307: Nutrition and the menopause - can diet affect the symptoms?

<div>Is there a link between nutrition and the health changes associated with the menopause?<br> <br> It’s an area that traditionally has not received as much attention as one might hope, but things are perhaps changing.<br> <br> There has been a lot of recent media interest in the menopause, notably Davina McCall’s TV programmes, Scotland First Minister Nicola Sturgeon’s interviews, and other celebrity interventions getting lots of coverage.    <br> <br> But while this public discussion is a welcome change, it has also helped highlight that far-from-enough is known about the health issues associated with the menopause.<br> <br> And the question of menopause and nutrition is an area unfortunately still swamped in myth and pseudoscience.<br> <br> That is where our guest, Dr Sarah Berry comes in.<br> <br> She is Reader in the Department of Nutritional Sciences at King's College London and is Chief Scientist at the health science company ZOE.<br> <br> ZOE has been studying the effect of the menopause on body composition, sleep, heart disease risk, gut microbiome composition, and the impact our diets can have on these factors.<br> <br> Listen to the full episode to get a proper definition of what the menopause is, and how the symptoms compare to those experienced during the perimenopausal phase.<br> <br> We also find out how what you eat could potentially affect symptoms, and why this latest ZOE research could act a springboard for more to come.<br> <br> <strong>Dr Sarah Berry, Lead Nutritional Scientist, ZOE<br> </strong><br> Dr Sarah Berry’s research interests relate to the influence of dietary components on markers of cardiovascular disease risk, with a particular focus on:<br> <br> - Precision nutrition <br> <br> - Postprandial metabolism<br> <br> - Food and fat structure<br> <br> Since commencing her research career at King’s College London in 2000, she has been the academic leader for more than 30 human nutrition studies in cardio-metabolic health. Sarah has made a leading contribution to the knowledge-base on