Host of Everyday Wellness · Author of The Menopause Gut
I’m Cynthia Thurlow, a nurse practitioner. Twice a week on Everyday Wellness, I sit down with researchers and clinicians to make perimenopause and menopause make sense, so you can navigate it with science, soul, and strategy.
As featured on
I Start here
Midlife doesn’t arrive the same way for any two women. Choose the line that sounds most like you, and I’ll point you to the best place to begin.
Sleep, mood, cycles and energy shifting in perimenopause and menopause. Begin with a two-minute check-in, then a conversation that explains what’s changing.
The gut and your hormones talk to each other in both directions. That relationship is the heart of my newest book.
Intermittent fasting should fit your hormonal stage, not someone else’s. My first book and the IF:45 program are built around exactly that.
Muscle is the conversation I keep coming back to: protein, strength training, and the supplements I consider foundational.
II The podcast
Midlife hormones, menopause, and science for women 35+. New conversations twice a week, with more than 768 episodes in the archive.
Latest episode · September 19, 2026 · 90 min
Fan favorite Dr. Tom Dayspring returns. We discuss the labs that help monitor changes in insulin resistance, including the LPIR score, the parts of a woman’s medical history that may point to greater heart disease risk, and what premature menopause means for cardiovascular health.
I do not believe nor do I support the limiting belief that women have to accept weight gain as a normal function of aging.
III My story
For nearly 20 years I worked in clinical medicine, in the ER and in cardiology. I respect what conventional medicine does to treat disease and save lives. But I kept thinking about root causes, and about how closely food was tied to my patients’ health. That led me to advanced training in nutrition and functional testing.
Then, in 2019, it became personal. On the way home from a Hawaiian vacation with my husband, I ended up in the ER with a ruptured appendix and an inflamed colon. I spent 13 days in the hospital, too sick to eat. Thinking of my two boys got me through it, and as I recovered I leaned on nutrition to support my healing.
Twenty-seven days after I got home, I gave a TEDx talk on intermittent fasting, and it went viral. Today my work is helping women in perimenopause and menopause understand what’s happening in their bodies, and what to do about it.
BSN & MSN, Johns Hopkins University · Advanced certifications in Functional Nutrition, Endocrinology, and Gastroenterology
Read my full storyIV The books
New · Avery / Penguin Random House · 2026
Balance Your Microbiome to Reclaim Your Health in Midlife and Beyond
Your gut and your hormones are in constant conversation, and in perimenopause and menopause that conversation changes. This book walks through what that means, from fiber and circadian rhythm to understanding your options around hormone therapy.
Avery / Penguin Random House · 2022
The 45-Day Program for Women to Lose Stubborn Weight, Improve Hormonal Health, and Slow Aging. An individualized fasting plan built around your hormonal stage, whether you’re still cycling, in perimenopause, or beyond.
Order the bookV Programs
I believe it is possible to feel better tomorrow than you do today. These are the programs where my team and I walk alongside you.
Monthly community
My monthly group for women in midlife: ongoing learning and support, month after month. Many women find us through our 10-day challenge.
Learn about Midlife Mastery12-week group program
Twelve weeks of step-by-step lessons, twelve live group coaching calls (three with me, nine with expert coaches), handouts and a private community.
Explore the programFasting, done for your stage
The IF:45 Reset Program brings the approach from my first book into a guided program. The IF:45 Coaching Certification teaches it to coaches.
See IF:45 optionsAlso available: 1:1 coaching, Wholistic Blueprint™, RESTART and the Intermittent Fasting Masterclass. View all programs
“Cynthia has changed my life through her programs, through her guests and podcasts, through her product and supplement recommendations, through her food guides, through her safer home tips. […] It will be your greatest gift to yourself to make the decision to work with Cynthia.”
The Midlife Pause™ · Supplements
That’s how I describe creatine. It’s why the first product I point women to from The Midlife Pause™, my supplement line for women in midlife, is Creatine+, made with Creapure® creatine.
Creapure® is a registered trademark of AlzChem Trostberg GmbH. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
Free guides
A quick check-in on where you are right now in perimenopause or menopause.
A free companion to The Menopause Gut, for understanding your gut in this season of life.
VI Speaking & media
I’m a two-time TEDx speaker. My talk Intermittent Fasting: Transformational Technique has over 15 million views. I bring the same clinical grounding and warmth to keynotes, workshops and interviews on midlife health, fasting, the gut and muscle.
