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This week's issue of Feisty 40+ is presented by Previnex. Get 15% off your first order at previnex.com with the code FEISTY40PLUS. |
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😖 Gut Health & Stress Can Impact Your Menopause Experience
Midlife women know peri/menopause is more than just hot flashes. Mood swings, sleep problems, digestive issues, and a general feeling of being “off” are all common—and often dismissed. It’s something that comes up all the time in our community. While doing a bit of research on some of those “feeling off” symptoms, I dug up a 2023 study published in Menopause that connects some of the dots, showing a deeper link between menopausal symptoms, gut health, and stress.
For the study, researchers surveyed 693 women aged 40 to 60 from premenopause to postmenopause. They asked about:
Unsurprisingly, they found that menopausal symptoms worsen as we travel through the menopause transition. Hot flashes, sleep trouble, and physical symptoms were highest in early postmenopause, but symptoms ramped up during perimenopause.
Stress is a major amplifier. Women who reported high levels of perceived stress also reported worse symptoms across every domain, including mood, physical discomfort, and even sexual symptoms. A diagnosis of anxiety or depression made symptoms even more severe.
Gut health matters. Women with constipation or less frequent bowel movements reported more severe menopausal symptoms across physical, psychosocial, and sexual domains on the MENQOL questionnaire. Hard, lumpy stools (indicative of constipation) were also associated with worse hot flashes and physical discomfort. Past studies have shown that our gut microbiome plays an important role in the metabolism of our female sex hormones, and also sex hormones influence the gut microbiome. Stress and gut function are also tightly linked.
Lifestyle factors help. Good news for active women is that more physical activity equals fewer symptoms. Having better sleep (which, of course, can be tricky during this time) also was linked to having fewer symptoms, and a lower BMI was associated with fewer physical complaints
🧠 Respect the Gut Brain Axis
This study adds weight to the idea that menopause isn’t just about hormones. It’s about how your brain, gut, stress levels, and lifestyle all interact. The gut-brain-hormone axis—the communication loop between your microbiome, nervous system, and endocrine system—may play a bigger role in how you experience menopause than is often appreciated.
🥦 Don’t ignore digestive issues during midlife* they could be more than a nuisance. Doctors and dieticians who specialize in midlife women who we’ve featured on Hit Play Not Pause all agree that fiber is a top priority and we should be aiming for 30 grams a day (about twice what many women get). That means eating more plants (which is also associated with less severe menopause symptoms…Coincidence?🤔 Probably not).
🧘🏽♀️Stress management isn’t just nice to have—it’s a critical piece of the menopause puzzle. We all might be weary of hearing about taking some moments for breathing, mindfulness, and meditation each day, but it works…and may help with symptom management (as well as gut health), too.
🚴🏻♀️ Exercise, sleep, and aiming for a health body composition are meaningful levers for symptom relief. We all know this and do our best. It’s just another reminder that lifestyle really does make a difference.
*I’ll note here that members of our community who struggle with constipation have shared with me that Previnex’s Gut & Green Superfoods has helped them find relief. It contains resistant potato starch (Solnul), which has prebiotic effects and can reduce constipation and G. glabra (GutGard), which helps with indigestion. Previnex is one of our sponsors and community members get a 15% discount (with the code HITPLAY). They have supported the podcast for years. I myself don’t have gut issues, but the women I know who do have sung its praises.
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Why We Partner With Previnex
Maybe you’ve been wondering why the Feisty 40+ newsletter is powered by Previnex.
There are a LOT of supplement companies out there. So what sets Previnex apart and why did we choose them? Well, when Previnex approached us in 2020, Selene did a deep dive into the science behind their products. And here’s what she found:
✅ Their product ingredients are well-researched and science-backed
✅ Not only do they use the best ingredients, but they use the best forms of those ingredients
✅ Everything is tested in its raw state and the final state
✅ They offer 100% money back guarantee
But none of that matters unless the products make a measurable difference in your life. We endorse these products because frankly, they work for us, and we've heard from many women in our audience that they work for them as well.
Get 15% off your first order with the code FEISTY40PLUS at previnex.com
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💊 The Supplement Cabinet
Magnesium is a versatile, hard working micronutrient during midlife. The mineral is involved in over 300 biochemical reactions, and plays an essential role in muscle function, cardiovascular health, mood regulation, bone health, and hormonal balance–all of which need extra attention during the menopause transition. While deficiency is rare for anyone eating a decent diet, subclinical magnesium deficiency (SMD) is more common—especially among women– due to hormonal shifts.
The recommended daily intake for magnesium for women over 30 is 320 mg for adult women in the US, but research shows that very active or athletic women may require 10 to 20% more because sweating increases magnesium loss, especially in endurance athletes or during training in heat.
It's easy to get plenty of magnesium from whole foods like whole grains, seeds, fish, dairy products, dark leafy greens, and beans. Some women find that magnesium supplements have a calming effect and help support sleep. Magnesium glycinate is the form that is most easily absorbed and recommended to promote calm, relaxation, and improved sleep, according to the Sleep Foundation. The Foundation also notes that experts recommend taking no more than 350 milligrams of magnesium for sleep.
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🔥 Feisty Badass Athlete of the Week Goes To…
Arms up for Mavi Garcia who, at age 41, became the oldest rider to win a stage at the women’s Tour de France on Sunday, July 27th. The Liv AlUla Jayco rider launched her decisive attack with about 10K remaining, opening up a gap of about 20 seconds on the pack trying to chase her down. She held on through the explosive final climb, crossing the line three seconds ahead of some of the best riders in the world.
“I’ve been racing for a long time and I hadn’t been having my best year, but this win really gives me a massive boost of energy,” Garcia told AP Sports News. “I really didn’t believe I was going to win at the end. I’ve tried many times like that and it never worked out, so I just couldn’t believe it until I was five meters from the line.”
We believed, Mavi! Thanks for the inspiration!
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👉Want a chance to be featured? Click here to share your badass story |
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👩🏻💻 Hit Play Research Round Up
We spend a lot of time scouring the latest research for news you can use to stay strong and feisty forever. Here’s what’s making waves this week:
🥵 Nearly 40% of perimenopausal women experienced untreated, potentially debilitating vasomotor symptoms (VMS) like hot flashes and night sweats, according to a study of over 5,500 women that found perimenopause can begin before cycle changes. Hot flashes were the biggest standout signaling perimenopause, increasing nearly five-fold from premenopause to late perimenopause. Vaginal dryness also stood out, with a 2.5-fold increase in prevalence. The study shows what women have long known: our experience matters most! It’s time for a symptom-based diagnostic approach to improve early recognition and care, especially for women with hysterectomies or hormonal IUDs.
👣 7,000 steps a day yields lots of health benefits. If you like to shoot for 10K steps a day, that’s great and yields tons of health benefits. But don’t let that number demotivate you or make you feel like you’re not doing enough if you fall short. The largest analysis to date published in the Lancet found taking 7,000 steps a day was linked to 47% lower risk of all-cause death, 25% lower risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and up to 38% lower risk of dementia, compared to just 2,000 steps. It was also associated with reduced risk of type 2 diabetes, cancer mortality, depression, and falls. Walking more can be beneficial for sure, but you hit a point of diminishing returns.
🏋️♂️ Heavy lifting = stronger tendons — even for endurance athletes, according to a 12-week study on elite triathletes. The researchers found that adding heavy strength training significantly increased Achilles and patellar tendon stiffness—even while they kept up high-volume endurance training. Specifically, their tendons got stiffer, their strength and power improved, and key markers of tendon remodeling (like MMPs and decorin) increased. There was no change in running or cycling economy, but it could help with injury prevention and long term musculoskeletal health. (This one was done on men, but we suspect women would also benefit, as the adaptation pathway is the same.)
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What's On My Mind...
So, I don’t know with 100% certainty who invented the sports bra with pockets (especially the back phone pocket)...looks like an entrepreneur named Sherry Goff (who until May was in a lawsuit with Nike) could be the one. I would just like to give whoever it is a massive virtual hug. That back pocket is a 100% game changer. I love running, hiking, cycling, walking, whatever-ing without a second thought about my phone. I own a few of these now and Oiselle is my favorite for ease of access (aka pulling the phone in and out on the fly). I have zero affiliation with them; they’ve just been on my mind a lot this summer as I hit the trails in just a sports bra and shorts. Sometimes it really is the little things…
🎧 Listen to this week's episode of Hit Play Not Pause - Why Hybrid Training Rules for Peri and Menopausal Women with Alyssa Olenick, PhD
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Feisty 40+ is written by Selene Yeager. Edited by Maya Smith. Ads by Ella Hnatyshyn
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