Gwenright Nutrition

Gwenright Nutrition Women’s health nutritionist, helping women thrive after 35

22/04/2026

💫 Sleep in perimenopause

I get it - staying up later than the kids to cling to that adult time, watching just one more episode or another reel, and then you are lying in bed planning out the next day and remember all the things!

Sleep is so foundational and many of you used to take it for granted until perimenopause hit… whether it’s anxiety, needing to wee or night sweats there are so many reasons for not sleeping well.

What if I told you good sleep is possible? For one of my clients, she’s sleeping through the night for the first time in 7 years!

I too am not the best sleeper but I’ve found what works and I am consistent with it - otherwise I pay by being exhausted the next day. So I prioritize my sleep (I’m usually in my Pyjamas by 9pm at the latest) - are you actually focusing on it?

I know the science about your sleep and circadian rhythm and in Thrive with Gwen we will spend a whole month on just that - making sure you learn the habits that you can implement (lifelong) and optimize that sleep.

Sleep is when we heal - so if you suffer from chronic pain, post viral fatigue etc it becomes even more important.

DM me to go on the waiting list for Thrive with Gwen, or sign up to the newsletter (link in bio). Let me know. Is sleep an issue for you? Tell me 👇

💫 Empowering you to take action! I was quite overwhelmed by the responses to my gaslighting reel and my stories too, it’...
20/04/2026

💫 Empowering you to take action!

I was quite overwhelmed by the responses to my gaslighting reel and my stories too, it’s seems so many of you are suffering from symptoms that you haven’t got help with.

For those who have sent me DMs I’ve done my best to give you more personalized recommendations , please note these posts are educational and not individual medical advice. As I for example don’t know what medications you are taking, your diet or lifestyle etc

Start by tracking symptoms & tuning into your body - is there a trend? Any triggers?

If you can clearly see that

🛌 sleep is crap ➡️ you are irritable as hell 😤

Then you concentrate on sleep!

If on the other hand, your sleep is great but you are tired all day, then apart from getting thorough bloods and tests done then you could try some supplements to help with supplements.

⚠️ If your symptoms are distinctly due to a medication then you do need supplement support that is individual to you, BUT everybody on a statin should take Co enzyme Q10 (as the statin blocks its production when it blocks cholesterol) - as one of the main side effects of statins is fatigue and muscle pain often a CoQ10 resolves these.

As always feel free to DM me, if you’d like more or book a one hour session reviewing bloods & getting supplement recommendations you can do that - or you can book a discovery call through Recare (link in bio).

The key thing is that it’s NOT in your head, you should be feeling better and you deserve to be listened to! Have a lovely afternoon ❤️

18/04/2026

💫 Well what do you think?

I certainly felt my body let me down, and I was very angry with it for a very long time for “failing” me. But that wasn’t helpful!

There’s one thing I say all the time to practitioners and students when I’m lecturing:

❤️ The body wants to be in balance ❤️

🛠️ You give it the tool it needs and it will do its very best to repair.

🤷🏻‍♀️ Most of those things aren’t sexy and you know them already (sleep, movement, fiber, water…) but are you actually listening to the cues?

Based on symptoms you’ve told me you are experiencing think of it this way:

Fatigue
- likely due to insufficient sleep and rest
- possibly due to not nourishing with nutrient dense foods
- often due to poor boundaries, not saying no and doing too much for everybody else

Anxiety
- common with too much caffeine and nutrient poor food (how we cope with being tired right?!)
- seen with low key nutrients and thyroid dysfunction

Nourish yourself, rest enough and take breaks and the tiredness improves…leading to less anxiety!

Obviously you can book in with me and I can help you but I really do want YOU to become the expert in you. Be honest.

➡️ What is your body telling you? Are you ignoring the whispers so now it’s screaming at you?

16/04/2026

💫Medical gaslighting…

This reel won’t be shown to non-followers as IG has deemed it too long so please do share it with people you think it would help!

Here are some of the things I hear all the time:
😩 Bloods are normal (when they should be optimum)
😟 Heavy periods are normal (soaking through clothes is not!)
😡 Being tired is the norm for moms (nope)
😭 Takjng an anti-depressant because somebody is “too young” for perimenopause (can start at 35 and even earlier!)
😮 Period cramps are normal (needing painkillers may be common but it is not normal)
🫣 Nutrition doesn’t have an impact on autoimmune conditions (it does, massively!)
🥲 Once you have a diagnosis you’ve to put up with it (ah no research suggests otherwise!)

Just some examples…. I want YOU to be the expert in you. Some cases are complex and may take months and even years to sort out, I can’t guarantee everyone will get super well through nutritional therapy but I’ll give it my best shot. Working alongside the consultants, doctors etc and we won’t accept any of the bu****it mentioned above!

If you are a practitioner also passionate about the same, let me know, I want to organise a summit! And if you are a follower and this resonates then let me know.

More in my next newsletter so don’t forget to join (link in bio) and if you’d like to be the first to hear about Thrive with Gwen (a 6 month membership) then comment THRIVE and I’ll add you to the list.

Finally, it’s not in your head, and you do deserve to feel well ❤️

13/04/2026

💫 Worth the hype?

I take both creatine ( see my affiliate link on the bio) and electrolytes ( use code GWENRIGHT20 for 20% discount) every single day. But should you?

1. Creatine

Probably best known for building muscle in the gym, right? It’s actually the most studied supplement for a number of reasons! For me, it’s about the energy (ATP) production in the brain, and I find it really helps me focus and reduce brain fog. In theory (no studies yet to support this) it could help prevent migraines, there are some studies linking it I reduced cognitive decline BUT studies were done in older women (not us in perimenopause) and used up to 20g creatine a day.

I take about 7-9g a day, but I do have a higher need given my long COVID!

➡️ Definitely worth trying for the average perimenopausal woman at 3-5g a day. Drink with plenty water.

⚠️ Can cause water retention in some - never happened to me but I do take it with my electrolytes and that probably counteracts it.

2. Electrolytes

I suffer from ITS - inappropriate tachycardia syndrome, which leads to sudden drops in blood pressure and palpitations. A higher than normal sodium intake is recommended (as it is in POTS too) and this has been an absolute game changer for me. I still get sudden drops (especially when I bend over for example gardening) but I can go for walks, ride a horse and complete a day of work plus an activity!

The recommended dosages vary between 600-1000mg sodium 1-3 times a day, if it’s hot and I’m sweating I would take 2 sachets.

➡️ Should every perimenopausal woman take these electrolytes? Absolutely not. Could you add some salt to your water with creatine? Yep! You could also try some lower sodium drops like Elete if you are working out. My husband uses the keto powders for after matches.

⚠️ Too much of a good thing - you can increase blood pressure and overload the kidneys!

So electrolytes to me are highly personalized but creatine is something safe for most people to try out, but as always consult your own healthcare practitioner or send me a DM and I’ll help out!

09/04/2026

💫 Caffeine first thing or not?

I see this so often in my clinic, clients who:

💯 Crave sugar in the afternoon
💯 Get bloated, gassy and have an uncomfortable gut
💯 Have loose bowel movements
💯 Get overwhelmed and anxious easily
💯 Overeat or ignore hunger signals

And for quite a lot of them, when they follow my advice. These all improve! I love coffee, in fact I’m having one as I’m posting this 🤣 BUT…

➡️ The issue isn’t the coffee (in my opinion) it’s what you are not doing.

Try this for a week and let me know how it goes for you:

1️⃣ Start the day with warm water & lemon, a herbal tea or glass of water
2️⃣ Have breakfast (including fiber, protein and fat)
3️⃣ Wait 30-60mins and properly enjoy your coffee

Cravings in the afternoon start in the morning. As do stress levels and anxiety very often. So nourish yourself so you are calm & energized instead.

Like tips like this? Follow and share with your friends! And if you’d like more personalized support then click on subscribe to my newsletter (in the bio), I send out 2-3newsletters a month and am launching my group Programme soon too!

08/04/2026

💫 Eating mindfully

Allows for better digestion and absorption of nutrients. And can help reduce symptoms like bloating and even food sensitivities!

This is something I ask all my clients to do at least once a day and is such an underrated thing to do! And it really does work, I hear it from clients all the time.

This is what I want you to do:

🍽️ Sit down to eat
😮‍💨 Take a few slow breaths
🥙 Briefly observe colours, smells etc of your food
🦷 Chew your food well! (30 times)
🍴Put the fork or spoon down in between mouthfuls
🗣️ Talk rather than watching a screen

I’d love for you to try this and see what happens - do you find you are clued in better to when you are full?

Bloated less?

Less reactive to foods you thought you can’t eat?

02/04/2026

💫 HOW you eat is nearly more important than what you eat….

…within reason obviously!

Have you heard of the cephalic phase of digestion? Many people (and practitioners!) forget about this hugely important part of the digestive process - I’m back to lecturing the digestive system and it’s one of my favorite parts..

➡️ What you need to know:

📋 The digestive system relies on messages, from the brain, and to the brain

🥙 For example when you smell food, the brain sends a message to release saliva, which starts chemical digestion

🥩 As you are chewing (mechanical digestion) you start to break down protein dense food, this starts production of stomach acid in the stomach, which helps digest protein (and liberate minerals like zinc)

🥑 When food hits the stomach, a messenger (CCK) talks to the gallbladder to release bile to help digest fat

When any of these steps are skipped food is not broken down properly, the macronutrients (carbohydrates, fat and protein) are not broken down into their building blocks properly and this is when issues start.

🦠 Example - bacteria start feeding off these maldigested nutrients, releasing gases that cause bloating

🧱 Mal digested protein (peptides) cause the immune system to react and people suffer from food sensitivities

The most important thing you can do is mindful eating! The next post will tell you how.

But let me know if this resonates with you? Do you focus on HOW you eat?

27/03/2026

💫 One simple thing to do when you are feeling….

…..overwhelmed, bloated, anxious, scared, nervous…

Lean back into a wall - a wonderful tip from that has helped me more times than I can count.

➡️ This literally tells my nervous system “you are safe”. Which can help move you from flight, freeze or fight into rest and digest.

And then, lengthen your exhale by a count of one to activate the vagus nerve. Super tip from (remember I’m chatting to her on Tuesday at 11 right here on my Instagram page!)…

➡️ Activating the vagus nerve further supports your nervous system but is also a wonderful support to digestion.

❓ When I asked about your digestive symptoms, 55% of you said you experience bloating. This has many reasons and possible causes, being stuck in sympathetic dominance (fight, flight, freeze) can be just one.

So by activating your PARAsympathetic nervous system (rest and digest) you may be able to reduce bloating (once you’ve paid some attention to the fermentable foods you are eating. As per my last reel).

🙋‍♀️ How often do you have to do it? I would say as often as you can, until you no longer need it ❤️

I still use it frequently even though sometimes it’s literally just a reminder to myself “I am safe” and a reminder to breathe, and it is all that it takes.

If you’re new here, follow along for more help in your perimenopause journey, no guilt. No pseudoscience. Evidence based actions you can add into your day with visible results.

24/03/2026

💫 Fermentable foods & digestive issues

I’m seeing this more and more in my clinic, women are booking in for symptoms like:

🫃🏻Bloating
💨 Excessive wind/ gas
🔫 Diarrhoea or loose stool
😩 Lower and upper back pain

And they always say “but Gwen I’m really watching what I’m eating!” And they are ❤️

But like worn histamine rich foods, the dose is the issue .

Let’s take a sample diet of a typical client:
🌞 Breakfast: porridge with flaxseed, blueberries and honey
🖥️ Mid morning: carrots and hummus
🥗 Lunch: Lentil soup with a kiwi and kefir
📥 Afternoon: Apple & peanut butter
🍝 Dinner: Cauliflower rice, chilli con carne with broccoli on the side

Sounds amazing really doesn’t it?! But there are highly fermentable foods in each meal and snack and there likely isn’t a great gap between food either, which can affect the gut.

If you are struggling try this instead:
✅ 2-3tbsp chickpeas in a salad
✅ Soak and cook all beans and legumes well
✅ Pair highly fermentable foods with low fermentable like courgette or rice
✅ Steam and cook cruciferous veg

You might also benefit from some herbal teas like ginger, peppermint or fennel.

Let me know, is this something you are struggling with?

💫 Coffee with is back!Next week on Tuesday 31st March at 11am I’ll be talking to about a topic very close to our hearts...
23/03/2026

💫 Coffee with is back!

Next week on Tuesday 31st March at 11am I’ll be talking to about a topic very close to our hearts as healthcare practitioners.

➡️ How do you know who to trust online?

🙉 Who should you not listen to?

🚩 Are there red flags showing you who to unfollow?

🎧 How not to get lost in the noise.

🤔 If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is…

At the weekend I had the privilege of listening to one of my favourite ever speakers (if you ever get the chance to listen to Ben, do it! Always sensible, evidence based and without agenda) and he said something that already might help sift through the nutrition nonsense I see online:

“If a diet has a name you probably shouldn’t be on it”

❤️ Does this apply to all diets? Like the Mediterranean diet? No - but did you also know the name came from a study and actually refers to the dietary habits typical of Mediterranean coastal cultures - it is in fact not a single diet at all!

💯 and of course if you are on a therapeutic diet for a specific medical reason that might be different … but you need to be aware that just because an influencer mentions x diet that is not a good enough reason for you to go on it!

🥲 I also think we are very vulnerable to what we see online and can easily be persuaded by a quick fix/ pill/ solution and the good old fashioned basics that are actually evidence based are overlooked.

Let us know your thoughts and questions and see you next week!

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Bantry
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