Episode Transcript
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Imagine you are sitting in ameeting trying to focus on the
discussion when a sudden wave ofheat engulfs you.
It starts deep in your chest andsurges upward to your face,
leaving your skin flushed anddamp with sweat.
Your heart races as thoughyou've just sprinted a mile, and
you feel a creeping sense ofdiscomfort as beads of sweat
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gather at your temples.
And then you realize you'rehaving a hot flash.
Welcome to Joyful Menopause, theshow that helps women in
perimenopause and menopausenavigate this transformative
time with clarity, confidence,and care.
I'm Lynda Enright, a functionalnutritionist with 25 years
experience helping women achievevibrant health.
Today, we're diving into a topicthat affects so many women.
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hot flashes, but moreimportantly, we'll explore
what's behind them, your body'sstress response, and most
critically, what you can do toreduce their impact.
And before we wrap up today, Iwill tell you about my client
Dawn, who has seen significantimprovements in her hot flashes
that were driving her a bitcrazy.
So grab a cup of tea and let'sget started.
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Menopause doesn't have to feellike you are living in someone
else's body.
Your host, Linda Enright, hasspent the last 25 years helping
women to thrive in midlife.
Here you'll find science basedpractical advice that you can
start using today to get realresults for your health.
Welcome to Joyful Menopause.
Today we are talking aboutstress and hot flashes.
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So many women are experiencinghot flashes among other symptoms
of menopause and are just beingtold that it's menopause and
there's nothing you can do aboutit.
Or sometimes put on medicationsthat can unfortunately lead to
other negative side effects.
But I know there's a better waybecause I see this challenge
every day in my practice and Isee women getting better
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results.
So first of all, I want to helpunderstand what hot flashes are.
They're not just random.
They're closely tied to changesin your hormones and how those
hormones affect your nervoussystem.
Specifically, the sympatheticnervous system plays a
significant role.
That's the fight, flight, orfreeze system, which you've
probably heard of.
This system controls your body'sstress response.
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And during perimenopause andmenopause, it can become overly
reactive.
I've talked about hot flashesbefore, and I will again, as
they're one of the most commonsymptoms women experience during
these years.
They feel like that sudden waveof heat, often accompanied by
sweating or redness or rapidheartbeat.
And today I want to talk aboutwhat's really happening in your
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body during a hot flash and howyour body's stress response is
involved.
As we age, levels of estrogenbegin to decline.
Estrogen is a key hormone inregulating many different
systems in your body.
Estrogen protects your bloodvessels, keeping them more
flexible, reducing your risk forhigh blood pressure and heart
issues.
Estrogen also helps to regulatethe balance between the
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sympathetic, the fight, flight,or freeze system, and the
parasympathetic, which is therest and digest nervous system.
When estrogen drops, thisbalance can get disrupted.
leading to increased sensitivityin the stress response.
Research shows that women withlower heart rate variability,
which is a measure of yourbody's ability to adapt to
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stress, are more likely toexperience frequent hot flashes.
If your body is stuck in sort ofa high alert mode, it becomes
harder to regulate temperature.
leading to those sudden waves ofheat It is so common today that
so many women are living in thathigh alert mode.
Throughout evolution, we wouldbe in high alert to stay alive,
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to run from the lion.
But today, think about all thethings that may put you there,
sitting in traffic when you'relate for a meeting.
A stressful call from your boss.
A family member may be makingyour life more difficult, or an
aging parent who needs yoursupport.
It's pretty common for womenthrough these years of midlife.
And really, I think for mostpeople in our world today, it's
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common to be living in an almostconstant state of high alert.
or living in your sympatheticnervous system much more of the
time than our bodies were reallydesigned for.
Today we're talking about stressand hot flashes and I want to
help you see what is going onwith your body to create this
disruption making you feel likeyou're burning up.
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Stress isn't just emotional,it's physical too.
When your body experienceschronic stress, your HPA axis
gets dysregulated.
Your HPA axis is a system oforgans that controls your stress
response.
So chronic stress upsets thesystem that regulates stress and
then it can lead to persistenthigh cortisol levels.
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You can see how this can becomea vicious cycle.
Over time, these high cortisollevels can lead to weight gain,
high blood sugar, muscleweakness, anxiety, and digestive
issues.
And these changes can trigger animmune response that will
promote inflammation throughoutyour body.
Chronic inflammation can impairblood vessel function and
exacerbate the frequency andintensity of hot flashes.
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It's a systemic issue thatunderscores why managing stress
and reducing inflammation arecrucial during this phase of
life.
It's not simply that you need acolder home or lighter clothes,
that can be helpful, butinflammation is making it harder
for your body to cool down,again, exacerbating the
frequency and intensity of hotflashes.
So that's why an antiinflammatory diet and lifestyle
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are so critical during thisphase of life.
What can you do about it?
In just a moment, I have fourthings that you can do with your
diet and lifestyle to helpreduce your hot flashes.
But first, today, we're talkingabout perimenopause, stress, and
hot flashes, what's going on inyour body, and now we're going
to get into what you can doabout it.
The first is simply to createexcellent nourishment in your
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body.
The first of the food choices isto choose foods that are
building blocks for nitricoxide.
Nitric oxide helps relax bloodvessels and improve circulation,
so it reduces vasoconstriction,that closing up of your blood
vessels, that's linked to hotflashes and stress.
Foods that are excellent sourcesare beets, arugula, and
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watercress.
Beets help to promote blood flowand support vascular health,
helping your body to regulatetemperature more effectively.
Arugula and watercress both arerich in antioxidants that combat
oxidative stress andinflammation.
Some ideas of how to do that.
You could add arugula to salads.
Roasted sweets and beets is oneof my favorite.
It's a mixture of sweetpotatoes, beets, onions and
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garlic.
Watercress has a peppery flavor,and you can add it to soups or
sandwiches.
And next we want to choose foodsthat are rich in phytoestrogens.
These foods mimic estrogen'seffects in your body, restoring
the balance and reducing hotflashes.
Ground flax seeds are a greatchoice because they bind
estrogen receptors and theyprovide omega 3 fats that are
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also helpful to reduceinflammation.
Whole soy foods are rich inisoflavones that help to
stabilize hormone fluctuations.
Chickpeas are also a good sourceof phytoestrogens and they're
rich in B vitamins that aresupportive for your nervous
system.
So some ideas of how to usethese things.
You could sprinkle ground flaxseeds on yogurt, put it in a
smoothie or sprinkle on a mixeddish.
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Chickpeas are great on a salador in a soup or delicious in
hummus.
And edamame soybeans can be aneasy and really tasty snack.
Next, you can choose foods thatare rich in magnesium.
These are good choices becausethey help to calm your nervous
system.
They can regulate cortisollevels and improve your sleep.
Some good magnesium sourcesinclude almonds, avocados, and
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spinach.
You could snack on almonds, youcould add spinach to smoothies,
or mix into a salad with arugulatoo.
Avocado toast is a greatbreakfast, and it goes great on
salads too.
The second is to reduceinflammation, because chronic
inflammation, as we said,worsens stress and hot flashes.
We can do a lot to reduceinflammation with food too.
I recommend focusing on berries,fatty fish, and olive oil, top
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three things.
Berries like blueberries,blackberries, strawberries, and
raspberries are rich in vitaminC and polyphenols that help to
reduce oxidative stress, whichdamages your body's cells.
Fatty fish like salmon, tuna,sardines are rich in omega 3s,
which lower inflammation andsupport brain and heart health.
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And olive oil contains compoundsthat soothe your nervous system
and reduce inflammation.
Ideas of how to use, again, youcould add berries to oatmeal or
simply have them as a snack or aside.
I recommend fatty fish maybe twoto three times a week and olive
oil is wonderful in saladdressings or I personally love
it for dipping a delicioussourdough bread.
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And the third option forreducing inflammation is to
include gut friendly foods.
A healthy gut microbiome reducesinflammation and enhances your
body's ability to manage stress.
Fermented foods are great foryour gut because they contain
probiotics that are supportivefor gut health.
These might include good qualityyogurt, kimchi, sauerkraut,
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tempeh, or apple cider vinegar.
And fiber rich vegetables aregreat for feeding the good bugs
in your gut.
So every time you eat, Irecommend to look at your plate
and see if you have one or twoservings of vegetables.
They all add up and are so goodfor your gut and inflammation.
The third choice is to managestress.
Practicing deep breathingexercises to activate that
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parasympathetic nervous system,the rest and digest system.
It can really help to reduce thefrequency and intensity of your
hot flashes.
A good goal would be toincorporate mindfulness or
meditation into your dailyroutine.
Even just five or 10 minutes aday can make a really big
difference.
And lastly, build resilience.
I talked earlier about thisheart rate variability.
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Improving that variability willhelp to lower your stress and
reduce your hot flashes.
Things you can do engaging inmoderate physical activity like
a brisk walk, swimming, bikeriding.
They're helpful in so many waysto lower your stress, to improve
your heart health.
to regulate your blood sugarsand to manage a healthy weight.
For our purposes today, they'realso very helpful to reduce hot
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flashes.
Also, it doesn't hurt to free upspace for self care for
resilience as well.
Maybe you can delegate sometasks, maybe you can simplify
your life a little bit so youcan build these practices into
your life.
Your body will thank you.
Hot flashes are not just aninconvenience, they're a signal
from your body that something isout of balance.
By understanding the connectionbetween stress, inflammation,
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and your nervous system, you cantake steps to reduce their
frequency and severity.
Before we go, I'd like to tellyou about my client Dawn.
Among other symptoms she wasexperiencing as she moved into
perimenopause, hot flashes weresuper frustrating for her.
She felt embarrassed and worriedthat people at work would notice
when she would be sweating.
She felt old and like her bodywas not her own anymore, and it
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was really impacting her mentalhealth.
too.
Her friends could understand, ofcourse, what had happened, but
she still hated making a bigdeal out of it.
But she felt like it wasconstantly taking a sweater on
and off from cold to hot andback all day long.
Maybe you can relate.
Dawn had a typical Americandiet.
She ate a lot of conveniencefoods and products that were
touted as quote unquote healthy.
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But when I started teaching Dawnabout nutrition, we realized
that a lot of the things thatshe was eating were lacking in
nutrients and may have beenincreasing inflammation rather
than decreasing it.
She said she didn't feel likeshe had a lot of stress.
She had a good life.
She enjoyed her job.
She had a really great family.
But when we talked more, I foundthat she spent a lot of time
feeling overwhelmed, trying tojuggle all the pieces of her
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life.
None of it felt bad, but it didfeel challenging.
I worked with Dawn to create ananti inflammatory diet.
We added more vegetables, whichwas a great place to start.
And though her family didn'tlove fish, we planned for meals
that she could have for lunchthat would add salmon or tuna
into her diet more often.
And we worked on resilience.
The food was helping, but thenthis really helped her to turn
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the corner.
Within a short time, she wasnoticing her hot flashes were
getting less intense.
and then she noticed themdecreasing in frequency as well.
She was so happy to finally feelmore like herself again.
The choices she made didn'tcreate this feeling of
overwhelm, but rather simplifiedher eating in a way that was so
much more nourishing, but easytoo.
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I want you to know that thereare solutions.
You can feel like yourself againand reduce or eliminate your hot
flashes.
It can be done and it absolutelydoes not have to be that
complicated.
It is all about creating thebalance that's right for your
body.
I know what you desire is tofeel like yourself again, and
you maybe haven't gotten theanswers yet.
The tips I've given you todayare a great place to start, and
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another good resource for you ismy free guide, Five Natural Ways
to Reduce Menopause Symptoms.
You'll find more tips onnavigating these years with
confidence and clarity.
The link to get access to thisfree guide is in the show notes.
Thank you so much for joining metoday.
Remember, menopause isn'tsomething to fear.
It's an opportunity to create ahealthier, more empowered
version of yourself.
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Until next time, take care ofyourself and be well.