Welcome to 'Women Positively Ageing', the podcast that brings you the best of current research and advice on how to live well for longer.
I’m your host Barbara Bray and in each episode I’ll be joined by an expert in ageing and health research talking about the health challenges they have found and how they can be prevented or reduced.
The thought of ageing may fill you with dread but there are tools out there to
- help you overcome those fears
- learn what challenges to watch out for and
- proactively change your lifestyle to age happily and well
Join me and my guests as we discuss living well for longer, enjoy the show and do let us know what changes you put in place.
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Menopause is a period of transition that can affect women in a range of different ways. The way in which we respond to the changes can have a lasting impact on the quality of our health. In today’s episode we discuss how the food we eat can help us to live well through menopause and beyond.
Laura is an award-winning Freelance Registered Nutritionist who specialises in nutrition writing, workplace wellness and nutrition communications.
Laura studied public health and nutrition at the University of Aberdeen. Now, with over 15-years’ experience working in food innovation and academic research she loves reviewing the scientific evidence and translating it into clear messages.
Lynn is a registered nutritionist with many years' experience in public health nutrition and recipe analysis. Having gained many years experience working in various nutrition positions within the UK civil service, she is now works independently, writing, delivering courses and developing recipes.
Lynn and Laura have published their new book ‘Eating well for menopause’ and are here to tell us about it.
Bullet points of key topics.
3.08 Topic #1 The need for a book on eating well for menopause
Women were coming them with questions about what to shop, cook and eat to help deal with the menopause transition. The pair started out with a selection of digital downloads which then became the book.
5.48 Topic #2 The core areas covered by the book
Hot flushes and Sleep issues as these are most common reported issues during menopause and the book covers other topics including hydration and body image.
20.11 Topic #3 Mediterranean diet as a recommended way of cooking and eating
What the Med diet is beneficial for - eg Heart, Weight management and Mood.
Beans and pulses and fruits and vegetables, not just fresh but canned and frozen
26.00 Topic #4 Healthy hydration
Hydration and how some women may avoid drinking due to bladder issues and what the implications of this may be on health/other symptoms.
Take home points
Eat more soya and follow a Mediterranean pattern of eating
Diversify your plant foods
Hydration – keep well hydrated
Notes:
NB: this information does not replace personalised advice from a Health Care Professional
Further Resources:
Eating Well for Menopause: Advice and recipes to improve your health and well-being
By Dr Laura Wyness and Lynn Burns
Available from online and high street bookstores from June 2023
Depression is one of the leading causes of disease related disability in women and they are nearly twice as likely as men to suffer from an episode of depression. The prevalence has been reported to be particularly high during the menopause transition.
Women with a history of anxiety and depression report worse quality of life during their mid-years.
My guest today is Dr Charlotte Marriot is a Consultant NHS Psychiatrist, a Certified Lifestyle Medicine Physician and a nature-based coach. She likes to inspire and empower people to make small changes to their lifestyles to improve their physical and mental health and well-being. She is the ideal expert for today’s topic on depression and anxiety.
Topic #1 What is anxiety and how does it differ to depression?
Anxiety and depression can go hand in hand
Different types of anxiety
Depression - pervasive low mood and biological symptoms from mild to severe
Topic #2 Risk of depression and anxiety in mid-life
The sandwich years and responsibility
Women’s mental load
Importance of self-care
Managing inflammation through diet and exercise, limiting alcohol
The benefits of exercise for symptoms of depression
11mins of walking a day can be protective for our health
Topic #3 Prevention and management
In the UK first point of contact is GP to access primary care support
Private psychologists and therapists can be accessed from British Psychological Association of regulated professionals
Accident & Emergency or Crisis Centres or Third Sector such as MIND will help in an emergency.
•, Edited by Douglas L. Noordsy, M.D (2019) •, Edited by Brendon Stubbs and Simon Rosenbaum (2018) •: How Diet Can Save Your Mental Health – cutting-edge science from the expert, Professor Felice Jacka (2019) •, Anderson, Dinan & Cryan (2019) •, Edward Bullmore (2019) •, James Nestor (2020) •, Lucy Jones (2020) •, Eddie Stern (2020)
Gut health and ageing
Season 1 · Episode 1
Saturday, June 25, 2022 • Duration 32:16
Brief summary of episode:
What does ‘’healthy ageing” really mean when we are all so different as individuals?
The ageing process is influenced by so many factors, our physical environment, social environment, genetics and many more. As we age there can be changes to the way we absorb nutrients from food, our appetite can become disrupted, and our immune function altered.
What about our gut microbiome? How does it change over time? What influences those changes and can we do something positive about it.?
Our guest today,Rebecca Hirst Chief Marketing & Communications Officer for EY UK speaks about experience of changing her diet, the impact it had on her health, and her new passion for personalised nutrition and gut health.
Our invited researcher is Emily Leeming RD and Head of Programmes at Zoe, a health science company that uses novel digital technologies to tackle health issues and runsthe world's largest in-depth nutritional research program. Emily explains what the microbiome is and how it is impacted by diet and other factors and what we can do to maintain good health.
NB: this information does not replace personalised advice from a Health Care Professional
Bullet points of key topics
Topic #1 Whatis the microbiome? Topic #2 What’sit’s connection with health and ageing? How does the microbiome change through our lifetime?
Topic #3 Rebecca’s journey with acne and giving alcohol and caffeine – body changes after menopause ‘change and adapt message’. Exercise helps as well as diet changes
Women Positively Ageing Trailer
Season 1 · Episode 1
Saturday, June 25, 2022 • Duration 03:12
Women Positively Ageing was born from my conversations with my peers about how we could age better. In this trailer, I tell the story of realising that ageing isn't just about physical health issues and why I want to help people live well for longer.
In the UK, the number of years that we spend in good health, our healthspan, is on average 10 years shorter than our lifespan!
What if we could reduce the number of years we spend in poor health? That would be something to celebrate as we age. The good news is that we can do something about how we age and over a series of weeks I'll be talking about how women can protect their health as they age.
Have a listen to the trailer, subscribe and do join me to hear from my guests on the show.......
I’m loving creating this podcast, but there are costs with it, so if you could tip me the price of a cup of coffee that would be a big help to creating some more of the fantastic content you’ve been enjoying.
Sleep is crucial for our overall health and well-being, affecting both our physical and mental health. This is why a lack of it impairs a range of functions from task performance and post-physical activity recovery to cognitive performance and mood. Poor sleep quality also impairs decision-making.
What can we do to manage episodes of poor sleep? Is it just sleep that’s an issue and where does tiredness come into it? What impact can menopause have on our sleep?
In today’s episode, I’ll be asking these questions to Dr Jonny Bloomfield, health and performance coach and I’ll also be speaking with Diana Spellman, a company director who will be sharing her story of sleep problems as she adapted to the menopause.
2.48 Jonny explains the difference between sleep and tiredness and Diana shares how her sleep pattern started to go wrong
4.50 Jonny explains that tiredness comes from many sources and gives a range of examples
7.16 Jonny takes us through the sleep systems
The importance of peak sleep drive
The circadian system and the hormones melatonin and cortisol
The effect of the stress and recovery
14.08 Jonny discusses changing hormones and the impact on the quality of our sleep. Diana shares the changes that she had to make to her sleep as she went through menopause.
21.00 The strategies we need to put in place to have good sleep
Sleep hygiene - look at your sleep environment
Sleep divorce - do you need to sleep separately?
Sleep disruptors - alcohol, caffeine,
33.35 Winding down before sleep and using recovery strategies
37.00 Self-care practices and involving your partner
38.48 Take home messages
Take home messages
Get up at the same time everyday
Only go to bed when you’re sleepy
Letting go of wanting to lose weight
Wednesday, April 19, 2023 • Duration 40:11
Welcome to today’s episode “Letting go of wanting to lose weight” with non-diet counsellor Mel Wakeman and guest Amy Wilkinson sharing her lived experience.
Mel is a highly experienced and neurodivergent registered nutritionist specialising in intuitive eating, non-diet nutrition and counselling for eating disorders, disordered eating and body image issues. She developed an eating disorder herself at 16 (now recovered) which fed her interest in nutrition, before beginning a long lecturing career in 1997. Since launching Wakeman Nutrition in 2017 Mel is on a mission to help folk who find food difficult and stressful, discover freedom, peace, and happiness in their own skin.
Amy is a Coach supporting women and teams in the Food & Grocery Industry to be more assertive and get the recognition they deserve in their careers. Amy’s works with women across the sector to help them be more confident in themselves. Often, the conversation comes back to appearance and weight, which is something Amy has also battled with her whole life. Amy burnt out just over a decade ago, whilst on a restrictive diet and intensive exercise regime. Amy now helps women to be more self-assured so that they can have successful careers without burning out.
03.25 Mel discusses the impact of diet messaging. How the diet culture is causing harm and negatively impacting the image we have of ourselves.
11. 45 Mel talks about relationships with food and Amy shares her history
22.22 Mel discusses menopausal weight gain and Amy shares the changes she has made recently to her lifestyle
32.10 Know your numbers - managing high blood pressure is important and we should check our blood sugar (HBa1c) and cholesterol too.
35.50 Take home messages
focus on well-being over weight loss
look beyond appearance and let go of chasing the weight number
support your body in its 60's and beyond by focusing on core strength, good mental health and healthy ageing
challenge the way we have been taught to reject ourselves
How good is your bone health?
Season 2 · Episode 1
Tuesday, April 4, 2023 • Duration 29:29
As we age from mid-life we lose muscle mass and our bone strength gradually declines. Keeping our bone health for as long as possible is important to prevent us from becoming frail.
What does ‘bone health’ mean?
● Bone health is about keeping your bones healthy for life, so you can live well for longer.
● Good bone health can prevent fractures and the health consequences of this - pain, disability, loss of independence, poor quality of life.
How do we maintain good bone health as we age? Is it possible for us to reduce the risk of damage and fractures? To answers these questions and share advice and experiences, I have invited Tanya Grenade and Aliya Porter.
Tanya is a freelance Associate Nutritionist specialising in science communication and bone health and a volunteer with the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
Aliya is a freelance Registered Nutritionist who has a family history of osteoporosis, a debilitating health condition that weakens the bones and causes them to break. She works with clients of all ages to improve their nutrition without breaking the bank or chaining them to the kitchen!
Good bone health throughout life with these 4 steps:
Prevention
Prevention of poor bone health by looking after your bones from a young age is best. During childhood and teens is the time to build your bone strength as at around early to late 20’s your bones will be the strongest they will be (Peak bone mass)
Lifestyle changes
Nutrition and physical activity. Around 35-40 your bone strength gradually declines due to age. As more bone is being lost than made. So at this stage in your life you want to maintain your bone health nutrition and physical activity is a great way to do this.
Exercises beneficial for people with osteoporosis
Heart health and menopause
Season 1 · Episode 6
Thursday, October 27, 2022 • Duration 34:12
Heart disease tends to be considered a man’s problem and high blood pressure, cholesterol, stress and too much drinking and smoking are common problems for men. The reality is that the risk of coronary heart disease increases for women after menopause. The good news is that there are changes that we can make in our daily lives that can reduce the risk factors for coronary heart disease and stroke. We’ll hear about how changes to the diet can help reduce cholesterol levels, disease risk and manage other menopausal symptoms.
Join me in this episode to hear from our researcherDr Laura Wyness.
Laura is an award-winning Freelance Registered Nutritionist who specialises in nutrition writing, workplace wellness and nutrition communications.
Laura studied public health and nutrition at the University of Aberdeen. Now, with over 15-years’ experience working in food innovation and academic research she loves reviewing the scientific evidence and translating it into clear messages.
Her work includes offering online nutrition consultations and she has provided dietary advice for many peri-menopausal women. In collaboration with fellow Registered Nutritionist Lynn Burns, she has helped developed ebooks and online courses on Eating Well for Menopause.
Laura explains her interest in menopause and diet and that women are not as aware of the risk associated with menopause and heart disease.
Topic 1 - Menopause symptoms and impact on heart health and cholesterol level
Topic 2 - Key nutrients and useful foods to include in the diet to help reduce cholesterol level
Topic 3 - Other menopausal symptoms such as poor sleep and bladder issues
Top 3 things people should focus on to improve their heart health
1. Check your cholesterol and BP levels
2. Include heart healthy foods - oats, nuts, soya foods…plenty F&V, beans and pulses, mycoprotein/Quorn foods and adding a portion of oil-rich fish each week
How to protect your brain health
Season 1 · Episode 5
Friday, October 7, 2022 • Duration 32:58
Brief summary of episode:
The brain is a complex organ that controls our movement, our emotions and stores our precious memories.
When we talk about brain health, there are a few definitions and the one I have chosen is from World Health Organisation (WHO) due to its inclusive language.
“Brain health is the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over the life course, irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders.”
How do we maintain our brain health? Is it possible for us to reduce our dementia risk as we age? To answer these questions and more, I have invited Professor Anne-Marie Minihane from the University of East Anglia.
Prof Anne-Marie Minihane’s research looks at the impact of certain foods and the Mediterranean diet on brain health. She will also discuss the possible effects of menopause on dementia risk.
Bullet points of key topics + chapter markers
1/ Anne-Marie's career in nutritional biochemistry to researching plant-based foods and brain health with a focus on the menopausal period.
2/ The effect of dehydration on cognitive performance and concentration
3/ Incorporating a Mediterranean style plant-based diet. Purple, red and blue fruits, green leafy vegetables and red cabbage and onions, nuts. Using canned and frozen veg. Soffritto sauce and its benefits.
4/ The gut brain connection, enteric nervous system and neurotransmitters. Ensuring sufficient fibre in the diet through wholegrains. Fibre hacks - check your carbohydrate to fibre ratio.
5/ Cognitive health and memory loss. Focus on what you remember!
6/ Menopause and its impact on brain health. Research on the loss of DHA in the brain and the interest in omega 3 and phytoestrogens in the diet. Benefits of oily fish - a plug for sardines from Cornwall, herring and mackerel from Scotland!
Social Isolation and Loneliness
Season 1 · Episode 4
Wednesday, September 28, 2022 • Duration 32:18
Brief summary of episode:
The topic today is social isolation and loneliness and you may have heard this well known quote about the impact on our health.
“research byProf Julianne Holt-Lundstat about the impact of social connection on health outcomes indicates that a lack of social connection is comparable to smoking up to 15 cigarettes per day”
We may be living longer lives than our parents, but social isolation and loneliness shortens our healthspan, the number of healthy years of our lives.
In this episode we’ll talk about the risk that loneliness poses to our health and the ways that we can address this and ensure we build a safe and supportive community.
I’m joined by Shazney Spence, CEO & Founder of EQuanimity Lifestyle & Success Coachingand Dr Deborah Morgan (known as Deb), academic researcher in gerontology and social isolation and loneliness at the University of Swansea.
Topic #1Difference between social isolation and loneliness
Topic #2Pathways to Social isolation and Ioneliness and identifying loneliness & triggers
Topic #3 Impact on mental health
Topic #4 Alleviating loneliness: strategies to build confidence, self-esteem, self-perception, value & trust
Topic #5 Connection and the power of vulnerability. Learnings from NASA's CONNECT strategy for social isolation.
SummaryTips from Deb and Shazney
a) you can recover from loneliness – you need to talk to someone
Topic #4 Menopause
Depression presents differently in menopause
The two can be confounded but they are not one and the same thing
Importance of monitoring symptoms and communicating them to a health care professional
Take home messages
Eating a healthy diet for example following the Mediterranean dietary pattern
Maintaining physical activity, move a little bit every day in a way that makes you feel good
Eating a varied diet that is high in vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, cereals, grains, fish and unsaturated fats, is a good way of eating and not just for mental health.
What happens to the microbiome in later life? What can we do to support our microbiome?
Notes:
Emily mentioned a study conducted by Zoe where the researchers looked at metabolic markers in peri-menopausal and menopausal women. They did notice differences in the gut of menopausal women.
Rebecca mentioned the book that she read ‘I quit sugar’ by Sarah Wilson
Further Resources:
List of resources, suggested materials, affiliate links, and social media:
What lies beneath...the number on the scale (and some bonkers history of the bathroom scales), 1st April 2022 and Menopause and Eating disorders, 24th June 2022 could also be a helpful listen
Being aware of any signs and symptoms or changes in your body. May not notice any symptoms till you get a fracture. But some symptoms are loss of height (this can also happen after pregnancy - pregnancy related osteoporosis), curved back (kyphosis), back pain.
Timely treatment
If you do have a problem with your bone health. Getting the right treatment quickly can help to look after your bones. DEXA scan, UK- Fracture liaison Clinic (FLS) where available as there isn’t 100% coverage.
Aliya's story
Her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother have each had a history of broken bones and long-term pain. She shares with us the range of treatment that they received and the varying outcomes, stressing the importance of presenting early to the doctor with the symptoms and ensuring that intervention starts quickly.
She is now in a position to use her family history to help inform her own treatment. She currently has strategies in place to manage her bone health to stay in good condition for as long as she can.
Key take home messages
Genetics plays a huge role in our bone health yet there are things that we can do to reduce the risk of poor bone health as we age.
These include acting quickly when we experience changes and increased pain. Note down this information and inform a doctor.
Be persistent, especially if you have a family history of poor bone health. An early scan and medical intervention is key to a good outcome.
Diet and exercise has an impact on bone health. Resistance/weight bearing exercises and a diet that contains a diverse range of foods including fruits and vegetables, sources of calcium for example dairy foods and products fortified with calcium are helpful.
Further Resources:
General information about Osteoporosis
Royal Osteoporosis Society website
UK’s largest national charity dedicated to improving bone health and beating osteoporosis
3. Hydrate well – ask yourself are you drinking enough? Staying well hydrated helps your heart do its job and helps your muscles work more efficiently.
List of resources, suggested materials, and social media:
Recommendations from an international team of experts and leaders in the field have been generated with a clear focus to reduce the global burden of cardiovascular disease in women by 2030
Note:
“We use the term ‘women’ throughout this talk with no intention of exclusion. It is important to highlight that it is not only those who identify as women who may experience menopausal symptoms.
For example, some transgender men, non-binary people, and intersex people or people with variations in sex characteristics may experience menopause.”
Please note that this podcast is not intended for use by non-medically qualified individuals or as a an alternative to any medical treatment.
7/ One in 14 people over 65 are likely to develop dementia. 12 modifiable risk factors are responsible for 40% of our risk including diet, physical activity, hearing impairment and low social contact.
8/ Information on brain health and more tips from Alzheimer's Research UK.
Please note that this podcast is not intended for use by non-medically qualified individuals as an alternative to any medical treatment.
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