The #1 Menopause Doctor: How to Lose Belly Fat, Sleep Better, & Stop Suffering Now

Today's episode is a MUST listen. You won't believe what the latest research is saying about menopause. And you're likely not getting what you need to know from your doctor. 

Did you know perimenopause can begin as early as your 30’s? Or that symptoms can include frozen shoulder, joint pain, ear ringing, migraines, and body odor?

Today, the #1 menopause doctor tells you everything she knows so you can stop guessing and KNOW how to stay healthy and feel amazing in your body.

Dr. Mary Claire Haver joins Mel on the podcast today. She is a board certified obstetrics and gynecology specialist, a certified menopause practitioner from the Menopause Society, and her latest book is The New Menopause. Her advice today will help you optimize your health, no matter what your age. 

You've got symptoms; today's episode has solutions, like:

3 types of foods that will stop your bloating

2 supplements that will help you sleep better

1 exercise that will help you lose weight and improve your bone density

Bookmark this episode and share it with every single woman in your life, because it’s time to change the paradigm: you do not have to live with symptoms that can be resolved and you do not have to suffer.

Connect with Mel:

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• Disclaimer

In this episode:‍

• 3:20: What’s wrong with our medical system when it comes to menopause.
• 6:00: By the age of 30, women have lost 90% of these.
• 8:30: How the loss in sex hormones starts to affect your life.
• 10:15: What on earth is a WW?
• 12:35: Surprising symptoms you’d never think were related to menopause.
• 18:45: What causes menstrual bloating and swelling?
• 19:00: Why do women become depressed and anxious during their cycles?
• 19:50: Wait. Migraines can be caused by a change in hormones?!
• 20:20: You’re not crazy if you’re dealing with ADHD symptoms in your 30’s.
• 24:00: Another surprising symptom of low estrogen levels.
• 25:40: What does estrogen have to do with your heart health?
• 26:45: How women are being treated unfairly by the health insurance industry.
• 27:50: Asthma is another unexpected symptom of menopause.
• 28:15: Estrogen impacts your gut health. 
• 28:40: Despite what you’ve been told, osteoporosis IS preventable. 
• 31:40: How is a woman’s vagina impacted by loss of estrogen?
• 33:30: Most women in their 30’s and up know your bladder is impacted, too.
• 37:20: How do women start to experience perimenopause?
• 39:00: Why it’s so hard to diagnose perimenopause.
• 41:00: Once officially in menopause, a woman should never have these again.
• 42:20: Will you have these menopause symptoms for the rest of your life?
• 43:20: Your body makes 4 types of estrogen.
• 45:23: How much estrogen you have at 25 vs. postmenopause.
• 46:50: The postmenopause toolkit you need to start feeling better.
• 50:00: What you need to know about hormone replacement therapy.
• 54:30: 3 types of food ALL women should include in their diets.
• 54:25: What type of magnesium supplement should you take?
• 56:15: Why you have to take a Vitamin D supplement.
• 57:00: Why do so many women have higher cholesterol?
• 57:55: Should women take probiotic supplements?
• 58:40: How visceral fat is different from other fat and how HRT helps.
• 59:35: What type of exercise should postmenopausal women do?
• 1:01:50: How can you sleep better?
• 1:03:40: Estrogen dips impact how your body processes alcohol.
• 1:09:45: How do you find a doctor and how do you prepare for your visit?
• 1:11:20: What else can you do to manage your experience?

Resources and go deeper:

Dr. Mary Claire Haver

• Check out her website: The Pause Life.
• Purchase her book: The New Menopause.
• Take her free menopause quiz here.
• Find a list of (reader) recommended physicians here.
• Sign up for her free Menopause Empowerment Guide.
• Follow Dr. Haver on Instagram.
• Find her on TikTok.
• Subscribe to her YouTube Channel
• Dr. Haver’s favorite food-tracking app.
• Check out Dr. Haver’s list of foods with magnesium.

• The North American Menopause Society: Find a practitioner.
• MIDI Health: one possible source for menopause-focused telehealth care.
• Journal of Midlife Health: At 30 years, a woman has lost nearly 90% of her eggs.
• PubMed: Menopausal arthralgia: Fact or fiction? 
• Duke Obstetrics & GYN: Hormone therapy appears to reduce shoulder pain.
• The New York Times: Women have been misled about menopause.
• Journal of Neuroinflammation: Effects of perimenopause on the brain.
• The New York Times: How menopause affects women of color.
• Menopause Review: Menopause increases chronic inflammation response.
• Harvard Health: A surprising array of menopause symptoms.
• PLoS One: Increased inflammation, reduced T-cell subsets in postmenopause.
• American Heart Association: HRT may not be for you if you have heart disease.
• Women’s Health Report: Changes in body composition in menopause.
• Post Reproductive Health: HRT reduces risk for osteoporotic bone fractures.
• The New York Times: How menopause changes the brain.
• Breastcancer.org: Systemic HRT not recommended for women with history.
• Cancer Journal: HRT after breast cancer: it is time.
• Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology: HRT after breast cancer: yes, no, maybe?
• Cancer.net: Impact of HRT on cancer risk.
• The New York Times Magazine: What to know about menopause and HRT.
• Medicina: High physical activity may reduce menopausal symptoms.
• Menopause: Resistance training improves bone density, reduces hot flashes.
• Climacteric: Resistance training, 3x a week, improved quality of life. 
• Endocrine Metabolism: Resistance exercise may be most optimal strategy.
• Journal of Translational Medicine: Influence of diet on gut microbiome.
• Int J of Women’s Health: Spotlight on gut microbiome in menopause.
• Dr. Mary Claire Haver: Galveston Diet helps women lose stubborn weight.
• The New York Times: Menopause is having a moment. (podcast)
• Frontiers in Pub Health: Estrogen, progesterone on memory, mood, behavior.
• Ann Allergy Asthma Immunology: Asthma increase in menopausal women.
• Women’s Reproductive Health: Hormone disruptors and women’s health.
• Endocrine Society: What you can do about hormone-disrupting chemicals.
• Harvard Health: Taking aim at visceral (belly) fat.
• Journal of Translational Research: Anxiety higher for women in menopause.
• National Women’s Law Center: Insurance discrimination against women.