Women's Health
Welcome, Menopause!
Menopause brings challenging symptoms like hot flashes and sleep problems to many women. With the right nutrition, targeted nutrients, and strength training, this life phase can be actively supported.
Women's Health
Menopause brings challenging symptoms like hot flashes and sleep problems to many women. With the right nutrition, targeted nutrients, and strength training, this life phase can be actively supported.
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Imagine experiencing constant hot flashes, struggling to maintain clear thoughts, feeling exhausted but unable to sleep. Your head is pounding, you're gaining body fat steadily, and your emotions and bones feel as unstable as internet connectivity in remote areas. Not a pleasant prospect, right?
Yet for many women in Switzerland, this is daily reality when menopause begins—occurring with over 75% probability. Perhaps you recognize yourself in these symptoms.
On the occasion of World Menopause Day (October 18), we want to address a topic you've repeatedly requested. This article is just the beginning, so stay tuned!
Let's explore what menopause and its accompanying symptoms are really about. And this isn't only relevant for women over 40, since preventing menopause symptoms often starts in your twenties!
Around age 35, progesterone levels begin slowly declining as ovulation becomes less frequent. Estrogen remains at normal levels, creating relative estrogen dominance. This can manifest as breast tenderness, water retention, irregular cycles, or irritability.
During perimenopause, typically beginning around age 40, estrogen levels also gradually decline. But unfortunately, this doesn't happen smoothly—it's more like a wild rollercoaster. This is when typical menopause symptoms appear: hot flashes, headaches and joint pain, sleep and concentration problems, dry mucous membranes, and psychological symptoms.
The lack of estrogen also reduces energy expenditure and negatively alters carbohydrate metabolism. The result: many women develop the classic "meno-belly." This belly fat isn't just cosmetically bothersome—it increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and metabolic disorders like type 2 diabetes.
After the final menstrual period, which typically occurs around age 51, hormones stabilize at a lower level and typical menopause symptoms gradually subside. In post-menopause, maintaining bone and muscle mass becomes especially important to stay fit and prevent injury.
Interestingly: we build most of our bone mass up to age 30. After that, we can only try to slow bone loss. The more we've built by then, the longer we can live off those reserves.
Unfortunately, there's no one-size-fits-all answer. Every woman experiences this transition in her own way, and ultimately each must discover what works for her.
Generally, during menopause, focus on three pillars:
You can support every phase of menopause with your diet.
If estrogen dominance is present in perimenopause, adequate breakdown and excretion of estrogen through the liver and gut is important. The liver loves bitter compounds (like dandelion, radicchio, arugula, grapefruit), and the gut benefits from plenty of fiber and plant-based fibrous materials.
With advancing age and estrogen deficiency, you can influence this through gut microbiome modulation—particularly via beta-glucuronidase. We have a dedicated article on our blog about this. Plants with hormone-like substances called phytoestrogens—such as isoflavones from soy, lignans from flaxseed, or prenylated flavonoids from hops—can also positively affect symptoms.
Basic nutrient coverage (such as with Multi or eduone®) is the foundation for your wellbeing during menopause. Beyond that, menopause particularly requires:
To name just some of the most important nutrients.
Strength training deserves special attention during menopause. It helps preserve both muscle and bone mass—both of which unfortunately decline with dropping estrogen levels.
For example, women typically lose about 0.5% of their lean mass annually after menopause and gain 1.7% fat mass instead (1).
Muscles and bones need sufficient stimulus to avoid breakdown. While popular activities like yoga or walking are excellent for stress relief, flexibility, and cardiovascular health, they don't provide adequate stimulus for preserving muscle and bone. Older women should absolutely not shy away from strength training with weights or machines!
We hope we've given you some helpful tips today and would love your input on the menopause topic.
Please share your experiences with us!
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