How to eat well during menopause
Women Positively Ageing
Brief summary of episode: Menopause is a period of transition that can affect women in a range of different ways. The way in which we respond to the changes can have a lasting impact on the quality of our health. In today’s episode we discuss how the food we eat can help us to live well through menopause and beyond. Laura is an award-winning Freelance Registered Nutritionist who specialises in nutrition writing, workplace wellness and nutrition communications. Laura studied public health and nutrition at the University of Aberdeen. Now, with...
info_outline
Depression, anxiety and ageing well
Women Positively Ageing
Depression is one of the leading causes of disease related disability in women and they are nearly twice as likely as men to suffer from an episode of depression. The prevalence has been reported to be particularly high during the menopause transition. Women with a history of anxiety and depression report worse quality of life during their mid-years. My guest today is Dr Charlotte Marriot is a Consultant NHS Psychiatrist, a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician and a nature-based coach. She likes to inspire and empower people to make small changes to their lifestyles to...
info_outline
How to sleep better
Women Positively Ageing
Sleep is crucial for our overall health and well-being, affecting both our physical and mental health. This is why a lack of it impairs a range of functions from task performance and post-physical activity recovery to cognitive performance and mood. Poor sleep quality also impairs decision-making. What can we do to manage episodes of poor sleep? Is it just sleep that’s an issue and where does tiredness come into it? What impact can menopause have on our sleep? In today’s episode, I’ll be asking these questions to Dr Jonny Bloomfield, health and performance coach and I’ll also be...
info_outline
Letting go of wanting to lose weight
Women Positively Ageing
Welcome to today’s episode “Letting go of wanting to lose weight” with non-diet counsellor Mel Wakeman and guest Amy Wilkinson sharing her lived experience. Mel is a highly experienced and neurodivergent registered nutritionist specialising in intuitive eating, non-diet nutrition and counselling for eating disorders, disordered eating and body image issues. She developed an eating disorder herself at 16 (now recovered) which fed her interest in nutrition, before beginning a long lecturing career in 1997. Since launching Wakeman Nutrition in 2017 Mel is on a mission to...
info_outline
How good is your bone health?
Women Positively Ageing
As we age from mid-life we lose muscle mass and our bone strength gradually declines. Keeping our bone health for as long as possible is important to prevent us from becoming frail. What does ‘bone health’ mean? ● Bone health is about keeping your bones healthy for life, so you can live well for longer. ● Good bone health can prevent fractures and the health consequences of this - pain, disability, loss of independence, poor quality of life. How do we maintain good bone health as we age? Is it...
info_outline
Heart health and menopause
Women Positively Ageing
Heart disease tends to be considered a man’s problem and high blood pressure, cholesterol, stress and too much drinking and smoking are common problems for men. The reality is that the risk of coronary heart disease increases for women after menopause. The good news is that there are changes that we can make in our daily lives that can reduce the risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke. We’ll hear about how changes to the diet can help reduce cholesterol levels, disease risk and manage other menopausal symptoms. Join me in this episode to hear from our researcher Dr Laura...
info_outline
How to protect your brain health
Women Positively Ageing
Brief summary of episode: The brain is a complex organ that controls our movement, our emotions and stores our precious memories. When we talk about brain health, there are a few definitions and the one I have chosen is from World Health Organisation (WHO) due to its inclusive language. “Brain health is the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the life course, irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders.” How do we...
info_outline
Social Isolation and Loneliness
Women Positively Ageing
Brief summary of episode: The topic today is social isolation and loneliness and you may have heard this well known quote about the impact on our health. “research by Prof Julianne Holt-Lundstat about the impact of social connection on health outcomes indicates that a lack of social connection is comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day” We may be living longer lives than our parents, but social isolation and loneliness shortens our healthspan, the number of healthy years of our lives. In this episode we’ll talk about the risk that loneliness poses to...
info_outline
How to deal with belly fat
Women Positively Ageing
Brief summary of episode: Belly fat, middle-aged spread, apple-shape, central adiposity.... Call it what you will, as we age it seems to creep up on us. Over 43% of menopausal women have obesity and in today’s show I discuss with nutritionist, researcher and inventor of the Shape Chart Dr Margaret Ashwell OBE about why having fat around your middle has different consequences to having it elsewhere. Margaret has spent several years researching weight gain and fat and she will tell us about apple and pear shapes, and which is a better predictor of health risk. We...
info_outline
Move More, Age Well
Women Positively Ageing
Brief summary of episode: The average healthspan, the number of years that people spend healthy in the UK is about 10 years shorter than the average lifespan. Increasing the number of years that we spend in good health is a priority not just for us as individuals but for our wider society. Health is determined by a range of different things in our environment and physical activity is just one of those. As we age our muscle mass and strength decreases and our body fat increases. Physical activity, particularly strengthening exercises are recommended to maintain fitness. There are added benefits...
info_outlineHeart disease tends to be considered a man’s problem and high blood pressure, cholesterol, stress and too much drinking and smoking are common problems for men. The reality is that the risk of coronary heart disease increases for women after menopause. The good news is that there are changes that we can make in our daily lives that can reduce the risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke. We’ll hear about how changes to the diet can help reduce cholesterol levels, disease risk and manage other menopausal symptoms.
Join me in this episode to hear from our researcher Dr Laura Wyness.
Laura is an award-winning Freelance Registered Nutritionist who specialises in nutrition writing, workplace wellness and nutrition communications.
Laura studied public health and nutrition at the University of Aberdeen. Now, with over 15-years’ experience working in food innovation and academic research she loves reviewing the scientific evidence and translating it into clear messages.
Her work includes offering online nutrition consultations and she has provided dietary advice for many peri-menopausal women. In collaboration with fellow Registered Nutritionist Lynn Burns, she has helped developed ebooks and online courses on Eating Well for Menopause.
Laura explains her interest in menopause and diet and that women are not as aware of the risk associated with menopause and heart disease.
Topic 1 - Menopause symptoms and impact on heart health and cholesterol level
Topic 2 - Key nutrients and useful foods to include in the diet to help reduce cholesterol level
Topic 3 - Other menopausal symptoms such as poor sleep and bladder issues
Top 3 things people should focus on to improve their heart health
1. Check your cholesterol and BP levels
2. Include heart healthy foods - oats, nuts, soya foods…plenty F&V, beans and pulses, mycoprotein/Quorn foods and adding a portion of oil-rich fish each week
3. Hydrate well – ask yourself are you drinking enough? Staying well hydrated helps your heart do its job and helps your muscles work more efficiently.
List of resources, suggested materials, and social media:
Guide to eating well during the menopause - UCLP© menopause - HEART UK
The Ultimate Cholesterol Lowering Plan - Ultimate Cholesterol Lowering Plan - HEART UK
Heart UK - https://www.heartuk.org.uk/cholesterol/understanding-your-cholesterol-test-results-
HEART UK NHS Heart Age Calculator - What's your heart age? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
Let’s Talk Food e-books and courses - LetsTalkFood (thinkific.com)
The Lancet women and cardiovascular disease commission: reducing the global burden by 2030 (2021). Vogel B et al.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(21)00684-X/fulltext
Recommendations from an international team of experts and leaders in the field have been generated with a clear focus to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease in women by 2030
Note:
“We use the term ‘women’ throughout this talk with no intention of exclusion. It is important to highlight that it is not only those who identify as women who may experience menopausal symptoms.
For example, some transgender men, non-binary people, and intersex people or people with variations in sex characteristics may experience menopause.”
Useful reference: https://rockmymenopause.com/get-informed/transgender-health/
Please note that this podcast is not intended for use by non-medically qualified individuals or as a an alternative to any medical treatment.