Some of the best nutrition advice out there...

... straight from switched-on experts in the Hotflash inc perimenoverse

Hotflash inc: Here doing the research you don’t have time for… and reminding you this is going somewhere good! Just want to tell you at the outset so you don’t get annoyed that this is a newsletter for paid subscribers with a free preview.

(The free newsletter comes out this weekend, as per usual, I promise).

Photo by ABDALLA M on Unsplash

No matter our age or stage, every single bite we eat is having an impact on our hormones.

This is an awesome responsibility at the best of times, but now it’s more important than ever.

This isn’t about some social media argument on whether it’s possible to “balance hormones”, (I don’t know why people fight about this… compare how you feel when you are on a free-for-all to when you are consciously nourishing your body. The evidence stares you in the mirror).

This is about taking steps to support yourself through perhaps the most powerful transition of your life.

But if you are like me, it took until recently o’clock to really understand the sheer necessity of accepting this challenge of figuring out how to eat right down to our cells. This is all about taking radical responsibility, which is exactly what this heroine’s journey is calling us to do in all aspects of our lives. And if you are still figuring it out, I hope it doesn’t take a health crisis to bring the need on home to you.

Feeling better now and living a healthy life, now and for longer, are the rewards.

The challenge: insulin resistance 

Something everyone has to watch out for these days, no matter where their reproductive journey is at, is insulin resistance. This happens when cells in our body become less sensitive to insulin, meaning they have to take up more glucose from the blood, prompting the pancreas to make more insulin. This not-great loop serves as a warning signal, because it is a precursor to pre-diabetes, diabetes and indeed many diseases. 

There are a number of causes of insulin resistance, including a diet high in processed foods, vegetable oils, carbohydrates and sugary foods, and juice. Lack of sleep and a sedentary lifestyle contribute, as do genetics and a range of other factors. And in perimenopause, as New Zealand-based naturopathic doctor and author of hormone repair manual Lara Briden writes, women are particularly vulnerable because progesterone starts to fall, estrogen starts to rise and fall – and both have been responsible directly or indirectly (for example, in interacting with testosterone) in regulating how insulin works in our bodies. There are also links to insulin resistance in PCOS and hormonal birth control, other good-to-knows.

Now: what to do about it?