I gave up bread for two weeks to beat perimenopause bloating, but did it actually work?

I’ve never met a baguette I didn’t like. Ciabatta, croissants, crusty rolls, preferably warm and covered in butter, I’ll happily eat the lot. My supermarket shopping usually starts in the bakery section, and living in Newcastle, where there’s a Greggs around practically every corner, hardly helps matters. Unfortunately, my stomach has become less enthusiastic about my love affair with bread.

Perimenopause has brought its fair share of unwelcome symptoms, including bloating, brain fog and days when finding the energy to exercise feels like an achievement in itself. I’ve written before about the cost of feeling constantly tired in midlife, and despite going to the gym regularly and trying to eat sensibly, I often finish the day feeling uncomfortable in my jeans. I began wondering whether something I ate every day might be making things worse, so I decided to conduct an experiment. For two weeks, bread was off the menu.

I wasn’t expecting a dramatic weight-loss transformation, I just wanted to know whether changing an everyday habit might help with the discomfort I’d been experiencing.

The first morning was dreadful. No buttered toast with my coffee, no sandwich for lunch and no stopping at Greggs because something in the window caught my eye. I’d never appreciated quite how much I relied on bread until I stopped eating it. Breakfast took imagination, which isn’t my strongest quality when I’m half asleep and trying to get everyone organised in a morning.

By the third day, I was thoroughly fed up. My mood was dreadful, my motivation had disappeared and I seemed to be spending a lot of time thinking about crusty rolls. Even going to the gym, somewhere I normally like spending time, felt like an enormous effort. I tried convincing myself that bread was essentially sugar in disguise and it helped me resist temptation, although I now know that’s an unfair description of something that can form part of a perfectly healthy diet.

After several days, I noticed my stomach seemed less swollen in the evening. I also felt a little more alert. The brain fog that had been making everyday tasks frustrating hadn’t disappeared, but concentrating seemed easier. I’ve since explored what research tells us about menopause, HRT and brain health, although whether my improvement was connected to eating less bread, changing my meals or having a better few days was impossible to establish.

What pleased me most was feeling more inclined to exercise. I love a good workout, especially one involving loud music and enough movement to forget about everything else for an hour. Feeling sluggish had taken some of that away. I’ve also explored whether five-minute menopause workouts can make exercise easier when energy is in short supply. I wasn’t expecting a dramatic transformation from giving up bread, but being comfortable in my clothes and looking forward to the gym again felt like progress.

Curiosity got the better of me, so I started looking into the research. What I discovered made me question whether gluten deserved quite so much criticism. A 2018 study published in Gastroenterology examined 59 people who believed they were sensitive to gluten. Researchers found that fructans, fermentable carbohydrates found in wheat, caused more digestive symptoms than gluten itself. It was a small study, but an interesting reminder that feeling bloated after eating bread doesn’t necessarily mean gluten is responsible.

Bread also has nutritional benefits that are easily overlooked. A 2016 review published in The BMJ linked higher wholegrain consumption with lower risks of cardiovascular disease and premature death. Wholegrain bread provides fibre and important nutrients, so removing it without good reason isn’t necessarily beneficial.

There is, of course, a difference between experimenting with your diet and having a diagnosed medical condition. People with coeliac disease must avoid gluten, while others may experience digestive symptoms associated with wheat. The NHS recommends testing for coeliac disease when symptoms such as persistent unexplained bloating occur. Crucially, gluten needs to remain in the diet before testing to ensure accurate results.

Without my usual sandwiches, I had to put slightly more thought into meals. Sweet potato slices made a decent base for savoury toppings, although anyone claiming they’re just like toast hasn’t enjoyed a proper buttered doorstep. Lettuce wraps filled with avocado, hummus and vegetables worked well for lunch, while yoghurt with chia seeds became an easy breakfast.

I wasn’t interested in fancy recipes or spending hours preparing food. Between work, being a mum and exercise, I have enough to organise without making lunch another project. As I discovered during my earlier experiment with giving up alcohol, changing an established habit can reveal how much we do without really thinking about it.

By the end of the first week, I felt pleased that I’d managed to resist the bakery section. Whether those improvements would continue throughout the fortnight remained to be seen, but the experience had already made me reconsider how frequently I reached for bread because it was convenient.

I’m not planning to ban it permanently. Perimenopause brings enough complications without making food another source of anxiety, and I refuse to feel guilty about enjoying a croissant. I’d rather understand what agrees with my body than follow another restrictive diet promising results it can’t guarantee.

For now, I’m happy to eat a little differently and see what happens. And if you spot me outside Greggs clutching a sausage roll, please keep walking. Some relationships are too good to end.

Did you notice a difference, or did you spend the entire fortnight dreaming about buttered toast? Tell me in the comments.

Occasional stories, experiments, discoveries and questions from Saffron & Cyrus.