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Nutrition and the Menopause a conversation with Alison Bladh
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What can a woman eat to ease her menopause?
Alison Bladh is an award-winning nutritional therapist & Esthetician.
In this episode of the Abeceder health and well-being podcast Fit For My Age, Alison explains to host Michael Millward how what a woman eats at every stage of life can impact how impact how they experience menopause.
Their conversation covers
- How our skin shows us that we have poor nutrition
- What good nutrition looks like on a plate
- How diet impacts the emotional aspects of menopause
- When women should start preparing for menopause.
- The impact international diets can have on how a woman experiences menopause
- Things to eat that have a good impact on menopause experience,
- How a partner can support a woman who is experiencing menopause.
Find out more about Alison Bladh and Michael Millward at Abeceder.co.uk.
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Focus
00:00:05
Speaker
Made on Zencastr. Hello and welcome to Fit For My Age, the health and well-being podcast from Abysida. I am your host, Michael Millward, the Managing Director of Abysida.
00:00:19
Speaker
Today i am going to be learning about nutrition and the menopause from Alison Blath. As the jingle at the start of this podcast says, Fit for my age is made on Zencastr, the all-in-one podcasting platform on which you can make your podcast in one place and then distribute it to the major platforms. Zencastr really does make making podcasts so easy.
00:00:45
Speaker
If you would like to try podcasting using Zencastr, all the details are in the description.
Podcast Philosophy and Guest Introduction
00:00:51
Speaker
Now that I have told you how wonderful Zencastr is for making podcasts, we should make one that will be well worth listening to, liking, downloading and subscribing to.
00:01:03
Speaker
Very importantly, on Fit for My Age, we don't tell you what to think, but we do hope to make you think. Today, my guest is Alison Blath. Alison is a nutritionist who has written the book, Have a Magnificent Menopause, A Straightforward Guide to Looking Good and Feeling Great.
00:01:24
Speaker
Alisson is based in Stockholm, Sweden, a city that I have visited. Next time I go, I will arrange my travel at the Ultimate Travel Club because that is where I can access trade prices on flights, hotels, trains and so many other travel related purchases.
00:01:40
Speaker
You can access the same prices. There is a membership link in the description.
Alison's Career and Hormonal Health Focus
00:01:45
Speaker
Now that I've paid the rent, it is time to make an episode of Fit For My Age. Hello, Alison. Hello, Michael. Lovely to be talking to you today. Thank you for having me Very welcome to be here because you're talking about something that is really important and men need to know more about it.
00:02:01
Speaker
Could you restart, please, by you explaining a little bit about your career, how you ended up where you are and how someone with a very English accent is is living in Stockholm?
00:02:11
Speaker
Why did I come to Sweden? My um husband is Swedish, so that's what brought me here. Yes, good question. Long story short, one of the reasons that I particularly went into wellness and health was starting my teenage years because I had acne as a teenager.
00:02:29
Speaker
And this really kind of triggered my interest in hormones. And and even at that young age, I started looking for answers. was something Was it something i was doing? Was it something I was doing? Why was my skin looking like it was? Making small adjustments actually improved my skin. And that then I trained initially as an esthetician, as a a beauty therapist, working specifically on hormonal skin problems which attracted the group of women perimenopause menopause because there's a lot that can happen in your skin during that period of time as well very soon came to realize that of course you can treat the skin with aesthetic treatments but you also need the inside peach you know what you eat your lifestyle all of that is crucial to how you feel so I went back to university and studied nutritional science and
00:03:25
Speaker
From then, I have been working as ah a nutritional therapist, specifically focusing on hormonal health. So women over the age of 40 coming into perimenopause and then menopause and then postmenopause.
Nutrition's Role in Skin and Emotional Health
00:03:38
Speaker
Because there's there's a lot of things that happen in a woman's body as our hormones decline that you can support with nutrition and what we call lifestyle medicine. I remember also as a teenager, my mother and all of her female friends that I didn't really understand them but they were going through the menopause and it was very much you know not spoken about you just get on with it there was just no help you know I really became quite interested in that and and really made it my speciality. Thank you. I have a question about the skin there are two sides to our skin the skin that you can see is the old skin and what you put on on the outside, regardless of what it is, is so closing the stable door after the horse has bolted in many ways.
00:04:26
Speaker
What you eat, what you feed from the inside is going to have more impact on the quality of the skin that you see than what you actually put on on the outside. Is that too simplistic a a summary?
00:04:38
Speaker
In all honesty, Michael, you really need both. that There are amazing products on the market now and there are some fantastic treatments that you can do to really improve the quality and the appearance of your skin from the outside. You're right in saying you have the different layers of the skin.
00:04:56
Speaker
The outer layer sheds itself. regularly, but by using, for example, peeling products, exfoliations, where you're removing these dead so skin cells, it helps with the renewing of the skin, can really give you that nice glow, can get rid of tired, sluggish skin. you know there's There's many different things that peeling the skin can be good for. So it's it's really having both. But yes, I mean, nutrition and what you eat and how you live your life has a huge impact on the appearance of your skin.
00:05:28
Speaker
Good example, if you have problems with your gut, can be shown as things like very sensitive skin, acne, psoriasis, sexxi eczema. it's It's important with both, but food is ah is a huge piece of it, yes. Wow. The food that we take in directly impacts every other function of our body, which is like, I should know that already, shouldn't I? But I still eat so much junk. Yeah, it I mean, it does. Food is, we are, you know, it might sound a bit cliche, but we are what we eat, aren't we? If we if you're eating a a healthy diet with lots of good fibre and healthy fats and protein and and whole grain carbohydrates, you know, your body thrives off those nutrients.
00:06:13
Speaker
Whereas if you're eating a diet more based in processed foods, you know, a lot of packaged foods, sugars, you know, very refined carbohydrates, ultra processed foods, it has a huge effect on your hormones and blood sugar and cognitive health and, you know, everything really, weight management, all of those things.
00:06:37
Speaker
Which affects you negatively. So what you eat it is a huge part of of how you feel. I suppose that's the big important part of it as well. It's not just how your body functions, but how you feel as well. the The actual emotional side, the psychological side of life can be impacted by the food that we eat. This menopause, it's not just a physical change that women go through, it's an emotional change as well.
00:07:03
Speaker
Changing your diet can actually make that process, it would more comfortable be a right phrase to use? Yeah, absolutely. I think that's a very nice way to put it, because as you're saying, Michael, it it really affects women, not all women. Some women just glide through the menopause transition and don't really feel anything. But, you know, there are some women that really, so really struggle. And it isn't just physically. It is, as as you say, it is emotionally as well. There's a reason behind that.
00:07:35
Speaker
because of the decline in estrogen and progesterone and testosterone. Testosterone isn't predominantly related to menopause, but the levels of testosterone decline as we age. And and all of these hormones are needed for our cognitive health and our emotional well-being and I see in so many of my clients that you you just feel very like emotionally unstable and you know one minute you can be laughing and the next minute you can be crying and you get very irritable you know things like brain fog that kind of fuzzy feeling not being able to remember things and lack of concentration, you know, all of those things are ah very common symptoms. And in particular, anxiety.
00:08:25
Speaker
Anxiety is up there as one of the top menopausal symptoms. All of a sudden, somebody that's never suffered from anything like that can become very anxious over quite minor things. And it affects the the quality of your life. At what point then should a woman start thinking about what she's eating in the context of the menopause phases? Is the diet that we eat in our 20s likely to impact how our body reacts to the the menopause? Yeah, that's a really great question. And funny enough, I've actually written in in my book, there's a chapter called What I Wish I'd Known About Menopause at 30, Tips for Preparing Your Body and Mind for a Smother Transition. So in answer to your question, yes, it does matter. You know, if you look after yourself and you eat healthily, all of the lifestyle piece like movement, making sure you sleep properly, having social contacts, all of those things put you in in a very good position when you come into menopause. Because research actually...
Nutritional Needs Through Menopause Stages
00:09:30
Speaker
says that you know if you come into menopause in a healthy state, then most likely your experience of it and and the amount of symptoms you will experience will be less than somebody maybe isn't quite as as healthy coming in, hasn't maybe looked after themselves as well. They will tend to struggle more through the menopause.
00:09:54
Speaker
Even when you're not in menopause, you've you've got your monthly cycle. And that a lot of women struggle with PMS. So looking after yourself and thinking about what you actually eat has a huge impact on your health. And it will put you in a better shape or a better position when you come into the what we call perimenopause, which is the first stage of menopause at average age 45. It's quite young, really, isn't it? Yeah, that's an average age.
00:10:22
Speaker
So yeah, but it's a long transition. It can start 45, goes on to into your late 50s. 51 is the average age for menopause. But then you've got post-menopause, which is all the time...
00:10:38
Speaker
afterwards, but you still have a decline in your hormones. So a lot of women will experience the symptoms for many, many years after. So you know it can be a long transition.
00:10:49
Speaker
It's never really actually over. You have, to I suppose, accept that The person that you were before perimenopause started is different to the person that you are post-menopause and different types of foods will have a different impact upon how you feel, how you perform, how your body works. Yes, your needs as far as nutrition goes are different, for example, when you're in perimenopause to what they would, or slightly different to what you would need when you're in,
00:11:22
Speaker
Postmenopause, because postmenopause, because of the decline in the very important hormones, can put you at risk for chronic diseases such as osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease and cognitive decline, because we need estrogen for virtually every bodily system. So, you know, you really have to think about that eating foods that help for bone health.
00:11:47
Speaker
you know, making sure you're getting all the right nutrients for that, making sure you're eating lots of omega-3 and lots of healthy fats for brain health. You know, all of those things are very crucial to understand the different phases and specific nutrients that can help you get through that.
00:12:03
Speaker
for some people, could actually involve quite a radical change of diet if they go down this route. What have you seen from your clients is the most difficult change that people have to make in terms of the food that they eat? Is there anything that stands out? Yeah, it's sugar, isn't it? The Western diet is very much sugar and grain orientated. So... if we can learn to manage sugar then we can be in a better situation with our health overall we know but in this particular situation when talking about menopause how much sugar a woman is consuming understanding that and trying to reduce that will make the process of going through menopause that much easier yes a lot of people don't realize that i mean sugar is in everything isn't it it's very difficult to avoid sugar and You know, we're talking about in particular ultra processed foods, you know, the packaged foods that you buy, that have a list of ingredients on the, you know, half of them, you don't know what they are. They're the sort of foods that you want to try and avoid. Because not only do they have normally have quite high sugar content, they also contain a lot of like unhealthy fats, a lot of additives and preservatives and It's not a whole food. They're not like food that you can understand what it is. It's been so processed, you're not even quite sure what it is any any longer.
Practical Dietary Tips and Lifestyle Insights
00:13:24
Speaker
So I say to my clients, if if you buy something in a package, if it has more than five ingredients on and you don't know what they are, then I would advise you not to eat it.
00:13:34
Speaker
we We need to go back to just basics. And i'm I'm very realistic and I absolutely appreciate people don't have hours to spend in the kitchen. But it's just about eating whole foods, a good source of protein, lots of fruit and vegetables, your healthy fats like olive oil, avocados, but good old fashioned butter. nuts and seeds, just basing your plate on that. And specifically talking about menopause, and I see that this with a lot of clients, that one of the symptoms of menopause can be that you you gain weight, and particularly around the middle area. And you don't need as as much energy as you age as a woman. So cutting down on what I call like the refined carbohydrates. So filling your plate with vegetables rather than having like white rice or white pasta or potatoes. I've got nothing against potatoes. I think potatoes have been a bit demonised, haven't they? There's nothing wrong with a potato, but it's a carbohydrate and it will turn into sugar and cause ah your blood sugar to rise, which is fine. You know, if you just have a normal potato, but it's really what we've done to potatoes, isn't it? You know, French fries, covering them in various like mayonnaise and
00:14:56
Speaker
All of the things that we do to them tend to make them more unhealthy. But really focusing on reducing what I call the white carbohydrates and filling your plate up with with vegetables, you know having a nice sized piece of protein, roughly a palm sized piece of protein. It could be chicken, it could be fish, it could be soya, if And then whole grains, things like brown rice, quinoa, whole grain pasta, and then your healthy fats. That's really the the style of eating that you want. And it doesn't have to be complicated. Now, I say to some c clients, you know, roast a chicken, have that in your fridge. if You come home from work. All you do is you you take a piece of that chicken off. You've got a bag of salad. Chop few tomatoes, few nuts and seeds, a bit of dressing.
00:15:44
Speaker
Brilliant. I mean, that's like the the perfect quick meal. You've got your protein there. You've got all your your vegetables, your salad, and you've got got some nuts and seeds and you've got some olive oil for for healthy fats. yes It doesn't have to be complicated. You're British, but you live in Stockholm in Sweden now. And I'm wondering, we hear a lot about the Mediterranean diet, the Asian diet. How does the Scandinavian diet impact the sort of areas that you're look you're talking about? The wonderful thing about Sweden is that they're very in touch with nature. They're very outdoor people, very much into like outdoor living. So that they eat seasonally. They're very in touch with nature and very active people. When it comes to food, it's always good, if possible. I appreciate it's not always easy to eat seasonally because that means the food is fresh. It's not being transported halfway around the world. And fish is ah is a big thing.
00:16:42
Speaker
thing here particularly herring I was going to say herring yeah I remember herring with everything yeah the main thing that Sweden is known for it is pickled herring which comes in various different types and flavours and everything and when I first moved here you know um I do enjoy fish but I can remember trying these herrings and thinking hmm not quite sure about this but Now I love them and i eat herring regularly. So it's just adapting, isn't it, to to where you live. But herring is is wonderful because it is rich in the omega-3 fatty acids, which are very good for hormone support, for brain support. They eat a lot of berries here, like lingonberries and blueberries, very rich in antioxidants. And then they have like rye bread, like the crisp bread in in many areas. variations. um
00:17:36
Speaker
I think always remember, it not that I ever really ate it when i was living in the UK, but there was always Rye Vita, wasn't there? That's the only yes thing. But, you know, you there's a whole aisle in sho supermarkets with just these, what they call, crisp reds. A lot of root vegetables. but A lot of people ferment their own vegetables, you know, which is wonderful for your gut bacteria.
00:17:58
Speaker
And then game. We're very lucky to have a lot of wild meat. here i i tend i do eat meat but i tend to focus more on wild meat such as reindeer elk duck deer because it's it's come from nature isn't it it's not a a produced animal it's yeah it's moved more i suppose than an animal that might exist on a farm and and then the outdoor living i mean it's fascinating in that now the weather's lovely it's getting better and all of a sudden just everybody's outside you know they sit outside and eat dinner at night You you just have to be outside. and but Even if it's cold, they'll they'll sit outside like in a winter jacket just to be outside, which is nice and it's healthy, isn't it? Getting all the natural natural light. So it's yes Nordic yeah style ah lifestyle. Sounds great. yeah When I was there, it was was very cold because it's cold because I hadn't taken the right coat with me. It was my fault. It was my fault. But I take what you mean. It's like the Scandinavian diet is eat natural and eat
Influence of Food Culture on Diet Quality
00:19:01
Speaker
seasonally. In the UK, our diet here is dominated by what the supermarkets want to sell.
00:19:07
Speaker
And they want to sell the things that they can distribute to two, three, four hundred stores in a guaranteed way. So regardless of which store you go to, the the products are going to be the same. and the range of vegetables as a result is reduced or it's frozen. And yet I will grow vegetables in my garden and share them with neighbors and sort say, would you like these, you know, runner beans, broad beans or whatever? And they're going like, what do I do with them? So you have like a little lesson in how to do how to cook a broad bean.
00:19:39
Speaker
Because the supermarkets want to be able to sell strawberries at Christmas and throughout the year, those strawberries travel thousands of miles. in order to taught to reach your supermarket shelf. So the Scandinavian diet is eat more wild meat and eat seasonally, seasonal vegetables. And I suppose that leads to a wider variety of vegetables that you can eat as well. Yeah, it is. And I mean, don't get me wrong, Michael, there is also loads of ultra processed foods. And, you know, it's the same in every supermarket. But I think Swedes in general choose to try to avoid those thoughts they understand that that isn't good for me that isn't going to make me feel good i don't want to eat that i want to eat these whole foods or you know vegetables in general but i think you know the whole yeah food environment worldwide has become quite toxic really hasn't it and these ultra processed foods tend to be everywhere you just have to make the choice
00:20:34
Speaker
for your body that you want to nourish your body. Yes. And like you say, it's about getting to know, finding the information and making sure that you're making informed decisions about what you are going to consume, knowing the impact that that food is going to have on you. And it's been quite insightful for me today to understand more about that in terms of the food that you ate when you were 20 can actually have an impact on how your body functions at 40, 45, 50, because it's the the damage that we do that we might not actually know about until 20 years later.
00:21:12
Speaker
But this key important thing is you've got to be informed. You've got to learn. You've got to find the information and triangulate the information. It's my favorite word at the moment. Triangulate the information from various different sources. So you get to learn about what is right for you as an individual, which I think is is quite important. Yeah, exactly. on the basis of making sure that you are informed about all the various different things for yourself, you also need to make sure you're informed about what it's what your choices as a family have. So people who having menopause are very often living with husbands, living with partners, living with families. i think it's also important for the partners and the families of women who are approaching menopause actually get to educate themselves about it as well. Yes,
Educating Partners and Emotional Impact of Menopause
00:22:00
Speaker
absolutely. And again, it's it's interesting you say that because there is a part in the book, because i had so I did research before, obviously, before I wrote this book, and there were so many ladies in my Facebook group that said to me, please, can you write a section on how to talk to your partner?
00:22:19
Speaker
about menopause so they take it seriously or they you know they understand that you're not making it up a lot of women struggle with that and and i like it and i get it you know men in general don't they don't understand what's going on either so it's not that they don't want to help it's just they're kind of okay i don't understand this um i don't it's like untrodden territory i don't quite know how to approach this But it's important that, you know, the people that live in your household, your your family, understand what you're going through and really try to help you, give you the support that you need. Yes. Because you're not making it up. And just because it's maybe not visible, you know, it's like we were saying, it's there's a lot of emotional decline.
00:23:06
Speaker
that for some women during menopause but really I think one of the best things to do is to sit down with your partner and just have a conversation about it in in the book actually I I give specific things as an example of how you can start this conversation what you can actually say to your partner to get the conversation go so they don't feel uncomfortable either about it and really but you know saying to them this is what's happening and I might be slightly more irritable or or maybe not quite as happy as I used to be. But there's a reason behind it. And this is due to the decline in my hormones and this transition that I'm going through. you know But I want you to still realise that it's not you. You haven't done anything wrong. yeah So don't worry about my behaviour. There is a reason for it, I think. And then the partner will think, oh, OK, yeah, how can I support you?
00:24:01
Speaker
but What can I do when you're not feeling good? Or what can I do to support you, to help you through this transition? It's all about talking about it. The worst thing you can do is bury your head in the sand because it can. I've seen that. I actually did podcast a few months ago. was a lawyer firm that contacted me that wanted to talk about menopause because they specialized in dev divorce. horse And they'd seen like this this pattern that all the the women that came to them were you know, in that menopause age. And what you know what what what was going on? Why was this happening? And there is actually, but there's funny enough, I was reading, I think it was yesterday, a report about how there's an increase in divorce rates during this time in in a woman's life. And of course, it isn't just the menopause, but there's ah there's a piece there because of the the emotional side of it. And I think a lot of women, all of a sudden, you just think, you look back on your life and you reflect and you think, what have I what have i achieved? What have I done? I don't want to be doing this anymore.
00:25:05
Speaker
I actually want to be doing that. lot women do quite drastic things. you know They sell up everything, move to Australia. Yeah, it's just a sign of just how a dramatic a change the menopause is. And like ah I was saying, you you go in as one person and you come out the other side. Some people, like you say, sail through it and they feel very much the same afterwards as they did before. But for a lot of women, they are completely different people on the other side. And people make radical changes when they are different people. yeah
00:25:37
Speaker
It is such an interesting topic because in many ways, it is not one which is often talked about, but men and women are increasingly talking about it.
Conclusion and Encouragement to Subscribe
00:25:49
Speaker
increasingly learning more and more. And I am grateful to you, Alison, for helping me to contribute to the, in this episode of Fit for My Age, to learning about menopause. Thank you very much. Oh, it's a pleasure. Thank you for having me. Thank you.
00:26:04
Speaker
I am Michael Millward, Managing Director of Abbasida, and in this episode of Fit for My Age, I have been having a conversation with Alison Blath, the author of Have a Magnificent Menopause, a straightforward guide to looking good and feeling great.
00:26:19
Speaker
You can find out more about both of us at abecida.co.uk. There is a link in the description. At Fit For My Age, our aim is proactive positive aging. Knowing the risks early is an important part of maintaining good health.
00:26:34
Speaker
That is why we recommend the annual health test from York Test. York tests provide an assessment of 39 different health markers, including cholesterol, diabetes, vitamin D, vitamin B12, liver function, iron deficiency, inflammation, and a full blood count. The list goes on.
00:26:53
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The annual health test is conducted by an experienced phlebotomist who will complete a full blood draw at your home or workplace or gym. Hospital standard tests are carried out in a UKAS accredited and CQC compliant laboratory.
00:27:09
Speaker
You can access your easy to understand results and guidance to help you make effective lifestyle changes anytime via your secure personal wellness hub account. There is a link and a discount code in the description.
00:27:23
Speaker
That description is well worth reading. i am sure you will have enjoyed this episode of Fit for My Age as much as Alison and I have enjoyed making it. Please give it a like and download it so that you can listen anytime, anywhere.
00:27:37
Speaker
To make sure you don't miss out on future episodes, please subscribe. Remember, the aim of all the podcasts produced by Abusida is not to tell you what to think, but we do hope to have made you think.
00:27:50
Speaker
Until the next episode of Fit For My Age, thank you for listening and goodbye.