I've spoken to many women going through menopause or peri-menopause, and nearly all of them report increased stress in their lives. Stress comes from so many places in the modern world and can contribute to making your menopause symptoms worse than they need to be.

In today's episode I'm talking about many common causes of stress, and giving some solutions to help you deal with them - you know what they are but I'm saying it again anyway!

I speak with women over 40 every day, and despite so much more talk about the menopause, I’m STILL seeing a lot of mis-information out there which can be confusing when you’re trying to work out how best to look after yourself.

So I thought I’d share with you my top 10 menopause myths, the most common misconceptions that come up when I talk to women. Because this is what I would have loved to have known when I was going through my issues.

Are you supplementing with Vitamin D? If not, and you live in the UK (or Northern Hemisphere), you SHOULD BE!

We don't get enough sunlight to make Vitamin D during the winter months. So we absolutely need to supplement to get enough.

We know Vitamin D is the ‘sunshine vitamin’ but did you know, it is actually a hormone? And it’s absolutely vital to keep us in optimal health.

In this episode I'm chatting to the 90’s brit pop celebrity Meg Matthews (might know her as Noel gallaghers’ ex wife). I realised during our chat that we had soemthing in common - we both went to our GP’s for help and got prescribed AD’s.

She also talks about how she thought her symptoms were a result of her partying days in the 90’s, and that she had agrophobia for 3 years before she ended up at a menopause clinic where she finally went on HRT.

She now champions menopause awareness so that other women don’t waste time like she did. Hope you enjoy our chat.

What do you know about hormone testing? In this episode I cover why we run hormone tests, and what you can find out from them to get you better results.
If you'd like to know more or find out if you could benefit, email me at [email protected].

Step 4 of the Happy Hormone Code is MOVE. This is where we are making sure we are moving and exercising to support our hormones, but getting the right balance for our own bodies, not what someone is telling us we SHOULD do ('someone' being usually male and under 40!).

The important thing is to get the balance right for your own body, and hormones.

Step 3 of the Happy Hormone Code is CLEANSE.
Did you know that we are surrounded by chemicals that can disrupt our hormones?
We can't all wear gas masks, but we can minimise our exposure to these toxins once we know where they are hiding.

Step 2 of the Happy Hormone Code is REST. It’s no good being on the best diet in the world if you’re over-stressed and cortisol is raging!

Cortisol can really mess with your other hormones and affect your energy, brain function, weight, mood, sleep, digestion and libido! AND it can put you at higher risk of more serious conditions as you get older.

You absolutely need to manage your stress NOW, not later!

It's really important to be looking after your hormones, especially as you get older. In this episode and the next 3, I'll be covering my 4 step Happy Hormone Code; Eat, Rest, Cleanse and Move; 4 real self care steps that will support your hormones so they will work for you, not against you.

Step 1 is EAT. Knowing what to eat for your hormones is really important.
Food is information, not just calories. It's vital to get all the right nutrients for your hormones to work properly. Nourish yourself and your hormones will thank you!

Do you know about your Feisty 4 Hormones? These 4 hormones are generally in control of how you look, feel, think and perform!
They are;
1. Cortisol - your Stress hormone
2. Insulin - your Fat Storing hormone
3. Thyroid - your metabolism regulator
4. Oestrogen - your sex hormone
Find out more about how they work and how you can get them working FOR you, not AGAINST you.