0:02

I'm Bhanji. I'm the host of the Perimenopause podcast, a qualified dietitian

0:07

and an entrepreneur who specializes in perimenopause and hormonal health.

0:11

I teach ambitious women in business how to thrive through this normal reproductive phase of life.

0:17

Perimenopause comes with a wide range of symptoms that not only disrupt your

0:21

health, but every aspect of life, including marriage, your role as a mother,

0:26

and the way that you show up in your business and career.

0:30

It often leads to a lack of drive, energy, mental clarity, sleep and so much

0:35

more, which ultimately leads to a loss of income and business success.

0:40

So in this podcast, I want to provide you with the information and support that

0:44

you need to feel empowered and informed about perimenopause so that you can

0:49

ultimately thrive in all of the important roles that you have to daily fulfill as a woman.

0:54

In each episode, we'll talk about all the aspects of perimenopause from the

0:58

physical symptoms to the emotional challenges and everything in between.

1:02

I love talking about the stuff that your doctor is very unlikely to even talk

1:06

to you about and bringing in experts that will support you through all the challenges

1:11

that this reproductive stage might bring.

1:13

So whether you're starting out on your perimenopause journey or like me you've

1:18

been trying to find answers and solutions for ages,

1:21

you're most welcome here and I'm truly truly grateful that you choose to spend

1:26

been some time with me in here. So let's get the show on the road.

1:30

Hello and welcome back to episode 98 of the Perimenopause podcast.

1:36

Now last week I talked a little bit about all these health trends that is really taking us by storm.

1:42

I see all these big entrepreneurs talking about their health journeys that they've been on.

1:49

They've gone to hit rock bottom, burnt out and then ended up in some sort of

1:54

a rehab facility and then came back out and now they're implementing all of these.

2:00

Strategies to try and stay on top of their health and

2:02

this includes things like a peloton bike and cold plunges and infrared lights

2:08

and all of their crazes that will cost you a whole lot of money but as I said

2:13

last week if we only use these things as the only strategy to stay on top of

2:19

of burnout is not going to work for very long. So we need to get those foundational things in place. That's really important.

2:26

So don't be fooled by all the crazes that are out there at the moment and the

2:29

message of these are the kinds of things that you need to stay on top of your

2:34

health, to get rid of the burnout, to lose the weight, all the things.

2:39

So go back and listen to episode 97 if you want to learn more about that.

2:42

But today I want to talk about hormone replacement therapy, which is one of

2:46

those other things that I hear and see a lot being shared on social media by

2:50

some of medical doctors that have gone functional medicine.

2:54

And there's a whole lot of talk about HRT or hormone replacement therapy at the moment.

3:01

And I think, you know, there's a whole lot of truth in that.

3:05

I think hormone replacement therapy can really be

3:08

life-changing it can literally take you

3:11

from feeling completely dysfunctional to

3:17

feeling like yourself again feeling normal feeling amazing women really do report

3:21

that it makes them feel an incredible improvement in their health and like they

3:26

can actually do the normal things of life again and actually have vitality and

3:31

joy and all all the things. And so I do agree that there's a whole lot of health benefits in hormone replacement therapy.

3:36

I think it's important to find a healthcare practitioner that's going to be

3:40

very, very responsible with it as well.

3:43

Because I've seen women in my practice that have been on these medications for about three years.

3:50

Initially, it went really, really well. And then it felt like after a year,

3:55

they've gone backwards again. And then they end up at my clinic looking looking for the next thing.

4:01

Like they've been helped for a little while and now things are changing.

4:04

And so this is my biggest word of caution around the use of HRT.

4:12

And that is that it needs to be managed really, really well.

4:15

And this is why I'm saying we really need healthcare practitioners that are

4:18

going to be responsible around it. They're going to keep their thumb on the pulse.

4:23

They're going to just keep testing and monitoring how you're going with that

4:27

medication, testing your. Clinical signs and symptoms but what you do need to remember

4:32

with hormone replacement theory therapy is that it's still

4:34

a pharmaceutical drug and

4:38

my biggest concern with HRT is that

4:41

you're adding external hormones to

4:45

the system to your to your body and when we do that we're altering the level

4:52

hormone levels of hormones which is sending a message to those control centers

4:56

in the brain to let it know that there are enough hormones and the body can

5:00

shut down its production or reduce its production.

5:03

So for me, you know, it can bring that interim improvement, but it's always

5:09

important to use this as a little bridge that we build.

5:13

I always use this analogy from the side of the chasm where I feel completely out of control.

5:19

I don't know what's going on with my body. Everything feels unpredictable.

5:21

I'm not functional. foundational building that bridge over

5:25

to the other side where I can actually carry on with normal

5:28

life and feel like a

5:31

healthy person while we're investigating this

5:34

chasm down the bottom what is causing this chasm so we

5:37

use it as a little bridge while we do further investigations and work

5:40

on the foundational things so that we

5:43

can help the body to get to a stage where it's

5:46

going to be making these hormones in healthy levels again

5:49

I think I've got a little bit of have a problem with her HRT in that we are

5:54

now encouraging women in perimenopause as early as 35 to be using drugs that

5:59

previously were used for women in menopause only to prevent bone density issues

6:06

and all sorts of other things. So instead of encouraging women to find out why has my hormone production reduced

6:12

significantly to the point where I have symptoms, we're offering another another quick fix.

6:18

And if you've been around for long enough, you'll know that I am so against

6:22

quick fixes because what happens is that we're not addressing the underlying

6:27

cause and it continues to exist.

6:30

And therefore we're creating other problems into the future.

6:34

So right now I might feel better, but into the future, I might have some other

6:37

issues popping up as well. So when we think about low hormone production or hormonal imbalance,

6:45

we want to understand understand why that is happening

6:48

so instead of just slapping the

6:51

HRT band-aid on the issue we want to understand where

6:54

this is coming from and for that we really do need

6:57

a health professional to help us understand the mechanisms of hormone production

7:02

and hormone metabolism and how we get rid of those excess hormones how do we

7:08

increase the production all of the things which is what I really really specialize

7:12

in we need to understand how this body works.

7:16

How does it produce hormones? What does it look like when my hormones are all

7:19

over the show? How do I identify those symptoms?

7:21

And what do I do immediately to counter the symptoms that I'm experiencing?

7:27

And it really is, it can become this tango, this dance between your body communicating and you responding.

7:35

And then your body communicating and you responding and you understand your

7:38

symptoms and you immediately know what to do. So first of all,

7:42

what I want to say is HRT, I guess it comes down to HRT can be a very,

7:47

very wonderful tool to use. It should be a short-term tool while we're figuring out why hormone production is really low.

7:53

Now, remember, I'm not talking about post-menopausal women here because sometimes

7:58

we do need those medications. But even in that, our bodies were created to go through perimenopause, then go into menopause.

8:07

And B, that's normal. that is a healthy phase to go through.

8:12

It's not a phase that necessarily requires prescription drugs.

8:16

It's not a disease. It's a normal reproductive phase. So even for me,

8:20

I mean, I cannot make that call right now whether I will be using HRT post-menopause,

8:26

but it'll be my absolute goal to avoid it.

8:29

My absolute goal to avoid it as far as I can.

8:34

So what are the foundational things that we need to look at?

8:37

Okay, so like I said earlier. Hormone replacement therapy is prescribed when hormones are imbalanced.

8:44

Our estrogen is really low, progesterone is really low. So what we need to understand

8:48

is take a step back and go, why is the production of these hormones low?

8:54

What parts of my body need support in order for it to pick back up that production?

9:01

Now, we do that through the foundational things of food, sleep,

9:04

nervous system regulation, and how we move our bodies.

9:07

And it sounds very basic but

9:11

it is it's because it is it's very

9:13

basic our bodies were created to require food

9:17

sleep for recovery nervous system regulation and movement and if we don't get

9:23

those four basic things right then it causes major health issues so first of

9:29

all am i using food to nourish or am i just using food to fill a hole in my

9:34

stomach when i'm hungry am i emotional eating.

9:37

There's a whole lot of work that needs to go in around food and how I view food

9:43

and how I use food. So that's the first thing.

9:45

Secondly, we need to understand what are our sleep habits? Do we have good nighttime routines?

9:51

Do we have seven to eight hours at least of good quality sleep every night that's

9:55

restorative, that's going to help my body heal?

9:58

Thirdly, how do I regulate that nervous system? Do I even have self-awareness

10:02

around when my body's in that that fight or flight mode? How do I develop that awareness?

10:07

And then how do I turn the fight or flight mode off and the rest and digest

10:12

nervous system on so that my body can be at rest?

10:17

That's the third thing. And the fourth thing is how do I move my body?

10:20

Do I overexercise, which is what I did for many, many years? Do I lack movement?

10:25

How do I move my body? So those four things are

10:28

are foundational they are key to regulating hormones and

10:32

I want this in this episode I won't be going into those that's

10:35

those four topics are stuff that I talk about all the

10:38

time if you go back on this podcast you will definitely find

10:42

some episodes relating to those four foundational

10:45

things but today I want to just talk about a little

10:48

bit what are the alternatives that we can use

10:51

to hormone replacement therapy and there are some herbals that

10:54

we can do can use a lot

10:57

of of it seems to be lacking in good

11:00

quality research articles but what we do need to remember here is that the natural

11:07

health industry does not have the monetary power behind it that the pharmaceutical

11:14

industry does and so therefore there's not always the money to fund these massive research projects.

11:22

To prove, so to say, that these drugs work.

11:26

And also to remember that the pharmaceutical industry wants to have monopoly.

11:30

It wants to prove that it's the only thing that's going to work.

11:33

Hormone replacement therapy is going to be the only thing to work,

11:36

but there is no truth in that. For some people, HRT would be good, but I think it should be our last resort.

11:43

We need to get the foundational things right that I just mentioned now,

11:46

and then we need to experiment with a few of these herbals to see if they can

11:50

support us enough to produce those hormones at healthy levels again to avoid

11:55

those pharmaceutical drugs. So I'll just mention a few here. I'm not going to go into a whole lot of detail,

12:01

but what I do want to say is that I've used with great success some or all of

12:07

these products with different clients of mine, for myself personally,

12:11

for my daughter that was going through puberty a few years ago and really struggled.

12:16

So it really is a matter of trying these products and seeing what works well for your body.

12:22

Because remember, we cannot slap a label on all of us and say this is going

12:27

to work for everyone because we are so unique.

12:30

The causes of our hormonal imbalance are so unique. The way we run our bodies

12:34

and our lifestyle is so unique that we can't for sure know which one's going to work for you.

12:39

So I do recommend that you use a hormone product.

12:42

There's a whole lot of natural product ranges out there at the moment,

12:46

and some of them will have a combination of these herbs.

12:51

So that could be a good place to start just to support, bring that additional support. board.

12:56

But again, we do not want to use these herbals as a quick fix.

13:01

You want to be using these herbals in combination with the foundations that

13:05

I talked about, the food, sleep, nervous system regulation, and movement.

13:08

It's when we use it in combination that it's going to support the body. So it's not a quick fix.

13:14

It's not a magic bullet, but we use it in combination as an additional support.

13:18

So the first thing that you may have heard of is ashwagandha,

13:21

which is and we call it an adaptogenic herb which supports the adrenal glands to produce.

13:29

Regulate to you know support all

13:32

the work that the adrenal glands have to do like

13:36

it's producing all of the cortisol but it's also

13:38

producing the estrogen and the progesterone and testosterone and all

13:41

of the things and so ashwagandha is a really good

13:44

adaptogenic herb another one is maca we know there's some research on it in

13:49

terms of infertility and that it increases the production of progesterone and

13:53

testosterone so maca can be a good one the only thing that i would say here

13:57

is that we need to be aware of testosterone levels.

14:03

So if you have something like PCOS, maca is probably not something that we would

14:07

necessarily recommend, but look out for things like hairs growing on your chin,

14:12

getting a bit more aggressive, that kind of thing.

14:14

If you use maca, that could be an indication that your testosterone levels are

14:19

lifting higher than it should. But for most women in perimenopause, we have low testosterone,

14:24

low progesterone, so maca is a really good supplement that we can use as well

14:28

vitex has been proven to really support.

14:32

Pemis symptoms and the production of these

14:35

hormones as well as black cohosh so those two

14:38

things are really good wild yam has been proven to support really low estrogen

14:45

now there's a product made by young living that is called progesins phyto plus

14:51

and it has got some wild which in the lab has been converted to progesterone as well.

14:57

So it's got some natural progesterone in this serum.

15:01

And this is something that I've recommended several times to some of my clients.

15:05

I use it all the time. I use it on my... Daughter that's going through puberty so progesterone phytoplasty is

15:12

an excellent excellent product that i highly recommend it's

15:15

a natural progesterone support and i use it with clary sage which is supportive

15:22

of estrogen levels and estrogen regulation so when we think about estrogen regulation

15:26

sometimes our different estrogens

15:29

can be out of relationship to one another. So we have E1, E2, and E3.

15:34

When you're pregnant, you also have E4.

15:37

But if we're not pregnant, we have those E1, E2, E3, and they should be in balance with one another.

15:44

And the total estrogen should also be in balance with progesterone.

15:47

So something that's really good to support that estrogen dominance or just estrogen

15:51

that's out of balance with one another Another is DIM, DIM,

15:56

which is a product that's really easy to get your hands on.

16:02

It supports liver function to regulate estrogen.

16:06

There's a little bit of studies on that, supporting that. So that is a good product as well.

16:12

And then licorice root has been proven also to support that liver function.

16:16

And then, of course, evening primrose oil and also omega-3 supplements.

16:22

Just those anti-inflammatory products that support, get rid of inflammation

16:26

in the body, which then further supports adrenal glands and also the production of those sex hormones.

16:33

So those are a few herbals that I would recommend that you start trialing in

16:38

combination with those foundational things that are food, sleep,

16:42

nervous system regulation and movement. So if you have any specific questions about this, please do reach out to me as well.

16:49

Now if you want to work with me closely we

16:53

work through a specific health strategy for

16:56

you we look at your business in combination with your personal life and how

17:01

do we address these foundational things we look specifically at testing we can

17:07

do some hormone testing some blood testing and we come up with a very specific

17:11

health strategy for you that will include include recommendations around supplements as well,

17:16

you can reach out to me and I will share with you all of the ways that you can work with me.

17:21

So if you go into the show notes, you can book a free Zoom discovery call with me.

17:26

We will look at what is the best next step for you.

17:29

So go into the show notes, click on book a call, and we'll just have a chat

17:35

on Zoom about what is the right strategy for you as well.

17:39

So thank you again for being here this week. If this episode was helpful at all or informational,

17:45

please do share it with a friend or a colleague and rate and review the episode

17:50

where you are right now so that more people can discover the Pyramid of Pulse podcast.

17:55

But thank you again for showing up this week and I'll see you again.

17:58

Music.