MyMT™ Blog

 

 

 

I never thought about my need for minerals when I went into peri-menopause. But with my head buried in my PhD and women’s healthy ageing research, I began to understand that one of the most important changes that occur as we lose oestrogen, is the increased constriction of our blood vessels (called vascular stiffness) and the numerous changes to our muscles and nerves too. All of these structures are affected by the loss of oestrogen and as such, we need to understand the nutrients, including vitamins and minerals, that help these organs to function better as we age. 

 

My readings for my research took me on an incredible journey to better understand the role of specific minerals that help our nerves, blood vessels and heart to function as we move through menopause. When I studied the effect of low oestrogen on our physiology, metabolism and various organs such as nerves and muscles, this partly revealed why so many women end up with sore muscles, restless legs, cardiac palpitations and increased anxiety in menopause.  Getting certain minerals into us as we age is important – and calcium and magnesium are just two of these that we need to manage our intake of every day because our body doesn’t make them. We need them from our diet and our water. It’s why the MyMT™ Food Guide which is part of the 12 week programmes, is full of lists of foods that give us the vitamins and minerals that matter to our health as we age. 

 

Positioning our menopause transition in women’s healthy ageing research has been fundamental to my improved understanding about what is going on with our biology at this time of our life … and what we can do to turn around all of our symptoms naturally. With respect to our changing blood vessels, muscle soreness and cardiac health as we go through menopause too. We need the essential minerals that matter. Which brings me back to our water quality and intake.

 

 

All these minerals are necessary for optimal heart, blood vessel and nerve function in a body that is losing oestrogen. Yes, you get these minerals through food and yes, through supplements (altho Positioning our menopause transition in women’s healthy ageing research has been fundamental to my improved understanding about what is going on with our biology at this time of our life … and what we can do to turn around all of our symptoms naturally. With respect to our changing blood vessels, muscle soreness and cardiac health as we go through menopause too. We need the essential minerals that matter. Which brings me back to our water quality and intake.

 

 

All these minerals are necessary for optimal heart, blood vessel and nerve function in a body that is losing oestrogen. Yes, you get these minerals through food and yes, through supplements (although calcium now renders caution with supplementation), but we also source essential minerals through good quality mineral water. Preferably,  ugh calcium now renders caution with supplementation), but we also source essential minerals through good quality mineral water. Preferably, water like the water in Le Chable, that is sourced from natural alpine environments where it runs over rocks and takes on the minerals from the rocks. These minerals help your nerves to function and therefore give you more energy as well. Adequate water intake is also important for your hot flushes too and for those of you in Australia and New Zealand, who are battling the heat and humidity of summer at the moment, your water and mineral intake matters more than you think during your menopause transition. 

 

 

The type of water that you are drinking matters and it’s why, when women come on board with me, one small change I’ve been helping them to understand (apart from learning to sleep all night which is also crucial to reducing muscle soreness and improving other symptoms), is how to have a renewed focus on the quality and amount of their daily drinking water. Especially if they are doing a lot of exercise.

 

You see, when we go through menopause and we do lots of exercise, the muscles can become more inflamed, especially if we aren’t sleeping all night. If women aren’t sleeping, then their muscles aren’t recovering and if they haven’t got their calcium [and magnesium] intake sorted, then they develop sore, aching muscles, restless legs and increased palpitations and anxiety too – don’t forget, your heart is a muscle as well and it is affected by lowering oestrogen levels too. 

 

 

I talk about this in my women’s healthy ageing online exercise programme called ‘Rebuild My Fitness’. In this fabulous 12 week programme [which is separate to my foundations programmes] I have a module called ‘Strong is the New Skinny’, and I explain to women on this programme, that we need calcium to help the nerve electrical signal ‘jump’ across into our muscles. This is how muscles contract. Calcium is the ‘carrier’ of the electrical signal from the nerve endings into the muscle fibres.