🥑Helping women 40+ feel their best in peri & post menopause
🥑Practical nutrition plans to support hormone health
🥑habit change support
26/02/2025
Feeling bad tempered, irritable, down?😠😞
Hormone fluctuations in peri menopause can profoundly affect your mood😊 If you've tried the psychological approaches and they haven't worked, remember nutrition can really help you here.
Make sure you are:
💚Keeping your blood sugar balanced with regular protein & fibre
💚Getting enough B vitamins which are key mood nutrients
💚Eating enough good fats (after all your brain is 60% fat!)
💚Managing stress and making time for relaxation
Remember food and your mood are so closely linked🍎😃
22/10/2024
You might be thinking, I’m not diabetic so I don’t need to check my blood sugar levels🤔
Actually you do with a simple GP test. Glucose needs to be within a very tight range. The greater the variation of glucose levels the higher risk of health issues🤨
It doesn’t have a good effect on your hormones, stress levels or heart health.
Having higher than desired or fluctuating blood sugar levels can cause future health problems.
👉Ask your GP for a routine blood test called HbA1C. This is a measure of your average blood sugar levels over the past 3 months
👉It can be done as part of the free NHS health check for over 40s
👉Checking HbA1C is really useful because it will let you know if your blood sugar is creeping up too high or heading into diabetes
👉You can take diet and lifestyle steps to lower it.
You know where I am, if you need help lowering your HbA1C 💚💚
07/10/2024
Did you know that dementia is sometimes called Type 3 diabetes?
Even if you don't have diabetes, blood sugar issues cause damage to brain cells💥
Keep reducing the carbs and sugar🍰
It's not easy. If you struggle, try eating more protein to reduce cravings😃. It's worth it to keep your brain sharp💡💚
26/09/2024
Less oestrogen around the time of the menopause, can be associated with symptoms like:
One thing that can really help your brain health is omega 3 fat. After all your brain is 60% fat😀
💥For example, an analysis of 26 studies involving 2160 participants found a significant beneficial effect of omega-3 fish oil on depression symptoms.
💥The two fats in fish oil are called EPA and DHA. How do they work?
💚They have an anti inflammatory effect. We now know that inflammation is an important factor in depression
💚They form electric charges which when activated produce tiny electrical currents that enable nerve cells to communicate with each other.
It’s thought the most effective ratio for mood is slightly more EPA than DHA.
In an ideal world you’d get your omega 3 from eating fish🦈 But issues with pollution mean eating oily fish every day isn’t advised 😒Perhaps doing a combination of supplements some days and fish some days is the answer.
If you’re looking for a vegan source, algae supplements are your best option.
Seek advice first if you’re on medication, especially blood thinners.
For more personalised nutrition advice for you in mid life & menu plans, just get in touch with me💜😊
18/09/2024
Your hormones are so affected by the food you eat
In a simple way🌿
How so?
👉You need enough quality protein to make hormones.
👉Your gut microbiome has to be healthy in order to break down hormones. Fermented foods and fruits/vegetables feed your gut microbiome.
As you get older, hormone levels decrease. Stress depletes them further😌
👉Keep eating protein (3 x per day) so you can continue making hormones.
👉Keep feeding your gut microbiome so you can metabolise/break down the hormones.
👉Eat enough good fat (avocados are great🥑) to keep you feeling full and not craving carbs/sweet stuff which messes up your hormones🤪
It is simple🌸
Simple doesn’t always mean easy though. There’s no shame in not being able to do it by yourself🤔
If you need help, drop me a message😊
05/09/2024
There's so much talk about blood sugar monitors in the health industry. Are they hype? No - they can be really helpful if you're into tracking😃
👉Used together with a food diary, they can give you very useful information about how specific foods are causing your blood sugar to spike. Those foods vary from one person to another.
👉Seeing real time data can be very motivating to get you to change habits.
👉Also things like timing of meals, exercise & sleep patterns can all affect your blood sugar too and you can see the effects on your blood sugar graph.
Why bother to look at your blood sugar levels🤔
If you have regular blood sugar fluctuations they can affect your mood, hormones, food cravings and energy levels.
Further down the line, your cells may stop responding to insulin which leads to weight gain and conditions such as type 2 diabetes😟
When you work with me in one to one nutrition consults, you have the option to measure your blood sugar levels with a CGM and a food app. See the link below for more details💥
10/08/2024
Looking to lower your blood sugar, reduce inflammation and manage cholesterol🤔 This kitchen cupboard ingredient is not only low cost, it works and doesn't have any side effects😃
An analysis of 35 clinical trials found that cinnamon significantly reduced total cholesterol, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol and serum glucose 😮😮Doses used were up to 1.5 g (about three quarters of a teaspoon).
Cinnamon has also been found to reduce blood pressure in doses of 2g daily when given for 8 weeks.
It goes without saying that if you're on medication, you definitely shouldn't stop taking it and should consult your GP.
The power of food, impressive isn't it 😍
When buying cinnamon powder look for the Ceylon type and one that is organic and screened for impurities.🧡🩷
23/07/2024
Are you weary of popping lots of supplement pills?
Powdered spices might be the answer🌶
These are foods but with medicinal properties💊 Let’s start with ginger 🥔
Adding even a small amount to your tea could be a beneficial in mid life. It'll give you an anti oxidant and anti inflammatory boost, not to mention a good effect on your blood sugar balance☕
In one study, participants were given 1.5g of ginger for 12 weeks (that’s about half a teaspoonful)
Ginger 💛 Improved blood sugar management (including reducing HbA1C, a commonly tested marker for pre diabetes).
💛Reduced CRP (a marker for inflammation)
💛Reduced total cholesterol
Similar results have been obtained in numerous other studies👍
So what are the active ingredients of ginger?
🌿gingerol, shogaol, paradol and zingerone for your information
I love a zingy boost of ginger and I find it goes particularly well in green tea or chamomile tea😀
15/07/2024
You may have seen celebrities like Davina McCall sporting glucose monitors (known as CGMs). They are small white discs worn on the arm and they’re currently a bit of a wellness trend😃
Are they worth using and can they help you in peri menopause? Or are they just another fad🤔
Actually research has shown they are really useful. People using a CGM had the following benefits:
👉Significantly greater weight loss
Increased motivation to exercise & eat healthier
👉Greater reduction in cholesterol and fasting glucose levels than the other group
👉Reduced levels of HbA1c (a measure of blood sugar levels over the past 3 months – your GP can test HbA1c in a standard blood test
You may wonder why your blood sugar levels matter if you’re not a diabetic🤔
👉Occasional surges in blood sugar are normal and aren’t a problem. Your body is able to handle them
👉But regular blood sugar fluctuations affect your mood, food cravings and energy levels
👉 They can also lead to your cells stopping to respond to insulin (insulin resistance) and weight gain around your middle
👍Wearing a CGM even just for a couple of weeks can really help you make changes to your diet that are individual to you. And you can check with real time evidence that they are working.
If you’d like to work on your diet with the help of a CGM, more information is in the comments below💥
25/06/2024
I'm in the middle of an experiment at the moment - I decided to try without my daily dose of 70% cocoa dark chocolate🤩 I try to practice what I preach and I eat little other sugar than my 70% fix😅 Except for the occasional treat when out. However I didn't like the feeling of not being able to do without the dark chocolate every day. There is research that suggests sugar is addictive😟 What I've noticed most during my chocolate fast was the natural sweetness in foods not traditionally thought of as sweet. For example a handful of cashews flooded my taste buds with a gentle burst of sweetness. Whilst a sip of my son's hot chocolate was like a sugar bomb going off in my mouth🤢😝
Too much sugar is associated with mood swings, hormone imbalance, excess sweating, energy dips, reduced resistance to stress and fat deposits around the middle. If you want a simple action to help reduce your sugar, try one day of sugar tracking🍰Look at labels on your food for the day and see if goes above the government recommended amount of 30g (sugar from fruit juice counts but not from whole fruit). And sugar in bread counts too🙂Let me know how you get on🥰
18/06/2024
Changes in blood sugar levels have a big effect on your energy levels, focus, mood, weight, cholesterol & general health in mid life🩷 And you don’t have to be diabetic or pre diabetic to be affected
👉In a typical day, your blood sugar levels will rise and fall. But the less variation in levels, the better for your overall health
👉If you’re out of balance, there will be sharp blood sugar spikes and troughs over a day. Even though your fasting blood glucose levels may return to normal.
👉Of course, what you eat affects your blood sugar. But did you know that you and a friend could both eat a banana and the effects on your respective blood sugar levels could be very different?
👉Blood sugar can also be affected by your hormones, sleep quality, stress levels, timing of eating
☘️Wearing a continuous blood sugar monitor (CGM) for a couple of weeks or so can be super useful. It will show you how the food you are eating is affecting your blood sugar and you can make adjustments. Some of my programmes include a CGM. Contact me for more details😀
☘️The study of blood sugar levels in the general population who are not diabetic, is a current area of research
Meanwhile keep eating enough protein (see my previous 2 posts)👍
01/06/2024
👉Spreading your protein over 3 meals works better than loading protein into an evening meal
👉If you need a little help hitting your protein targets, a protein powder is very convenient. Pulsin now do a range of naturally flavoured (chocolate, vanilla or berry flavour) non milk based protein powders which are great for adding to smoothies.
👉These vegan protein powders (a mixture of pea, bean & pumpkin seeds) contain 20g protein per serving. They also do a rice based unflavoured vegan protein powder (available in larger sizes too). Don’t forget to use my discount code for the Natural Dispensary to get 15% off each time you order! The link is below in the comments😍🤩
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I’ve never been someone who follows a conventional path in life. Hence at age 50 I found myself adopting a 14 month old baby! The menopause and being a new mum at the same time was a challenge, although one that was very worth it.
Why am I telling you this? My mission is to let all you lovely middle aged women know that whilst getting older and hormonal flux is inevitable, symptoms are not, if your body is properly nourished. There is no doubt in my mind, that good nutrition has been the key to my resilience and has helped me adapt to the physical and emotional challenges that I was faced with. I believe it’s got me where I am today, thriving in middle age and (so I’m told!) looking younger than my years.
So, how did I get here....? My interest in food goes back a long way. As a child I loved being in the kitchen cooking various concoctions which contained way too much sugar including fudge and peppermint creams... “Home Economics” as it was known then, was my favourite subject at school because I enjoyed making recipes in the school kitchen. When I went to university I followed my head rather than my heart and did a degree in Classical Studies. We got a full grant back then and uni life was great!
After graduating, I was soon drawn into working in health and food places. My career started with icecream. It involved cycling around a theme park selling cornettos to be more precise.... Fruit picking followed and from there on the only way was up. I moved on to the pioneering vegetarian restaurant in London, Cranks, Holland and Barrett where I managed a shop for a while, a couple of high end health clubs where I worked as an aromatherapist and massage therapist and finally a vitamin company. By now it was 1994 and I began my training in nutritional therapy, a very niche career in those days. From that moment on something clicked into place, I knew that nutrition was the important missing part of the health puzzle for me and I was excited at the prospect of being able to use my knowledge to help others.
I remember the joy and satisfaction I felt when my very first client felt better. I have been in practice for many years now and I still get the same pleasure from seeing women transform their health and quality of life.
Back in the early 90s, nutritional therapy was a relatively new concept. The idea that diet had the power to influence our health in a very major way was a bit radical and somewhat alternative. Not many people had heard of omega 3 oil, gluten free foods were as rare as hen’s teeth and it was pretty hard to get herbal tea in a cafe. Nutritionists were mostly conventional dieticians preparing meal plans for diabetics and other specialist groups of patients.
How different it is today. Omega 3 lines the supermarket shelves, gluten free is the new normal and long gone are the days when all that was on offer when buying a cup of tea was PG tips with milk.
There has been an explosion of information about diets and food. Nutrition is popular. This is a good thing in some ways but it can lead to confusion and anxiety about doing the right thing. On this page, my aim is to provide simple nutrition messages for women in the second half of their lives, which are from a trustworthy source and are easy to apply straightaway in daily life. Hope you enjoy reading...
