The ebb and flow of oestrogen is a natural part of a woman’s menstrual cycle and understanding the neurological connection explains so much about our complexity. We really do experience changes in mood and cognitive function during the month related to our hormonal flow. In mid-life our brains can become even more sensitive to our hormones in the lead up to menopause, which is why peri-menopause (the period before actual menopause begins) brings with it so much change.
I hope there are some big aha moments happening as you read this. You’re not crazy, you just need to understand the power and impact of your hormones and work with them, not against them.
If you have a menstrual cycle, it’s so important to track and understand it because you can then live your life in flow and make the most of your high energy time, which is also your most creative time and the best for problem-solving. In her interview with Jim Kwik, Dr Mindy Pelz goes as far as saying that businesses should put all their ovulating women in a boardroom and say, “OK, let’s dream up what next year’s going to look like”! She may be joking, but you get the picture. Hormones really matter for women’s brains.
Menopause metabolism
We’ve looked at menopause as a dynamic neurological transition that significantly impacts brain structure and connectivity, but it’s essential to understand its metabolic impacts too. Here again we see the impact of oestrogen as it’s not just the brain that suffers from its loss. As oestrogen nosedives during menopause, we become more insulin resistant, which impacts our body’s energy uptake.
Insulin resistance results when our tissues (e.g. adipose [fat], skeletal muscle and liver), no longer respond appropriately to insulin, causing the ineffective uptake of glucose into the cells, leaving it circulating in the blood. The more insulin resistant we become, the more increased the risk for developing type 2 diabetes, along with abdominal obesity (hello ‘menopause tyre’…), high blood pressure and dysregulated fat handling — all components of metabolic syndrome, which in turn, significantly increases the risk of developing cardiometabolic (heart-related) disorders.
Sounds like it’s all fun, fun, fun, doesn't it? Don’t despair, we’re about to get on to what to do about it. Nature really hasn’t messed up and deep in our genetic blueprints are the safeguards for both our brains and our bodies during menopause and beyond.
Solutions! What to do to minimise ‘menopause brain’
Our genetic blueprint holds the key to transitioning to the new post-menopause normal, but the route in, like for all health creation actions, is through the metabolism—the energy creation pathways that power life. Employing most, if not all, of the following suggestions will not only give your brain the maximum support through this very normal, physiological life-stage, but also put you onto the most beneficial health and longevity trajectory.
Transition to a low (not zero) carb lifestyle. Cut out all refined, processed and ultra-processed carbs in the form of cakes, biscuits, pasta, sweets, candies and milk chocolate. Limit grains (omit gluten-containing grains) from your daily nutrition and instead increase your above-ground plant foods (chard, kale, spinach and all the cruciferous veg like broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower). Nature intended us to eat sufficient quantities of complex carbs from plants, which also give us the all-important fibres we need to create and maintain a healthy microbiome. Use root vegetables (e.g. carrots, parsnips, beets, sweet potatoes) and squashes (e.g. pumpkin, butternut, gourds) to offer additional natural sugars. Choose low glycaemic fruits like less sweet apples (e.g. Granny Smiths), pears and berries and have them in between meals, in moderation.
Peri-menopausal and menopausal women need more carbs than a traditional keto diet allows, as we need to support hormone production. It’s a delicate balance as insulin is needed for oestrogen production, but as oestrogen falls, we become insulin resistant. Progesterone becomes so important during menopause as it’s our calming hormone that also helps us to sleep properly through the night, but to make it we need glucose. As such, aim to cycle your carbs and have some higher carb days where you eat more root veg or squash during the month. Also consume more of these healthy complex carbs for recovery after exercising. If you're peri-menopausal and still having a cycle, then ensure that you make the final week before your period higher in nature's carbs as this is when your body is making the most progesterone.
Get rid of bad fats and eat more of the good ones. Ditch the refined vegetable and seed oils and get rid of trans fats by cutting out all processed foods. Ensure that the only fats you consume are healthy ones
Use healthy organic cold pressed oils in salads or for flavouring cooked meals like organic flax oil, high in omega-3 EFAs and various nuts
Hazelnuts - not cashews or peanuts (that are legumes, not nuts), olives, coconut MCT oil (ideally a mix of C8 & C10) and avocados (fruit and oil). Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, lake trout, herring, anchovies, sardines) and their eggs (like caviar and salmon roe) are the best natural sources of DHA, an omega-3 essential fatty acid that our brains crave most.
It's key to have sufficient healthy fats in your diet so that your body can switch from burning sugars to fat-burning, where your body makes ketones. This is how you combat low brain energy during menopause - you switch from burning mainly sugars in the form of glucose, to ensuring you have a good supply of clean burning fuel in the form of ketones.
Fall in love with fibre. Fibre stabilises blood sugar and insulin, digests more slowly, is more filling and is a food substate for gut microbes. We need both soluble (small leafy green, fruits, root veg, pumpkin, squash) and insoluble fibre (large green leaves, radishes, rocket, broccoli, brussel sprouts). Leave the skins on your sweet potatoes for more fibre. During peri- and menopause, we need more fibre, so aim for at least 30g a day.
Include organic foods that provide phytoestrogens and lignans (which bind to receptor sites and can mimic the effects of oestrogen). Flax seeds, sesame seeds, chickpeas (that have been pressure-cooked first to remove the lectins), berries, melon, apples and apricots. Thankfully dark chocolate (85% or 90%) contains, magnesium, potassium, phosphorus, antioxidants and some phytoestrogens, as well as theobromine (from cacao), which contributes a range of health benefits.
The most well-studied phytoestrogens come from soy, but my suggestion would be to always follow the Japanese by only consuming fermented soy like natto, miso and tempeh. Unfermented soy can be extremely unfriendly for the gut and the thyroid..
Eat a rainbow every day. Ensure you’re including the 6 colours of nature’s palette in your vegetable and fruit intake daily to