What Menopause Does To The Heart

Today’s almonds have been activated by:

⏰ IN A RUSH?

Today’s 30-Second Summary

If you don’t have time to read the whole email today, here are some key takeaways:

• One of the biggest (albeit not so widely talked-about) risks associated with menopause is cardiovascular disease

  • HRT (if indicated as appropriate, following tests of your hormone levels) can help, as can adjusting certain lifestyle factors, as well as supplementation to maintain the body’s good health—especially in the ways that menopause hits the hardest.

• Being unable to easily participate in spoken conversations is not just an inconvenience; it’s also a [causal, fixable] risk factor for age-related cognitive decline.

  • Today’s sponsor, Hear.com, are offering the most cutting-edge dual-processing technology in hearing aids that isolate and separate speech from background noise.

Read on to learn about these things and more…

👀 WATCH AND LEARN

Melissa Neill's essential menopause supplements (14:36)

Quite a regimen:

Click Here If The Embedded Video Doesn’t Load Automatically!

What does she use?

(we provide links in the cases that we’ve already done a main feature, or comparable sizeable mention, on the item)

• Vitamin D3

• Magnesium

• L-theanine

• CBD oil

• Collagen

• Curcumin (Turmeric)

• Probiotics

• Digestive enzymes

• Berberine

• HRT*

*About the HRT:

• She uses an estradiol gel, rather than tablets (actually she has the exact same estradiol gel as this writer), which has much better bioavailability than anything that has to go through the stomach.

• She also takes progesterone, in the form of utrogestan capsules (those are good, but in this writer's opinion, having tried both, the cyclogest pessaries are better).

• She also takes testogel (this writer has neither experience nor opinion, on that).

What did she find didn't help her?

• Black cohosh

What hasn't she tried and can't speak on?

• St. John's wort

• Evening primrose oil

🫀 MAIN FEATURE

World Menopause Day: Menopause & Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Today, the 18th of October, is World Menopause Day.

The theme for this year is cardiovascular disease (CVD), and if your first reaction is to wonder what that has to do with the menopause, then this is the reason why it’s being featured. Much of the menopause and its effects are shrouded in mystery; not because of a lack of science (though sometimes a bit of that too), but rather, because it is popularly considered an unimportant, semi-taboo topic.

So, let’s be the change we want to see, and try to fix that!

What does CVD have to do with the menopause?

To quote Dr. Anjana Nair:

Source: Cardiovascular Changes in Menopause

See also: Menopause-associated risk of cardiovascular disease

Can we do anything about it?

Yes, we can! Here be science:

• Menopause Transition and Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Implications for Timing of Early Prevention: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association

• Cardiovascular risk in menopausal women and our evolving understanding of menopausal hormone therapy: risks, benefits, and current guidelines for use

This (in few words: get your hormone levels checked, and consider HRT if appropriate) is consistent with the advice from gynecologist Dr. Jen Gunter, whom we featured back in August:

What You Should Have Been Told About The Menopause Beforehand

What about lifestyle changes?

We definitely can do some good things; here’s what the science has to say:

• Mediterranean diet: yes, evidence-based

• High soy consumption: mixed evidence, unclear. So, eat it if you want, don’t if you don’t.

• Supplements e.g. vitamins and minerals: yes, evidence-based.

• Supplements e.g. herbal preparations: many may help, but watch out for adverse interactions with meds. Check with your pharmacist or doctor.

• Supplements; specifically CBD: not enough evidence yet

• Exercise: yes, evidence-based—especially low-impact high-resistance training, for bone strength, as well as regular moderate-intensity exercise and/or High-Intensity Interval Training, to guard against CVD.

For a full low-down on all of these:

Revealing the evidence-based lifestyle solutions to managing your menopause symptoms

Want to know more?

You can get the International Menopause Society’s free downloadable booklet here:

Menopause & Cardiovascular Disease: What Women Need To Know

You may also like our previous main feature:

What Does "Balance Your Hormones" Even Mean?

Take care!

❤️ OUR SPONSORS MAKE THIS PUBLICATION POSSIBLE

Hearing So Clear It Has No Peers

Have you heard the good news?

A team of top German engineers has just unveiled the world’s very first hearing aids with dual processing, and the results are clear... Literally!

Why is this so special? Thanks to this cutting-edge German technology, these tiny devices capture speech and noise separately, resulting in groundbreaking levels of noise reduction and speech clarity.

Hear.com is so confident you’ll love their product, all devices come with a 45-day no-risk trial. They’ve already got 385,000 happy customers and counting, and their award-winning customer service will help with anything you need.

Please do visit our sponsors—they help keep 10almonds free

🌎 AROUND THE WEB

What’s happening in the health world…

• The “male menopause”—what you need to know

• Study indicates a very high level of resilience among Canadians with arthritis

• Anti-obesity drugs’ side effects: what we know so far

• Drones delivering opioid overdose reversal kits could reach people more quickly than ambulances

• Can coffee help you avoid weight gain? Here's what the science says

• Preventing kidney stones before they form

• New personal diet calculator checks how your diet stacks up against guidelines

More to come tomorrow!

📖 ONE-MINUTE BOOK REVIEW

Eat Better, Feel Better: My Recipes for Wellness and Healing, Inside and Out – by Giada de Laurentis

In yesterday's edition of 10almonds, we reviewed Dr. Aujla's "The Doctor's Kitchen"; today we're reviewing a different book about healing through food—in this case, with a special focus on maintaining energy and good health as we get older.

De Laurentis may not be a medical doctor, but she is a TV chef, and not only holds a lot of influence, but also has access to a lot of celebrity doctors and such; that's reflected a lot in her style and approach here.

The recipes are clear and easy to follow; well-illustrated and nicely laid-out.

This cookbook's style is less "enjoy this hearty dish of rice and beans with these herbs and spices" and more "you can serve your steak salad with white beans and sweet shallot dressing on a bed of organic quinoa if you haven't already had your day's serving of grains, of course".

It's a little fancier, in short, and more focused on what to cut out, than what to include. On account of that, this could make it a good contrast to yesterday's book, which had the opposite focus.

She also recommends assorted adjuvant practices; some that are evidence-based, like intermittent fasting and meditation, and some that are not, like extreme detox-dieting, and acupuncture (which has no bearing on gut health).

Bottom line: if you like the idea of eating for good health, and prefer a touch of celebrity lifestyle to your meals, this one's a good book for you.

Click here to check out "Eat Better, Feel Better", and enjoy her unique blend of quality and minimalism!

Wishing you the best of health at every age,

The 10almonds Team