https://www.facebook.com/452192747984942/

Jo Randall Health Coaching, York (2025)

26/09/2025

Alcohol & Menopause: The Hidden Connection

Hot flushes. Night sweats. Brain fog. Mood swings. Weight gain.

Menopause can feel like a rollercoaster at the best of times.
Now add alcohol.

For many women in midlife, a glass of wine feels like a friend: a way to unwind after work, to join in socially, to take the edge off stress. But the truth is more complicated - and far less forgiving during the menopause transition.

Here’s what the research tells us:

Alcohol dilates blood vessels, often triggering or intensifying hot flushes and night sweats.

It disrupts sleep quality, leaving you more restless and exhausted - even if it helps you drift off.

Brain fog, already common in menopause, worsens with regular drinking.

Alcohol is a depressant: it can amplify anxiety, low mood and irritability.

Risks of breast cancer, osteoporosis and heart disease - all heightened after menopause - are made worse by drinking.

Yet the pressure to drink is everywhere. Wine nights with friends. Work dinners. “Me-time” rituals with a glass in hand. And let’s not forget how alcohol has been marketed to women for decades as a well-earned reward.

So many women tell me they know alcohol makes them feel worse but the cultural script is powerful and hard to resist. That’s not weakness - it’s social conditioning.

Here’s the good news: once you spot the connection, you can start to experiment. Many women find that even cutting back - swapping the first drink for sparkling water, choosing a mocktail, setting “alcohol-free nights” - brings huge improvements in sleep, energy, mood and confidence.

This post is part of my new series on Alcohol & Health Across the Ages. At the end, I’ll be sharing practical strategies for reflecting, restructuring habits, and reshaping your relationship with alcohol - without doom or total abstinence.

Because the truth is, menopause is hard enough. You deserve tools that make it easier, not harder.

26/09/2025

Why waiting for something to go wrong is the riskiest health strategy you can choose

This week’s health headlines hit hard:

🧠 Air pollution isn’t just bad for your lungs - it’s wrecking your sleep. A global review of 1.2 million people showed that exposure to pollutants reduces sleep quality, especially after 45 (The Guardian, Sept 2025).
Poor sleep = weaker immunity, foggy brain, and a higher risk of chronic conditions.

🤖 The NHS is trialling AI to speed up diagnosis of cancer and diabetes. The £6m AIR-SP platform could help detect diseases like lung cancer and diabetes earlier, but rollout is still years away (The Times, Sept 2025).

Which means for now, delays and uncertainty remain the reality.

Both stories point to the same truth: if you sit back and wait for the system to save you, you’re gambling with your health.

Let me be clear: I owe my life to the NHS and I wouldn’t be here without it. But we can’t afford to be passive. Prevention is the real power play.

That’s where health coaching comes in. At Jo Randall Health Coaching, I help busy people:

Improve sleep and energy with practical, science-backed habits

Reduce risks around blood sugar, stress, and weight

Take proactive steps, so you’re not left waiting for a diagnosis to act

👉 If you’re tired of running on empty, worried about chronic conditions, or simply want to feel in control again, now is the time. Book a Health Reset Call with me today and start building the habits that protect your future health.

25/09/2025

Alcohol & Health Across the Ages – A New Series

Over the next few days, I’ll be sharing insights into alcohol and its impact at different stages of life. From the pressures of your 30's, to the hidden toll in later decades - each stage tells a different story.

Let’s start with your 30's.

Why Your 30's Matter

Your 30's are a time of energy, ambition, and social connectivity - but habits now can set the stage for decades ahead. Even moderate drinking can quietly affect your health, mood, and resilience.

What Damage Can Alcohol Do in Your 30's?

Physical & cognitive: Frequent drinking is linked to brain ageing, memory changes, and long-term risk of liver disease, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.

Mental health: Alcohol may temporarily relax you, but over time it can worsen anxiety, depression, and disrupt sleep.

Fertility & hormones: Drinking can affect hormonal balance, menstrual cycles, fertility, libido, and immune function.

The long game: Damage accumulates. The earlier you reflect on habits, the more you protect your future health, energy, and quality of life.

Social Pressures
Your 30's are full of life transitions - career, relationships, social circles, possibly parenting - and alcohol is often the default social glue:

Work dinners, networking events, and social mixers often involve drinking.

Friends and family may expect you to join in, making “no thanks” awkward.

The idea of alcohol as a reward for long days is deeply ingrained.

Online and offline, the optics of fun often include drinks, reinforcing social norms.

Even if your drinking feels manageable, recognising these pressures is the first step in reshaping your relationship with alcohol.

At the end of this series, I’ll be wrapping up with lots of practical strategies for reflecting, structuring change, and experimenting with alcohol in ways that work for you - so it’s not all doom and gloom or about strict abstinence!

Next up - Alcohol and the Perimenopausal woman!

24/09/2025

Why October Could Be a Turning Point: Rethinking Britain’s Relationship with Alcohol

We British tend to treat a drink as almost sacred: the Friday pint, the “cheers” glass of wine. Alcohol is entwined with everything from sport and theatre to holidays and hospitality. Yet the evidence is mounting that our cultural normalisation of drinking is exacting a heavy price- and that stepping back, even for a month, can be quietly radical.

The hidden costs:

In 2023, the UK recorded over 10,473 alcohol-related deaths, a record high (The Guardian).

The annual cost of alcohol harm to the NHS, social services, lost productivity and crime is estimated at £27 billion (The Guardian).

Alcohol is causally linked to over 200 diseases, including liver disease, seven types of cancer and cardiovascular disease (Alcohol Change UK).

The cultural entanglement

So why, with all this evidence, do we continue? Because alcohol isn’t just a chemical - it’s a social glue.

Drinking is embedded in rituals: celebrations, commiserations, weekends, evenings out. To refuse or reduce is often met with surprise, pressure or misunderstanding.

The alcohol industry markets “moderation,” but its profits depend on heavier drinkers. The Guardian recently stressed the need to challenge narratives controlled by the industry.

Public awareness is still low: most people do not fully appreciate that even regular, moderate drinking increases cancer risk. Charities are pushing for cancer warning labels on bottles to shift perceptions.

Norms can become self-reinforcing. The 2025 Drinkaware Monitor found that people who know someone reducing their drinking are more likely to reflect on their own habits.

As Sober October approaches, this is not a call to preach abstinence, but an invitation: to pause, reflect, and explore what happens when alcohol is not centre stage.

This post kicks off a series: over the coming days I’ll share in-depth articles looking at how alcohol affects people differently at different stages of life - and practical, non-preachy ways to cut back or take a break.

24/09/2025

Wellness Wednesday Tip #25: Eat with the Season - September’s Super Veg 🥦🥕

One of the easiest (and tastiest) ways to support your health is to eat what’s grown locally and in season. Late September in the UK brings a colourful harvest - full of vitamins and minerals your body needs right now.

🥦 Broccoli & Kale - rich in vitamin C and K, boosting immunity and bone health.
🥕 Carrots - packed with beta-carotene (vitamin A), supporting vision and skin.
🥔 New potatoes - a source of fibre, vitamin B6, and potassium for steady energy and heart health.
🌰 Beetroot - loaded with folate and nitrates, supporting blood flow and energy.
🍏 Apples & pears (yes, fruit too!) - high in fibre and antioxidants for gut health and steady blood sugar.

Eating with the seasons isn’t just healthier - it’s often cheaper, more sustainable, and better tasting.

👉 Which seasonal veg (or fruit!) is your favourite this time of year?

19/09/2025

Is Stress Ageing Us Faster Than We Realise?

We often think of ageing as the steady tick of the clock. But new research suggests it’s not just time that matters -it’s biology and environment.

In the UK, younger workers are showing worrying rates of stress and burnout: high absence, difficulty switching off, and a constant sense of overwhelm. (Burnout Report 2025) (stress-ed.co.uk)

At the same time, scientists are uncovering how gut health links directly to biological age rather than just how long we have lived. People with poorer gut microbial diversity often show markers of earlier ageing. (Sharma et al., 2024) (mdpi.com). Also, a 2025 Nature Microbiology study found ageing microbiomes lose metabolic activity and resilience (nature.com).

As a health coach, I don’t diagnose or prescribe. I do however help people lean into modifiable habits that make a difference: more plants and fibre, simple daily movement, stress-relieving routines and better rest.

Ageing well isn’t just about years lived - it’s about energy, clarity and resilience along the way.

👉 If stress, gut health or metabolic concerns are on your mind, I’d love to help you explore small, practical shifts that support long-term wellbeing.

17/09/2025

Wellness Wednesday Tip #24: Find Your Light as the Days Get Darker

The clocks haven’t even changed yet, but the darker mornings and evenings are already here. It’s natural to feel your energy dip as daylight hours shrink - but you can take small steps now to ease the transition.

🌅 Morning light matters - even 10 minutes outside can reset your body clock and lift your mood.
🕯️ Create evening rituals - warm light, calming routines, less screen time.
🌿 Plan ahead for winter wellness - movement, nourishment, connection.

These are the first steps in making the most of the season ahead, rather than just enduring it.

👉 Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing a Winter Wellness Series with practical tips to help you stay energised, balanced, and healthy right through to spring.

How do you keep your energy up as the days get darker?

15/09/2025

💻 The Better Together Method Website prep update… and a little reality check!
Friday was one of those days. I spent 13 hours straight wrangling with Google Workspace (apparently I can’t upgrade until next year), emails going down, domains and DNS refusing to play nicely, mysterious TXT and MX records, surprise upgrades and payments I didn’t ask for, logins disabled… and to top it all off, Samsung threatening to lock my phone because my part-exchange has gone missing in the post.
Safe to say, there were moments when I wondered if technology was trying to break me.
But here’s the thing: we know it will be worth it. The new Better Together Method website is on the way, and it’s going to be amazing.
Massive shout out to , and for patiently listening to my rants, and of course to Emma Haigh – my trusty partner in TBTM. I would have imploded doing this alone. Definitely proof that we really are better together!
👉 Has anyone else ever felt like tech was conspiring against them, right when you needed it most?

12/09/2025

Are We Still Living Longer? Not As Much As We Think…

For much of the 20th century, life expectancy climbed steadily. A new study in PNAS however shows the gains are slowing. In fact, no generation born after 1939 is projected to reach an average of 100 years.

Why?

Early progress came from reducing childhood deaths and infectious disease. Those big leaps are behind us. Now, the challenge is how we live as adults: lifestyle-related conditions, stress, poor diet, inactivity, and burnout are the new barriers to healthy longevity.

As a health coach, I see this less as bad news and more as a wake-up call. Extending “healthspan” - the years lived with energy, clarity and independence - depends on the choices we make daily:

Moving our bodies consistently

Eating more plants and fewer ultra-processed foods

Prioritising restorative sleep

Managing stress before it tips into burnout

We may not all live to 100, but we can influence how well we live the years we do have.

👉 If you’re worried about ageing well, or want support in creating habits that protect your future health, let’s start that conversation.

(Source: PNAS, Aug 2025; via Phys.org)

10/09/2025

Wellness Wednesday Tip #23: Build Your Immunity Before Winter Hits

The days are getting shorter, the mornings darker, and cold season is just around the corner. Now’s the time to give your immune system the support it needs -before the winter bugs arrive.

Think of it as laying down reserves so your body is ready when the temperature drops. Here are 4 simple places to start:

🍊 Nourish with vitamin C–rich foods (citrus, peppers, berries).
☀️ Top up vitamin D while there’s still daylight — or talk to your GP about a supplement.
🥕 Feed your gut with fibre (beans, whole grains, veg) - it’s home to 70% of your immune system.
😴 Prioritise sleep - your body repairs and strengthens overnight.

Getting these habits in place now will mean more resilience, fewer sick days and more energy for the season ahead.

👉 What’s one immune-boosting habit you swear by each autumn?

08/09/2025

Exciting news! Jo and Emma, along with a talented creative team, have been pouring our hearts into something beautiful. ✨ The Better Together Method website is coming soon, packed with free resources to help you and your partner feel more energised and connected. Can’t wait to share it with you!”

05/09/2025

Don’t Wait for the NHS to Catch Up - Take Control of Your Health Today

When public approval of the NHS drops to just 21%, it’s a wake-up call. A recent Financial Times report describes the system as being in “a mess”, with staff shortages, treatment delays, and underfunding leaving many people struggling to access care (FT, Aug 2025).

✨ Let me be clear: I am not knocking the NHS. I wouldn’t be here today without it. It’s full of dedicated professionals doing their very best under impossible circumstances.

But the reality is this: reform is slow, funding is tight and demand is rising. Which means prevention and personal responsibility for our health are more important than ever.

So what can we do?

Build strong daily habits around food, sleep, movement, and stress

Take proactive steps to manage risk factors such as blood sugar balance and weight

Seek support before small issues turn into bigger ones

💡 This is where health coaching comes in. Coaching provides accountability, personalised strategies, and support to help you build the foundations of good health. It’s not about quick fixes, but sustainable changes that reduce reliance on an overstretched system.

👉 If you’re feeling low on energy, living with a chronic condition, finding it hard to lose weight, or simply want to take back control of your wellbeing, let’s talk. Book a Health Reset Call with me and take your first step towards feeling better.

📌 Source: Financial Times – "The mess in the NHS"

Jo Randall Health Coaching

26/09/2025

26/09/2025

25/09/2025

24/09/2025

24/09/2025

19/09/2025

17/09/2025

15/09/2025

12/09/2025

10/09/2025

08/09/2025

05/09/2025

Address

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Featured

Share

Category