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What Happens To The Body During Menopause? | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
Jan 30, 2025
What is menopause? Menopause is all about hormones. Expert nutritionist Richie Kirwan tells us how it affects a woman's body.
In this video, Richie Kirward - an expert nutritionist is going to talk about Menopause, what it is, what it does to a woman’s body, why you should know about it and the diet and exercise strategies women can use during it.
If you can relate to this video or feel any changes, please, do see a GP.
***
Chapters:
00:00 - Introduction
01:00 - What is menopause?
03:13 - How menopause changes the body and sleep
05:53 - What is MHT and HRT?
08:02 - Can cardio help?
08:10 - Protein and menopause
08:53 - Improving heart health
09:49 - How to get plenty of fibre
10:26 - Should you eat fewer carbs?
11:17 - What supplements can help
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0:00
menopause lots of people have heard the
0:01
word but many especially men have no
0:04
idea what it is let's talk about that
0:08
how's it going guys my name is richie
0:10
kirwan and today we're going to talk
0:11
about menopause what it is what it does
0:13
to a woman's body why you should know
0:16
about it and the diet and exercise
0:18
strategies women can use during it oh
0:20
and for all the guys watching i can
0:22
promise that will be worth your while
0:24
learning a little about this before we
0:26
get into it i want to say a big thank
0:28
you to amanda thieb author of men
0:30
apocalypse for all the feedback and
0:32
input on the content in this video now i
0:34
also want to point out that none of what
0:36
i say here should be considered medical
0:38
advice and in fact i'll discuss how
0:41
important proper medical treatment can
0:43
be during menopause what i want to do
0:45
with this video is create some awareness
0:47
about menopause because it doesn't get a
0:49
lot of attention in the mainstream and
0:51
that's just wrong considering it'll
0:53
affect half of the people on earth at
0:55
this point for all the guys who are
0:56
thinking this doesn't matter to them and
0:58
want to click on yet another video on
1:00
how to grow your biceps menopause is
1:02
something that will affect your mother
1:04
your sister your female friends and
1:06
maybe even your future partner
1:08
understanding what it is will help you
1:10
understand a little of what they'll have
1:11
to go through and there's nothing wrong
1:13
with a little empathy so basically
1:15
menopause is all about hormones from the
1:19
time kids hit puberty they see a massive
1:22
increase in the production of sex
1:23
hormones testosterone in men and
1:25
estrogen and progesterone in women those
1:27
hormones are produced by the ovaries
1:28
throughout a woman's reproductive life
1:30
and they control the development of a
1:32
woman's secondary sexual characteristics
1:34
like breast growth and hip widening as
1:36
well as controlling a woman's monthly
1:38
cycle in men testosterone production
1:40
starts to decline very gradually from
1:42
their 30s and that also happens in women
1:45
but a lot more happens too you see when
1:48
women hit their late 40s or early 50s
1:50
they experience a massive and sudden
1:53
change in estrogen and progesterone
1:55
levels in fact the change in the body's
1:57
hormone levels is so significant that it
2:00
leads to all of the physical symptoms of
2:02
menopause which we're going to talk
2:03
about in a moment the very beginning of
2:05
menopause is called perimenopause and
2:07
it's when symptoms start some but not
2:09
all women start to get irregular periods
2:12
which can mean shorter or longer cycles
2:14
depending on the stage of menopause when
2:15
a woman has gone a whole year without a
2:18
period that's when she is officially
2:20
menopausal now at this point some people
2:23
might think not having to deal with
2:24
periods anymore doesn't sound so bad
2:26
well wait there's more thing is the
2:28
change in hormone levels around
2:30
menopause has a phenomenal effect on
2:33
women's bodies for example some of the
2:35
more common symptoms and conditions
2:37
associated with menopause are hot
2:39
flashes and night sweats which can
2:40
happen in 75 of menopausal women and can
2:43
last for years and in some cases decades
2:47
there are also heart palpitations sleep
2:50
disturbances osteoporosis which leads to
2:52
brittle bones and a higher risk of
2:53
fractures
2:54
mood disturbances like anxiety
2:56
depression even foggy thinking loss of
2:59
libido and sexual dysfunction cognitive
3:02
decline including alzheimer's disease
3:04
and even heart disease and virtually
3:07
every woman you know will have to go
3:09
through some of these symptoms that's
3:11
how relevant this is on top of that
3:14
around menopause women start to see
3:15
changes in their bodies that can include
3:17
gaining extra body fat loss of muscle
3:19
tone and they may notice that they're
3:21
storing fat in different parts of their
3:23
bodies than before now the increase in
3:25
body weight may have a lot to do with
3:27
the loss of sleep quality women
3:29
experience during menopause if you've
3:30
seen my video on sleep you'll remember
3:32
that a lack of sleep can lead to an
3:33
increase in appetite and a desire for
3:35
high carb and high fat highly processed
3:38
foods lack of sleep also makes people
3:40
less likely to follow healthy lifestyle
3:42
habits like eating fruit and vegetables
3:44
and exercising and related to that
3:46
studies have shown a drop in women's
3:48
activity levels around menopause too on
3:50
top of that a lack of sleep can also
3:52
lead to muscle loss as can a drop in
3:54
estrogen levels you see in women
3:55
estrogen carries out many of the same
3:57
functions of testosterone in men so it's
3:59
really important for maintaining muscle
4:01
size as we get older muscle loss
4:03
naturally occurs for a number of reasons
4:05
and the hormonal changes play a big role
4:07
too a loss of muscle means someone will
4:09
have a slightly lower basal metabolic
4:11
rate which can make weight gain easier
4:14
and yes there's more the change in
4:16
hormones around menopause can also
4:18
change a woman's body fat distribution
4:20
you see with normal estrogen and
4:21
progesterone levels most women tend to
4:23
store body fat around their bum and
4:26
their hips this is called a gynoid fat
4:28
distribution and we know that it's a
4:29
healthier way to store fat compared to
4:32
the way that men store fat you see men
4:34
tend to store body fat around their
4:36
waist around their abdomen and this is
4:38
called an android fat distribution which
4:40
is associated with a higher risk of
4:42
heart disease but when menopause hits
4:44
many women's body fat distribution can
4:46
start to switch from the healthier
4:47
gynoid to the less healthy android or
4:50
male type fat distribution women also
4:53
tend to see an increase in visceral fat
4:55
or fat around the organs in the abdomen
4:57
high levels of visceral fat are
4:59
particularly bad for our health as they
5:00
secrete a number of chemical signals
5:02
that lead to higher levels of
5:03
inflammation high blood pressure poor
5:05
blood glucose control and high
5:06
triglycerides this is one of the reasons
5:08
why younger women have a much lower rate
5:11
of heart disease compared to men that
5:12
all changes though when a woman enters
5:14
menopause and her risk of heart disease
5:16
massively increases now this is the
5:18
point of the video where i'm supposed to
5:20
tell you how you can balance your
5:21
menopausal hormones with a load of
5:23
supplements right
5:24
absolutely not if you ever hear a
5:27
nutritionist or basically anyone who is
5:29
not a doctor speaking about balancing
5:32
hormones around menopause you can just
5:34
assume that they are talking absolute
5:36
and are probably trying to sell you
5:38
something here's the thing if a woman
5:39
has gone through menopause she is never
5:42
going to naturally restore her former
5:44
hormone production but there is
5:46
something she can do and it's called
5:49
menopause hormone therapy or mhd in mht
5:53
a woman takes either estrogen alone or a
5:55
combination of estrogen and progesterone
5:57
depending on what her doctor deems
5:58
appropriate to supplement the hormones
6:01
she doesn't produce anymore you may have
6:03
heard of hrt before which stands for
6:05
hormone replacement therapy but this
6:07
term isn't used as much anymore as the
6:09
hormones aren't replaced to their
6:11
previous levels that's why menopause
6:13
hormone therapy is the more appropriate
6:15
term these days that said i'm going to
6:17
use the term hrt in this video because
6:18
it's what people are familiar with
6:20
remember all those horrible symptoms of
6:21
menopause i mentioned earlier well hrt
6:24
can actually improve all of them and not
6:26
only that but women who take hrt have a
6:29
higher quality of life many have a lower
6:31
risk of heart disease and a lower risk
6:33
of a number of other diseases and they
6:35
also tend to live longer too the problem
6:37
is that about 20 years ago hrt got a
6:40
really bad reputation because of early
6:42
results from a famous study called the
6:43
women's health initiative which claimed
6:45
that hrt was associated with a greater
6:47
risk of breast cancer that result
6:49
received a huge amount of media
6:52
attention and because of that many women
6:54
even today avoid hrt because of the fear
6:57
of breast cancer however
6:59
later more complete and longer term
7:01
results from the exact same study showed
7:04
that hrt was actually associated with a
7:07
lower risk of breast cancer now i'm a
7:09
nutritionist and it's not my place to
7:11
recommend hrt to anyone because it's
7:13
genuinely not for everyone but i do
7:16
recommend to all of my own female
7:18
clients who are going through menopause
7:20
to speak with their doctors about their
7:22
suitability for hrt now even if you
7:24
can't balance your hormones with diet
7:27
women going through the menopause can do
7:29
a lot to improve their health and
7:31
quality of life with diet and exercise
7:34
from an exercise perspective resistance
7:36
exercise like lifting weights or circuit
7:38
training is really important for helping
7:40
to maintain and even build muscle which
7:42
both men and women lose more easily as
7:45
they age it's also essential for helping
7:47
to maintain bone density and strength as
7:49
women get older now i've done a video on
7:52
muscle loss as we age or sarcopenia
7:54
which is my field of research before so
7:56
if you want more information on muscle
7:58
loss and what you can do to prevent it
8:00
check it out here
8:01
regular cardiovascular exercise like
8:03
jogging or cycling is also essential for
8:05
maintaining heart health on the
8:07
nutrition side protein is a major
8:10
nutrient to consider as women get older
8:12
if you're doing resistance exercise
8:13
protein can help to maintain and build
8:15
more lean muscle size and strength it
8:17
can also help to keep us feeling fuller
8:19
for longer so it's useful to help keep
8:21
people from overeating which as we
8:23
mentioned might be an issue for some
8:26
during menopause we know that as we get
8:28
older building and maintaining muscle
8:30
gets harder because of something called
8:32
anabolic resistance this means older
8:34
people need more protein than younger
8:36
people for building muscle that's why
8:37
aiming for at least 30 to 40 grams of
8:40
protein per meal is a good idea great
8:42
sources of protein include lean meats
8:44
fish eggs low-fat dairy like greek
8:46
yogurt quark and scare and vegetarian
8:49
sources like tofu corn as well as beans
8:51
peas and legumes in terms of improving
8:53
heart health which is a major concern
8:55
for menopausal women there are a lot of
8:57
nutritional options to consider i've
8:59
spoken in detail about cholesterol in
9:01
one of my previous videos but one way to
9:03
support long-term heart health is to
9:05
keep your ldl cholesterol in a healthy
9:07
range you can do that by reducing your
9:10
intake of saturated fat which is found
9:11
in foods like fatty cuts of meat full
9:13
fat dairy and many processed foods high
9:16
levels of saturated fat can increase ldl
9:18
cholesterol that doesn't mean you have
9:20
to cut these foods out entirely you can
9:22
replace fatty meat with lean red meat
9:24
chicken turkey and fish and you can
9:26
switch some full fat dairy for lower fat
9:28
or fat-free dairy alternatives you
9:30
should also think about getting more
9:32
unsaturated fats which help to lower ldl
9:34
cholesterol levels you can get
9:36
unsaturated fats from olive oil avocados
9:38
nuts and seeds and fatty fish like
9:40
salmon or macro the long chain
9:42
unsaturated omega-3 fats in fish also
9:44
have the added benefit of reducing blood
9:46
triglycerides which is also important
9:48
for heart health getting plenty of fiber
9:50
is really important for your cholesterol
9:52
levels too as fiber particularly soluble
9:55
fiber is great for helping us to excrete
9:57
excess cholesterol out of our digestive
10:00
system great sources of fiber include
10:01
fruits and vegetables but you can get
10:03
lots of soluble fiber from whole grains
10:05
like oats and barley which can be used
10:07
to make porridge legumes like beans and
10:09
peas which are a great addition to most
10:11
diets and seeds like ground flax seeds
10:14
sticking to a mostly unprocessed or
10:16
minimally processed diet with lots of
10:18
different types of plants like fruit
10:20
vegetables whole grains legumes and nuts
10:21
and seeds is also a really good way to
10:24
keep you feeling fuller for longer and
10:25
can help you maintain a healthy weight
10:28
now something women going through
10:29
menopause often get told is that
10:30
menopause causes them to become insulin
10:33
resistant which means they shouldn't eat
10:35
carbs anymore this is a perfect example
10:37
of how science can get mistranslated
10:40
into bad advice yes insulin sensitivity
10:42
or our ability to react to insulin to
10:45
help control our blood sugar does get
10:47
poorer around menopause but amazingly
10:50
taking hrt improves insulin sensitivity
10:53
as does getting regular exercise so if
10:55
you're doing both of those it's a moot
10:57
point even if someone is insulin
10:58
resistant they still don't need to
11:00
eliminate carbs from their diet you can
11:02
still have a perfectly healthy diet by
11:04
including many whole food sources of
11:06
carbs in terms of supplements you don't
11:09
need to use protein powders but they can
11:11
be really useful and convenient for
11:13
women who find it hard to get enough
11:15
protein from whole foods i always
11:16
recommend trying to get your protein
11:18
from whole foods sources when possible
11:20
but
11:21
when you need some extra help that's
11:22
exactly what protein powders and other
11:24
supplements are for creatine can be
11:26
another great supplement for women
11:28
during menopause as it helps to improve
11:30
muscle strength and power which can
11:32
allow women to train harder and build
11:34
and maintain more muscle creatine has
11:37
also been shown to have benefits on
11:38
cognitive function or brain health which
11:41
can be really important around menopause
11:43
too lastly a good quality fish oil
11:45
supplement can be useful for people who
11:46
don't eat oily fish at least twice a
11:48
week or who don't like fish at all
11:50
remember long-chain omega-3s found in
11:52
fish oil can help to reduce
11:53
triglycerides and improve heart health
11:55
now that was a huge amount of
11:58
information but i hope you at least have
12:00
a better understanding of what menopause
12:01
is and how it can affect women's health
12:04
and remember if you have any other
12:06
questions let me know in the comments
12:07
below and remember to like and subscribe
12:09
to my protein youtube channel for more
12:11
great evidence-based nutrition
12:13
information
12:14
[Music]
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