Did you know that your lifestyle and your menopause symptoms are intertwined?
And as everyone’s journey through life is unique, a personalised plan is the only way to get the results you need – which is of course a symptom free and happy life.
And understanding how you got to where you are today is a fundamental step in building your own unique profile. In doing so, you understand where your imbalances are and are able to do something about it.
So how can you get to the bottom of the connection between your own lifestyle and menopause symptoms?
Would you like to have a happy and healthy menopause?
For true and timely success, it is important to disclose your full medical history. This is because all the systems in your body are connected. And so something which you may think is totally unrelated could actually be having an impact on your symptoms. And by going through your medical history, the root cause can start to emerge.
For example, did you take lots of antibiotics as a child? This may be upsetting your gut microbiome and digestive system. Poor gut health generally leads to sub -optimal hormonal health. This particular topic will be explored at length later.
Do you take or have you been taking the Oral contraceptive pill for a number of years?
Have you suffered from bloating or constipation?
Are frequent headaches common?
Do you / did you suffer from heavy menstrual bleeding? Have you had fibroids?
Do you smoke?
Do you drink excessively?
Have you had a hysterectomy?
These are just a few examples of the things that you need to disclose. And this is because many of these areas may be factors which underpin why you may be having a pretty bumpy menopausal experience.
Providing medical history is an important step. It helps in understanding contributing lifestyle factors which may be contributing to your menopause symptoms.
Does my lifestyle really have an impact on my menopause symptoms?
Research shows that diet and lifestyle plays a role in how well or not women transition through the menopause.
But sadly, gathering vital information on your diet and lifestyle is not possible in a 10 minute appointment with your GP.
But in this process I take the time to listen and record lots of information.
You will need to provide a lot of detail and it takes time. But it is time well spent as it is designed to be part of the process to get you to a place where you are symptom free.
Just to give you a flavour, here are some typical questions you will need to answer.
Have you spent most of your adult life on a low fat diet? Remember your hormones are made out of cholesterol and years of low fat food will not have given you the building blocks you need to make your hormones.
What do you generally eat? You will be asked to describe some typical days.
And why is this important?
Wrong food choices can spike your blood sugar and make you over produce insulin, your fat storing hormone. This may lead to sugar cravings, insomnia, energy slumps, PMS, headaches and problems with concentration.
How would you like to get rid of brain fog, exhaustion and mood swings for good?
A diet low in certain vitamins and minerals can stop your thyroid working and make your metabolism sluggish. You may become tired, experience brain fog, mood swings, anxiety and depression as well as low libido, PMS and weight gain
Bad choices can affect your ability to make oestrogen, making it more difficult to keep everything balanced. Low oestrogen levels can cause hot flushes, night sweats, mood swings, weight gain, insomnia, brain fog and low libido.
What are your stress levels like? Elevated cortisol levels can lead to belly fat, fatigue, anxiety, sugar cravings and mood swings.
Stress can also shut down your digestive system causing your hormones to stop working properly.
How well do you sleep? Insomnia may be linked to cortisol imbalances and low levels of your sleep hormone melatonin.
All of this info helps to build your personal profile and paves the way for your personalised plan designed to bring relief from your symptoms.
In summary, what have you learnt so far?
Firstly you have learnt that feeling rubbish is not ok. And how important it is to get all your symptoms down on paper.
You now have an understanding of what environmental toxins may be impacting your health and know that this topic will be covered in depth later on.
You have seen the importance of going through your full medical history in order to start joining the dots in understanding your symptoms
And you now know how significant your diet and lifestyle is in determining your personal journey through the menopause.
And finally and perhaps most importantly, you now know that you are not just a number or a statistic in this programme as this is not a one size fits all approach.
Your own lifestyle choices past and present has a role in your menopause symptoms.
A symptom free life can only be achieved when all these steps have been followed. And there is one more important step to follow – testing – which will enable the full picture to be created.
Click through to my download to find out more about how to have a happy and healthy menopause
