keep things moving.
Include fermented foods like sauerkraut, yogurt, kefir, and kimchi, which contain probiotics that naturally support your microbiome. Prebiotic foods like garlic, onions, leeks, and asparagus are also great for nourishing the good bacteria in your gut.
Practice Mindful Eating
How you eat matters just as much as what you eat! Sit down when you eat, and avoid rushing through meals. Taking a few deep breaths before eating can activate your body’s rest-and-digest mode.
Chew your food thoroughly, which helps reduce bloating and supports better digestion.
Avoid eating right before bed, and try to give your body at least 2 to 3 hours to digest before you lie down.
Establish a Bedtime Routine That Supports Sleep
Your body thrives on rhythm. Creating a consistent, calming routine at night signals to your body that it’s time to rest. Here are a few ideas to help you get started:
Dim the lights in the evening and avoid screens or blue light for at least an hour before bed.
Try reading, light stretching, or a warm bath to help you wind down.
Sipping a calming tea like chamomile or lemon balm or doing a few minutes of deep breathing can also help calm your nervous system and prepare you for sleep.
It’s All Connected
In perimenopause, it’s easy to feel like your body is out of your control. But understanding how everything is connected—your gut, your hormones, and your sleep—can be incredibly empowering.
The truth is: you don’t need to chase sleep with pills or quick fixes. Often, the most powerful shifts come from the inside out—starting with how you nourish and support your gut.
Small daily choices add up! It’s about making intentional, supportive choices that move you toward feeling better, sleeping better, and living better during this season of life.
