If you’ve reached your late 40s or early 50s and suddenly feel like your body has staged a coup, you aren't alone. You’re doing the same workouts, eating the same salads, and getting the same amount of sleep—yet the scale is climbing, and your favourite jeans are feeling tighter around the middle. For decades, we were told this was simply a "drop in estrogen." But as a holistic clinical nutritionist in 2026, I’m here to tell you that estrogen is only half the story. The real