Nutrition & Menopause: Your Top Questions Answered!

You blow my mind. I don't know if you know yet. Hey, everybody. I'm Amy from Bodyfit by Amy. And this is your be where you are today podcast, where we connect with fitness and nutrition experts to help you wherever you are in your journey. Today I am joined by Vivian Skeper. Vivian is our Body fit registered dietitian nutritionist. She is very well educated and experienced in all forms of nutrition, but especially in women's health. And. And today we are tackling your nutrition questions surrounding menopause, perimenopause, post menopause. These are questions that we get a lot. And we realize we have never done a dedicated podcast to this. And rather than try to cram it all in, we decided we would split. We would talk first about nutrition, and then your fitness questions will be answered on a podcast that will be coming up soon. So we asked many of you on social media, what are your questions surrounding nutrition and the this phase of life. Life. So we're just going to jump right in. Welcome, Vivian. Thanks for being here.

Thank you for having me.

I think to start, it might be good just to talk a little bit about what actually is menopause and perimenopause. I know those are terms that we're seeing all over the Internet and all of our social media, especially in the women's fitness and nutrition space, but I think it's helpful just to define what's actually happening in our bodies and when.

That's a really great question. So menopause represents the end of our ovarian function. So menopause is the time when women essentially run out of eggs. So we have no more eggs left in the ovaries. And as a result, we end up with very little hormone production from the ovaries. Something that I've noticed a lot of people don't understand are the differences between perimenopause, menopause, and post menopause. So perimenopause begins about seven to 10 years, plus or minus before your last period. So that's perimenopause. Hello, seven to 10 years, that's a long time. Menopause is a point in time. So it is literally a day, one moment. So it's the point in time 12 months after a woman's last period. So, so if you had a period, let's say August 19th of 2024, then August 19th, 2025, you are in menopause. So only one day, one point in time, and then post menopause are all of the years after that point in Time. So what we really tend to focus more on is the perimenopause, the years that are leading to that point time. And that time tends to be very messy for many women. For context, women are born with about 1 to 2 million eggs. And women are born with all of the eggs that we will ever have. So we don't produce additional eggs at any stage of our life. What we are born with is what we get for context. Right around the age of 40, most women only have about 3% of those eggs left. So it is that process of the body essentially shutting down the factory, so releasing the last few eggs, that's that process of perimenopause. And when we look specifically at the symptoms of menopause and we try to understand why do they happen, where does this come from? There seems to be a pretty strong connection between the ovarian function and the fact that the functions are declining or have the great quality that they once had. And then all of these sort of declines in quality and quantity seems to lead to an issue with the ovaries are response responsible for producing estrogen. And our bodies have estrogen receptors in every single organ system, which means that when that estrogen begins to decline, we feel symptoms in every single organ system.

Yeah.

Glasses are fogging up. I know.

It could be. That is really helpful because I think for many years, thankfully this is changing in the age of social media and we're hearing more about all the different parts of it. But for many years, certainly our mom's generation, it was just like the change. And you, it was either before the change or after the change. Nobody was talking about those years leading up. Certainly people were talking and I still get this as a trainer where people say, I don't know, I turned 40 and this happened or my body doesn't respond or I'm gaining weight or I'm feeling different in this way. But it was more talked about as age. It wasn't talked about the hormonal component, the those years leading up to perimenopause. And I am, I'm 44. So I'm just. If the average age of menopause, when I last checked, the average age was 51. So I'm in that 7 to 10 year range. And the last couple years I have been feeling a lot of that. So it is, it's eye opening to be actually talking about it from a hormonal perspective, from a biological perspective. And not just this is what happens as a woman, this is what happens. And oh, you're not there yet you're not in menopause. There was this line of midlife before and after, so much in between and so many things that we can talk about and address specifically when it comes to nutrition and fitness. So that's super helpful for that breakdown. And I know when you and I both have done a lot of education, continuing education and additional research over the last year since we've been doing our unpause program which just to let you all know we last summer we did unpause in the Bodyfit Athletic Club to unpause the conversation on perimenopause on menopause. This came directly from you all our community that was looking for this type of content and we wanted to specifically focus on it. And also from me being in this stage of life, a lot of our community has we're feeling a lot of the same things. So we launched this in the Body Fit Athletic Club. It was really popular. We had a lot of new members and a lot of people who have stayed in the club since then. But it was so popular that we're bringing it back. We're starting on September 1st. So we will be doing another eight week unpause program where a lot of the things that we're going to touch on in this short podcast in our fitness one are really going to be going to in depth along with a structured specific fitness program along with a structured specific nutrition guide and so much more. So consider joining us in that. We'll make sure that all of the information is here for you guys. But just to give you an idea of how we have evolved as trainer, as a trainer and dietitian, I did an additional certific. Vivian again did a lot of other education and so much of it I'm like I've been a woman my whole life and I did not know that you could experience perimenopause many years before. I didn't know that's what this is that it's not just oh all of a sudden my I hit a certain number on the in age and things change. That's the stuff we're going to be talking about. So let's get into some questions. Unless you had something else to add.

To that I did want to add. Part of the reason too why we are doing this on past group is as I was digging deep into the research I noticed that a 2022 study found that more than 90% 90 90% of women surveyed had never been thought about menopause in school. And more than 60% of those women did not feel informed about it. There was another study done in 2021 I believe and that one found that 29% of women surveyed had never really looked for information about menopause before experiencing it. And 45% of them didn't even know the difference between perimenopause and menopause. It's changing, it's exciting. We're seeing a lot more interest and curiosity in this. We're seeing an interest in being proactive rather than I'm just gonna hope and wait and hope that, which I think is really great. And part of why we are doing this, doing the focus group and the bodyfit Athletic Club is to make sure that you are not part of that 90% of that 45% of 60%. We want you to be informed and equipped with the information and tools that you need so that you can take care of your body best, honor your health goals and make sure that you have a wonderful, thriving life. Your perimenopause, menopause and post menopausal years.

Yes. And also just making sure that you're getting accurate evidence based research backed information. I think one of the things we've seen with this shift of all of a sudden we are talking about it on social media amongst doctors and healthcare providers and dietitians and fitness professionals is that then the old marketing train which we talk about a the Body Fit Athletic Club has jumped on board and it can be very confusing. Do I need this supplement influencer is telling me that I do for menopause. Do I need to be training this certain way? Do I need to be eating this certain way? And there is like everything, a lot of context, a lot of nuance, a lot of in between, a lot of making it individual to you. But what we want to do is make sure that we provide that fact based information and just help you make informed decisions, decisions based on that. Let's get into some of the questions again. These many of these came directly from our community and the first one we have is actually about hair thinning. So a lot of these are based on symptoms that people are experiencing in this phase and how nutrition and supplements the questions they have around that. I've noticed a lot of hair thinning over the past year or so. So much shredding, it's frustrating. Do supplements like Nutrafol actually work? Is there something I could be doing in my diet to counteract this?

Yes, that's a great question. So hair shedding is pretty common in menopause and this is usually because of the drop in estrogen and progesterone, both hormones that are produced in the ovaries. Nutrafol and other similar supplements can sometimes, sometimes help if they address a deficiency. So if you have an iron deficiency, if you have a biotin deficiency, a vitamin D D deficiency, then these supplements, they have that, they have iron and vitamin D and biotin in them. So if you are already deficient and you start taking supplements, then you are correcting a deficiency. And correcting the deficiency is the thing that can lead to an improvement in the integrity of your hair. If you do not have a deficiency, then we often don't really see a whole lot of benefit from taking over procedures priced supplements like this. What really can help is a nutrient dense diet making sure you're focused on protein, iron, zinc, omega 3s, vitamin D and fiber.

And how would one know if they actually did have a deficiency? Because I think it is that thing where we're seeing like, oh, you need this will help. But like you're saying if the deficiency is not there, you're just wasting your money. How would we know?

Yeah, definitely. If you notice a significant difference in the integrity of your hair. So a lot of hair is falling out in the shower, just in general, if you're noticing that really rapid thinning, then definitely contact your healthcare provider and ask to have some labs checked. So things like your iron levels, thyroid, anything like that, just to see if maybe there is a deficiency that does need to be corrected.

Great. Yes, great reminder that our healthcare providers are a great resource and always be. We should be bringing these questions to them as well. Next question, vitamin B supplements, we're seeing a lot about vitamin B. Do they really help with dumps?

Yeah, excellent question. So for most women, a balanced diet, especially if you are a meat eater or if you eat animal based products, you're probably getting adequate B vitamins, including vitamin B12. Vitamin. Vitamin B12 is more common after the age of 50ish, and usually that's because the absorption, so the absorbability of our bodies starts to decline as we age. So supplements again may help if you do fall in that deficiency category. Again, most of us are getting plenty of vitamin B12 just from our regular diet, way more than just the bare minimum. So even if your absorption is declining, your ability to absorb these nutrients is declining a little bit, you're probably still getting adequate amounts. If you are a vegan though, then it is something definitely to be mindful of if you're not consuming any animal based products. And so same thing like the other question Definitely checking in with your healthcare provider to have some tests done just to see is there a deficiency and if So, a vitamin B12 supplement will absolutely help. But if we're just adding more vitamin B12 for the sake of adding more without correcting a deficiency, it's really just extra. But it's not really going to do extra benefit. It's not really going to give us extra benefit per se.

Next, a non sexy but important question. Constipation. Constipation, Is it common in this phase of life? I feel like someone's asking because they're going through it. Probably a lot of us.

Yeah. Yeah. Such a great and important question. So a couple of things. Three things there actually. Yes, constipation is more common in menopause. This is often due to hormonal shifts. So again, the decline of those hormones, the estrogen, the progesterone, but also reduced muscle tone, interestingly enough. So if you think about our intestines and they need to have the ability to contract. Right? And sometimes medications also play a role. Every time I am asked this question, there are three key things that we want to make sure we're getting fiber. Aim for 25 to 30 grams per day. Hydration, make sure you're getting enough fluids in your day and movement. And also making sure you're getting magnesium, ideally from foods. But if you feel like you need a supplement to get enough, then that may be something to contemplate too. This is actually something that I'm going to be talking a lot about in the on Pause focus group and the Body Fit Athletic Club. So I'm going to really be diving deep into constipation. Why is it common? Why does it happen? And why does it happen even when our diets remain consistent? So definitely stay tuned. And I'm definitely going to talk about magnesium too.

Oh, good. Yeah, I think a lot of people have questions around magnesium. That's one of those hot supplements we keep hearing about. Also, a little plug for a previous podcast that Vivian and I did. Your second favorite F word. It's all about fiber. So check that out because she really breaks it, breaks down fiber. The types of fiber, why we need it, how to get it. It's really helpful. Okay, next questions. Next question. I'm sure you're going to love this one. Eat perimenopause. Menopause. Are there any foods to avoid?

Yeah. Oh yes. So many. Of course not. Never there. There is no menopause blacklist. It is not about restriction. It is about addition. Add fiber, rich foods. Into your diet. Add those calc calcium rich foods, magnesium rich foods, potassium rich foods, protein and color. Focus on adding. And honestly the more that you add naturally the addition displaces some of the other foods that maybe we don't want to have a lot of added sugars per se.

Great, good to hear. I had a feeling that was your answer. But again it's something we're seeing. Eat this, avoid this, only eat this that we hear that all the time. And it's good to know it is not about avoiding certain foods, it's about getting more in adding more. In another common question you and I both get about belly fat, something that is also common, seeing a little bit more of that visceral fat around our our abdomen. Are there any supplements that help with belly fat? Is the question.

No, that's it.

That's the answer.

No, that's it. Just kidding. But also no. Unfortunately there is nothing that's going. There's no supplement, no pill powder that is going to help you burn belly fat or really fat anywhere in the body. It just will not. Oftentimes these fat burning supplements, they either a have a lot of caffeine in order to give you energy and then make you extra jittery and then it technically would be the jitters and the constant moving around that helps you burn some additional extra calories. But you can also just be jittery without the pills and being over caffeinated. And there we go, same effect. The other thing that we see often with these fat burning supplements is they're usually either some form of laxative or diuretic or both. Meaning that they will make you go to the bathroom and you're going to pee a lot and you may have explosive diarrhea of if you dehydrate yourself and if you have a terrible stomach ache and you are cleaning out your intestines, you are going to lose some weight. Not fat, water and stool matter. So scam anytime, belly fat supplement, fat burning anything run. Yeah, nobody wants explosive diarrhea, unfortunate food, but belly fat is influenced by hormones and hormonal shifts. Something that I'm going to be talking a lot about in on past why this happens. Why the sudden shift in in the fat accumulation specifically around the abdomen and then of course other things like stress, sleep or your diet, overall lifestyle, not a pill.

Yeah, and I'm noticing that a lot of these questions that came in were about supplements specifically. And I did want. I mean you can highlight this. This is. These are questions that you really cover in depth. Like Talking about. The next question is about creatine and collagen. Both that you have covered pretty extensively in the Body Fit Athletic Club. And I'm sure you're going to be talking about again during Unpause. That's the question. How do you know what is good creatine, what is a good collagen supplement? But maybe you can talk a little bit more about what happens in unpause when it comes to supplements. Because again, it's the wild west out there with the supplement world.

Yeah, yeah. Really one of the best things you can do in order to stay safe when choosing a supplement is going to be to look for third party testing labels. I'm a big fan of NSF Certified Informed Choice or usp. Those are all really great options. I believe the question specifically was asking about what type of creatine is best or even what type of collagen is best. And so for creatine, generally choose a creatine monohydrate, aiming for about 3 to 5 grams daily. And then for collagen, generally speaking, you want to pick a hydrolyzed form. Again, make sure third party tested. I would say people often ask me, what about this brand, what about this brand, what about that brand? I would say the brand matters less than the certification. So definitely be looking for the third party testing labels. And I do, I created actually and I'm in the process of revamping, camping it right now. But a essentially supplement cheat sheet with for instance like creatine, how much do you want to take? What brands do I recommend, what to look for if the brand that I recommend is not in your area, what time do I take it, how do I make it taste good? And just, just a very easy, you do this, you do this, you take that here, this or that, and I do that for vitamin D, for collagen, magnesium, omega 3 soluble fiber. So definitely if you're interested in learning about supplements, especially perimenopause, menopause related supplements, will they help, Will they not help? How do I know it's a good supplement? That supplement then I think that guide you will find to be very helpful.

Yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize that supplements are not regulated. They're not subject to the same regulation that our regular food sources and our prescription drugs and medications are. So the third party testing is basically just ensuring that you're getting what you think you're getting. There have been independent testing showing that protein powders say they have 20 grams of protein and there's only three or on a more dangerous level that there's contaminants within something. So that's why that third party testing is something that we both talk about a lot. But sometimes people just, they just click on the link and hope for the best. But the supplement, that supplement cheat sheet, I'm excited to see the new one. So, and with that the next question we got, what supplements do you recommend after 60? So presumably this is somebody who is in post menopause.

Yep, definitely. So when you are in post post menopause, hopefully things have started to tame down. Hopefully so that you're less likely to be in that chaotic zone. Where is it? Are we shutting down the factory? Are we not? Are we? Yes. Are we not in full? Hopefully factory shut down, things are feeling a little bit more stable. That's not to say that certain nutrients are not important at this stage, especially after the age of 60. I'm definitely thinking about calcium and vitamin D, B12 if you're not getting enough, especially if you're somebody that's really limiting or avoiding animal products. And then possibly an omega 3 and magnesium supplement. Again, I am a food first supplement second dietitian. So if we were working together one on one or if you were in the athletic club, for instance, I would be trying to get more information about what is your diet and just overall lifestyle look like and do we need to get supplements for all of these things or are we feeling like we can get this from food and then maybe we need to just think about one or two supplements instead of all of them.

Super helpful, thank you.

Oh and sorry, creatine of course would definitely be one that I would also recommend to Anyone really above 30, 40, 50, 60 can be really helpful.

Yeah, Vivian just did a great live stream which then all of our live streams in the BAC stay up within the app so you can watch them at any time. But she just did a great one on creatine, really breaking it down. All right, next question. My doctor told me to increase the calcium in my diet by consuming any kind of milk, milk, yogurt and cheese. But I'm also watching my cholesterol. How can I balance these two post menopause?

Yeah, excellent question. So there's always this sort of, oh, you need calcium, you should drink some milk. Yes, it's a great source for sure, but it's not the only source. So nowadays you can also get a fortified almond milk or soy milk or coconut milk, any of the non dairy alternatives that are or can be fortified. So that is an option if you like that otherwise naturally occurring sources are going to be leafy greens or even salmon, especially if you eat the bums. And I know people are like, ah, but they're generally not too hard to enjoy. I don't know, maybe that's just me, but leafy greens and, and canned salmon with bones, if that's your thing. Generally speaking though, most people, they're like, you tell me to eat cheese, that's easy. You tell me to eat salmon with bones. So this is where a supplement could be helpful. However, if we're talking about cholesterol, something that regardless of whether you're dairy, not dairy, if that cholesterol has the potential to become high or is already elevated, then definitely I would prioritize on a ditch of soluble fiber rich foods. So think of beans, think of, of oats, think of asparagus, avocados, sweet potatoes, apples. Aiming for about 5 to 10 grams depending on the person. That's generally a pretty good target to go for. Can be really helpful also at managing your cholesterol.

Excellent. Thank you. Another question about collagen, and I think this kind of speaks to a broader question that you and I both get of is it too late? Because we're talking so much about perimenopause and those years leading up to menopause. And sometimes you and I will get women in their 60s or later who just say, is it too late? If was did I need to be starting these things when I was in my 40s or in perimenopause? So the question is, would you have to start that in Perry for the benefits, or can you start where you're well into post menopause and still experience the benefits? Her question is about collagen specifically, but I think that's a good broad question that a lot of people have.

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I think with collagen or really anything, it is never too late to start anything. Of course, if we had 20, 40 years under our belt of doing something, is that going to be ultimately better? Yeah, for sure. But that doesn't mean that I can connect back to that all or nothing thinking, like, if I didn't do it when I was 30, then why even start now type of thing. And there is, there can still be benefit into starting collagen well after menopause. Can absolutely still support skin hydration and skin elasticity. I do think it's important to be realistic about the expectations. And really this goes for anyone, whether you've been taking it for 40 years or six months. It's probably not Going to be a. Oh my word. Look at this transformation. But can it absolutely support skin hydration and elasticity and you may see some subtle changes. Absolutely. And collagen is also a protein. Ish, almost a complete protein. So you also do get the benefits of the amino acids that are in collagen. So it's generally not a harmful, bad supplement to take as long as it's a third party tested, high quality one.

Yes. Okay, last question. Do we really need to give up carbs when we hit perimenopause and menopause?

Yes, you do. You deserve to be miserable and sad. And I was like, oh no, you should absolutely hate your life after menopause.

Oh no. What happened to Vivian? That's not at all what she would say.

You're right. Yes. Absolutely not. Of course not. Right. Carbs are fuel and they also provide micronutrients. So those vitamins and minerals that we've been talking a lot about today. Right. Getting fiber rich, high quality, complex carbohydrates can help us not need a giant, can help us not need a really long list of supplements. So absolutely. Carbs can be a part of a healthy diet, a part of the menopause perimenopause. Post menopause years. The biggest thing is going to be choosing quality carbs. Whole grains, beans, fruits, starchy vegetables like sweet potatoes. And then of course, we want to make sure that we're pairing them with protein and healthy fats. This is the meat of the method nutrition guide that I wrote. And really a lot of what we focus on for sure, in the Body Fit Athletic Club. So no, no need to give up carbohydrates.

Thank goodness. Oh my goodness, Vivian is back. And also just a little. This will be a good segue into this next podcast that we'll do on the fitness side is that you need carbs for your workouts too. And your workouts, as we will talk about, are very important in this phase of life. Good to know. We'll keep our carbs and over in the bac, we'll talk a lot more about what that actually looks like. So thank you, Vivian, for answering all these questions today. I feel like we covered a lot, but obviously we talk so much more in the Body Fit Athletic Club. And as we prepare for unpause Again starts September 1st, we're doing a ton of work on the back end to get ready for that, to answer these questions and more and really get those of us, us ladies of a certain age on a solid path to just recognizing the changes embracing the changes and doing everything we can, being proactive about what we can do on the nutrition side, on the fitness side, as we are on this part of our journey. So thank you so much, Vivian.

I really thanks for having me.

Appreciate you being here today. And on that note, we always close the podcast with be where you are today. Where are you today? So, just a little, just a question, where are you today in terms of how you approach perimenopause and menopause as a registered dietitian Nutritionist?

Yeah.

Oh, sorry, sprung that one on you.

I would say I am in my upper 30s and preparing by making sure that I'm getting adequate protein, strength training, fiber, hydration, creatine. Did I mention hydration? And keeping the supplements to a minimum. Although I do like an Omega 3 supplement, especially if I'm not able to get my two to three servings of fish every week.

Great. Thank you. You can certainly get more of Love, Vivian and all of her nutrition knowledge and dietitian experience and her SAs and science. We like to call her Professor Vivian over in the BodyFit Athletic Club. There are many ways to join us there. So check out all the information in the description below and we hope to see you back here for another podcast. And over in the BodyFit Athletic Club, thank you so much for being here today. I'm Amy reminding you to show up, keep moving and be where you are today.