Welcome to my latest Best Bit, part of my series to celebrate half a million downloads for The Happy Menopause podcast and the chance for you to catch up on some of the brilliant episodes you may have missed. This edition focuses on anxiety, which is one of the most underestimated and unexpected symptoms of the menopause, and yet it’s so common. So many of the women in my nutrition clinic struggle with anxiety during the menopause and it often takes them by surprise.  This is why I called...

Our relationship with food can be complex and it’s very often determined by a whole host of different experiences. Some of us might describe ourselves as emotional eaters and find that this can get in the way of a healthy lifestyle, affecting our weight and our body image. The whole arena can be a bit of a minefield. In fact, it’s a specialist field in clinical work, so I’ve reached out to an expert in this area, Dr Romi Ran.     Romi is a Clinical Psychologist; Coach and Author who...

Welcome to my latest Best Bit, part of my series to celebrate half a million downloads for The Happy Menopause podcast and to give you the chance to catch up on some of the brilliant episodes you may have missed.  We’re looking back at the launch episode for Season 2 for this edition and we’re talking hair! My guest is consultant dermatologist and hair specialist Dr Sharon Wong, who is incredibly generous with her advice.  Dr Sharon Wong specialises in treating hair and scalp disorders and...

Are you a sloucher? Do you spend too much time pinned to your desk? Have you started to get a few niggles in your lower back, neck or shoulders? If it’s yes to all of the above, this episode is the one for you, because it’s all about posture, movement and alignment and it’s packed with practical advice to help with all those lurking issues you may have been ignoring or simply putting up with.  My guest is Kerrie-Anne Bradley, former economist turned expert pilates teacher. It was her own...

Welcome to another of my Best Bits to celebrate the amazing milestone of 500,000 downloads for The Happy Menopause podcast.  This time, I’m diving right back into the archive to Season 1 for this one, because my chat about sleep with Professor Russell Foster was absolutely fascinating, and even in this pared-down version, there is a wealth of excellent advice.  Russell is the Founder and Director of The Sleep and Circadian Research Institute and Head of Oxford University’s Nuffield Laboratory...

This is the first of a series of Best Bits to celebrate the amazing milestone of 500,000 downloads. Huge thanks to all of you for making this possible by listening! Looking back over the past 5 seasons, there are so many great moments of advice, insight and inspiration from my brilliant guests that it’s hard to choose, but I’ve decided to start with some fascinating extracts from my interview with Dr Catherine Walter.  Catherine is an Emeritus Fellow in Applied Linguistics at Oxford...

In this episode, we talk about vaginas, vulvas, sex and sex toys, because we can! As young people we all tend to assume that older people don’t have sex, but we midlife women know better, don’t we? It may be more complicated for us, for a variety of reasons, but women in mid and later life are still sexual beings and we have every right to enjoy our intimate life just as much as we did when we were younger.  But we all know that there can be obstacles to this, such as dryness, pain, recurrent...

It’s that time of year when a fresh start seems very appealing so you’ve probably already started thinking about changes you might want to make to your life. I’m not a big fan of the radical detox, because it’s not sustainable and your body won’t really enjoy it or benefit from it in the longterm. On the other hand, simple and consistent changes can make a world of difference to your health and wellbeing and my guest for this episode is just the woman we need to help us create a beautiful...

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas isn’t it? Of course, that’s not always a good thing if you’re the one organising it and feeling a bit overwhelmed at this point. But even if you absolutely love Christmas (and I have to confess that I do!), there can be a slight sense of dread about the impact it can have on your health and wellbeing, and especially your waistline, with all those extra goodies and social events going on.  So I’ve decided to have a bit of fun with a Christmas special...

Blood sugar balance seems to be very much in vogue at the moment, so I’ve decided to dedicate this episode to talking through it, because I think there’s quite a lot of confusion around it.  As a nutritionist, I really believe it’s one of the key pillars to managing menopause symptoms and Nutrition 101 if you want to apply a dietary approach to your health and wellbeing during the menopause.  But it’s important not to overcomplicate things – if you get the basics of your macronutrients...

Do you ever feel invisible? Perhaps you struggle to get your voice heard. If so, you’re not alone, because this is something that most women have experienced at some point, especially as we move into midlife and menopause. But it’s not something we should put up with, because it’s not right and because, let’s face it, middle aged men don’t experience the same problem, do they?  I’ve invited Dr Vanessa Collingridge to join me for this episode. I first met her at the Menopause Festival in...

On World Menopause day it seems very fitting to look at the menopause from a historical angle and link it to women’s experience today. It hasn’t been an easy ride for middle-aged women over the centuries.  We’ve proven to be quite a mystery to the medical community, which has led to some unusual, hilarious and often very distressing assumptions about what’s going on with the female body.  To help us unravel all this, I’m joined by oral historian Dr Helen Foster of the East Midlands Oral...

The theme for this year’s World Menopause Day is cardiovascular disease. You may wonder what that’s got to do with the menopause, so here’s the thing: once you come through the menopause, your body will adjust to the new hormonal version of you and for the most part your symptoms will settle down, just like they did after puberty. But there are one or two key areas that you need to continue to focus on in the long-term – bone health is one, as I’m sure you’re aware. Heart health is another,...

We all know that cooking with fresh ingredients can make a huge difference to our health and wellbeing, but that can be easier said than done when you’re juggling the demands of a busy life. And if you’re not especially confident in the kitchen, it can seem very daunting to start cooking from scratch if you’re worn out after a busy day. But help is at hand in today’s episode, as I’m joined by the brilliant chef Fiona Staunton who’s made it her mission to make cooking good food uncomplicated,...

To kick off Season 5, we’re looking at the FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) of the perimenopause and menopause. Because let’s face it, we’ve all got questions and there are some subjects that you might not feel too comfortable asking about. But fear no more!  I’m chatting to the brilliant Julie Robinson, founder of Meno Health and Move It, Or Lose It, who’s helped thousands of women over the years. Her new book has collated some of the most common (and some not so common!) questions and...

I’ve always thought that magnesium is every menopausal woman’s best friend. It’s a magnificent mineral and a mega multitasker. So it really does deserve a whole episode of The Happy Menopause! I’ve invited magnesium expert Andrew Thomas to talk us through everything you need to know about this marvellous mineral.  Andrew is the founder of Better You, which is one of my favourite supplement companies. He founded the business in 2006, and it was the first company in the world to commercialise...

Have you ever tried reflexology? It’s way more than just a fancy foot massage! In fact, it’s been used for thousands of years as a therapeutic practice to support health and wellbeing. I’m a fairly recent convert to the wonders of reflexology and I know it makes a huge difference to me. So to find out more and to understand the research behind it, I’ve called on the help of expert reflexologist and teacher, Sally Earlam to share her wisdom with us.  She has a background in nursing and has...

I’m wrapping up Season 4 by looking at that crucial decade after menopause, when a proactive approach to our health and wellbeing is more important than ever to define the way that we age. In this episode I chat to the brilliant health coach and author Susan Saunders about her latest book The Power Decade: How to Thrive After Menopause. There are huge positives to life post-menopause: this is the time to create the adventures – large and small – we want in our lives. And the foundation for...

How daring do you feel these days? Sometimes it’s easy for us to write ourselves off in midlife and think the fun and adventure is all over. In this episode, we’re going to explore the extraordinary adventures of some inspiring women who have smashed through barriers, broken taboos and paved the way for the rest of us. I promise you that by the end of the episode, you’ll be just raring to go and start an adventure of your own! My guest will be well-known to many of you, because she was a...

Do you ever feel left out of the menopause conversation? If you’re dealing with the menopause post-cancer it can be very frustrating when all the messaging in the media seems to revolve around HRT as the solution to all your symptoms. So in this episode, I’m focusing on the very specific diet and lifestyle steps you can take to manage your menopause if you’ve recently had cancer treatment, or are taking hormone suppressant medication, which means that you can't take HRT, even if you wanted...

Are you fed up with dieting and not making any progress with weight loss? Manging a healthy weight in midlife can be a real minefield and it’s incredibly disheartening if despite your best efforts you’re not really getting anywhere. The female body is complicated and the cocktail of hormones around the menopause can make it a real uphill battle to keep in shape. We often find that the tried and trusted methods of the past don’t really work for us now, so what can we do about that? Surely...

This year’s theme for International Women’s Day is Embrace Equity focusing on forging equality for women and raising awareness around discrimination. And this got me thinking about the inequalities around women’s health and the menopause, because there are a lot of them. It’s still very much a man’s world and it can be hard for women to ensure their voice is heard in the health arena. In this IWD special episode, I chat to a hugely inspiring woman, who’s been campaigning around the menopause...

What does your menopause look like? The chances are it’s not much like a lot of the media portrayals of the menopause!  With International Women’s Day fast approaching and with a theme of Embrace Equity, I wanted to take a closer look at diversity around the menopause, because it doesn’t just happen to the tired-looking grey-haired white woman that seems to take centre stage in so many of the slightly depressing stock shots used in the media.  Every woman goes through menopause – and it can...

What do you think about yoga? Are you a regular devotee; is it something you do occasionally, or do you really think this is something for other people? If yoga is something you’ve discounted or let slide in your wellbeing journey so far, you might want to think again after you’ve heard what my latest guest has to say about the multiple benefits for women in midlife.  Meet Libby Stevenson – she’s a yoga instructor and therapeutic wellbeing practitioner for women at different stages of life...