Vitamins & Supplements

Menopause is not just about nutrition. It’s also about the health of our gut (microbiome) and how we nourish it. It’s important to have enough minerals and vitamins for the body to function well.

For instance Iron is so important, as quite apart from maintaining healthy blood to carry oxygen around the body, producing healthy red blood cells and proper haemoglobin function, helping the body to function properly providing oxygen to the muscles and brain to support energy levels plus aiding physical and mental performance, it also helps combat fatigue, while supporting good cognitive function and the immune system and is also needed for body growth and development.

So if fatigue is one of your issues it’s worth having your Iron (Ferritin levels) checked.

Vitamin D we all know of as the ‘sunshine vitamin’, important for bone health, but it is also more than just a vitamin, it is a pro-hormone and is so important for many body functions which include thyroid function, mood regulation, decreases the risk of depression and anxiety and helps with the immune system.

Likewise, Vitamin B12 is needed in many important bodily processes, particularly to keep the healthy functioning of our brain and nervous system. Vitamin B12 works together with Folate (another B vitamin) in many functions, including creating our genetic material (DNA and RNA), to form amongst other things our red blood cells. Also, as one gets older, B12 absorption may not be optimal due to the ageing process and not producing enough stomach acid, and/or maybe taking medications that reduce stomach acid and so interfere with the absorption of this vitamin from foods, such as Metformin, antacids, proton pump inhibitors such as Omeprazole and statins.

If stress is a particular issue, then your supplies of Vitamin C get exhausted. Unlike animals, we can’t make our own Vitamin C so have to rely heavily on nutrition, so in times of stress it is worth taking extra Vitamin C.

We also need small amounts of other substances such as Manganese, Zinc and Molybdenum to mention but a few, so it can be worthwhile to take a good quality multivitamin and mineral support, provided you have no contraindications to the contents.

Menopause is not the same for everyone. We are all genetically different, hence why a one-for-all approach is not appropriate. Treatment needs to be managed with an individualised, personalised approach.

Hormones are not the answer for everyone, just as nutritional changes may not be the answer for all. What works for your friend or colleague may not be appropriate for you – be that supplements, adaptogens, medications etc. You are unique.