The Happy Menopause

This episode of The Happy Menopause is all about energy. Have you lost your Va Va Voom? Do you feel tired all the time? Do you blame your age for your lack of energy? If this sounds familiar, then it’s definitely time to take action, because whether you’re 29 or 69, it’s far more likely that your diet and lifestyle are the main culprits and a few simple changes and new habits could make a world of difference to the way you feel, so that’s what we’ll be focusing on today. Registered Nutritional Therapist and The Happy Menopause host, Jackie Lynch is flying solo in this episode, because nutrition for energy is a specialist subject of hers. In fact she’s written a whole book about it called Va Va Voom: The 10-Day Energy Diet. 

We’re all feeling a bit weary from the impact of Covid, whether we had it or not. Our lives have changed a lot in the past year and dealing with all the associated issues around the pandemic have ground many of us down, so it wouldn’t be surprising if you’re feeling generally tired. And that’s before we take into account all the hormonal havoc that comes with the perimenopause and menopause, because that also has a significant impact on physical and mental energy. 

So this episode takes a close look at energy for all you tired midlife women out there – how the body produces it, the different types, the role of different nutrients in the energy production process and Jackie’s written some little quizzes to help you identify whether a deficiency might be playing a part in your symptoms. Tune in for her best energy nutrition tips to help you get your Va Va Voom back so that you feel like a whole new woman! 

Jackie Lynch is a Registered Nutritional Therapist and founder of the WellWellWell nutrition clinic where she specialises in women’s health and the menopause. Keen to break the taboo about discussing the menopause, she launched the popular diet & lifestyle podcast The Happy Menopause and her new book, The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish is out now. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, please tell your friends and family, and leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause. 

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

Do you ever wonder what you came upstairs for, forget where you’ve parked the car or find yourself grappling for the right word that just won’t come? These are all common concerns for women in midlife because brain fog is one of the classic symptoms of perimenopause and menopause. 

All that hormonal turmoil plays havoc with the oestrogen receptors in your brain and the resulting forgetfulness, poor concentration and focus, plus an overall sense of your brain not firing on all cylinders can be incredibly disconcerting. I’ve come across many women in my nutrition clinic who were genuinely worried about early onset Alzheimer’s when it was actually all about the hormones. 

The focus in this episode is brain fog as we get to the bottom of what it is, why it happens and what you can do about it. 

I’m delighted to be speaking to Dr Sabina Brennan. She’s a chartered health psychologist, neuroscientist and host of the Super Brain podcast, so brains are very much her business! Sabina directed a dementia and brain health research programme for seven years at Trinity College, Dublin where she also led a large-scale research study examining the relationship between brain health, lifestyle, genomics and dementia risk. Her latest book Beating Brain Fog is a wonderful read, with lots of practical strategies to support and tune up your brain. 

We discuss the different forms of brain fog, and how they can affect you and your day-to-day performance and wellbeing. Sabina gives us strategies for tuning up your brain and explains the importance of novelty and learning. We discuss the role of diet and lifestyle and why a simple smile has a host of wonderful health benefits. This episode is essential listening for any woman struggling with cognitive issues, so tune in for some amazing practical advice!

 If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

In this episode, I’m focusing on the Cinderella of the menopause. In recent years, we’ve become a bit more confident about discussing our menopause – some women will mention their hot flushes without turning a hair and the common mental health symptoms such as anxiety and mood swings have also started to come out of the closet, which is a great thing, but we’re still not quite ready to be open about the vaginal symptoms. So now we’re going to shine the spotlight on vaginal dryness which can be a huge issue for many women through the menopause and beyond. To help us, I’ve turned to one of the most clinically experienced menopause specialists in the UK. 

Kathy Abernethy has been a leading light in the field of women’s health and the menopause for over 30 years which makes her the perfect person to advise us on this tricky topic. A registered British Menopause Society Menopause Specialist with extensive clinical experience, Kathy has consistently championed women’s health and transformed the lives of hundreds of women with her clinical advice and support. There is no better person to give us the lowdown on how to manage vaginal dryness, so tune in to find out what she’s got to say. 

We discuss moisturisers & lubricants, and why and how to use them. Kathy explains exactly why vaginal scrubs are best avoided, and she’s reassuring and insightful on the subject of locally applied oestrogen. We also talk about the long-term importance of caring for the vagina to avoid the knock-on problems of bladder and urinary tract infections, which are common ongoing issues for women post-menopause. Throw in a bit of nutrition advice from me and you’ve got an all-round approach to managing vaginal health in this podcast! 

Kathy leads a busy multidisciplinary NHS menopause clinic in London, as well as her own private clinic in southwest London. She is also the director of menopause services at Peppy health, a digital health company, former chair of the British Menopause Society and the author of “Menopause: The One Stop Guide”. 

She’s full of so much brilliant, expert advice in this episode that I think you’ll feel much more confident about tackling any issues you might have around vaginal dryness, so that you can get the support that you need. Isn’t it time to give your vagina a bit of love?

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

We’re the sandwich generation. That group of -  let’s face it - mostly women who are caught in the middle between caring for elderly parents and supporting our children, whatever age they might be. That’s a big burden to be carrying and multigenerational needs have grown even more acute during the pandemic, so that a previously heavy load may have now become intensely pressured and stressful. Add that to the perimenopause and menopause, and you have an explosive combination as the physical, mental and emotional strain starts to tell. Today’s guest has made it her business to shine a spotlight on the sandwich generation, providing support and guidance via her online community to release the pressure valve at this difficult time. 

Meet Katie Taylor, founder of The Latte Lounge and a woman who has definitely earned her menopause spurs, because she suffered debilitating perimenopausal symptoms for 4 years, which were misdiagnosed as depression and forced her to give up 3 much loved jobs. It was this experience that inspired her to set up the Latte Lounge Facebook Group, to provide support and guidance to women in midlife so they don’t waste quality years of their life as she did. Katie has reached out to medical, health and wellbeing experts to create an advice hub on the Latte Lounge website, where she can signpost her members to evidence-based, practical information and support. The membership which is currently at 20,000 and growing, is a real testament to the power of the sisterhood and shows just how important it is for we women in the sandwich generation to have a support community. 

We discuss the challenges of the perimenopause and how hormonally-driven psychological symptoms may lead to an inappropriate prescription for antidepressants. Katie explains the importance of community and how reaching out for relevant advice from health experts and moral support from friends, family and colleagues can make a huge difference to women in midlife. The main takeaway here is not to suffer alone if you’re struggling with menopause symptoms. Katie is a one-woman powerhouse. Tune in to find out more about Katie's campaign to support women in midlife.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause. 

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

International Women’s Day is that time of year when we come together to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. This year’s theme is choose to challenge, because with challenge comes change. Today’s guest is a brilliant example of this, because she’s passionate about challenging ageism and redefining the narrative around older women. And she’s certainly set about changing things! 

I’m speaking to Siobhan Daniels, a 61-year old ex-BBC journalist with a fascinating story. She’s given up her home and is travelling solo around Great Britain in a motorhome in a bid to challenge the stereotypes around retired women and have some fun and adventures along the way. Although her odyssey has been rudely interrupted by lockdown, she’s simply parked up in a field and she’ll be on the move again as soon as the rules allow. “Ageless fearless women, that’s what we are!”, she says and she certainly lives up to that impressive description.

We discuss ageism in the workplace and Siobhan’s frustration at the sense that younger colleagues were writing off women over-50 as old, which fuelled her determination to change the dialogue around ageing.  Her motorhome adventure has given her a new-found sense of freedom, but it hasn’t been without its challenges and she explains the new skills she’s learned – from filling up the water tank and manoeuvring her large vehicle to increased resilience and confidence. She shares her fascinating story from her triumphant departure and her initial travels to the challenges of lockdown and motorhome living. 

It’s very empowering chatting  to Siobhan, and I’m already experiencing itchy feet! She’s a real inspiration to us to step up and become the ageless fearless women she’s convinced that we are, so I hope this interview gives the impetus to think about an adventure of your own, be it small or large. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause. 

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Choose to Challenge and that couldn’t be more relevant to what we’re discussing in this episode, because we’re turning the spotlight on the workplace, which can be a very unfriendly place for women in midlife. So much so that some recent statistics suggested that 1 in 4 women consider leaving their job due to their menopause symptoms. The impact of this female brain drain on businesses can be immense, so it makes complete sense for employers to actively create a menopause-friendly environment for their staff and this is where today’s guest comes in. 

I’m speaking to Deborah Garlick, founder of Henpicked.net and Director of Henpicked: Menopause in the Workplace. With a professional background in organisational change, she’s passionate about helping people live better lives by raising awareness and understanding of the menopause.  Henpicked started as a community for women in midlife, grew incredibly fast and has now developed into an impressive resource for organisations who want to support female employees transitioning through the menopause. Deborah and her team provide guidance and practical support in training, policies and best practice in this critical area.  So if you’ve been struggling at work yourself or if you’re a line manager wondering how to support a menopausal team member, this episode will be right up your street.

We discuss the challenges women face in the workplace and the steps you can take to help yourself and the processes an employer can put in place to support female staff members who are struggling with menopause symptoms. Deborah is a powerful champion of women at work and we talk about her latest project which is a menopause-friendly accreditation scheme for employers.  Tune in to find out how you can change things for the better in your workplace.  

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

Skin is a hot topic for most women of any age, but never more so than in midlife, when hormonal changes during the perimenopause can wreak havoc. It can be baffling and infuriating to find yourself grappling with acne in your 40s, especially if it’s never been a problem in the past. And dry skin, ageing skin and wrinkles are all common concerns for women as we transition through the menopause. The skin is a real barometer of your overall health and what’s going on in the body, so it’s not just all about creams and potions. In this episode, we’ll be looking at managing your skin from the inside out as well as outside in and I’ve got just the person for you!

This month’s guest is Ada Ooi, a skin specialist trained in acupuncture, aromatherapy and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), and she’s the founder of the 001 Skincare brand. Her interest in skin health developed as a little girl, when she helped her grandfather in his pharmacy in Macau, where he prescribed both western and Chinese medicine. Since then she’s gone on to develop her own multi-faceted approach to skincare, drawing on her experience and her heritage to support her clients. Ada focuses on nourishing and healing the skin from the outside and from within, which is just the right approach for women in midlife.

Ada explains how the skin is structured and what we can do to support a healthy skin. She takes us through the TCM approach to managing skin and we exchange ideas about how diet and lifestyle can help you to have a healthy, glowing skin. Ada is full of useful advice about what to look for in skincare products, how to make the most of your budget and the best approaches to manage midlife acne, dry skin and what to do about wrinkles. She’s a goldmine of brilliant tips, so tune in to find out more. 

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

This episode is all about periods, because long before you hit menopause day – which is officially 12 months since your last period - you’ll have experienced changes. The hormonal rollercoaster of the perimenopause can cause a lot of period havoc and it may all start sooner than you’d think and last longer than you’d expect. For many women, periods can get closer together and become heavier and more painful, long before they start to get lighter and further apart,. They might stop and start or you might find that life turns into one big period for a while. 

Many women really struggle with their periods throughout their 40s and yet they just keep juggling all the various balls in their life while they suffer in silence. Does that sound familiar? So in this podcast, I want to be loud and proud about the issue of periods and PMS, so I’ve called in the big guns with Joyce Harper who’s a Professor of Reproductive Science at the Institute for Women’s Health at University College London so she can help us understand what’s going on and what we can do about it. 

Professor Joyce Harper is an author, academic, scientist and educator and Head of the Reproductive Science and Society Group and Director of Education at the Institute for Women’s health at University College London.

She’s worked in the fields of fertility, genetics and reproductive science since 1987, written over 200 scientific papers and published three books. Her latest book, Your Fertile Years, What you need to know to make informed choices comes out in April this year. Her years of research and expertise in the field of female health make her just the woman we need to help us navigate the perimenopause and the havoc this can wreak on our periods. 

Joyce explains in simple practical terms exactly what’s going on with your monthly cycle and why things change as you move into your 40s. We discuss heavy and painful periods, why they happen, and diet and lifestyle strategies to manage them. We also look at PMS and menstrual migraine, that nagging headache that usually starts in the days before your period and tends to be relieved on the first day of bleeding. 

I really hope this podcast and Joyce’s expert insights will help to shine some light on what might be going on with your periods so that you can take steps to manage your symptoms.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause.

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

New Year is a great opportunity to take stock, so why not make this the moment for you to take positive action to improve your health and wellbeing? Weight management is usually firmly on the agenda in January and it’s a topic I covered last year when I spoke to Dr Zoe Harcombe, so this year I’m looking at it from a different angle. What do you do if, despite all your stringent efforts, you simply can’t lose weight in a sustainable way? There’s nothing more frustrating than that, so I’ve called on Tanja Shaw to help us with the burning question of Why Can’t I Lose Weight?

Tanja is a highly experienced weight-loss and life coach and has helped thousands of women achieve and sustain a healthy weight without resorting to drastic diets, radical regimes or any weird stuff! How good does that sound? She’s also the host of the Fit and Vibrant You Podcast, and the founder of Ascend Fitness + Lifestyle, a holistic health coaching studio in British Columbia, Canada. If you’ve been struggling with yoyo dieting or find it hard to disentangle your emotions from food, Tanja is just the person for some practical advice on a successful weight loss journey, so tune in to find out what she’s got to say!

There’s so much great advice in this episode and I was especially struck by what Tanja had to say about not judging yourself too harshly. The theme of being kind to yourself has come up repeatedly from my guests throughout this podcast and it really is so important for women in midlife .It’s interesting to hear it applied to weight management, because this is the area where we typically beat ourselves up when things don’t go according to plan. Give yourself a little love this January and think carefully about Tanja’s advice on how you approach your planning and setting your goals. It will reap dividends!

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause. 

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places. 

Well, 2020 has been quite a year! As we slide into December, it seems a good time to reflect and check in with ourselves.  I think everyone has struggled with their own different challenges over the past few months and this second lockdown here in the UK has felt especially difficult as we’ve moved into winter. It wouldn’t be surprising if you were feeling a bit low and anxious, because whatever your situation, we’ve all experienced a lot of uncertainly and disruption in our lives this year. So it’s more important than ever that we focus on our mental health and wellbeing and that’s exactly what we’re doing in this episode.

I’m delighted to welcome Rachel Weiss back to the podcast who is just the woman for the job. I interviewed Rachel earlier this year to celebrate International Women’s Day for episode 14 of season 1and we talked all about the lightbulb moment that led to her founding the Menopause Café, which has grown into a highly successful international movement. She’s also gone on to create the first annual Menopause Festival which is a celebration of women in midlife. If that’s whetted your appetite and you’d like to find out more, you should listen to that episode next, because it’s fascinating! This time Rachel is joining us with her other hat on, because she’s an accredited counsellor, coach and co-founder of the Rowan Consultancy which provides a range of counselling and psychotherapy services.

We discuss what’s going on in the brain when we become worried and anxious and how this can impact on our body. Rachel talks us through some simple, everyday strategies to manage our mental health and wellbeing, which she describes as emotional "first aid". Tune in to find out how you can support yourself through stressful situations and when you’re feeling pressured, so that you feel more resilient and better equipped to cope with the challenges of daily life.

If you've enjoyed this episode, please leave a 5-star rating and a review on Apple Podcasts or whichever platform you listen on, as it really helps to spread the word, so that new listeners can find the show. Because every woman deserves to have a happy menopause. 

Check out the full Show Notes for this episode on my website www.well-well-well.co.uk/podcast, where you'll find all the relevant links and references for each guest.

Learn how to build your own menopause diet to manage your symptoms with my book The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish. And if you're tired of feeling tired and grappling with brain fog, check out  my new book: The Happy Menopause Guide to Energy; Nutrition to Rejuvenate Your Brain & Body. It's available in all the usual places.