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- I'm menopausal.

- Menopause?

Me?

- You're joking, right?

I'm just getting started.

- It's the start of my new life.

- This is me.

- No pause.

- [Advertiser] Neovadiol by Vichy.

- [Presenter] Major funding for th..

Committed to skin .. is brought to you in part by - [Advertiser] During menopause, - Have you reached midlife a woman can lose .. and feel like a shadow of your former self?

In fact, over 50, half of all women Do you feel like the best years of your life have passed you by?

will likely experience an.. Well, you're not alone.

In a survey of 1,100 women, OsteoStrong is a unique system we found that 96% of the women .. for developing your skeletal strength that uses bone building exercises for osteoporosis.

an.. once menopause hit them.

(rousing music) - The symptoms I was going through, I had terrible hot flashes, panic attacks, anxiety.

- [Promoter] We were told about the change, - Night sweats.

but we were never told it would feel .. - I had a lot of brain fog, which really was detrimental to the type of work I was doing because you have to be focused and I could not stay focused.

- The good news is that we can bust that myth that menopause is the end of life as you knew it.

Instead, you can have what I call a midlife refuel and get back to feeling like a normal, vibrant woman again.

My name is Maryon Stewart.

I'm often referred to as the pioneer of the Natural Menopause Movement because my team and I have helped hundreds of thousands of women to overcome their symptoms.

I'm going to show you how to dance off the pounds and nourish yourself with Mother Nature's hormones, which can be found in our food, as well as give you tips to reclaim your wellbeing so that you can be the very best version of yourself.

Coming up, I'm going to explain about some of the tried and tested ways to manage your menopause naturally, all based on published medical research.

And I've invited some women to talk about their own personal experiences in a really frank way.

And I've also got some other experts joining me to help you get a better understanding about what's going on in your body at the time of menopause.

And before we wrap up, I'm going to leave you with some of my top tried and tested tips to help you overcome your symptoms.

Being bowled over by our hormones in midlife can have a disastrous effect on our self-esteem, as well as our relationships, and our ability to perform in the workplace.

The Mayo Clinic survey in 2009 showed that only 7% of doctors and gynecologists feel adequately educated to help women going through menopause.

But there's so much good research to show that women can navigate this transition, and they really don't need to go on suffering.

But they don't know that.

They just need to be armed with knowledge.

Let's begin by meeting women who are finding their menopause a huge challenge.

- A combination of confusion and lack of focus, and inability to remember anything.

And the other one was menopausal acne.

And the combination of the two really was quite distressing.

- I was having about 10 flashes a day and through the night as well.

I mean, there was some nights when I was absolutely soaking wet and I'd had to change the sheets.

- Some days I'd wa.. And that feeling of just not wanting to get out of bed and go out the front door.

- The doctor, yeah, hadn't recognized my symptoms and didn't, I had asked them several times and I went to my GP.

Am I suffering from menopause or perimenopause at the time?

And they said, "Oh no, you're too young."

But you know, I was about 48 when all these things, when I felt different.

- It's possible to make some dietary and lifestyle changes that will help you feel great again, and that is why I am so excited about this series.

As you can see, by making dietary and lifestyle changes, you can overcome your symptoms without taking drugs or hormones.

But before we get into the nitty gritty of how you do that, I wanted to focus on the ABCs of menopause.

And I'm delighted to be joined by Dr. Emmanuela Wolloch, who is a gynecologist and has been practicing for many years.

And she's going to answer a very key question.

So, Dr. Emmanuela, thank you so much for joining us.

My key question is, "What is going on in a woman's body when she gets to menopause?"

- That's a great question, and a lot is going on during menopause.

You see, we are born with millions of eggs, but as time goes by, we lose all those eggs until we run out.

And it's called menopause.

From one day to the other, no more estrogen, no more progesterone.

So, women feel miserable and having hot flashes, night sweats, interrupted sleep, low libido, painful intercourse, and that's really a problem.

- Yeah, absolutely.

And other symptoms like brain fog and anxiety and all sorts.

It's like some women describe themselves as having been possessed by an alien.

I don't know if you've probably heard that in your practice as well.

- I've experienced that in my practice.

- Yeah.

So, we talk about hormone replacement therapy as a solution for menopause, but there are other ways as a natural approach.

And I wonder how you feel about that as an experienced doctor.

- Well, I'm a traditionally trained gynecologist, but I have a special interest in functional and integrative medicine.

Therefore, I love to recommend natural approach.

With the right supplements, the right lifestyle changes, yoga, meditation, and organic nutritious diet, aiming for eight hours of sleep, and of course, acupuncture.

- Thank you so much.

- Thank you.

- Later on the show, the importance of exercise to stay flexible, energized, and calm.

Right here on "Maryon Stewart's Menopause Solutions."

(bright playful music) Are there days when you wish you could move into your refrigerator because you completely lost control of your thermostat?

Well, you're not alone.

Hot flashes affect more than 80% of women during midlife and beyond.

Did you know you can switch off those flashes in a matter of weeks without taking drugs or hormones?

I've helped tens of thousands of women to do this with well researched recommendations.

Just consume foods rich in Mother Nature's estrogen, little and often to keep the receptor sites full, including soy, flax seeds, and red clover.

Use alternatives to all forms of caffeine and even decaffeinated drinks in the short term as caffeine triggers hot flashes.

Avoid spicy food and hot drinks, and keep alcohol to a minimum for a few months.

A formal session of relaxation each day like meditation has been shown to reduce your hot flashes by 50 to 60%.

Speaking about hot flashes, we have them because we're running on empty.

Research shows that billions of women have nutritional deficiencies when they get to midlife, and at the same time, their ovaries are retiring.

We're effectively running on empty.

It's a bit like a car that's low on gas and hasn't been serviced for ages.

Nutritional deficiencies literally rob us as they have such a profound effect on both our hormones and our brain chemistry.

The problem is that we're never taught about how to detect or correct them at any stage in our lives.

And as baby girls, we are born with millions of eggs, but we literally have no roadmap.

Fortunately, Mother Nature shows us skin, hair, and nail signs of deficiency.

So now, let's take a look at the signs and symptoms of nutritional deficiency.

Common deficiencies of nutrients like iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, B vitamins, essential fatty acids, and vitamin D affect how we look and feel.

Facial acne, greasy skin, cracking at the corners of the mouth, red patches at the side of the nose, pimples on the upper arms or thighs, unmanageable hair and split brittle nails can be our body's way of saying that all is not well.

But many of us may not be tuned into the communication.

So, let's try to interpret what our body is desperately trying to tell us.

Realizing that you may be short of nutrients is the first step.

The next step is making it right.

It's not just a question of taking a supplement, but also of examining your diet and lifestyle, and learning which habits may interfere with the absorption of good nutrients.

Binge eating, drinking too much alcohol, and living life in the fast lane all take their toll not only on how you look, but also how you feel.

This type of destructive lifestyle is bad enough when we're young, but it can have a catastrophic effect when we're older, wreaking all sorts of havoc on our body.

I'm gonna be focusing on what should be on the menu if you want to correct nutritional deficiencies and control menopause symptoms naturally.

So, stay with me.

Another part of the myth about menopause is that when our ovaries retire, that we've run out of estrogen.

But what if I told you that we could fool our brain into thinking that we've got normal circulating levels again?

Mother Nature gives us those tools.

Whilst it's true that the ovaries have stopped working, foods rich in naturally occurring hormones known as phytoestrogens are so structurally similar to estradiol, that by eating these foods, we can literally fool our brain into believing that we once again have normal levels of circulating estrogen.

The factory lights go back on in our body, and cells that keep our skin, hair, and nails looking youthful and our vagina nice and moist, go back into production.

I bet you didn't know that research shows can reduce the depths of wrinkles in our within 12 weeks.

Phytoestrogen has been shown to get the juices in our vagina flowing again, keeping our bones strong, preventing osteoporosis, and significantly reducing our chances of having a heart attack after menopause, and even reduce our risk of getting dementia.

All this, as well as stopping hot flashes.

Drum roll.

Now I'm gonna tell you which foods are rich in phytoestrogens.

And I'm gonna show you how you can incorporate them into your diet.

But first, I want you to meet Dr. Vivienne McVey who was a GP for 20 years and went through an awful menopause.

She made dietary and lifestyle changes.

So, let's see what she's got to say.

- So, my menopausal symptoms hit me like a thunderbolt at the age of 50.

My period stopped.

I started having night sweats and night disturbance.

But probably the most troubling of my symptoms was vaginal dryness, which also meant that I had frequency of urination as well.

And I went along to my own GP and got prescribed some HRT, and much to my surprise, it didn't work.

I'd prescribed HRT for hundreds of women during the course of my career, and it didn't help my symptoms at all.

I tried a couple of different types.

And then we met Maryon and you invited me onto one of your courses, which was a total revelation for me.

So, having never really believed that it was possible to treat the menopause naturally, I found myself following the diet and exercise program and taking the supplements.

And after about three months, I can honestly say that all of my menopausal symptoms had disappeared, including the vaginal dryness, which had been very persistent.

And they've stayed away until now.

So, that's nine years later.

- One symptom of menopause that so many women grapple with is weight gain.

(bright playful music) Do you sometimes feel like a beach whale?

Are you piling on pounds, especially around the middle?

It's another one of the most common difficulties women experience as they transition through menopause and beyond.

We can kickstart our metabolism by getting the balance right in our diet and lifestyle.

Then you can lose weight without dieting in a matter of weeks.

Don't get derailed by stress.

You can reduce elevated cortisol levels, a stress hormone which causes us to accumulate all that stubborn belly fat.

By practicing regular relaxation and yoga, curb the cravings by consuming foods rich in magnesium.

B vitamins, and the trace mineral chromium, which are all needed for normal blood glucose control.

Good sources include eggs, beef, chicken, sardines, walnuts, Brazil nuts, almonds, and black pepper.

And keep dancing because exercise helps to burn fat.

So, make room in your weekly schedule for exercise.

Not only will it help you with weight loss, but also it will minimize your hot flashes whilst giving you newfound energy.

Speaking of exercise, I have found the most amazing woman who calls herself "ballet rock girl."

She helped herself over her menopause symptoms by moving and dancing.

And she's coming to help us to do just the same.

- I'm Mitsouku Piñon and I love to dance.

(bright upbeat music) I felt a lump in my abdomen around 2007.

Went to the doctor to check it out and she suggested a full hysterectomy.

Surprising.

So, I went ahead and did that and literally was thrown into menopause from one day to another.

My first hot flash was about the second day, and it was this burning sensation from the inside.

I knew it was a hot flash.

It was very challenging.

The brain fog, the weight gain.

I had to find a way to get myself out of it.

And I've always loved to dance.

It's been the one thing that I could go to and lose myself while I'm doing it.

So, I started little by little, started gaining my confidence, feeling better.

The happy endorphins started coming back.

It really has changed my life.

- So, we need to stretch to get started?

- Absolutely.

100%.

And I would say that you should do this every morning.

You know how you stretch sometimes in bed?

And we're gonna do that.

We're a little bit more organized, but we're gonna get started.

We're gonna lay flat as you can on your back.

And you're gonna inhale.

So, you wanna make sure that you point your toes.

So, pretend like someone's pulling you from the bottom and pulling you from the top.

So, you're gonna inhale big, big, big, giant port de bras to the top and exhale big, big, big going down.

Everybody could do this.

You don't need ballet training.

Again, inhale.

(inhales deeply) And exhale.

It's kind of like yawning.

(rhythmic upbeat music) This feels good, right?

- It does.

- We could do this every day.

- We should.

- We should.

Ready to dance?

- I am.

- That was a great stretch.

- Yes!

- Do we feel a little looser?

- I do.

- Yes.

A little bit more confident?

- Yep.

- Time to step it up a little bit.

- Okay.

- I wanted to start with some hip rolls.

- Okay.

- Hip rolls are a good way of stretching, right?

You're gonna stretch and start moving that body all the way around to the right and to the left.

They also make you feel a little- - Sexy.

- Sexy, dare I say.

And we all need a little sexy in our live, yeah?

So, we're gonna do four to the right, four to the left.

- Okay.

- Ready?

Five, and by the way, add arms if you want as well.

- Okay.

- 5, 6, 7, 8.

And 1, 2, 3, 4.

Other side, 2, 2.

Oh, you go girl.

(Maryon chuckles) That was amazing.

That feels good, yeah?

Another one that makes me feel a little sexy as well.

Easy to do.

Anybody could do it.

We're gonna do front, front, back, back.

We're gonna put a little bit of your... Man, look at you.

Feeling sexy.

I think the first one got you loose, yeah?

And then you could put your hips, whatever you want.

Excellent.

You are so ready.

(Maryon laughs) I cannot deal with you.

And then, another .. is I like to open the gate.

Turn your back, shimmy, shimmy.

Open the gate, shimmy, shimmy.

This you can do at any party.

(Maryon laughs) You look so good.

So sexy.

How do you feel?

You feel good?

- Fabulous.

- Fabulous?

- Fabulous.

- Sexy?

- Fabulous.

- I think we look fabulous, we feel fabulous and we're sexy.

- Okay, here we go.

- Let's go!

- From the dance studio to the kitchen.

Not only is exercise really important to help us through this transition, but So, let's have a look and see what's on the menu.

I'm going to show you some fast, easy ways to nourish yourself during menopause without even having to cook.

We often find that women lose weight without dieting whilst following this kind of plan.

So, if you're struggling to get your zipper done up, I'm going to show you how you can lose weight without dieting.

So, what's on the menu today?

I've tried to keep it really simple, as I know that lots of people don't have much time for cooking.

We're all busy and looking for fast options, but they can be healthy options if you know how to make wise choices.

We need to get enough good nutrients into our body to keep our brain and our nervous system working normally.

And then, we can make up for those nutritional deficiencies.

Plus, we need to consume Mother Nature's estrogen, and we need to do that little and often throughout the day to keep the receptor sites full.

Okay, here we go.

So to make it easy, I've laid out the foods you can have for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and so on, and even snacks.

So, let's start with our breakfast.

When you wake up in the morning, your estrogen receptor sites are empty, so you need to fill them.

You've gotta fool your brain into thinking you've got normal circulating estrogen again.

How you can do that?

You can take cereal.

So this, I've taken a a Moosely, and I'm going to put some berries on my Moosely.

And then, I'm going to sprinkle some flaxseeds on top.

And flaxseeds are the second richest source of naturally occurring estrogen.

And then, you need to take some flax seeds.

You can either have milled flax seeds or the whole flax seeds.

So, today I'm going to use the whole flax seeds and just sprinkle them on to give it a crunch.

(gentle upbeat music) And then, I'm going to pour on the soy milk.

(gentle upbeat music) (glass clinking) And voila.

There you go.

You've got about 25 milligrams of isoflavones in that bowl.

It's really delicious.

It's crunchy and yummy.

And that will keep you going until lunchtime.

Now let's move on to lunch.

So, I've chosen a salad for my lunch today as the main thing.

And I've just mixed in a variety of things.

I'm going to make it phytoestrogen-rich by putting on some Edamame beans.

You can put as many on as you like.

And you can also sprinkle on some flax seeds.

So, you've got two kinds of flax.

You've got the whole seed and you've got the ground seed.

So.. On salads I particularly like the whole seed, so I'll pop some of those on there.

And then the dressing.

And it could be that simple for lunch.

You could have some other protein with it if you like.

Some salmon, chicken.

(glass clinking) If you don't fancy a salad for lunch, you can have some dips like guacamole and hummus, and maybe some yummy corn chips and carrot sticks and celery to dip in with some Edamame beans to make it a bit more isoflavone-enriched.

So that won't take you long to put together.

We've also got these other little pods of Edamame beans that you can dip in as well.

And then for dinner, if you've had enough isoflavones, you won't need to add more.

But if not, you can try some of the tofu, maybe baked tofu that you can just use 'cause it's already cooked.

Or some of the other tofus that you can either bake or put in a stir fry.

And if you want to add miso, you can make a miso stock to add to soups.

So, this is a carrot and parsnip soup with some celery and ginger.

It's really delicious.

And you can add miso stock to that to make it more phytoestrogen-rich.

Plenty of options and really simple.

A good diet will help you feel so much better.

It controls many of our symptoms, including our mood and feelings of anxiety.

So if you are feeling anxious, listen up.

- How we eat essentially becomes how we feel.

And then, how we feel leads to changes in the foods that we choose.

So, what I think happens with women who are anxious is that many times they grab processed foods, foods full of sugar and salt, flour and fat.

And all of those foods make us feel good in the moment.

But then after some hours, we start to feel even more anxious.

We start to not sleep well.

And overall, over time, we start to become more depressed.

So when we feel bad, we continue to keep that cycle going.

And what we really need to do is to break that cycle with good, healthy foods that are unprocessed.

So, one of the aspects of foods that I want women to move more towards is that of color.

Colorful fruits and vegetables.

And in fact, there is some good scientific research to suggest that when we increase the number of fruits and vegetables per day, we reduce the number of mental disorders and the amount of distress.

In fact, increasing fruits and vegetables has been implicated in changing our level of happiness, changing how curious and creative we are.

So, I do think that making a better food choice can lead us down the path of feeling better.

- Next, for my top five tips on getting you started on your healthy menopause journey.

First thing you need to do is eat regular meals so that you have a constant supply of good nutrients going through to your brain and nervous system.

This will help your hormones function normally.

Secondly, consume foods rich in naturally occurring estrogen little and often as the receptor sites in the cells don't stay full for more than a few hours.

The third thing is keep well hydrated with caffeine-free drinks, including water and herbal tea.

Maybe set your phone alarm to remind you if you don't feel thirsty.

Fourth, try to do some exercise five times a week, even if it's just dancing to your favorite music, as it helps with mental clarity and flexibility, and has even been shown to reduce hot flashes.

Finally, do a session of formal relaxation each day.

Daily formal relaxation has been shown to reduce hot flashes by a massive 50 to 60%.

The transformation is amazing when you follow these tips.

Let's check in with the ladies we heard from at the beginning of the show and see how they're doing after putting this into practice for six weeks.

- Loads better.

My energy's increased.

I don't have the migraines.

- I'm more focused.

My co..

I'm more productive, more creative.

Yeah, it's made a huge difference in so many ways.

- It literally only took about four weeks before the flashes went away.

And it's been a life changing experience.

I don't have to worry about my internal thermometer going all over the place.

It's good to be back in control again.

- I just feel much happier, much healthier.

I think I look better.

I feel more confident.

So yeah, almost a new woman.

- Aren't those case stories completely incredible?

It's such a relief to know that women can have a midlife refuel.

And not just overcome their hot flashes, but they can actually feel better than they can ever remember.

I hope you've enjoyed our show.

There's a lot more information online because we're gonna be busting more myths about how you manage your menopause naturally from bone health through to weight, gain and how you can overcome that.

And of course, how you can get back to feeling like your sexy self again.

It's all here on "Maryon Stewart's Menopause Solutions."

- [Narrator] This education initiative continues on Maryon Stewart's naturalmenopause.tv website where you can watch more interviews, attend live sessions with Maryon and other experts, and view video extras and more.

(energetic music) - [Presenter] Major funding for this program was brought to you in part by - [Advertiser] As we get older, our bones can begin to change.

Osteoporosis, the loss of bone density is a real concern for older adults.

OsteoStrong uses bone building exercises for osteoporosis and developing your skeletal strength.

Getting older doesn't mean getting weaker.

OsteoStrong, a proud supporter of public television.

- I'm menopausal.

- Menopause?

Me?

- You're joking, right?

I'm just getting started.

- It's the start of my new life.

- This is me.

- No pause.

- [Advertiser] Neovadiol by Vichy.

Committed to skin health science.

- [Promoter] We were told about the change, but we were never told it would feel like this.

At the touch of a button, Embr Wave provides a cooling sensation.

Embr Labs is a proud supporter of public television.

(bright music)