Chaos to Calm

Quick fixes and magic bullets: debunking perimenopause health fads

• Sarah McLachlan • Episode 47

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Perimenopause health fads: what works and what’s just hype?

When I’m walking down the aisles of my local health food store or super chemist (pharmacy), it’s impossible not to feel overwhelmed by the bottles and boxes claiming to "fix" your perimenopause symptoms that bombard me.

From hot flush, insomnia and energy cures to miracles via the latest super supp collagen — it’s so hard to resist these products with the promise of a quick fix to whatever it is that ails you. “A pill for every ill”

But are they really the answer? Are these popular pills and potions truly effective, or could they be diverting your attention from what truly matters in managing your perimenopause journey and health overall?

In this episode we are diving into the world of quick fixes and fads, especially those marketed towards perimenopausal symptoms, to answer these questions and more.

What we cover in this episode:

  • Quick fixes and fads in the supplement landscape: Dive into the world of supplements marketed towards perimenopausal symptoms. Find out what questions to ask and what to consider before integrating them into your wellness routine.
  • Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT): Get a clearer picture of HRT’s role in managing perimenopause, including how to approach it as part of a broader health strategy. Is it the panacea it is being made out to be?
  • A fad I can get behind - reducing alcohol: Consider the potential benefits of adjusting your alcohol intake as part of your holistic approach to managing perimenopause.
  • Getting the basics right: Recognise the power of returning to the basics and how foundational health practices can significantly enhance your quality of life during perimenopause.
Ready to sift fact from fiction and take control of your perimenopause with proven advice? Listen to the full episode to start transforming your perimenopause journey from chaos to calm.

Don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss an episode, and if you have a question or a topic you’d like me to cover, send it in using the message me link below!

PERIPOWER BLUEPRINT WAITLIST: to find out more about my new program ‘PeriPower Blueprint’ first, join the waitlist at

Send us a question for the FAQs segment or your feedback, we’d love to hear from you.

Find out more about Sarah, her services and the Freebies mentioned in this episode at https://www.ThePerimenopauseNaturopath.com.au

  • OPEN NOW: Discover how to use food as your most powerful medicine, smoothing hormonal fluctuations and easing perimenopause symptoms naturally. (Yes, you have more options than hormone therapy!) Say goodbye to feeling out of control and hello to feeling more like your old self every day, with PerimenoGO (because who wants to pause anyway?!)
  • The Perimenopause Decoder is the ultimate guide to understanding if perimenopause hormone fluctuations are behind your changing mood, metabolism and energy after 40, what phase of perimenopause you're in and how much longer you may be on this roller coaster for.
  • Been told your blood test results are "normal" or "fine" while you feel far from your best? Discover the power of optimal blood test analysis with The Blood Test Decoder: Optimal Ranges for Women Over 40.
  • For more, follow on Instagram at @theperimenopausenaturopath.
Sarah McLachlan:

Hello and welcome to Chaos to Calm podcast, episode 47. I'm Sarah the perimenopause naturopath, your guide through the journey of perimenopause, and if you're over 40 and feeling like you're changing hormones or hijacking your mood, energy and weight and you want to change that in a holistic way, then this is the place for you. Each episode, I share with you my views on what the heck is happening in your body, why you're feeling the way that you are and what you can do about it, with actionable advice to help you feel more calm, in control, less stressed and more comfortable in your body. I'm so glad you've joined me today. Let's dive into the discussion so we can shift your perimenopause experience from Chaos to Calm.

Sarah McLachlan:

Now. I was just at my local health food store and every time I walk in I love it. They order foods in for me that I like, like my sheep's yogurt or the rye bread that I give my kids, or gluten-free bread for me, those sorts of things. But the shelves are brimming like brimming with all sorts of stuff. Like there's so many different brands of vitamins, magnesiums, herbs, herbal teas, like I find it overwhelming and I have a lot of knowledge about nutritional medicine and herbal medicine. There's stuff there. Adrenal fatigue seems to be having its day in the sunshine at this time. Collagen If you've been going to your health food store for a while, you have seen that there are supplements, foods and things that have their time in the sunshine and then move on supplements, foods and things that have their time in the sunshine and then move on.

Sarah McLachlan:

And they make a lot of promises and, especially like when I started working in this area in the transition to menopause, no one was really talking about perimenopause. When I was talking about perimenopause, there wasn't anyone else specifically naming that. As this is the time and this is where people are going to have problems, everyone was just talking about menopause, which is really like closing the gate after the horse has bolted. Anyway, now there's heaps of stuff targeted for women in perimenopause and, yeah, adrenal fatigue, burnout, all sorts of stuff, and I get it. You want something that's going to take away your pain and quickly, and it's tempting to think that, something that's going to take away your pain and quickly, and it's tempting to think that one of those bottles does have the key to feeling like yourself again. But like, let's be real, while some of those products may be great for supporting your health. They aren't magical solutions, and today I'm going to debunk some of those fads, the quick fixes and the magic bullets that you're being promised, and, yeah, I'll talk about some things that will help you. But I want you to know that the global wellness market is estimated to be worth more than $1.8 trillion in 2024. $1.8 trillion I can't even imagine that much money. I don't know about you, but like I don't know, that's a lot and thinking about.

Sarah McLachlan:

I was reading a review, or a forecasting, I suppose, on wellness and the wellness market and industry. Now, millennials and Gen Z spend more on health and wellness than Gen X I'm a Gen X and you probably are too and boomers, so boomers spend the least. But, interesting for millennials and Gen Z, a lot of what they spend is on appearance, like appearance products and services, injectables. I have so much to say on that topic and I'm not going to go into it today. I did debate about putting it in the ones that I discussed today because I was like is it a health fad or a trend? It's actually just not even a health thing. It is a fad or a trend, so I've left it. Maybe it's something I'll explore on social media. Anyway. You don't need fixing from that perspective. You are just fine the way that you are in terms of how you look. You don't need to alter that at all for someone else's ideal of what makes a woman be beautiful or pretty or a society so messed up. It disvalues youth and beauty anyway. So millennials and gen z spend the most, but yeah, unfortunately it's on things like waxing, beauty injectables and things like that over-the-counter medications. So they do spend on vitamins and, yeah, a lot of it's personal. They're all the ones buying all the skincare routines, although I have even noticed that there's skincare targeted at perimenopause and menopause now, which I guess in some way makes sense because we have less collagen and need a bit more moisture, but yeah, still. Anyway, millennials, gen Z, don't spend as much on fitness, nutrition, sleep or mindfulness, which I would argue is actually where the wellness is at. That's actually what we need to be spending it on, not this other stuff.

Sarah McLachlan:

All right, so let's first up. We're going to talk about supplements and the magic bullet syndrome. I was going to talk through some specific supplements and I was like do you know what? There's so many of them on the market, all promising a whole bunch of stuff that I didn't want to just narrow my focus down. I just wanted to talk generally because I've noticed as well, like, if you, well, maybe don't, but I did go and Google menopause cures, menopause treatments and a whole bunch of stuff came up. So I'm going to split this into two sections.

Sarah McLachlan:

I've talked now about supplements and, yeah, that whole magic bullet syndrome that we, the quick fix that we're all seeking Well, not all seeking, but a lot of you are seeking. So, yeah, like I said, it's tempting to think. I mean, if only imagine if we could just go into the shop and buy something, a single supplement, and it would fix all of our woes during perimenopause. Yeah, there's lots of adrenal fatigue ones on at the moment and I would say that, yes, there's a lot of women in burnout and I did a previous episode on burnout. So go listen to that if you haven't already. Unfortunately, it's happening more. I don't want to say it's a rite of passage, because that's what I don't want it to be, but it's actually just so many women going into perimenopause and menopause burnt out, and it's not setting you up for a great perimenopause experience. But anyway, yeah, so you've got all these magical solutions being targeted at you. I know there's lots.

Sarah McLachlan:

If you look menopause treatments or perimenopause treatments on the internet, you're going to get a whole bunch of supplements marketed to you. There's ones named after prehistoric woolly beasts and others promising that your hormones will be happy all the rest of it there as well. But the thing is our bodies are really complex systems and we're all unique. No over-the-counter or retail supplement is going to fix what is going on for you. It's because it isn't personalized to you or your health issues, your phase of life, what's happening in your blood biochemistry. So there's that. Also.

Sarah McLachlan:

Retail versions of supplements with particularly with nutritionals are very limited in the dose that they can recommend to you and how much of something they can put into it. So like if you go and buy your retail multivitamin, it's really got. No, the doses in it of the vitamins are, generally speaking, no bigger than what you'd get from food, because the TGA in Australia limits what they can put over the counter and make available to you. So it's not therapeutic. So, first of all, they're quite expensive. They're very generalized and broad and actually may contain vitamins or minerals that you don't even need, and they're probably going to be in a cheap form, which means that you're not going to absorb them very well and so basically you're not getting anything out of them.

Sarah McLachlan:

And I remember in the news a couple of years ago there was that review of supplements and they were saying how basically they're pretty useless. And that's really why because the form of the mineral or the vitamin is hard for your body to break down and absorb and absorption's low. Like, say, magnesium oxide, it's like five or 10% of the actual amount that you absorb. That's hardly any. But if you use it at a different form, like magnesium citrate or glycinate, you'll absorb nearly the whole lot. So the form really does matter. And so, yeah, you've got the size of the dose, the form of the dose, and it's maybe completely irrelevant too.

Sarah McLachlan:

The other thing to think about as well is that if you are just taking, I've noticed a trend as well that there's like single nutrients being available, and if you're taking large doses of one or two nutrients, it can really push your biochemical pathways in your body out of balance and actually create some negative side effects over benefits. And one in particular that I can think about too is your B vitamins. If you're taking large doses of single B vitamins, that really can mess up your energy production or your Krebs cycle in your cells and when that happens you can actually feel quite lethargic or your energy can change and not in a good way. So more is not always more. Sometimes less is more. But also you want to have a therapeutic size dose, and so things like the B vitamins I like to give them to my clients, all the B vitamins together, so that they can them to my clients, all the B vitamins together, so that they can work in their synergy in the way and we don't get out of balance in that cycle with them. And that's the thing.

Sarah McLachlan:

The real magic happens for us, that magic bullet, if so to say, is when we focus on a holistic approach and get the basics First of all. Get your basics right. Get your diet eating the foods that you need, making sure that it's nutritionally replete and providing what you need, improving your sleep, managing your stress. You really can't supplement your way out of those things Like if you're not drinking enough water, you're not getting sleep, not your stress, doing some movements of strength stuff and nourishing food. No supplement is going to outdo that, it really just can't. And also, if you, it might feel like when you're. If you're working with a practitioner, it can feel like an investment more expensive than trying to diy, but by it's more efficient when you work with someone who's looking on the outside maybe looking at your blood tests and taking your symptoms and all of those things and really able to see what you need, so that you're not just trying a whole bunch of different stuff that is maybe not right for you and actually going to make you feel worse maybe not right for you and actually going to make you feel worse.

Sarah McLachlan:

So I want to move on to the second fad that I see at the moment is so many herbal powders offering hormone balancing solutions. So again, you know herbs love herbs. As part of naturopathy, we're taught herbal medicine. I use herbal medicine with my clients. I use nutritional or functional foods as well with my clients, so I access all of the components that I'm talking about.

Sarah McLachlan:

What I really want you to know is that a lot of these retail or over-the-counter solutions just aren't going to help you in the way that you wish they would. So, again, herbs work best when they're personalized and over-the-counter solutions, those general formulas they're a one-size-fits-all approach and a lot of them, I notice, contain Vitex, which is quite a strong herb and actually some people can increase anxiety and panic attacks as well. So I noticed that nearly all of the hormone balancing formulas seem to have that in it, and I would just be more cautious than that around using it, particularly in perimenopause. There as well and just a note on that as well like so many of these formulations whether it's nutritional supplements or the herbal powders and herbal blends are offering you hormone balance. Perimenopause is a natural state of imbalance, so trying to achieve hormone balance isn't the key to resolving your issues or your symptoms. Helping your body adjust and adapt to the changing hormone levels and the gradually reducing hormone levels that's the key to feeling better and having a smoother transition to menopause. So the last thing I want to say about those general herbal powders and hormone balancing solutions a lot of them have really strong liver herbs in it. If you are taking the oral contraceptive pill or HRT, they'll mess with your levels of that and make it difficult. So you know herbs are very safe, but still there can be interactions between medications, and hormone therapies come and considered a medication, so you do really need to check for interactions or work with a practitioner so that you can be prescribed safely and not have any impact on your contraception. Maybe you do want a bonus baby, probably you don't, so it is something that needs to be considered. All right, collagen, creatine, protein powders I get like questions about collagen, I think, every day.

Sarah McLachlan:

It doesn't matter where I go, what I do, people want to ask me my thoughts on protein powders. I get like questions about collagen, I think every day. It doesn't matter where I go, what I do, people want to ask me my thoughts on protein powders. Right, and again, it's just that quick fix, that magic bullet, isn't it? You want to just chuck it in your smoothie or in your water and off you go, don't have to worry about food. I feel like we're moving into that future in WALL-E in the movie, where they're just always drinking stuff they don't actually eat and they ride their little chairs around all the time. Please don't let us go there.

Sarah McLachlan:

Let's enjoy making food and eating food, and that's really what I say when someone asks me about a protein powder or collagen. Let's say can we get that from the food first, is there a reason that we can't get that protein and that collagen from food? When we eat a whole food, it actually has a broad spectrum of nutrients, and often it'll have the nutrients in it that's needed to help with the digestion and absorption of the nutrients that you're trying to maximize, like collagen, and they're always usually in the form that our body can most easily use Tastier and satisfying. So no powder can replace your varied diet. What I would say, though, is I tend to avoid protein powders because they're usually sweetened and flavored, and often the ones that are sweetened and flavored are usually the pea, the vegan proteins, peel, the rice and and this and or soy, and they're quite difficult to digest.

Sarah McLachlan:

So if you have any gastrointestinal digestive issues, like many women develop in perimenopause, it's going to be difficult for your body to get anything from that. So there is a lot of research that supports. Well, you know, we know we need more protein in perimenopause, into menopause. So fair enough, that is reasonable there as well, but let's increase what we're eating. So many women are under eating, so let's just increase. Let's just have three meals a day to start with. And are under eating, so let's just increase. Let's just have three meals a day to start with. Get a protein rich food as part of that. That's as big as your palm. At each serving is a good start.

Sarah McLachlan:

Okay, if you're unsure, work with a practitioner. I'd love to help you. Personalized nutrition is my jam. It's what I do every day for my clients so that they learn how to eat, what to eat, what works for them now and into the future there as well. But if I was going to use a collagen powder and sometimes I do like if someone has been sick or they need sort of rebuilding or nourishing or maybe they're going into a high demand situation, like when I played in the lacrosse tournament earlier this year I did have some collagen powder in my drink bottle so that it could help me not be so depleted by the end of the week, playing every day and it was really hot, like over 30 degrees every day, lots of equipment on, and so I had electrolytes and collagen in my drink bottle. So the situations that I use are quite specific. I have a client and she has dysphagia, so she's having trouble swallowing and we think it might be related to dry mouth, the perimenopause menopause. So while she's getting that diagnosed and we're working on it, yeah, I'm encouraging her to have collagen because she's not really able to eat as much as what she needs for her body.

Sarah McLachlan:

So if you're going to choose, if you're really desperately desperate must have a collagen in your life then, or protein powder in your life. I say, go for the collagen, choose a free range, organic one if you can. So Australian or New Zealand made is generally free range, because that's what our cows do. We don't keep them in barns and they're not in a sort of battery situation like hens, like in the overseas, in Europe and the US. They can be Unflavored, unsweetened.

Sarah McLachlan:

Collagen is, if you are going to use it, it's great because it just dissolves in anything hot or cold and it doesn't have a flavor. So if you are looking for something, I always steer away from anything flavored or sweetened and just try and avoid it. And collagen gives us that opportunity. But, like, if you're cooking, add some broth or stock into what you're doing, or you can buy the broth paste. There's lots of ways that you can add or ramp up your nutrition without having to necessarily supplement with powders. I guess what I want to say is please don't replace your meals with the powders and don't replace a wonderful, varied diet with powders or pills or shakes and that kind of thing. All right. So now I want to discuss hormone replacement therapy, maybe controversial Menopausal hormone therapy is what it's also called these days, now again.

Sarah McLachlan:

So we've gone through a long era where it was hardly prescribed and it is actually really difficult these days, especially for women in their forties in Australia, to get prescribed menopausal hormone therapy. And it's because of the Women's Health Initiative study that was done probably 20 years ago that said there was an increased risk of breast cancer or cancers with menopausal hormone therapy. I'm just going to call it HRT so I don't have to keep saying that all the time. So it's, the tide is starting to shift, but what I have noticed is a real trend around that saying that everyone every woman in perimenopause and for the rest of her life, should take hormones, should take HRT, because she's in a state of hormone deficiency.

Sarah McLachlan:

Now, yes, it can be really transformative for many women taking HRT and it can really help them out, but it's not without its nuances. Again, I think it needs to be personalized and it's not just you can't just say it's everyone should have it and everyone should benefit, because not everyone needs it and not everyone will want it. And then some women cannot take it because of a family history or their own history of breast cancer, and so what does that mean for them? If we're constantly saying everyone should be doing this, well, that's hard for them in that situation as well. So, yeah, I think that sometimes and some of my clients are on HRT and that's fine because we're working with food as medicine, as our primary tool Totally fine. We can still absolutely increase the efficacy of that HRT by getting the basics right, and that's the key thing as well.

Sarah McLachlan:

Hrt is not a magic bullet or a quick fix on its own. There's a lot of women it doesn't work for and no one's talking about that either. There's a lot of women who will take it for hot flushes and sweats and it doesn't do what they need it or want it to do. So it can be part of the solution, but I don't think it's, again, going to cure everything for everyone, and I think it should complement foundational health practices like the basics like I keep talking about treat yourself like a baby, feed yourself healthy, nourishing foods, make sure you're hydrated, do some strength, movement, connection with friends, have a laugh, get plenty of sleep. Those basics must be in order to improve the opportunity, or give HRT the opportunity, to work for you.

Sarah McLachlan:

And the other thing too is that, like I said before, perimenopause is a natural state of imbalance and so by trying to balance your hormones with HRT, it's really difficult, and I see women in the comments of these posts about how we should all take it, saying what a hard time they're having trying to get their dose right and to feel better, and they feel quite frustrated, trying lots of different versions or forms of it doses and still not having satisfaction. And I don't know their situation or what's going on for them, but maybe it's because these basics aren't in place and they are so important. So if you want to try HRT, that's, of course, great. It's not up to me. It's your body and it's your choice. But for me, what I chose to do first was get my health itself in order and get my food right, and I haven't needed it and I haven't used it. And a lot of my clients find similar as well. Some of them will wean off HRT if they're already on it when they come to me. Others might stay on it and some will avoid it altogether.

Sarah McLachlan:

Okay, now time to press pause on our discussion of health fads and quick fixes and magic bullets and let's move into the part of the podcast that's driven by you. Dear listener, it's FAQs time, okay, this time this question is from Melissa and she is asking can a vegan diet help with my perimenopause symptoms? And it's a really great question, especially one for today that we're talking about health fads and stuff. So a vegan diet, if it's done well, is very rich in fruits and vegetables and it often helps people feel better because when they move to a balanced, plant-based diet they get a whole lot more fiber, antioxidants, vitamins and minerals as opposed to what they might have been consuming before. So sometimes they'll be thinking, oh right, I went vegetarian or vegan. I'm feeling heaps better, and that can be definitely because of the increase in plant foods, and they might have felt that way if they'd maintained an omnivore diet and just increased the plant foods around that and felt the same.

Sarah McLachlan:

When I talk to people on a free clarity call, I ask them are you vegetarian or vegan? And so the reason that I bring this subject up is because they often go no, like oh no, I, but I know I should be, or I think you're going to want me to. So actually, no, I prefer my clients to be omnivore, and some of them, their nutrition plans may be a bit more on the vegetarian side, but for the the majority of them, it's a pretty good balance of omnivore, like animal proteins and vegetarian, or pulses and lentils and things like that as well. So, yeah, the reason that too that people can feel better when they switch to a vegan or vegetarian diet is it kind of naturally removes some of the ultra-processed or processed foods because they're not vegan or vegetarian. Although these days there's so many ultra-processed vegan and vegetarian foods that it's really quite, it's not a guarantee that you're going to improve health just by going vegan or vegetarian, because there is so much of that ultra-processed food still available to you and the fake meats and my clients. I have had vegetarian clients in the past and had a heavy diet of the fake meats, and they know my thoughts on those things. They're terrible. Please avoid them All right.

Sarah McLachlan:

So what I see, though, in the long-term is that for most of us, a long-term vegan or vegetarian diet doesn't always bode well, especially during the flux or change of perimenopause and a change in your insulin management there too, because sometimes those diets can be naturally really quite high carb Not again, not that I'm a low carb fan, like it's complicated, okay, but yeah, they can be too high in carbs and also you need to be really careful around things like B12 and iron and protein. They can be harder to get and, again, if your digestive function's reduced, it can be tricky there. So I think the humans do best on an omnivore diet Plenty of plants and plant proteins in there, alongside your animal ones too. We know fish and seafood's really beneficial in perimenopause and menopause as well. So my answer is, yeah, that it may be. It might help, but that's probably because of the plant foods that you're introducing. So stick with your omnivore diet and just increase your plant foods. Aim for 40 different plant foods across the week and you'll be doing great.

Sarah McLachlan:

In the podcast episode on bloating, I talked about the 40 plant foods over the week. All right, so if you like that segment and you have your own fart that you want me to answer, I'd love to hear from you. Check out the show notes for how to email me your questions. All right, now I want to switch over to a fad that I'm actually loving yes, a health fad that I love and it's cutting out alcohol. I've seen like a wave of people in my life and and across the board that are starting to think about their alcohol consumption and reducing it or eliminating it, and it's so great. I think it's such a great trend and I love that it's gaining traction, particularly among women. Great for men as well. But I love that it's gaining traction for us because alcohol it's so often used as a way to unwind or de-stress.

Sarah McLachlan:

But it can significantly impact your health, like it's a known carcinogen. It increases your risk of breast cancer. It messes with your hormone balance, your sleep quality, your weight. Hot flushes, sweats All of those things are made worse by alcohol and all of those areas are challenging during perimenopause, especially sleep. You don't need anything to mess with your sleep. So going alcohol-free, even if temporarily, I bet you'll have better sleep. It's a great experiment to have, especially if you consume alcohol daily, like a glass of wine with your dinner every night or while you're cooking dinner. I challenge you to go without it and see how you go. I bet your mood and your sleep is better and your overall health will definitely be better.

Sarah McLachlan:

And alcohol affects the body in lots of ways. It keeps your liver busy and then your liver's not working on your hormone metabolism, which can mess up your estrogen, particularly in perimenopause, and lead to really high highs of estrogen or low lows and contribute to your symptoms. It's also an irritant in the gut and that means it alters your microbiome, which we know has lots of impacts on hormones, your neurotransmitters, so your mood, your energy, your weight, fat mass, all sorts of stuff, nutrient absorption as well, and so again, that can contribute to an increase in your, or an imbalance in your estrogen levels there, which it might seem good if you're close to menopause, but in perimenopause that'll really push them really high and exacerbate things like hot flushes and sweats. And alcohol does a lot to our brain as well. Alcohol can boost dopamine, a short-term happiness molecule, and so that's why it's often a go-to. Your brain, your primal autopilot part of your brain, will drive you to go and have a glass of alcohol because it knows that made you happy or that helped relieve your stress in the past. It'll drive you to keep doing that over and over and over again to try and make you happy. So yeah, and we condition, we're marketed to that. It's a stress reliever, but the benefits really short-lived and it only takes the first drink or two will give you that little hit of dopamine, but any more than that. You're really just getting drunk. It's not going to really alleviate any of your stress or give you any more dopamine. So, yeah, regular consumption of alcohol, especially above the government recommended guidelines, can lead to increased brain fog, disrupted sleep, gut irritation and liver sluggishness there as well. So, remembering that your liver plays a crucial role in hormone management and overloading it with alcohol and processing alcohol, which it will prioritize, means it's less able to work on your hormones and your hormone metabolism and balance and all of those things, and it will lead to intensified perimenopause symptoms, impacts your period, your menstrual cycle and, at regularity, can increase your pain. Pms can make you feel more hypervigilant, so you'll be more reactive to stress. So the very tool that you're using for comfort and to relieve stress is actually making you more stressed. So I love the fad of going without alcohol or removing alcohol.

Sarah McLachlan:

I actually have a book arriving today. I'm really excited to start reading it, called the Alcohol Experiment. It was recommended to me and I'll let you know I might do a book review on it. That sounds fun. So, yeah, what could we need to do? I want to take home from this podcast episode today because that's the end of my fads and and trends that I'm going to talk about.

Sarah McLachlan:

There is I want you to get your basics in order. Safe sun exposure, fresh air, filtered water, nutritious food that suits your body, personalized health plans that's a trend I'm definitely on board with, although it's not a trend because it's been around for 25 years. But gentle but effective exercise, connections with your friends and family and plenty of downtime. Get your basics in order. They will set you up for a much smoother perimenopause. Quick fixes just be skeptical If it sounds too good to be true. It probably is. Like I said, focus on your holistic health, focus on your basics. Work with a healthcare provider to create a personalized health plan for you. Like, as I said, it's totally a trend I can get behind, although it's not a fad because, like metabolic balance, personalized nutrition that I use with my clients has been around for 25 years, so it's certainly solid and it has research and science behind it on its team there as well.

Sarah McLachlan:

So the thing is, if things are being sold as like good for everyone or you must have it, then that's also a red flag, like I was talking about before with HRT. If it's being sold as everyone, oh, you should do that. Everyone should have that. We do need to think about that as well, because we're all unique. We have our own unique genetic makeup. It doesn't make sense for us all to have the same nutrient intake, same diet or the same medications or treatments. Yeah, like I've said it three times now I'm going to say it again Maintain your basics to support your body through perimenopause.

Sarah McLachlan:

Get your cells in great working order by providing them the right building blocks, and then they'll work in the way that they're intended to and produce and metabolize hormones and other compounds as we need them to. So the basics also help your cells, your tissues, your organs better respond to the change in your female hormones that comes in perimenopause. Better adaptation to the change equals less symptoms and a smoother perimenopause. If you take nothing else from that today, please remember that. And the other thing is you can't supplement or exercise your way out of a poor diet or skimping on the daily self-care habits.

Sarah McLachlan:

The basics now if you want to learn more about the essentials for perimenopause, like what the heck's happening with your hormones, how to help your body adapt to the natural hormone fluctuations of perimenopause so you can feel you know, reclaim your mood and your energy and feel fabulous in your body again, then my new program, the peri power blueprint, is designed just for this purpose. It's not about quick fixes. It's about learning and taking action to optimize your mood, your energy, your overall health at a cellular level for a smoother transition to menopause and beyond. We cover off what to eat, how to eat, lifestyle changes, all the basics and a deep learning of what's happening with your hormones there as well, so you can find out more information in the show notes on peripower blueprint. So that is a wrap for today.

Sarah McLachlan:

I've covered so much ground. I hope I haven't left you behind there and again, always talking about the essentials and the basics for you to implement for your best state of health and hopefully some knowledge so you can navigate the health fads that get marketed to us, especially during perimenopause. If you're looking for resources or to submit your own FAQ, please visit the show notes and, while you're there, hit subscribe to make sure that you never miss an episode. Once again, thank you for listening and sharing your time with me today. I really do appreciate it. I am looking forward to talking with you next time when I will be exploring anxiety in perimenopause and to help keep you shifting your perimenopause experience, from Chaos to Calm.

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Sarah McLachlan

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