“When we are so restricted and tied to all the things we have to do, we're not actually supporting longevity.” - Andrea Nakayama

Health practitioners and clients are often looking for the same thing: the “right” tools and protocols for women in perimenopause and beyond. Social media tells women they should be taking hormones, eating lots of protein, and powerlifting, and the conversation gets reduced to macros, lab numbers, and one-size-fits-all solutions while ignoring the emotional, physiological, and cultural shifts that happen in midlife. The result? Clients feel like they’re doing everything “right” and still not getting better.

If we want to support our clients’ longevity and quality of life, we have to shift this way of thinking. To truly support women through perimenopause, menopause, and beyond, we need a framework that is centered around personalized care. One that considers conventional medical interventions as part of a bigger whole that involves all the systems of the body. Longevity isn’t just about living longer, it’s about living with meaning, connection, and joy.

Today, I’m joined by Functional Medicine Nutritionist and educator Andrea Nakayama. Andrea is a brilliant thinker, and I love how she puts things structurally into alignment to help with clinical decision-making and giving structure to challenging conversations.

In this conversation, Andrea and I explore the unique challenges women face in midlife and beyond, why there’s no one-size-fits-all protocol for perimenopause and post-menopause, the role of hormone therapy, how Andrea applies the functional medicine matrix, why our clients need personalized, trauma-informed, and holistic approaches, why we need to pay attention to nervous system regulation, redefining identity and purpose as we age, how we can support our clients on their health and longevity journeys, and more.

Enjoy the episode, and let's innovate and integrate together!

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Learn more or watch the video version of this conversation at https://integrativewomenshealthinstitute.com/whats-missing-from-the-conversation-on-longevity-with-andrea-nakayama/.

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