Are You Eating Enough During Menopause? Why Dieting Can Make Symptoms Worse

Want to know the #1 piece of advice I give midlife women?

Eat regularly and reliably.

Not perfectly.
Not “clean.”
Just… enough. On a consistent schedule. Day after day.

And yet, the most common advice women hear online—especially when they’re unhappy with their body in midlife—is the exact opposite:

Eat less. Create a calorie deficit. Try intermittent fasting.

I spent several years of my own life living in a chronic energy (calorie) deficit. At the time, I never stopped to ask what actually happens when you don’t eat enough. I didn’t understand how deeply under-fueling affects your brain, mood, digestion, energy, and sense of self (or the long-term impact on my bones-which has come back to haunt me).

Looking back, every part of me—mentally, physically, emotionally—was impacted. Not subtly. Profoundly.

Today, I see this happening all the time in the menopause space.

Under-eating and thinness are so normalized that it’s repeatedly presented as the answer.

But in menopause, the cost of chronic under-eating is higher.

Why eating regularly matters more in menopause than you’ve been told.

Midlife is already a time of physiological change:

• Fluctuating and declining estrogen
• Increased vulnerability to mood changes
• More frequent fatigue
• Brain fog and concentration issues
• Digestive changes
• Shifts in muscle mass, bone density, and metabolic resilience

When you layer chronic under-eating on top of these changes, symptoms often intensify—sometimes dramatically.

Let’s talk about what actually happens when we chronically under-eat.

1.  Maybe mood changes aren’t “just” hormones.

We know that hormonal changes in menopause can affect mood. That part is real.
But not eating enough can make those changes feel more intense.

Undereating affects brain chemistry. When your body doesn’t get enough energy or nutrients, production of key neurotransmitters—like serotonin and dopamine—can drop. These chemicals help regulate mood, motivation, and emotional steadiness.

This can show up as:

• Heightened anxiety
• Low mood or irritability
• Feeling emotionally “thin-skinned”
• Less capacity to handle stress or uncertainty

This isn’t a personality failing. It’s a fuel issue.

Eating regularly calms your nervous system. That kind of stability matters more in menopause, not less.

See: Why Healthy Eating Feels So Hard in Menopause — and How to Feed Yourself Anyway

2. Brain fog has a fuel component

One of the most common menopause complaints I hear is:

“I just don’t feel sharp anymore.”

While hormonal changes absolutely play a role, chronic under-eating worsens cognitive symptoms by:

• Reducing glucose availability to the brain (hello carbs!)
• Increasing mental preoccupation with food
• Decreasing concentration, memory, and mental flexibility

Your brain uses a significant amount of energy every day. When intake is inconsistent or inadequate, it goes into survival mode—not clarity mode.

Regular meals don’t fix menopause brain fog entirely, but they remove a major barrier to thinking clearly.

Read more: 9 Must-Have Foods that Help with Brain Fog

3. Why fatigue can get worse when you’re not eating enough

Many women assume their exhaustion means they need:

• Better supplements
• More willpower
• A stricter routine

Often, it actually means they need more food.

Undereating lowers your resting metabolic rate over time. Your body adapts by conserving energy—slowing processes that aren’t essential for immediate survival.

That can look like:

• Persistent fatigue
• Feeling cold
• Low motivation
• Sluggish digestion

In menopause, when energy already feels more fragile, this adaptation hits harder.

4. Digestive issues can worsen when you eat too little

Digestive changes are common in midlife and menopause. Many women notice new or worsening symptoms during this stage of life, even if digestion was never an issue before.

Would it surprise you to know that not eating enough can make those symptoms worse?

Undereating can slow gut motility and reduce digestive enzyme production. Over time, that may contribute to:

• Constipation
• Bloating
• Reflux
• Early fullness
• General digestive discomfort

Eating regularly helps keep the digestive system moving—literally.

Skipping meals or eating too little doesn’t “give your gut a break.” It often does the opposite.

5. Longevity requires nourishment, not restriction

Midlife is not the time to be chronically under-nourished.

Adequate energy intake supports:

• Muscle preservation
• Bone health
• Immune function
• Cardiovascular health
• Cognitive resilience as we age

When women consistently eat in a calorie deficit, the body compensates by breaking down lean tissue—including muscle. That trade-off may not show up immediately, but it matters deeply for long-term health.

Longevity isn’t built on eating as little as possible. It’s built on consistent nourishment.

The hidden cost of calorie deficits in midlife

The internet frames calorie deficits (under-eating) as neutral—or even virtuous. But for many midlife women, “just eat less” ignores decades of dieting or restriction, ongoing hormonal transitions, increased stress, and the body’s growing need for recovery and repair.

Earlier in life, many women could:

• skip meals
• eat very lightly
• diet aggressively
• push through fatigue

…and still more or less function.

In midlife and menopause, the body is far less forgiving of skipped meals or chronic restriction.

Hormonal changes affect how the brain, muscles, bones, and metabolism respond to stress. Recovery takes longer. Blood sugar regulation is more sensitive. And the nervous system becomes less tolerant of deprivation.

The same under-eating that once felt “manageable” now shows up as:

• worse fatigue
• more brain fog
• more mood instability
• stronger cravings
• more digestive symptoms

And the worst part? It actually doesn’t work.

Decades of research on dieting consistently show that intentional calorie restriction rarely leads to sustained results. Most people regain the weight they lose, and many end up heavier than when they started.

See also: Intermittent Fasting for Women over 50: What No One is Telling You

What to Do Instead of Dieting During Menopause

My foundational advice looks boring. But it works.

• Eat within an hour or two of waking
• Eat every 3–4 hours during the day
• Include carbohydrates, protein, and fat most of the time
• Stop trying to “earn” food
• Let consistency matter more than perfection

Time and time again I have seen that eating regularly and reliably and enough leads to:

• Improved mood stability
• Less food noise, fewer cravings
• Better energy
• Clearer thinking
• Fewer digestive symptoms

If you’ve spent years—maybe decades—struggling with your weight and trying to eat less, it can feel radical to ask:

What if eating enough is part of the solution?

Eating regularly isn’t giving up. It’s opting out of the constant stress response. It’s shifting nutrition from control to self-care.

And in midlife, that matters more than ever. Menopause demands support, not more restriction.