Navigating Nutrition in Later Life
Women Positively Ageing
This conversation explores the challenges and strategies involved in caring for aging parents, focusing on nutrition, hydration, and the importance of social eating. Expert Mary Merheim and guest Clare Bayley share personal experiences and practical tips for enhancing the nutritional intake of elderly loved ones, addressing issues such as appetite loss, medication effects, and the significance of making mealtime a social event. The discussion also introduces Grandbars ®, a nutritious snack designed for seniors, emphasising the need for caregivers to approach these challenges with empathy and...
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Bladder Health and Nutrition: Empowering Women in Mid-Life
Women Positively Ageing
In this episode we're diving into a topic that's crucial for many, especially as we navigate mid-life: bladder health. We'll be exploring the top five challenges women often face with their bladder health during this stage of life and offering practical advice on how nutrition can play a pivotal role in managing these issues. From urinary incontinence to overactive bladder, pelvic floor weakness, hormonal changes and lifestyle factors we'll cover the key concerns that can impact your daily life. But don't worry, we're not just here to talk about the problems. We'll also provide you with...
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How to retire well
Women Positively Ageing
Today, we're delving into a topic that many of us will face at some point: retirement. This significant life transition brings about a host of changes, and one area that often gets overlooked is how it affects our eating habits. Guests My guests today are dietitian Avril Aslett-Bentley and Olive Strachan MBE. Avril Aslett-Bentley is a very experienced Registered Nutritionist and Dietitian, whose career covers diverse aspects of Nutrition & Dietetics, across the UK & beyond and has semi-retired from her previous full-time academic role. Olive is a Dominican born, business woman...
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Healthy ageing: Empowering African and Caribbean communities in the UK
Women Positively Ageing
In this episode, we'll explore the main challenges African and Caribbean people encounter while ageing. My guest today is Dr Sophia Amenyah is an Assistant Professor in Nutrition and Registered Nutritionist of African heritage at Northumbria University. She specialises in culturally-tailored nutrition and how this influences ageing well particularly for African and Caribbean individuals. She believes that food is a big part of our heritage and wellbeing. She is passionate and dedicated to empowering our community to eat well, keep active, and maintain strong social connections especially...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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...
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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_outlineDepression 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 improve their physical and mental health and well-being. She is the ideal expert for today’s topic on depression and anxiety.
Topic #1 What is anxiety and how does it differ to depression?
- Anxiety and depression can go hand in hand
- Different types of anxiety
- Depression - pervasive low mood and biological symptoms from mild to severe
Topic #2 Risk of depression and anxiety in mid-life
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The sandwich years and responsibility
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Women’s mental load
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Importance of self-care
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Managing inflammation through diet and exercise, limiting alcohol
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The benefits of exercise for symptoms of depression
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11mins of walking a day can be protective for our health
Topic #3 Prevention and management
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In the UK first point of contact is GP to access primary care support
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Private psychologists and therapists can be accessed from British Psychological Association of regulated professionals
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Accident & Emergency or Crisis Centres or Third Sector such as MIND will help in an emergency.
Topic #4 Menopause
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Depression presents differently in menopause
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The two can be confounded but they are not one and the same thing
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Importance of monitoring symptoms and communicating them to a health care professional
Take home messages
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Eating a healthy diet for example following the Mediterranean dietary pattern
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Maintaining physical activity, move a little bit every day in a way that makes you feel good
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Getting outside into nature everyday
Notes:
NB: this information does not replace personalised advice from a Health Care Professional. Please see the lifestyle psychiatrist website for information on Charlotte’s work Health, Mental - The Lifestyle Psychiatrist - Worcester, England
Eating a varied diet that is high in vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, cereals, grains, fish and unsaturated fats, is a good way of eating and not just for mental health.
We discussed the Mediterranean dietary pattern https://www.heartuk.org.uk/healthy-diets/the-mediterranean-diet
Further Resources:
Help
British Psychological Association https://www.bps.org.uk/
Samaritans https://www.samaritans.org/