SPEAKER_00 0:11

Hi there, it's James and Coach Julie here again from uh the Fabulous Beyond Forty team with our Empower Your Menopause podcast. Today we're talking about a subject that we get asked a lot about, kind of like on the periphery of many of the things that we we talk about. You know, the first thing that most people ask us about is weight loss, then they talk about symptoms and things like that. But people tend to want to know what vitamins and uh supplements and minerals can help, if any, when it comes to their menopause symptoms. So if you've ever stared at that supplement island confusion, you are not alone. You know, we see that all the time. With so many options out there, it's really hard to know what you actually need versus what's just expensive pea. And that is one of the criticisms that gets leveled at supplementation hell a lot, believe me. So in this episode, we're going to break down the vitamins and minerals that really make a difference, what you need, how you can get them from food sources, which ones you can skip, try and cut a lot of the confusion and make supplementation as simple as possible. So, first thing to say, I think, before we bring Julie in, is just a little bit about a differentiation here. So, when it comes to nutrition, we talk about macronutrients. We've talked about those before on the podcast. They're the three big food groups that's protein, fat, carbohydrates. Micronutrients are your vitamins, minerals, the kind of things that you might want to supplement if you're not getting properly in your diet. But Julie, let's ever come into you first of all and talk about your own personal experience when it comes to supplements and your thoughts around them.

SPEAKER_01 1:53

Sure. Um, it's a really broad topic. As a matter of fact, I suppose we could probably break this podcast down into several different sections based on the different kinds of supplements that people ask us about and what we know. Um, the first thing I will say is as a caveat to this episode, this is not intended to be medical advice. We're giving you our opinion and knowledge as nutrition experts, but please do consult with either a good nutrition expert or your doctor before trying to just go out there and self-umedicate with supplements because I know it's very tempting to do that when we see these things on the market. And I and I say that for personal experience as well. Before I got into studying nutrition, I kind of jumped on every bandwagon of the things that came out because there's so many articles that say, this particular vitamin is now going to cure everything, and this particular thing has been found to reduce risks of all these different diseases. And I think the primary thing to focus on is food first, because ideally you'll be getting most of your nutrients from food, and supplements should be supplemental to an already healthy diet. I got to a point where I used to call my supplement of each meal my pill burger, because I was just taking so many different supplements. And when I started working with uh not only a nutrition coach, but also my functional medicine doctor, I realized that a lot of these things weren't necessary. Um, and even though they weren't necessarily hurting my body, there are some things to be aware of because some supplements can interact with each other with different medications, different herbs can be very potent and interact with different things. And so I don't think we should even touch on herbal supplements today because that's a whole other topic altogether. Um, but as far as far as nutritional supplements go, I think there are some that are really good. And I think quality first. Those are those are my thoughts because I've taken the the drugstore chain brand and the Walmart brand and the you know the um the cheapest version that you can find on online, and you are really in that at that point not doing yourself any favors.

unknown 4:20

Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 4:22

Okay, so let's pick this apart in two different ways. I think is probably the easiest way to do it. Let's talk about the actual micronutrients that somebody will need at this time of life. So, what are they? And then let's talk about where you can get them from from a food point of view, and let's talk about how supplementation might help. And I absolutely agree with you. Supplementation is a gap filler or a short-term measure. You really don't want to be supplementing long-term unless there's a long-term issue that requires something specific, I think. So we're looking here at trying to fill in gaps that might come into our diets through something that we might be missing or something that we might need bolstering in some way, shape, or form. But I think we've widely identified that there are five main things that we'd be looking at here. So one is some kind of magnesium, one is some kind of vitamin D, next one is kind of like a catch-all, we're gonna say B vitamins because they're really, really important. I think omega-3s as well, and then potentially a pro-prebiotic. Now, obviously, that sounds like a lot, and if you're paying for every single one of those, that is when the expense increases, increases, increases, and that's why hopefully we'll be able to give listeners a little bit of a breakdown on what they might need supplement, what they might need to be able or might be able to get through diet quite easily. Obviously, it's always a personal choice, isn't it? You know, somebody who doesn't like oily fish, for instance, is going to find it much harder to get omega-3s into their into their daily eating than somebody who loves mackerel or or salmon. But let's start off then. First of all, I think for me, there's a toss-up between the two big ones that are absolutely essential at this time of life for women, 40 and above, going through the menopause transition, they're magnesium and vitamin D. And I'm just going to take them in alphabetical order, and I'm going to say that vitamin D starts with a V because it's a vitamin. So let's start off by talking about magnesium then. So many different uses, Julie, right?

SPEAKER_01 6:31

Oh, yeah. It's magnesium is responsible for that we know of 300 enzyme functions in the body, probably a lot more because we're learning about this stuff all the time. Um, it's a very calming mineral, and um we need it. Uh, most people, it's it's something I would say that most people are deficient in. There's all this push for calcium, but we forget about magnesium, and the two of them are complementary minerals. Calcium is a stimulating mineral, and magnesium is a relaxing mineral. Um and finding ways to get that into your diet will help with so many different body functions. It will help with sleep and relaxation, um, it can help with intestinal motility, um, you know, helping you stay regular because I know constipation is a is a problem for women at this at this stage of life.

SPEAKER_00 7:27

Um it's worth noting that the other way with magnesium as well. There are certain types that will actually promote and certain types that will actually go the other way and bung you up a little bit. So knowing which one to get, depending on where your gut health is at the time, is also really, really important.

SPEAKER_01 7:45

Yeah, and that can be tested for. Um and and that's I think before I think that's the other the other caveat to this is that you finding out rather than guessing and just adding things in, finding out really where you're lacking would be a good place to start. But with magnesium, I think we can go on the assumption that most people are deficient because we just don't have it in our soils anymore at the levels that we used to.

SPEAKER_00 8:11

Yeah, absolutely. So intensive farming has reduced magnesium in the soils. Traditionally, it would come through things like um green leafy vegetables, nuts and seeds, whole grains. There's some in some fatty fish. So if you do like fatty fish like salmon, mackerel, etc., goes really well from an omega-3 point of view and a magnesium point of view. But I think you're absolutely right, there's less of it now in the food chain, possibly than ever, unless you're buying organic, wild farmed, etc. etc. Um, many, many different types of magnesium. The one that we see a lot when it comes to what's actually in supplements is magnesium citrate. That is the one that can switch you very, very quickly to being um to increasing your motility. Is that the the nicest, easiest way to put it? I'm a big fan of magnesium glyconate because I think that is really, really well absorbed. It's very close to a natural uh source of magnesium. So that is the one that I would look for to recommend to to clients, usually. Any thoughts on different types of magnesium from you, Julie?

SPEAKER_01 9:26

Um, I know with autoimmune sometimes uh magnesium malate is recommended because it can be especially with autoimmune issues, it's usually um there's they're usually gut issues that go hand in hand. So sometimes magnesium malate can can help, but I agree with the glycanate. It's probably it would be my first choice.

SPEAKER_00 9:49

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, and then vitamin D, similar in that vitamin D, again, responsible for lots and lots of different uh mechanisms and um bodily functions, potentially 300 plus for vitamin D as well. The interesting thing that I always find about vitamin D, and we're not quite sure what the the link is yet, but vitamin D receptors seem to be in the same place or in many of the same places that that oestrogen receptors are in in the body. And so there's a question there of do they actually work together synergistically that I don't think we've quite found out yet, but we kind of assume that they would be. Really, really essential for bone health, skin health, hair health. There's a few of the the ones at the top of the list there when it comes to what vitamin D is actually good for. I think bone health is really really um super important. We've talked about that a lot. We don't need to go into it again, but the risk of met of uh osteoporosis in the post-menopausia is increases dramatically. Um again, different types of vitamin D, you get vitamin D2 and vitamin D3, they're the main two that we tend to see. Vitamin D is mainly from vegan sources, vitamin 3 or D3 can be from animal sources, vitamin D3 is more bioavailable, so it's more readily redibly absorbed. So if um from a food point of view, anyway, and and so D2 um would not be recommended, really, I suppose, unless you're vegan, vegetarian. But of course, most vitamin D comes through sunlight anyway, yeah. Supposedly, unless you live in the far north of England, like I do, where it's dark all the time.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Yeah, well, and and the other thing about that is sunlight exposure is a is an interesting thing because even if you are outside, a lot of products that we use on our skin contain sunblock, and that will prevent the vitamin D from uh generating in in your tissues. Um, so being exposed to at least 15 to 20 minutes of sunlight on as much of your body as you can during the day without any kind of sunblock on is going to give you the best boost of vitamin D. And given that most people don't or can't do that, the recommendation is that supplementing that is a good idea. But this is one of those that is a fat-soluble vitamin. We need it for our immune health as well as our hormone health. It affects a lot of different things, cholesterol. And so we need to look at how our levels are before we decide how much to supplement. The other thing I'll say is that most of the guidelines you get on government packaging, you know, based on those regulations, the recommended daily allowance or the recommended daily, whatever term they're using now, the the important thing to know is that those are baseline amounts. And those are the amounts that are considered essential to avoid chronic disease or serious health issues. So chances are you're going to need to supplement a bit more than what is that minimum amount if you're looking for optimal levels.

SPEAKER_00 13:12

Sure. Yeah, I think it's worth noting as well that first of all, a couple of things. Vitamin D, really, really one of the easiest things and cheapest things you can actually test for on a regular basis. I think here in the UK, you know, the private companies that will do a vitamin D test, finger prick test, they send you the kit, you prick your finger with a little uh lancet, pop pop the blood into uh a swab that comes with it, package it off, send it, and a week later you get your results back for less than 30 pounds, the equivalent of about 40 dollars. So, really, really simple and easy to test for. The other thing I think is that at least here in the UK now, because of um the lack of sunlight during winter, and yes, you're absolutely right, vitamin D is uh fat soluble, so it hangs around in the body, it's not one of those vitamins that is peed out. But if you get a big dose of vitamin D at the beginning of the summer, by the time you get into fall, the start of winter, here in the north of England, you would already be on your way potentially to being depleted because your body just starts to use it up. It's like having a deposit of vitamin D in your vitamin D banks, your body's constantly withdrawing and withdrawing and withdrawing, and when the weather's darker, the skies are darker, there's less sunlight, the less deposits you're actually making, anyway. So, vitamin D supplementation in some way, shape, or form is on. So, we think magnesium and vitamin D is two of the key ones that you might want to look to actually taking in some kind of packaged form, right? Let's talk about B vitamins. Talk us through B vitamins, Julie.

SPEAKER_01 14:54

The the B vitamins do so many different things from regulating our our fluid balance to to regulating energy. And I think um because B vitamins are water soluble, a lot of people say, well, why do I take them? It just makes my pea bright yellow, and I'm just gonna get rid of them. But a lot of these, okay, first of all, everything we eat is going to be excreted in some fashion. So you can say the same thing about food and water. I'm just gonna pee it out, or I'm just gonna poop it out. So why bother? But there's a lot that happens between mouth and back end that that's essential with the things we put in there. So the B vitamins, I think, are really important to look at. A good B complex is a good way to get enough B vitamins. And the nice thing about water-soluble vitamins is that it they tend to, your body will tend to eliminate the excess. So you don't have to worry too much about a buildup. B12 is a really interesting one because it's linked to so many different things from brain health to to energy to um even muscular function. I I remember a period of time when I took B12 injections because my B12 was so low. And it's it's one of those things that if we don't have a specific factor, I think it's called the X factor in our in our digestive tract, in our stomach, we don't process it and absorb it. So even if we take it in, we might not be getting the benefit from it, which is why so many people end up getting, if if you see a functional doctor or a holistic doctor, you may end up with B12 injections. The form of B12 is important. I think sublingual B12 is probably the best and most readily absorbed by the body. You can get it in drops, so it's really easy to take. Um, but methylcobalamine is probably the most bioavailable, and most over-the-counter supplements, unless they're a high quality, are going to have cyanocobalamin, which is a synthetic form. And and the thing, the thing about synthetic vitamins, in a lot of our foods, they say they're enriched. But what they do is they in the processing, they strip out all of the nutrients and then they add back in synthetic ones because they're cheap. It doesn't make, I mean, it's ridiculous. But the synthetic ones, when you're looking at these natural substances, um, including hormones and vitamins and minerals, there our body has like a lock and key system. And we have receptors for these things, and the natural forms are going to fit really nicely into those receptors. And the synthetic forms are going to have something extra because, of course, we can't patent natural substances. So we have to add something to make it synthetic. And so it's not going to fit into that receptor quite well, quite properly. So there's going to be some extra stuff that our body then has to deal with. So I certainly recommend, we recommend the most natural form available so that your body can use it, so that it's we say bioavailability, because it means our body can absorb and process it in the way it's meant to. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 18:07

I think a couple of points to just add on to the B12 conversation there because I agree, it's absolutely a crucial vitamin and one that many people once again are lacking in. Um in food form, it tends to come from animal products, so meat, eggs, dairy, fish, etc. If you're a vegan vegetarian, you're automatically potentially having to go down the synthetic route, and you will probably need to supplement as well. The other thing, as well, that I don't think gets talked about enough is you mentioned there the idea of sublingual supplementation. So having a drop that goes to the soft tissues on the inside of your mouth. Absolutely agree with that. One of the challenges with B12 supplementation and B12 even in food, is that there's a very well-known drug that is um a proton pump inhibitor, which helps reduce supposedly excessive stomach acid. Now, the reasons for the excessive stomach acid and whether it's really excessive stomach acid or underproducing stomach acid is a different conversation. I'm not even going to go into just now. But the truth is as soon as you go to your GP, your doctor, and you say that you're suffering from some kind of heartburn or some kind of upper digestery malaise, the first thing that they will do will is put you on proton pump inhibitor. The one that most people will know that they put on here in the UK at least is called omeprazole. Now, I'm not calling out the medical community or the pharmaceutical company in any way, shape, or form here. But ameprozole is one of those drugs that people tend to get put on, and because they get a repeat prescription, because there's an assumption that that upper digestive issue is a long-term malaise, they get put on and they've forgotten about that repeat prescription just keeps coming into the pharmacy for ages. I've had clients in the past who've been on ameprazol for 20 or 30 years.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_00 20:10

Yeah, frightening stuff, right? And and one when urged to go back to their doctor and ask for a review or advice to do that, the doctor's gone back and reviewed it and gone, why have you been on this for 20 or 30 years? Well, the answer is because nobody within the medical service has taken them off it for 20 or 30 years. But the key thing about ameprosol is because it dampens stomach acid, and stomach acid contains that intrinsic factor that helps digest vitamin B12. As soon as your stomach acid is dampened, you are not getting B12 through your diet, or you're getting much, much less of it, which is why that sublingual supplementation is really, really important. So that's my little B12 rant there to either or um well for sure.

SPEAKER_01 20:51

And I I would say the same thing about magnesium because a lot of times we take magnesium in combination with other supplements, but magnesium is um is alkaline and it needs an acid environment. So it's best taken on an empty stomach and away from calcium because the two of them compete. Calcium enters the cells and stimulates them, and magnesium calms them down. So the the better way to do the magnesium supplement is it on an empty stomach at bedtime. For the same reason. And if you have issues with your digestive tract or your stomach, then um a transdermal, you know, a skin-based application may be an easier way for you to absorb it, like Epsom salts, baths for your feet, because your feet tend to absorb things pretty well. Um, or magnesium oil on your skin can can be helpful as well.

SPEAKER_00 21:43

Yeah. Let's talk then about omega 3s. Healthy fats, if if you like.

SPEAKER_01 21:50

Healthy fats.

SPEAKER_00 21:51

Really, really important for brain health, heart health, bone health. Again, so many different things. I always find the biggest challenge with omega-3s is as soon as you tell somebody to eat more salmon or more mackerel, you can almost see this look of horror spreading across their face because so many people aren't fans of seafood and particularly oily seafood. So it can be a challenge. And of course, there are vegan vegetarian sources of it, sources of it like flaxseed, etc. Um algae, but certainly seafood is a really easy way to get it into your diet. I do see so many people really challenged by that idea of having more seafood in the diet. And really two, three times a week is kind of what you're looking at, right? For for a food from a seafood source of an omega-3.

SPEAKER_01 22:53

Yeah, for sure. And if you if you choose the supplement route, the the one thing I would say there is know the source because there's so many contaminated fish, and so many companies that are processing these supplements with cheap ingredients and chemical processing and chemical additives that you need to be sure of what you're getting because this, as James mentioned on another episode, this is important for your blood-brain barrier. So you don't want to be putting things in your body in this particular uh nutrient that that are going to be chemically oriented or toxic for your body. So know the source. Um, make sure you've got clean, clean fish. And the other thing is if you if you get a good quality fish oil supplement, you're less likely, and and take it after a meal, you're less likely to burp that and get that get that repetition throughout the day. Because I know that's not very pleasant, especially if you're avoiding seafood for the whole reason that you don't like the taste of fish. Um, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

Absolutely. From a purity point of view, I tend to look for brands uh that use fish either from sort of like Arctic Antarctic waters, which are naturally clean, and the same with if it was a vegan brand as well, I'd be looking for some algae from those regions too to to help produce that uh omega omega-3 there. So another one that's really, really important then that I think we should just run through really quickly, is some kind of probiotic potentially.

SPEAKER_01 24:32

Mm-hmm. Yeah. Yeah. It's uh a tremendous source of if you if you suffer from anxiety and depression, look at your gut health. Um, that's a that's huge, um, which is as much of your food of your food intake, but but something that the standard Western diet does is it it populates our gut with the wrong kind of bacteria. Uh, we need lots of bacteria in our gut. We need those those happy bacteria um to be digesting our food properly and carrying nutrients out into the into the rest of our body the way they're meant to go. And prebiotics will feed the bacteria that do that kind of heavy lifting. So this is where those insoluble fibers come in and the the whole grains and the and the um unprocessed kind of carbohydrates, the the smart carbs, as we say, the sweet potatoes and Jerusalem artichokes and whole grain um whole grains. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_00 25:43

I think it's worth talking a little bit there. We've talked about what we think the five key things that you might want to supplement if you are going to supplement. We've talked about some of the food sources there and where those food sources might be actually lacking. Um so from a supplement point of view, I think we both agreed that the quality of your supplements is absolutely paramount. One of the reasons for that is the supplement market isn't as regulated regulated as the medical market is, and so you want what it says on the tin or on the on the on the on the box or the or the label to actually be there, right? To actually be do what it says, and and there to be some kind of claim as to what's it in there and what the amount of. So the classic one is you know, they talk about probiotics, they talk about colony forming units, CFU is the thing you'll see, and people talk about uh that those numbers in their billions. Couple of things to note there is that unless you're using a high-end supplement company that self-regulates to a high level of compliance with with data and things like that, you're never sure just how many units are in there. The other thing is that the actual term colony forming units when it comes to probiotics is a bit of a misnomer because they actually don't form colonies. Yeah, they go through and they do some stuff as they're going through, and they do good stuff as they're going through, but they aren't that additional bacteria like that tends to not come from just supplementing, it tends to come more from tending your garden and weeding your your your microbiome garden if you like. So eating foods that will get rid of the bad guys and eating foods that will help the good guys proliferate is how you actually better your microbiome overall. But um certainly probiotic can help on on the way through. So I think quality of manufacture is really, really important. And as you said before, yeah, if you are gonna pee this stuff out, let's make sure it does the best job it can when it's going through your body before it comes out the other side, right?

SPEAKER_01 28:02

Yeah, I think absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And I and I will say that there there have been some studies done on the chain chain store brands, and they've been found to have either very little to none of what it says on the label. So this isn't just us trying to make you buy something that's more expensive. We don't sell products. We we have some recommendations for our clients just because they're things that products that we know and use and trust, um, oftentimes because we know the manufacturers, but but we don't, if you get to talking to a health coach and they're promoting specific supplements for you to buy, run away as fast as you can. Because this isn't about, you know, how are we going to make a bunch more money? This is about what is the best thing for you. And in choosing these supplements, they need to be very personalized for your needs. So the things that we're recommending are very general. And you won't really know what's going to serve you best until you've had that, had those tests done, had that consultation to understand where your needs really lie to get the best guidance you can.

SPEAKER_00 29:14

Yeah. Absolutely on the the quality. Um sometimes it's frightening. You see some calcium brands on the market, and you might as well just walk into a school, pick up some chalk off the blackboard, and eat that because it's the same amount, same amount and type of calcium. You probably get more of it because you know you've got a big chunk of it in a piece of chalk than you have in a packet of supplements. And then the other thing, as well, is I'd always be wary of these brands, whether they be on the high street or whether they be online, who have this stock it high, sell it cheap mentality? There's a famous high street brand here in the UK, and you know fish oils degrade with light, yeah. And they have these fish oils in really light-coloured bottles under strip light, stocked really high in the store and things like that. And then, how can you actually be sure that the quality of that is the same? So even if it started off in a good way, by the time it gets to you and you get to the bottom of that massive pile that they've stocked up, it's quite often not going to be the quality you want. So I would always recommend, as you said before, speaking to somebody who knows what they're talking about and getting some recommendations, preferably based on some kind of specific testing that can identify some kind of nutrient deficiency before you just start spending money on anything. I think there are a couple that maybe, you know, the idea of having them as a safety belt, yeah, and magnetic is essentially one of those, vitamin D particularies.

SPEAKER_01 30:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 30:52

Yeah, I I always think a probiotic can't help, but um if you can afford not to spend so if your body can afford not to spend money, then there's no reason to deplete your pockets by spending that that money, right?

SPEAKER_01 31:08

Yeah, spend it on higher quality food first and then supplement where you actually need it.

SPEAKER_00 31:14

Yeah, absolutely. Well, that's a great place to end. I'm not sure if you've got anything else to add on, Julie, before we round up.

SPEAKER_01 31:22

No, I I think that's about it. But of course, we're here to help. If you have these kinds of questions, please don't hesitate to reach out to us. We'll have information on how to book a call with us below in the show notes. Um, we welcome your feedback and input, maybe your experience with supplements, and uh look forward to talking to you on the next episode.

SPEAKER_00 31:43

Great. So it's been James and Julie from Fabulous Beyond 40. Remember to stay fabulous, and we'll see you next time. Take care.

SPEAKER_01 31:51

Bye.