[00:00:00] Welcome back to episode of the Hormone Hub Podcast, where we talk all things perimenopause, menopause, and have the conversations no one else is having. Sit back, relax, and enjoy this episode.

Hello, hello, ladies, and welcome back to the Hormone Hub podcast. I’m your host, Kylie Pinwill and today we’re talking about chronic inflammation. So this is a silent, persistent condition that can impact various aspects of our health. And during perimenopause and menopause, many women find themselves increasingly susceptible to chronic inflammation due to our hormonal changes.

So we’re going to have a look at how chronic inflammation manifests during perimenopause and menopause, the impact it can have on our daily life, and we’ll also look at five ways that we can manage it to significantly improve the [00:01:00] well being and the quality of our day to day life as well.

So inflammation is our body’s natural response to injury or to infection. When our inflammatory response is working well, it helps us protect and heal our body. Think, naturally, if we scratch ourself, it gets infected, it becomes red, pussy, hot, a bit swollen. That’s our, our normal inflammatory response. Okay. And it does it all by itself.

We don’t need to do anything. Our body just does that if our inflammatory response is working well. But when this inflammation becomes chronic, it can lead to a range of health issues and think of it as it’s not always something we can see. So, a scab from a healing wound. We can see that happening, but when it’s on the inside, we can’t always see it. If we think of it is this, like, you prolonged low grade inflammatory response that can persist for months [00:02:00] or even years without any sort of obvious cause. So during perimenopause, obviously perimenopause, the nature of it is characterised by those fluctuations in estrogen and progesterone.

And, menopause is when we officially haven’t had a period for 12 months. But during this time, we tend to get really big surges in particularly early perimenopause, big surges in oestrogen, which high oestrogen is quite inflammatory. And likewise, the decline in oestrogen as we get closer to menopause and through menopause. You know, we do see an increase in inflammation there as well, because, too much estrogen, too little estrogen, can mess with our inflammation.

And also, progesterone as well. Progesterone is our anti inflammatory, calming, anti anxiety sort of hormone. So when progesterone takes a dive, it takes all the benefits with it as well. 

So definitely, [00:03:00] high and low estrogen levels are associated with high levels of inflammatory markers in our body.

So this, just means that we’re more prone to chronic inflammation during this time of life, which can exacerbate our symptoms. Things like fatigue, joint pain, mood swings, some women just report feeling inflamed. So if you can relate to this, this is for you. All right, so let’s have a look at the ways that chronic inflammation can manifest.

So first up, number one is, fatigue and ongoing low energy levels. Persistent fatigue is one of the most common symptoms of chronic inflammation. So it’s not easily alleviated by rest or sleep and it can start to significantly impact our daily activities and our productivity as well.

The second way it can manifest is when we’ve got pain and discomfort in our joints and also in our muscles. So this can be super frustrating [00:04:00] for women who have had a fairly active lifestyle and now find themselves struggling with physical activities. This is where we tend to see lots of frozen shoulder, lots of knees going, carpal tunnel syndrome, you know, all of these weird wacky things, stiff neck, tension headaches, tend to pop up at this time.

The third way it can rear its ugly head is definitely with digestive issues. Symptoms like bloating, gas, any changes in our bowel habits. Going from constipation to diarrhea. All of these digestive issues definitely can contribute to an overall feeling of discomfort and, disrupt our daily routine as well.

The fourth way is 100% mood swings and, our overall mental health. We already know that if hormonal impact our fluctuations of perimenopause and menopause can impact our mood. But when we’ve [00:05:00] got chronic inflammation, it can kind of exacerbate these effects as well. So women might experience an increase in anxiety, an increase in depression, mood swings as well.

And, this can make it really hard to maintain emotional stability. So that’s where we can fly off the handle for no reason, over things that never would have bothered us before, certainly our inflammatory markers can manifest on the skin. In the form of rashes or redness or other conditions, women experience acne, some women experience rosacea, an increase in eczema or psoriasis. So yeah, it can show up in the skin and all of this has a knock on effect for our self-esteem, our confidence, and definitely add to the emotional toll of menopause. And then we’ve got weight gain, this chronic, inflammation can affect our metabolism, [00:06:00] it can lead to insulin resistance, which makes it harder to lose weight, makes it harder to maintain a healthy weight.

So, you know, you can see no doubt that this impacts our daily life, across various aspects. So, you know, at work, persistent fatigue, brain fog can, reduce our productivity, make it difficult to focus on tasks and, impact career performance and, just our love of job, our job as well and what we do definitely, it’s muscle and joint pain can limit. our physical activity. So our ability to engage in regular exercise, which is kind of crucial, for that balance of maintaining and managing a healthy weight. Socially, when we’ve got mood swings, anxiety, depression, it can start to impact our relationship with our family, our friends, our colleagues.

We can start to feel more isolated because we’re not out socialising [00:07:00] and definitely all of this has a knock on impact to, we can lose our motivation for self care activities. It’s too hard to exercise. I don’t feel like going, you know, don’t have the energy to go out, so I won’t, so it’s kind of like in that self perpetuating cycle.

Hormone Hub episode is sponsored by our free hormone help call book in your call today with one of our experienced advisors, and we’ll give you some clarity around what’s causing your symptoms and some simple steps you can use straight away to improve your menopause experience. If you’re ready to take the next step book in a call and find out more about how we can help you have a smoother transition through perimenopause and menopause, let us help you balance out your hormones, reset your metabolism, and get your confidence back so you can live the life you’re meant to.

The link with all the details is in our show notes or over at [00:08:00] kyliepinwill.com /hormone help call. 

Alrighty. What’s the goal to do? We’re going to have a look at five things that you can do to get yourself out of this. So definitely number one, diet and exercise. Definitely adopting an anti inflammatory diet along the lines of a Mediterranean style diet.

That’s number one. Can play a huge role in managing chronic inflammation. What we want to do is make sure that we’re including lots of anti inflammatory food. Focus on, are you getting plenty of vegetables and fruits? Are you getting a good variety of vegetables and fruits? Are you getting fatty fish into your diet? Things like salmon, sardines, mackerel, all beautiful sources of omega threes. nuts and seeds. I think we underestimate the value of these little puppies. We were so focused for so long on the fat content of [00:09:00] nuts and seeds, but honestly, the benefits of eating nuts and seeds every single day far outweigh it’s the quality of your calories.

Forget about counting how many almonds you’re eating. Okay. So we want again, get a good variety in chia seeds, hemp seeds, almonds, cashews, walnuts are really good as well, so good variety. All of these are rich in antioxidants and omega 3 fatty acids, which, help reduce inflammation.

We want to avoid Inflammatory foods. And look, we all know what these look like. So basically anything out of a packet. Anything processed, anything that’s not fresh, anything that has a shelf life, basically sugary drinks. This includes diet soft drinks. So regular soft drinks, diet soft drinks, it’s all inflammatory to your body.

Processed meats. And I’m going to put in here [00:10:00] your vegan meats. Now, honestly, if you’re going down the path of choosing less animal meat, don’t swap it for a processed soy. piece of garbage, swap it for actual, vegetables or a vegetable based protein like tofu or tempeh.

You know, so much better for your body, beans, legumes, you’re not eating animal meat. You want to be including legumes, beans, tofu, tempeh as your main source of protein, not these. Seriously, it gives me the shits every time I walk past this ever expanding thing of vegan meats and it’s a whole bunch of garbage.

If it’s got soy protein anywhere near it, don’t touch it. A little bit ranty. Drinking lots of water. So, this helps flush out all of your toxins and is going to support your overall health as well. Okie doke. The second thing you can do [00:11:00] is exercise. So move your body in a way that feels good.

And ideally to maintain your overall health, we want to get as big a mix of activities as we can. So definitely, walking, swimming. If you’ve got joint issues, swimming is beautiful. You can walk in the pool and it just takes the weight off. Cycling Then we’ve got yoga Pilates.

We’ve got strength training, you know, so regular physical activity. So moving your body on a daily basis basis can help reduce your inflammation. And at the same time, it’s going to improve your mood as well. So we want to just be mindful. How are you moving? Doesn’t matter how just do it move. And the third one is managing stress.

So we know that stress is a significant contributor to chronic inflammation. We need to incorporate stress management techniques into daily life, this is going to help mitigate the [00:12:00] impact of chronically elevated cortisol levels. Definitely start with meditation and mindfulness.

There’s so many great apps out there. Insight timer is one that I use. There’s headspace. There’s a whole bunch of them. Lots of free meditations out there. Find something that you enjoy. Find something you connect to. Practicing mindfulness. So sitting, breathing, eating slowly, putting your phone down, talking to the person in front of you. Yoga and deep breathing is perfect. So this is great and, very well known for managing stress and also improving your overall well being. And the other one I’m going to put under stress is sleep, getting adequate sleep.

And, you know, sleep should be restorative, replenishing, and we should wake up refreshed ready to go. Lots of us don’t. So we want to consciously choose good sleep hygiene practices. [00:13:00] A relaxing bedtime routine can help support better sleep, maintaining a regular sleep schedule, definitely keeping your phone out of the bedroom while you’re sleeping. Scrolling through your phone is not relaxing for your brain, okay, and it’s not going to help your sleep. 

The fourth one is supplements and medications. There’s supplements and medications that can help manage chronic inflammation. You don’t want to be on anti inflammatories Long term, because this is not good for your digestive system.

It’s not good for your overall body, but, great for acute inflammation. So if you’ve got an injury, something’s going on, you need pain medication or an anti inflammatory, they’re good in the short term. Then, yeah, think about how we can get more omega 3 fatty acids into your diet.

So these are found in fish oil, [00:14:00] flaxseeds and have beautiful anti inflammatory properties. Turmeric and ginger are beautiful spices that contain compounds. That can help reduce inflammation. And we also need adequate levels of vitamin D. So this is essential for our immune function and that inflammation control as well. If your vitamin D levels aren’t up between over 80 80 to 100 you know we need to think about do we need to supplement do you need to get out in the sun with your face and your chest out in the sun a bit more and particularly with winter coming up in the southern hemisphere, now’s the time to do it because you know we’re also less likely to get sunburned at the same time. 

Okay. And the fifth one to reduce your chronic inflammation is to make mindful lifestyle choices. So definitely quitting smoking. So that’s a big one. We know that smoking is a significant contributor [00:15:00] to inflammation. And just quitting smoking is going to improve your health greatly.

Definitely limiting your alcohol consumption. When we’re drinking on a regular basis, it increases our inflammation. So definitely we want to think about how we can, reduce cut down or cut out you know, alcohol. And definitely, maintaining a healthy weight.

If what is going to get us there is consistent diet, consistent exercise and being consistent with choosing those anti inflammatory foods. And certainly, yeah, there’s a lot more in it for weight loss, balancing your insulin response and keeping your insulin response steady. Getting cortisol down helps a lot as well. 

So chronic inflammation during perimenopause and menopause can significantly impact our daily life. But when we understand the causes of it and implement [00:16:00] effective strategies, we can help to manage its effects. Adopting a balanced diet, staying physically active, managing stress, and making mindful lifestyle choices, you can 100 percent reduce inflammation and improve the quality of your life.

If you are struggling with symptoms of chronic inflammation, this is certainly something that we address throughout our 12 week Hormone Code program. If you want some more information on this, the details are on the website at kyliepinwill.com. Because the more proactive steps you can take towards your health and your well being, it will make a substantial difference in navigating the challenges of perimenopause and menopause.

All right, my loves, thank you so much for listening and I will see you in the next episode.

Thank you for taking the time to listen today. You can head on over to the show notes at [00:17:00] kyliepinwill.com/podcast where you’ll find all the links. Now, before we go, it would mean the world to me if you’d head on over to your favorite podcast channel, subscribe and leave a review. Don’t forget to share it with your friends.

Then stay tuned for next week’s episode and I can’t wait to see you then.