If finding sense of digestive and hormonal balance feels harder these days than it used to, you're not imagining it.
Many women in their 40s, 50s and 60s suddenly find themselves reacting to foods they used to eat without a second thought. Bloating, constipation, reflux, food sensitivities, heavier digestion, or feeling uncomfortable after meals can appear even when nothing obvious has changed.Â
This is often described as the “menopausal gut”.
It is not a formal diagnosis, but it is a useful way to describe the very real changes in the gut many women experience from the later stages of perimenopause onwards.
Mind The Gut is a morning designed to help you understand these changes gently, practically and without overwhelm.
It is not a lecture, but a nourishing morning in the kitchen, in the beautiful surroundings of Divertimenti Cookery School, with women on a similar journey, asking similar questions, and wanting to feel more at home in their changing bodies.
what you will discover:
Science brought to life
through food.
Over three hours, Olga and Elena will guide you through the science of the midlife gut in clear, practical language, and then bring that science to life through food.
Together, we will explore what changes in the female digestive system from perimenopause onwards, why those changes matter, and what you can do to support your gut in your own kitchen.
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You will learn how to:
- Understand your midlife gut, instead of constantly second-guessing what it needs.
- Support your digestion day to day with simple, realistic tools from your own kitchen - fruit, vegetables, spices, herbs and everyday ingredients.
- Use food not just for flavour, but for real therapeutic support, as we create a beautiful gut-loving feast together.
- Ferment confidently at home, with the skills, recipes and intuition to keep going long after the workshop.
- Build small daily habits that can make a meaningful difference to how you feel, without needing to overhaul your whole life.
- Know what matters most for your changing body in midlife - and what you can finally let go of.
- Feel calmer, clearer and more confident around food, your body and your gut.
This is culinary medicine in the most grounded sense of the word: food chosen and prepared not only because it tastes beautiful, but because it can support your gut lining, microbiome, hormone metabolism, inflammation balance, and nutrient absorption.
We will cover it all while sipping herbal teas, cooking together, talking openly, and creating food that feels deeply supportive.
WHAT WE WILL MAKE
You will learn to prepare simple, therapeutic foods that can become part of your everyday life. These include:
- digestive pestos and mineral rich condiments
- functional ferments (made with herbs and adaptogens to support gut, hormones and nervous system)
- anti-inflammatory dressings
- and other gut-supportive additions that are easy to make at home but often overlooked.
And more importantly, we'll show you how to incorporate it all into your daily life and plates of food.Â
Nothing complicated, nothing that requires a specialist kitchen or asks more of you than you have to give.
Just real, purposeful food with clear clinical reasoning behind it.
By the end of the morning, we will bring together everything we have made into a beautiful shared lunch. We will sit down, eat together, ask questions, and take time to digest, in every sense of the word.
Your questions answered
Throughout the workshop, Olga will be there to guide and support you from a naturopathic nutrition and functional medicine perspective, helping you explore the gut, hormone, and health questions that often go unanswered in a standard GP appointment.
Elena will bring her deep knowledge, practical wisdom, and insider tips from over 30 years of fermentation practice and experience running health-centred food production businesses.
Together, they’ll create a space where you can ask questions freely, experiment with confidence, and feel fully supported.
Practical Details
Who this is for:
This workshop is for women who want to understand what is happening in their bodies and begin supporting themselves in a practical, gentle way.
You do not need any previous cooking experience.
You do not need to know anything about nutrition.
You simply need to arrive curious, open, and ready to get your hands into something good.
Come as you are.
We will take care of the rest.
You’ll take home:
- Â A new set of practical skills and a clearer understanding of your gut health.
- Â A goodie bag filled with the healing foods we have made together and presents we've prepared for you.
- Â Priority access to our future events, which often sell out before they are announced publicly.
- Â A sense of calm, nourishment and connection, because that is what good food, good company and feeling truly supported can do for us.
Where & When:
DIVERTIMENTI Cookery School
227-229 Brompton Rd, Chelsea,
London SW3 2EP, UK
11 am - 2pm, 4 July 2026:
Price includes: cooking workshop, shared lunch and open Q&A.
All ingredients, equipment, lunch and refreshments provided.
YOUR WORKSHOP HOSTS
OLGA BONDE
I’m a Registered Nutritional Therapist and functional medicine practitioner specialising in female gut and hormonal health in midlife.
For over a decade, I’ve worked with thousands of women in my London clinic who often come to me feeling confused by bodies that no longer seem to respond the way they once did - from digestive issues and stubborn weight changes to thyroid dysfunction, insulin resistance, inflammation, and hormonal imbalance.
No matter where we begin, the work almost always leads us back to the gut.
I know how busy and time-poor most women are at this stage of life, and how overwhelming health advice can feel. That’s why I’ve spent years translating gut health into simple, doable steps that fit real life and genuinely make a difference, without pressure or perfection.
That philosophy is at the heart of MIND THE GUT.
I’d love to guide you through the workshop and help you feel more at ease in your body again.
More here: instagram.com/olgabondenutrition
My professional credentials:
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BSc Hons Biomedicine
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Diploma in Naturopathic Nutritional Therapy, College of Naturopathic Medicine
-
 Royal Society of Medicine (associate member)
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 Association of Naturopathic Practitioners (member)
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 General Naturopathic Council (member)
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 Diplôme de Cuisine, Le Cordon Bleu
ELENA DEMINSKA
Elena brings a beautiful blend of tradition, expertise, and practical food wisdom to MIND THE GUT.
She first learned preservation and fermentation from her grandparents, before going on to build a remarkable career in London’s fine food world - from Borough Market to creating award-winning fermented product brands now stocked by places such as Harrods, Fortnum & Mason, Selfridges, Whole Foods, and Daylesford Organic.
Her approach makes fermentation feel both inspiring and achievable. With decades of hands-on experience, Elena will guide you through the practical side of fermented foods, sharing the insider tips, flavour knowledge, and everyday wisdom that help turn simple ingredients into living, gut-supportive foods you can confidently enjoy at home.
More here:Â instagram.com/elenademinska_
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU
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Refund Policy
If you need to cancel, we’ll be happy to offer a full refund provided your request is made at least 14 days before the workshop date. For cancellations made less than 14 days before the workshop, refunds will be subject to us being able to resell your place.