Signs & Symptoms Of Perimenopause & Menopause

Transcript:

Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition. Today's podcast is brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness. We're a company in Minnesota that's been around for over 30 years. And we specialize in nutrition education and counseling. What we teach and educate on is based on science and the latest research.

We also bring you real life clients and personal examples, just to make the information more practical for your everyday living. I'm Kara Carper. I'm a Licensed Nutritionist, also a board Certified Nutrition Specialist and I'll be one of your cohosts today. Melanie Beasley is also here with me. Melanie is a Licensed and Registered Dietitian and she comes with a wealth of knowledge, especially when it comes to the information we're sharing today. Would you mind introducing our podcast, Mel?

MELANIE: Yeah, I'd be happy to. Today, Kara and I are going to discuss signs and symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. And this is an area of special interest for both of us, partly because we are both in the age range where we are considered menopausal. And also we filmed a six week Menopause Survival seminar course together a few years ago; super fun.

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Kara and I have been around the block both personally and professionally when it comes to changing hormones. And after filming that together. I felt like we really took a deep dive into further understanding it right beyond more than personally.

KARA: I think we're known a little bit as the menopause go to experts.

MELANIE: Which I disagree with. We have so many, so many nutritionists that are, yeah, so well versed in it, but yeah.

KARA: Well, you know, I like to do homework when preparing for our podcast. You do as well.

MELANIE: Yep.

KARA: I thought I'd pick the brains of some of my female friends who are in the age range of 45 to let's just say 60. So I pulled about 10 women and this is what I asked. I said, what are the symptoms that you're struggling with the most when it comes to hormonal changes either in perimenopause or menopause.

MELANIE: That sounds a really fun poll, I think. Women love to talk.

KARA: A lot of it was in texting.

MELANIE: Oh, was it texting?

KARA: Yeah. Yep.

MELANIE: Yeah, you should have gotten together for like a, a dinner or something.

KARA: That would have been fun.

What kind of symptoms can women have during perimenopause or menopause?

MELANIE: Okay, so tell us, I am excited to hear what you found. It helps to hear firsthand what perimenopause and menopause symptoms these real women were experiencing.

KARA: Okay, well, here it goes. First of all, there was a lot of overlap in the symptoms that they reported back to me. I would say the most common struggles were surrounding weight gain. And you know, what they were saying is it's weight gain around the midsection or the tummy area, or for some, it was weight gain everywhere. One particular female, she said, even when her eating hadn't changed, she was gaining weight and, you know, even more physically active than she'd been in the past. So that was frustrating for her.

MELANIE: Yeah. You feel like you can go back to what you used to always do to control that weight and that's not the story. So that's a big one that my clients also talk about. What else did you find?

KARA: Emotional ups and downs. Some describe this as mood swings, maybe higher levels of either depression or anxiety or both. Irritability came up a couple of times and short temper. Increased bouts of anger were also in this category. So just a lot of just fluctuating moods.

MELANIE: Yeah. I don't think that part is a surprise. But certainly the last thing you want to be is physically uncomfortable and then feel like you're not your best self. So these are the types of symptoms that can make it more challenging to manage your relationships and responsibilities, your work life, just everyday life. So what about symptoms not related to weight gain or moods did your friends comment on or anything else?

KARA: Actually, yes. There were a lot of other additional symptoms, including vaginal dryness or just in general, dry skin and itchy skin, low libido, painful intercourse and urinary incontinence. The list is pretty long, but this is real life, you know, hair loss or hair thinning, severe bloating in the gut was mentioned, poor memory, decreased focus and concentration. And let's not forget that hot flashes, night sweats, and poor sleep, those might be things more commonly expressed, and those are absolutely challenges for most women.

MELANIE: A hundred percent. Well that’s a big list of symptoms for such a small group of women and I know everybody doesn't have all the symptoms, right?

KARA: Right.

MELANIE: But that's a good variety and all of them are pretty miserable, and these and these symptoms are not uncommon to be found when you're going through menopause. And we're going to explain the chemistry behind why these symptoms happen and give some nutrition and lifestyle tips to reduce them. But first, it's important to know basic facts on what it means to be in perimenopause or menopause. So why don't you expand on that?

What is perimenopause & menopause?

KARA: Great idea. So here are some statistics. If you're curious what the exact definition of menopause is, it's when a woman stops having a menstrual cycle for a full 12 months in a row. And if you're a woman who hasn't had a period for one year, you're technically in menopause. So it's interesting that up until that point, you are still considered being in perimenopause or some people would say pre menopause, which means the same thing.

It's estimated that 1.3 billion women worldwide will be in menopause by the year 2025. Being that we're halfway through 2024, that's not far away. And if you're thinking, well, what does that number mean? It means 12 percent of our world's total population will be in menopause next year.

MELANIE: Yeah. And we know that number is a lot higher if we consider the women going into both perimenopause and menopause. It's kind of hard to know for a lot of women where they are when they start perimenopause. The average woman will go through menopause at age 51, but it can vary from person to person. On average, menopause usually occurs when women are between the ages of 45 and 55.

KARA: So Mel, if the true definition of menopause is that day where you wake up and you realize you haven't had a menstrual cycle for 12 months in a row, well, what about the months and years leading up to that day? I bet our listeners want to know what that time frame looks like.

MELANIE: Yeah. And it's variable, of course. So the timeframe leading up to the loss of period for 12 months is called perimenopause. And during that timeframe, you may notice that your menstrual cycle becomes irregular compared to what it was before.

Your cycle can become shorter or longer. You might have intermittent bleeding and spotting in between cycles. Cycles will change and become heavier or lighter. It can be really off setting for a lot of women when they're in that space of perimenopause.

KARA: Women also talk about breast swelling and tenderness. They might get more headaches or even migraines. This is typically when women also experience vaginal dryness and low libido.

MELANIE: It really does sound miserable when I'm listening to you. You know, I can understand my clients now when you're breaking that down. I've had clients in perimenopause tell me, “I am not comfortable in my own skin.” It's a hard symptom to describe, but I know what they're describing. So I know listeners, if anyone can relate out there, you just don't feel like yourself.

Hormone decreases can contribute to changes during perimenopause & menopause

KARA: Yeah, we hear that a lot. You hear that from clients. I hear that from friends and relatives. An important reason for changes during perimenopause is often due to the decrease in two reproductive hormones called progesterone and estrogen.

And you may hear this from doctors, nurses, colleagues, family, friends, you know, a lot of us hear about this decrease in estrogen. And while this is true, the decrease in progesterone is often more dramatic and can create more of an imbalance between those two. And that's because the progesterone drops more suddenly.

MELANIE: Yeah. And progesterone does a lot for us. Another term for this is estrogen dominance because obviously if the progesterone is dropping and the estrogen is rising, ideally the amount of estrogen and progesterone in the body are in balance when women stop ovulating. And this is when progesterone plummets, creating this imbalance and thus the discomfort.

KARA: And progesterone is a calming hormone. I recently learned that progesterone stimulates the production of something called GABA, which, I find that really interesting. That's a calming neurotransmitter.

MELANIE: So if you're not producing progesterone, you don't have those calming effects.

KARA: Correct. You could be low in GABA.

MELANIE: Yeah.

KARA: So, that can lead to some of the more irritability, the short tempered, short views that we referred to.

MELANIE: Yes. We love that GABA.

KARA: We certainly do.

MELANIE: You and I were talking before the show about an actual diagnosis called menopausal rage; sounds pretty scary. Some women become so low in progesterone and thus GABA that the irritability turns into an actual anger and sometimes feels like it feels like rage. It's not just common, but paints a picture of just how serious a hormone balance can be.

KARA: And you know, Melanie, that just brings me back to when I first discovered progesterone. I won't make the story long, but I was, it was post…

MELANIE: Oh, tell us the story. Tell us the story.

KARA: Everybody loves a good story, right? They can relate. This was after I had my daughter and I went into kind of a deep depression, but I was also feeling anxious and irritable, crying a lot, and it just kind of took me by surprise.

MELANIE: It was postpartum.

KARA: It was postpartum. Our owner, Darlene Kvist, who I ended up on the phone with her, she was asking how the birth went and everything.

MELANIE: Our wise guru.

KARA: She's very wise mentor and guru, and she had someone at the front desk ship me out a tube of natural progesterone cream.

MELANIE: The one made from yams.

KARA: Yes, correct. And I believe Emerita was the brand. We still carry that to this day, but my life changed when I got it in the mail and I started using it.

MELANIE: You got yourself back.

KARA: I did. I got myself back, but that reminded me of how calming and balancing of a hormone that is.

MELANIE: It is great. And also, my own personal story is when I started using progesterone, it helped with sleep, some lingering hot flashes, it can help with mood, but women notice improvement with vaginal dryness and also their libido can go up.

KARA: And that actually is the one that I use to this day. So it's the Emerita brand. And I just put a quarter to a half teaspoon on a thin part of the skin. And you kind of rotate that, you know, whether it's the inside of the wrist, maybe the neck, behind the knees, behind the elbows, that type of thing.

MELANIE: I tell my clients where the sun typically is not tanning you when you go for a walk.

KARA: Oh yeah, that's great. That's where the skin tends to be a little more thin, but anyone when having hot flashes can use it during the day. So it's helpful to use it before bed for night sweats, but it can be used in the morning as well to prevent hot flashes during the day.

It's a low dose, Melanie, you know, it's 20 milligrams, which is the amount of progesterone that our ovaries would be producing if we were ovulating.

MELANIE: Yeah. So it's not necessarily for everyone. But on those specific clients that are struggling it’s certainly worth, I think it's worth a try. Progesterone cream can be wonderful, but remember it's just one tool in the menopause toolbox.

Protein intake & strength training is critical

So ladies, we have to start with a real food eating plan. Our bodies need kind nourishment as we get into our midlife years and beyond. Protein needs to go up. I mean, we need to be very protein forward to protect our muscles.

And according to the National Institute of Health, women start losing three to 5 percent of their muscle mass every 10 years. And this starts when we're between 30 and 40 years old, and it becomes more noticeable when we are ages 60 and 80. So to be proactive, be very protein forward. Animal protein is key.

KARA: And strength training is very important as well. You and I know that, and we both practice that to prevent the naturally occurring muscle loss, but we need to be pairing that strength training with enough high quality animal protein.

You could still be losing muscle if you’re not supporting that tissue and muscle growth. So, my personal goal, I am in menopause, is to eat a minimum of a hundred grams of protein each day. And usually I'm a little bit closer to a hundred and twenty grams.

MELANIE: Yes. And I am bigger than you. So, my goal is a hundred and twenty always to 130 to support that muscle building. If you're lifting weights and you have nothing to build the muscle with, it's very frustrating because you may not see definition and you may not see change in tone, but you have to ask yourself, am I giving the protein to the muscles so that they can build and we're not going to end up like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but we certainly can get tone and lean muscle and it helps us prevent falling as we age.

So many of you might be thinking, wow, that sounds like a lot of protein. It's actually not too difficult to get in a hundred grams of protein. And so what I do in the morning is I have, two eggs and I have three to four ounces of turkey sausage. Turkey's a little higher in protein than pork just because the fat content is not diluting the protein.

KARA: Sure.

MELANIE: And then, lunch today I had five ounces of pot roast beef and I'm just doing the protein here.

KARA: Sure. Right.

MELANIE: A variety of vegetables.

KARA: Vegetables and healthy fats.

MELANIE: And it was cooked in some healthy fat. And then dinner tonight I will have about six ounces of wild caught cod. And then I also throw in a protein shake.

KARA: Okay.

MELANIE: So that's another 30 grams of protein in my protein powder.

KARA: And so all of that totaled up your three meals, your protein shake is giving you that minimum of your personal goal, which is 120, maybe 130 grams. per day.

MELANIE: Yes. And I also, I should add in, I also do collagen.

KARA: Okay.

MELANIE: So when you add it all up, you're able to make it and it doesn't look like so much on a plate,

KARA: Right. And it, all of that sounds delicious. And I like that there's a variety of the different kinds of protein as well. There are just so many benefits when women are intentional with getting enough protein. So if you have been frustrated with menopause weight gain, especially that kind of weight around the midsection, the belly fat, eating enough protein can activate some of those fat burning hormones.

MELANIE: Yeah, that's revving our metabolism. And I have clients tell me after they're getting enough protein that they just feel like a flower that's been stuck in water. You know, they just feel like, oh my gosh, I have clarity of thought. I have energy throughout the day. I'm able to get so much more done.

So don't forget that eggs, meat, poultry, and fish are also going to provide those amino acids that we need to break down to make neurotransmitters for our brain. So it's going to help your mood, you're going to experience better moods, and you're going to appreciate the boost of serotonin and dopamine that you get from eating adequate protein.

KARA: And you know, protein also contains other nutrients like choline that help with focus, memory, and concentration. And I'm just going to add to our list of benefits of eating adequate protein that we need it for any tissues on our body to grow. So think about what are tissues? I mean, if you have thinning hair or hair loss, if your nails have a hard time growing

MELANIE: Wrinkly skin, eyelash, eyebrow growth, it, it's amazing when you eat enough protein. Women get thicker hair, the ridges in their nails go away. It really affects every cell of the body. So I'm so glad you brought that up. So I love this topic and I want to talk some more about it, but let's go to our break first because we've got a lot to say when we come back.

KARA: You're listening to Dishing Up Nutrition. Our topic today is symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. Everyone knows that eating more vegetables is beneficial, right? Especially salads. Are you tired of eating the same old salad though? Do you just have your lettuce, your tomato and cucumber, and you're just a little bit bored with that?

Thankfully, chef Marianne is teaching an upcoming cooking class. It's called Salads for Balanced Meals. So you'll get some new ideas on how to put together a salad with protein, fat, carbohydrate, having all the macronutrients. So it's a complete balanced meal and we'll be right back.

Sign Up for a Cooking Class

MELANIE: Welcome back to Dishing Up Nutrition. I'm Melanie Beasley, Licensed Dietitian here with Kara Carper, Licensed Nutritionist. And I just want to revisit that wonderful class that we're offering called Salads for Balanced Meals. It’s a cooking class on June 5th at 6 p.m. Our live cooking classes on Zoom are 75 minutes long and you receive recipes, a shopping list and you'll get the recording in case you miss the live class or if you want to rewatch it on your own time and the recording lasts for five days.

Why do we need healthy fats?

So we're going to keep talking about that connection between real foods and how they can help reduce uncomfortable menopause. So that leads us to our next and favorite macronutrient: real, unprocessed fats and oil. And we can't say enough about the importance of these healthy fats. Do you want to reduce saggy, dry, wrinkly, crepey skin? Well, the first step is to give your body enough of these healthy fats.

KARA: It's just like a car needs oil to lubricate all of the parts so they work properly.

MELANIE: Yeah, that's really good. And there are really no creams or lotions that can work topically as well as eating healthy fats, extra virgin coconut oil, grass fed butter or ghee, free range, organic duck fat, organic olive oil, avocados with every meal and snack. I mean, there's a wide variety of yummy fats that we can be consuming.

KARA: They're so important. Like you said, for skin, for hair, for nails. If you're wondering the quantity of fat strive for at least 15 grams of healthy fat every time you eat. So with each meal and each snack, and that can help to reduce the vaginal dryness. It can help to lessen some of that overall itchiness and dry skin throughout the body. I know that was a complaint that one of my friends had. And our first suggestion would be to liberally be eating these healthy fats.

MELANIE: Yeah. So give us some idea of what 15 grams of healthy fat would look like.

KARA: Sure. So one tablespoon of coconut oil. If we're looking at avocados, it's about a half of a large avocado,

MELANIE: So reasonable to have it a meal. Yeah. I think that's great. And one of the symptoms that my clients will complain of when they're not getting enough fat is they'll get dry, bumpy skin on the back of their legs and the back of their arms. So it tells me they're not getting enough omega-3 fats for one thing, which would be that healthy fish oil. So many women are still really afraid to eat fat, because they're worried about the weight gain, but it's not the good fat you're eating that is creating the problem.

When you're getting enough healthy fat in the measurement that we're talking about, there are a lot of other factors in play that are putting on weight, like eating too many carbohydrates or sugary foods, not enough protein, lack of sleep, even having some estrogen dominance. Those come into play more than adding the 15 grams of healthy fat at a meal.

KARA: Absolutely.

Include vegetables for hormonal balance

MELANIE: One of my other favorite foods to include for good hormonal balance is vegetables and especially the vegetables that are cruciferous vegetables. These are the ones that you can smell when you're cooking them; most of them anyway: broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, they sink up your kitchen or you have to apologize when you make them in the break room.

But when you heat them up, these are the vegetables that contain that naturally detoxifying components that will help with that overall hormone balance because they help to usher out some of those toxic estrogens, help the liver to clear those out. So again, we're addressing that estrogen dominance.

Keep eating those great vegetables and you can look for a summer recipe on our website. One of my favorite is the broccoli slaw recipe and you can find that at weightandwellness.com under the recipe tab.

The importance of fiber for detoxifying excess estrogen

KARA: And, you know, getting enough fiber is also a great way to naturally detoxify excess estrogens. And in a recent show that you and I hosted, and that was discussing colon cancer, we recommended that the goal be 30 grams or more of fiber each day. You know, a mix of soluble and insoluble is wonderful. And I want to just give a shout out to Melanie because based on her advice, I recently started taking a new product or it's new to me. It's called Sun Fiber and I believe it comes from guar fiber and it's also a prebiotic. So I really like that it's feeding good gut bacteria.

MELANIE: I like it for my clients because it's less bloaty when they're first starting to incorporate some fiber.

KARA: Yeah, it's great. It's, I didn't realize how easily that it would mix even in just a glass of water And it's kind of tasteless, odorless, and I believe a one scoop has about six grams of fiber.

MELANIE: So it's something to try and the best source of fiber really is to eat a variety of vegetables at every meal. You know a fruit is great, berries are going to have a little more fiber, pears have high fiber, but just be careful of how much fruit because obviously they're high in sugar. That's why they taste sweet and delicious. So a lot of vegetables, throw some fruit in there as well. You're getting a good variety of not only fiber, but you're getting good variety of macro and micronutrients.

Why is drinking enough filtered water important?

KARA: And remember to be drinking enough water especially if you're increasing your fiber content, you don't want that added fiber to start causing constipation and it's really important to make sure your water is clean and filtered.

MELANIE: Yeah. And I love that because we don't want constipation because it's going to be holding on to the toxins your body is trying to get rid of. And we start reabsorbing toxins and hormones. So it's one way your body can start getting rid of that hormone.

KARA: You know, we could do a lot talking about how drinking a hundred ounces of water, purified water could improve uncomfortable menopause symptoms. Whether it's that dry, itchy skin, wrinkles, and some of that could be due to dehydration.

MELANIE: Yeah. So, you know, when you're dehydrated too, speaking of menopausal weight, sometimes we can misinterpret dehydration for a sweet tooth. So, I tell my clients, make sure you're hydrated and you drink a big glass of water before you start reaching for that chocolate. I tell my clients to strive for about a hundred ounces of purified water each day. It kind of depends on their weight. I say divide your weight in half and that's how many ounces of purified water that you should be getting in.

Why balanced blood sugar is important for sleep & hormone balance

Another point I wanted to make is when someone is really having a lot of those night sweats is the carbohydrates, whether it be from excessive fruit, which, we touched on or processed carbohydrates or grains or too many beans, that or chocolate, you know, or any kind of sugar containing food, if it raises your blood sugar and you bottom out at night because you ate so many carbohydrates between, dinner and bedtime, what's going to happen is you're going to wake yourself up with a hot flash.

So once we start getting that adequate protein and fat in there, lots of vegetables and a little bit of carbohydrate at a meal, maybe a half a cup, the starchy carbs I'm talking about like beans, lentils, fruit and grains, then you're going to have less hot flashing. It's magic.

KARA: It definitely is. And it is interesting that our hormones are all connected. They're related. And so if one hormone is out of balance, that can create imbalance with other hormones.

MELANIE: Yes.

KARA: And just one example would be eating too many processed carbs; bread, pasta, even just too many sweets, you know, if the blood sugar is going to spike up and that's going to raise insulin, which is a very important hormone.

MELANIE: It's our fat storing hormone.

KARA: It’s our fat storing hormone. If insulin levels are consistently too high, that's going to create more of an imbalance with estrogen and leading to more hot flashes, weight gain, and some of those other uncomfortable things we've been talking about.

MELANIE: Really good point. We want those in balance because that's what's going to get us more comfortable. And this really affects women of all ages. It's not just menopause and perimenopause, but I think that this is when all of the way we used to eat comes home to roost when we're in perimenopause and menopause. It can make us extremely uncomfortable.

I have women that sail through it who are real food eaters. They eat lots of protein, they eat lots of vegetables, they stay active, they're getting adequate sleep and menopause is just a blip in their lifespan.

KARA: Right. We do really need to get that point across that what we're talking about today, these symptoms of perimenopause and menopause, they're not inevitable, if you're doing whatever you can to eat real foods and get the purified water, get adequate protein, get good quality sleep, like you said, many women do not experience these symptoms.

What can be done to prevent bone loss during menopause?

MELANIE: The other thing I wanted to touch on for menopause is losing bone. And this is the point in your life when we stop menstruating that a lot of women will see bone loss those first five years after menopause. So that hormone balance is really, really key, but also how much activity you're doing and also that adequate protein becomes vitally important so that we're not losing a lot of bone. And that's a big concern for menopause.

Environmental factors to consider to reduce estrogen dominance

KARA: Absolutely. Yeah. So, we've used the phrase estrogen dominance. This is actually very common for men and women. And there are some environmental factors that can lead to estrogen going up because of what we call toxic or fake estrogens. And this can come from not eating organic produce, right, Melanie? So pesticides in our food, pesticides.

MELANIE: Yeah, the pesticides can wreak havoc on our hormones. Also, the hormones that are injected into animals, we get some residue from that when we eat those animals. So it, as much as you can afford to be eating clean sources of food, organic and grass fed and free range, you're going to be doing yourself a favor as you stepping into perimenopause and menopause or just life really.

KARA: Right, cause then you're avoiding the hormones that have been pumped into the animals or the pesticides that were grown in the food if you're able to get organic.

MELANIE: Yes. These are not natural things. They wreak havoc on the insects, so they wreak havoc on us, who eats these.

KARA: I bet some of our listeners have heard the term BPA. That's kind of been…

MELANIE: Well, it's on everything now: BPA free, you know, so I won't buy anything that doesn't say BPA free.

KARA: And that's just another example of something that can create more fake estrogens in the body is BPA. So you want to get a good stainless steel water bottle and try to avoid drinking out of plastic and avoid storing food in plastic if you can start storing in glass or stainless steel.

MELANIE: Yes. Put that filtered water in your water bottle, put it in a glass container, put your hot food that you're going to store leftovers in the glass containers instead of plastic. All of this little small changes that you make at a time is going to make a difference in your overall health.

So if you think about you put a big case of plastic water bottles in your car, it's summer, the car heats up, that plastic is leaching into your water. A stainless steel water bottle is going to be your better choice.

KARA: Just a simple change that we can all make, just one little thing at a time.

MELANIE: A little at a time, not to overwhelm you, just to give you all the tools in your toolbox. And then you just pick one tool at a time, what you're going to change.

Drinking alcohol can increase estrogen levels

KARA: You know, we go to an annual nutrition conference each year. There's a lot of wonderful speakers and there's usually a speaker giving a lecture on the problems associated with excess estrogen and most excess estrogen is not coming from estrogen made in a woman's body, but coming from external sources. So here's just one more example is that drinking alcohol can lead to increased estrogen levels.

MELANIE: We're talking about the two or three glasses of wine every night is the problem. And also, what is, where are you sourcing your alcohol? Is it an organic glass of wine once a week? Or is it two to three glasses of wine every night? So it's going to have an impact on your system.

Pesticides and hormones found in food sources, we touched on that. Keeping the food organic, keeping the hormone free meat is, is also going to benefit you greatly, I think, based on what I've seen both in my research and with my clients.

Some common symptoms magnesium can help with

KARA: So we talked about how, you know, night sweats and hot flashes can disrupt sleep and some women just are experiencing insomnia not even related to night sweats. If you're struggling with sleep, anxiety, if you do have headaches or muscle twitches, we just wanted to tie all of those symptoms together because those indicate that you may have a magnesium deficiency.

MELANIE: Yeah or even the leg cramp, Charlie horse, that's a good sign, restless legs as well. If you're feeling like, wow, I'm just not sleeping well, I've got some of these symptoms or maybe not, we are all magnesium deficient in this country, we just are. It's not the soil, we're not growing our produce in the soil it used to be.

So I think that two thirds of the population is low in the mineral magnesium and it's found in grass fed meat, leafy greens, nuts, seeds and avocados. But if there's a real magnesium deficiency, which, our produce doesn't carry the amount of magnesium it used to even 20 years ago, then maybe taking an absorbable magnesium would be a good idea. Like Magnesium Glycinate, it’s chelated. It doesn't raise your risk of diarrhea. Like some of those other ones over the counter or big box stores will carry.

KARA: You know, what else is interesting about magnesium is you had mentioned that our soil is just different. It's depleted compared to what it was a hundred, 50 or a hundred years ago. So there are less nutrients, including minerals. We tend to get depleted pretty easily of magnesium based on stress levels, even exercise. We're not saying stop exercising, but it's just important to know that with sweat, you're losing some minerals like magnesium.

MELANIE: Yeah. And when your muscles are firing, you're using your minerals. That's what we use our minerals to fire that muscle. So a lot of people will say, oh, I think it's the shoes I wore. No, it's just, you were using your muscles, so you're burning through more magnesium.

KARA: Right, right.

MELANIE: Diarrhea, stress, all of these can deplete us of magnesium.

KARA: So I just kind of wanted to explain, you know, why there's such a rampant deficiency of magnesium.

Recap

MELANIE: Yeah. So really when we look out at perimenopause and menopause, we want to take all of these factors into play. That's one of the reasons we put together that six week course.

Sign Up for Menopause Solutions - Online

So, we cover all of these things. But from a standpoint, listeners, if you are making sure you're eating real food, check if you've got some deficiencies such as magnesium, make sure you're not drinking too much alcohol, get adequate sleep. You're just going to go through menopause without so much of a miserable struggle. And that's the goal.

KARA: Our goal at Nutritional Weight and Wellness is to help each and every person experience better health through eating real food. And it's a simple, yet a powerful message. Eating real food is life changing. And we want to thank you for listening and hope you have a wonderful day.