The natural hormonal change of peri-menopause has been given 34 symptoms to it’s diagnosis by the conventional medical field.
This list can feel down right scary; and it is not in your head, you really can feel ‘out of control’ in your own body and ‘not yourself’ when you notice the discomfort of hormonal change. Hormones, like our health, are holistic and impact every aspect of our health and body. You may feel like you are falling apart.
One problem with taking a natural process in a womans life and attaching all her physical symptoms to that chapter is that any further examination of those symptoms as being related to our ongoing health issues is bypassed. Ongoing male bias in the medical profession means that we ALREADY do not understand how many major health issues show up in a womans body. Now we are attaching 34 distinct messages from the body to a natural process and we are OK with bypassing other causes.
Hands up if your doctor has told you that you are ‘normal’ when you feel fat, unhappy, under-slept, anxious, achey, exhausted or uncomfortable at midlife?
Perimenopause is a new normal for women and that new normal includes becoming a powerful advocate for your health and a guardian for your nutrition.
Exhibit A is this horror scenario: Recent research informs us that for midlife women, numerous and uncomfortable hot flashes, especially when experienced early in our perimenopausal journey are an indicator or a cardiac event later in life. Turns out that the first indicator for a woman of poor cardiovascular health is the vasomotor response of a hot flash. Cardiac arrest is the number one cause of death for women and according to The Lancet; “Cardiovascular disease in women remains understudied, under-recognised, underdiagnosed, and undertreated.”
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2821%2900684-X/fulltext
Herber-Gast G, Brown WJ, Mishra GD. Hot flushes and night sweats are associated with coronary heart disease risk in midlife: a longitudinal study. BJOG. 2015 Oct;122(11):1560-7. doi: 10.1111/1471-0528.13163. Epub 2014 Nov 7. PMID: 25377022.
(If you are worried about your heart health, try my Cherry and Hibiscus Smoothie here.)
If our medical provider is not asking you questions about our diet, exercise, sleep, nutrition, stress, gut health, and full medical history when prescribing hormone therapy at midlife, you are in danger of taking hormone therapy as a band aid for your cardiovascular disease.
Find yourself a care provider who takes your symptoms seriously, finds time to gather your entire medical history and is committed to finding the root cause of each of the symptoms you are experiencing
Another area of womens health where we see medical bias, bypassing the root cause of perimenopausal symptoms is the area of our health that results in symptoms of:
Fatigue
Thinning hair
Anxiety
Dry skin and
Muscle tension and aches
These five symptoms of perimenopause are widely experienced by midlife women and can be related to our thyroid function. They warrant a deep dive into our nutritional status.
Midlife and perimenopause is when your body is going to get most vocal with you about nutritional deficiencies that occur on the Standard American diet are for anyone who eats process foods, drinks alcohol and coffee or takes a medication that causes a drain on daily nutrition.
The language your body speaks is symptoms and all of the above perimenopausal symptoms can be ameliorated by switching to a diet of dense nutrition.
Symptom-free hormonal change is going to be supported by a diet rich in protein, fibre, healthy fats, magnesium, iron and other minerals. You need the foods your cave-women self would eat to fully support your body through the stress of hormonal change and to build health for a vibrant next chapter.
When we fall into the normal range of a thyroid hormone test, it does not mean that our diet contains enough of the minerals required as co-factors for the chemical reaction to change T4 into active T3 for us to be free of the symptoms of dry skin, hair loss, fatigue, muscle tension and anxiety.
Organ meats such as liver, load easily absorbed haem iron, the B group of vitamins and other minerals into our body so our thyroid gland, stressed out from managing an increasing erratic menstrual cycle and short on sleep, can get the nutritional support it needs.
I have worked with numerous exhausted and frazzled women, exhibiting symptoms of nutritional deficiency at midlife, who give me an UGH! when I mention liver but do not feel that same UGH! about the meat patty served under the golden arches or a chemical filled conventionally farmed pork hot dog.
We need to give our heads a shake and get real about which foods drive our very best midlife health and which foods tear our health down.
This recipe for Chicken Liver Pâté is delicious, super easy to make and absolutely packed with the dense nutrition your midlife body is craving.
When it comes to cooking with liver, always source organic as the liver is the filter to all of the chemicals and toxins that enter the body.
I make this dish on a monthly basis with the knowledge that I am going to feel a burst of energy as the B vitamins and mineral dense nutrition is absorbed into my body and that my hair, nails, skin, immune health and thyroid gland will thank me.
This is the place to start to eat your way out of your fatigue and feelings of being frazzled.
Ingredients
1 lb organic chicken livers
1 small onion, chopped
2 tbsp + ½ cup butter, divided
3 tbsp Madeira or sherry
2 large cloves garlic, 1 crushed, 1 finely sliced
1 tsp Dijon mustard
3 sprigs thyme, leaves only
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
Instructions
In a large pan, saute the chicken liver and onions in 2 tablespoons of butter until the livers are browned and the onions are tender. Add the madeira, garlic, mustard, thyme and lemon juice, and cook uncovered until most of the liquid is gone.
Transfer the mixture to a food processor, and blend until a smooth paste along with the rest of the butter, *adding 1 tbsp of butter at a time* until it has reached a smooth creamy consistency. Add sea salt and black pepper to taste.
Transfer pate to a glass container and cover and refrigerate before serving. Enjoy pate on celery, carrots, cucumbers, peppers or Mary's crackers.
Liver is dense nutrition. Rich in iron and B vitamins, liver is mineral dense and supports immunity with easily absorbed vitamin A. If your body is run down and depleted then you should include liver in your diet.
