In this episode of The Menopause Show, Sue Moxley speaks with Rob Hobson, a registered nutritionist and ambassador for Healthspan supplements, about how diet can help women navigate menopause more comfortably. Rob emphasizes that while supplements play a role, focusing on food first is essential for managing menopause symptoms and protecting long-term health. He recommends adopting a Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole foods, fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, and whole grains—all of which contain beneficial compounds like phytoestrogens and lignans that can help ease the effects of dropping estrogen levels.
The conversation covers practical dietary strategies for menopausal women, including the importance of adequate protein intake to maintain muscle mass and prevent age-related decline. Rob provides accessible solutions for vegetarians and vegans, highlighting plant-based proteins like beans, chickpeas, lentils, and soya foods, while explaining how to combine them throughout the day to get all essential amino acids. He also addresses common concerns about bloating from legumes, sharing tips like adding fenugreek spice (common in Indian cuisine) or drinking mint tea after meals to ease digestive discomfort.
Throughout the episode, Rob shares practical, budget-friendly recipe ideas and encourages batch cooking and freezing to help busy women find time for nutritious meal preparation. From simple chickpea and tuna salads to homemade dips with edamame beans, the discussion demonstrates that eating well during menopause doesn’t require complicated cooking skills or expensive ingredients—just a willingness to explore easy, versatile dishes that support hormonal health and overall wellness.
Main Topics
A Mediterranean-style diet rich in whole foods, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains is the best foundation for managing menopause symptoms
Phytoestrogens and lignans found in plant-based foods can help reduce menopause symptoms by mimicking estrogen's effects
Adequate protein intake is crucial during menopause to maintain muscle mass and prevent falls and fractures in later life
Plant-based proteins like beans, chickpeas, and lentils are excellent menopause-friendly foods but should be eaten in variety to ensure all essential amino acids are consumed
Initial bloating from legumes can be reduced by adding fenugreek spice or drinking mint tea, and the body naturally adapts with regular consumption
Simple, budget-friendly meals like chickpea and tuna salads or homemade dips are practical ways to incorporate protein-rich foods into your diet
Batch cooking and freezing meals can save time for busy women managing perimenopause while maintaining teenagers and aging parents
Full TranscriptHi, this is Sue Moxley. This is women's radio station. My show is The Menopause Show, and today I have a special guest, ...▼
Hi, this is Sue Moxley. This is women's radio station. My show is The Menopause Show, and today I have a special guest, Rob Hobson. He is a nutritionist and he is an ambassador for Healthspan supplements, and I think he's here now and he's going to chat us through lots of things today. Are you there, Rob? Yeah, I'm here, Sue. Hello. Hello. Hi, nice to have you on the show. Thank you. So tell us about what you do and also who you are ambassador for. Yeah, sure. So I am Rob Hobson. I'm a registered nutritionist and yeah, I work as a nutritionist, a freelance nutritionist. I've been doing it for 18 years and my work is quite varied. So I work a lot in the media, I work alongside brands like Healthspan as an ambassador, and I work with private clients. And yeah, lots of different, lots of different things that I do as a registered nutritionist. Lots of different varied things that I do. And it's not just them, it also works alongside public health as well with the NHS. Oh, okay. So you do that as well. So talk to us about the diet and menopause and how women can maybe change their diet to, to make themselves feel better and some of the foods or the things that they can do. Yeah, right. So I think, I think it's really good to start with what the diet looks like because I know we're here to talk about supplements and, but I think the supplements are kind of, well, the supplements are supplementary to your diet. So you're going to get a much better effect if you're also targeting food first, if you see what I mean. Yeah. So, you know, and this is a time, um, in, in during a woman's life when if you haven't paid attention to a diet before, this is a really good time to get your diet on track because it's not just about, you know, trying to make sure you're coming into menopause and leaving, you know, a healthy body weight, or making sure that you've got other things that you want to get sorted, but it's thinking about your long-term health because you're at greater risk of heart disease, um, you know, low bone density, that kind of thing. So if you've got your diet right, you're protecting yourself from all of these, um, these things that happen when your body, um, when your estrogen levels in your body start to drop. So I mean, it's really simple. I mean, what we're talking about here is a Mediterranean-style diet. So it's a diet that contains lots of whole foods because These foods contain things called lignans, which you find in fiber-rich foods, and also phytoestrogens, which sort of work in the same way as estrogen with a much, much less effect. Yeah, but they can sort of help to maybe lessen symptoms that you might experience because of that drop in estrogen. So, you know, we're talking lots of fruits and vegetables, lots of whole grains especially, Nuts and seeds are particularly beneficial as well. And also making sure that, you know, you've got plenty of protein in your diet. You know, you can start to experience a bit of muscle loss more quickly, more rapidly during and beyond the menopause. So you want to make sure that you've got plenty of protein so that you can maintain and retain your muscle mass, because obviously going much further forward, you know, if you don't have good strength, and that can make you more vulnerable to, you know, falls and fractures and that kind of thing. So yeah, just getting your diet right on track, Mediterranean style, lots of anti-inflammatory foods, that's going to be the best place to start. Okay, so you say, you know, make sure you get protein in the diet. How about if you're vegetarian or vegan? Or, and you know, because we all imagine that most of our protein comes from meats and eggs really. What's the, you know, other options for protein? Well, yeah, this is why, because a lot of people now are going vegan and more people are going plant-based, but it's actually still quite simple to get protein in your diet. So we're thinking beans, chickpeas, lentils, soya foods. And these are particularly good because they're also rich sources of these phytoestrogens, which are these sort of menopause-friendly compounds that we get in foods. So they're good sources. The nuts and seeds are good sources. But what you need to remember with these foods, if you are completely plant-based, then you want to get a nice range of these foods across the day because these foods don't contain all of the essential amino acids. So proteins are made up of amino acids and 11 of them are essential. So we need to get those from our diet. These foods lack one or more of those. So if you're sort of eating a nice wide variety of plant-based proteins across the day, then you're more likely to get everything that you need, unlike your meat, fish, and sort of poultry, which, which does contain all of those amino acids, if that makes sense. Yeah, okay. I always think of like, because I actually really love chickpeas, and my husband, because I can't understand it, he says it's like chewing mush, but I love them, they're my favorite, but Don't you think that if you eat too many, that because they are carb, they have got carbs in as well, haven't they? Is it not going to make us bloated and maybe put on a bit of weight as well with those kind of things? No, not necessarily, because they are sort of, they don't contain a lot of carb. What you might experience if you suddenly increase your intakes of beans, lentils, and chickpeas, those kind of foods, legumes as they're called, then you could experience a little bit of bloating because they contain fibers that quite hard to digest, right? So they go through to the large, the large, um, the large part of the gut, and then bacteria break those down and they produce gases, which makes us quite bloated. But your body will adapt to that. And, um, over— stay away from your partner for a few weeks until you say— that's a good thing sometimes, isn't it? So, um, yeah, but I mean, also, you know, certain cultures actually add spices to lessen these effects. So in Indian food, they add fenugreek, which is a spice, to chickpeas and beans because it lessens that bloating, flatulent effect that you get. Okay, I would have wrote that down. Yeah, take a little note of that. I mean, what— how— also, what is it? It's fenugreek, which is added to, um, Indian cuisine, but also stops you from Bloating, flatulence, that kind of thing. If you do experience bloating, then you can also, you know, a bit of mint tea after you've eaten is a good way to sort of get rid of excess gas as well, because it sort of opens up the valve that connects your gut to your, you know, to your oesophagus. So that's a good way. If you've got bloating, then mint tea is quite good after you've eaten. So would you buy a mint tea off the shelf, or would you use, say, you know, fresh mint and put that? Both, both will work just as well. Okay, okay. And I think one of the things actually with these foods that I find when I see clients is they don't really know what to do with them. So yeah, you know, there's loads of different ways. I was working yesterday, I'm doing some filming of some recipes, and I'd made protein bars out of chickpeas that were mashed together with, you know, almond flour and honey and some other ingredients, and Honey, chickpeas, that's different. Yeah, honey, chickpeas, ground almonds, and they made a delicious sort of alternative to a non-ultra-processed protein bar. And then, you know, you can really spice these foods up with lots of herbs and spices. They're really good in salads, adding them to salads, soups, you know, chucking them into curries or stews or anything like that. So they are really versatile, these kind of foods. Foods and easy to add to your diet. Yeah, I do exactly what you say though, like, oh, because I am the worst cook ever. In fact, I honestly don't cook. The husband does it. But, you know, I'll open a tin of chickpeas and put them in a bowl and think, well, what am I going to do with them? So I'll put some tomato sauce on them or something. So it doesn't sound like the nicest recipe, Sue. I know, but I thought, well, yeah, because if you're not— so do you have like are recipes on your website or something, or, you know, do you have a recipe book? Yeah, I mean, I wrote a book called The Detox Kitchen Bible that was published about, well, a while ago now, 5 or 6 years ago. So we focus a lot on plant-based foods in that, and I've got another cookbook coming out in January. So, but you know, you'll find lots of recipes online, BBC Good Food, all this kind of websites. You'll find really nice ideas and easy ways to to make really quick food, really quick dishes using these types of foods. I mean, even if you don't like cooking, just a can of chickpeas, you know, half a can of chickpeas with some tuna, you know, a can of tuna, some chopped cucumber, chopped tomatoes, you know, maybe some herbs, lemon juice, olive oil, you've got a meal. And it's not even an expensive meal, you know, that's also living on a budget. So Really simple, yeah. So it's just, and it's finding a nice repertoire of dishes that you're really comfortable with. I mean, dips as well. I made a dip yesterday out of edamame beans, which are soya, so they're rich in phytoestrogens, and you chuck it in the blender with some yogurt and avocado, some chili and some lime juice, and you get a delicious dip that you can then either put on toast with an egg on top like mashed avocado, or you can just use it with you know, pitta breads. Where do you live, Rob? What's that? Where do you live? I want you to come and pop round and like make me some food. Sounds delicious. I think a lot of it is just, you know, it's getting an interest in cooking and finding like the dishes that you— that can become your non-negotiables, that you just can make really quickly and that every week you just whip them up. So you've got your dip in the fridge, you know, you know that you're gonna have that chickpea tuna dish once, You can make a nice dal out of lentils that you can freeze. Great with roasted beetroot on top, that kind of thing. So there's loads and loads of different ways. It's just getting interested in food. And actually, at this point in, during a woman's lifespan, like I said before, this is a brilliant time to really start focusing on eating well. Yeah, yeah. Okay. You know, obviously some women who are in the perimenopause do find it hard to find the time to do those things, you know, because they've got— they might still have like teenage children and elderly parents. And so if there are simple recipes out there, then that's a good idea. Yeah, absolutely, because also don't forget there are ways of doing this because, you know, get into things like batch cooking, freezing food, all that kind of stuff, you know, it will save you time. And I know it's a palaver, and when you first start it, it just feels like you're constantly cooking, but Once you get used to it and you've got something in the freezer that you can just pull out and stick in the microwave for your kids or for you or whatever it is, it will save you a lot of time. Yeah. Yeah, or like I said, just finding easy quick meals to put together. Okay, I'm gonna do the chickpea and tuna later. That sounds nice. Yeah, it's nice with cannellini beans. Just open two tins. It's perfect, right? And I've always got cucumber in the fridge because I like that. So what do you think about like Pra— is it probiotics or preobiotics? Pro— so, well, you get probiotics, probiotics, which are the bacteria that you put into your gut. So that's in supplement form, or you get it in foods that, uh, like yogurts, kefir, those kind of foods. And then you get prebiotics. Now these are the foods that you eat that feed the bacteria in your gut. So they're just as important. And you get that in garlic, bananas, onions, artichokes, salads, pasta, rice, and potatoes that have been cooked and then cooled. They get these things called non-resistant starches that the bacteria can feed on. So it's kind of a two-way, a two-way thing. And actually what's really interesting about probiotics as well is We're going to talk a bit about supplements, but one of the supplements for menopause symptoms, the soy isoflavones, actually it can metabolize, it can be much better, um, sort of assimilated in the body if you have a good diversity of bacteria. So taking those with probiotics or making sure you regularly eat probiotic foods can be quite a good thing. It helps, um, like two in one there kind of thing. Yeah, definitely. I know lots of women that are really, that really suffer from the bloating in perimenopause and menopause, and it really gets them down. So I just wondered what you thought. Is there, is there anything like that in the supplements that Healthspan have? Yes, I mean, you could take a, you could think about taking a probiotic, and I would suggest with any supplement taking them for probably about 3 months so that you can see if you're actually going to get a benefit. And if you stop taking them after 3 months, then you can sort of assess whether you feel better or not. Do you know what I mean? So I would definitely think about, yeah, possibly a probiotic. If you suffer with bloating— 3 months for supplements to really work, is that— I just think it's, you need to be consistent. They're not going to work overnight. Yeah. So, you know, you need to be consistent with them. And that might also be thinking about what's the best way for you to take them so that you are consistent. You know, leave your supplements near the milk in the morning so when you get your milk for your tea, you remember, or near your toothbrush or whatever it is. Yeah, it is a good way to do it. If you also suffer from bloating, things like artichoke supplement can also be quite useful as well to help with bloating. That's something that some women try, or not just women, anybody actually, to be honest, could try. So tell me about the supplements then. What what actually, um, do you know, what, what are they, what do they have in them? Yeah, so I think, well, when we talk about supplements, I think, I think we've got a couple of things really. So we've got sort of symptoms of menopause, so these are your anxiety, hot flushes, night sweats. I mean, there are, believe it or not, there are a lot of symptoms, and I think people don't— a lot of women are not aware there's, you know, as much as over 40 different types of symptoms. It's not just I think it's 60-odd, actually. Is it even more? Yeah, so it's a lot, isn't it? So, um, so these can help, and I think they're quite useful to use either alongside HRT, or there's women who, as you well know, that can't take HRT for one reason or another. Maybe they have got family history of cancers or blood clots or something like that. So these offer another solution. So we've got You get blends, so blend mixes that contain maybe phytoestrogens like soy isoflavones, and these basically have been shown to be particularly useful for hot flushes and the severity of hot flushes. And they come from, well, they come from soy food, which is, I spoke about earlier, which is a plant-based protein. So they might be useful. They also contain omegas, Omega-3 is often found in these supplements, which helps with inflammation, um, can help with brain fog. Yeah, some of them contain buckthorn oil, those kind of things, those types of omegas, which are useful for symptoms like vaginal dryness or anything related to dryness throughout the body, um, that you might experience. Because obviously dry skin as well is something that women struggle with during menopause, changes to the way that their skin reacts. So they would be the ones as well. I guess you might get B vitamins as well for brain fog. B vitamins are involved in lots of different things within the body and especially towards brain health. They also help with mood. So B vitamins help to make serotonin in the brain, which is the sort of happy hormone. And then a lot of these blends as well might contain the nutrients that support other elements. So I mentioned earlier about your sort of long-term health, so they might contain calcium and vitamin D to support your bone health, um, or even magnesium. Now, we talked about anxiety being quite, um, a symptom that many women experience, and actually, when you suffer with anxiety, your body gets rid— excretes more magnesium than usual. Yeah. And Obviously it's a bit of a vicious circle because low magnesium causes anxiety, so you can get stuck in this rut. So if you do struggle with anxiety, I would probably recommend a magnesium supplement. Might be, might be quite a useful one for you to take. And it's found in some of these blends as well that are, that are a bit easier for some women to manage. But I mean, I think the other thing to think about is that every woman's different. Yeah. So, you know, there is no there is no generic to telling, um, to helping a woman to, um, deal with this or to get her diet right or whatever. Everybody has different lifestyles, everybody has different symptoms. Some people have certain things that are more important to them than others. So it might be that you take an individual supplement that helps with a specific, um, a specific symptom that you're struggling with. So sage, for example, is thought to help with excessive sweats. Yeah. And a new bit of research actually recently has also said it helps with mood and anxiety. So it might be that you just take a specific one alongside making sure that you try and eat a healthy diet. Sage on its own, you mean, rather than— Yeah, just take it on its own. You might, you know, you might get enough calcium in your diet, so you might just be that you say, right, I'm going to take sage because I've got a real struggle with, with night sweats, mood, anxiety, but then I'm also going to make sure during the winter months I'm going to take my vitamin D because I want to make sure that I'm getting enough calcium in the body, because obviously vitamin D helps you to absorb calcium. So that could be— Most people in England are deficient, aren't they, in vitamin D because we don't get very much sunshine. Yeah, definitely. Exactly, exactly. So I think it's really important that you, that you focus on that as well, because like I said, You know, during menopause, when you don't have the oestrogen, you lose that protective effect that it has on the bone building process. So, you know, women after menopause are particularly at risk of low bone density and osteoporosis, and especially if they maybe when they were younger didn't eat a very balanced diet, because you can only lay down so much bone. Up until the age of 25, what you lay down at that point is all you've got for the rest of your life. So, you know, We notice teenage girls tend to have really bad diets, so it's really important for them to make sure, if possible, they can eat the best diet they possibly can. And calcium is one of those things, so they can lay down that bone that's going to see them through the rest of their lives. So it's just trying to preserve what you can during menopause and beyond. What do you think about calcium in milk? Yeah. So I think this is a really— this is actually a really interesting topic. So I think that it's not just about milk because a lot of people now don't drink milk, it's become very unpopular. So there are many other ways to get your calcium. So you could think about dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds, dried fruit, tofu, tinned fish with bones, for example. They're all other sources of calcium, so Eat the bones, you mean? Yes, so in salmon you don't even notice it, to be honest. So I like the crunchy little bits. Yeah, it goes in a sandwich, it's okay, or even in a salad, or you can add it to— you can make a pasta sauce even with it if you add it to some nice tomato sauce, spicy tomato sauce. So, um, but in terms of calcium, you want to be looking at kind of about 4 servings a day, if that helps your listeners to think about what they need. It's about 800 milligrams, so you know, just adding a bit. Breakfast is a really easy time to get calcium because all the foods are kind of tailored towards calcium, if you see what I mean. It might be yogurt topped with nuts and seeds or dried fruit, and you've already got a nice source in there then. Or salads, or a dark green, or a stir-fry made with these leafy greens for dinner, that kind of thing. So yeah, there's lots of ways of getting this, this nutrient into your diet. So Rob, I really, really like dried fruit. I could just eat tons of it, but it's quite 'You can put— it's quite high in sugar. I know it's good sugar, but can you put on weight with eating dried fruit?' You can put on weight eating anything, um, if you eat too much in general. So I think as part of a balanced diet, it's brilliant. It's got calcium, it's got iron, and obviously it counts as one of your 5 a day. But, you know, excessive eating of anything is not going to be great. And actually, this is probably quite a good point to talk about you know, the weight gain issue. Because a lot of women, what happens is, you know, the fluctuating levels of estrogen, progesterone when you're going through menopause, um, they cause the body to lay down fat much faster than before, especially around the middle, because your body works really hard to turn these calories into fat because fat produces estrogen. So while your body's trying to get more estrogen to you, it's actually, you know, converting more of the calories you eat into fat, and it's storing those around your middle. So it is challenging And I think— Say that again. Yeah, I know, it's just, yeah, yeah, and it's, it's, well, it's just not what you want, is it? So I think that anything you can do to try and maintain a healthy body weight, it'll be much easier before than after. But don't, don't succumb to faddy diets. You know, I know this sounds really boring, but I honestly think that, you know, just, just taking an approach that's really healthy is definitely the better approach. You know, we know not to overeat too many carbs, a bit more protein in your diet, healthy fats, watch your portion size. I definitely think about those kind of habit-forming eating habits that, that will see you through long term than thinking, well, I'm going to go on a high-fat, low-carb diet that's going to be a real flash in the pan. And I guarantee most people that goes on those diets will come off it and go on another diet and come off that and go on another diet. Do you see what I mean? And And with those diets, then you're also cutting out certain food groups, and some of those food groups could be the foods that are giving you the nourishment and the stuff that you need to help support you during menopause, to lessen the effects of the symptoms that you have. So, you know, taking a really sensible approach at this age is definitely the best way in terms of how you eat and manage your body weight. So how did you get into nutrition, Rob? So I I did a degree in nutrition ages ago, a long time ago, and then I actually did a master's straight in public health. So I started working in public health. I worked with schools, care homes, those kind of vulnerable groups, and then I wrote my cookbook, and then I moved more into sort of the media side of things, working with industry, working with with groups to get the message out in the media about good nutrition and in a scientific way, evidence-based scientific way, because, you know, there's a lot of people out there that aren't really qualified that are delivering advice to people. So I feel quite passionate about making sure that people get the right information. So that's, that's why I now work within this sort of environment and, and, um, yeah, get the word out there, just getting the word out, and it's, it's It's really interesting, you know, working as a freelancer because you could be doing, you know, a bit of filming for a website cooking food like I was yesterday, or you could be working with an individual. Or I'm also, I'm also a registered sports nutritionist because I did a master's in that a while ago. So working with athletes and actually working with athletes, masters athletes, is really interesting because they are women over 40. So menopause poses challenges to performance and how to train and the support that women would need at that age going through menopause to also allow them to compete and to perform at their best, which is a bit of education to everybody involved, you know, the men that train them as well and everything else, to make sure that they're able to do that efficiently and not injure themselves as well, of course, because you get these changes in bone density and muscle mass and that kind of thing. So Yeah, that's a really interesting area. Okay, but why, what, why did you actually, why was you interested in nutrition in the first place though, you know, when you did your degree? I think I just, I love food and I really love how food can, the way that food can help to protect your health and enhance your health. And I was really sporty, so I was really interested in food and performance. And then at the beginning, I was also really interested in sort of the public health side of things. So how we can make differences on a, on a bigger scale to people and get that message across to help sort of communities to eat better and improve their life. And actually I like the challenge of that as well. So, you know, doing that on a budget, you know, I set up a little consultancy called Helping Older People to Eat Well, which is HOPE, and that was working with adults with dementia or older people with dementia in care homes. So going into care homes and educating everybody from the carers through to the chefs through to whoever it was involved in making sure that these people were able to eat well and the challenges that that presented was really interesting to me. I think that kind of— the groups that are a bit more challenging to deal with, I just think are much more, yeah, interesting to work with. Do you think— why do you think that's more— they're more challenging? I just like the challenge. There's a lot more to think about and a lot more to work out and it's quite rewarding. You know, when I worked in care homes, there was lots of really interesting ways that people could encourage people with dementia to eat well. You know, we had a chap who spent his whole life having dinner in the pub, but he just refused to eat, and he was getting very weak and very malnourished. And they sort of— the care home, it was great— created this sort of pub environment, and they then gave him his dinner, sort of sat at what this makeshift bar and he'd associated that with how he used to eat and he started eating again. So all those kind of wins I find really satisfying and yeah, just making sure that everybody is given the opportunity to eat well. Okay, okay. So how many, so how do you know how many like different types of vitamins that Healthspan has? Off the top of my head I couldn't tell you, but it's a lot. Yeah, but it's to help lots of different, it's to help lots of different conditions. The thing to understand is that supplements are not medicines, so, you know, they're not guaranteed to cure you of anything, and it's good to make that clear. What they are is supplementary to your health. So it might be that you're feeling like you've got low energy or you've got some other symptoms of maybe a subclinical deficiency, for example. So you might have iron deficiency and you're feeling really rotten and tired and achy joints. So then that's where supplements come in to bridge that gap. It might be intermittently that you feel that your diet is maybe not great. You've gone on a diet that's maybe a weight loss diet and you're eating a little less. You might just want a multivitamin for that, a short point in time, or you're vegan, you want a B12, or whatever it is. They're They're there to supplement what you've got. And then you've also got the other side, which are remedies to support maybe like symptoms of the menopause. So again, they're not medicines, but they're there for you to try to see if they help you to deal with those things a bit better. So basically they are a supplement, that's what you're saying? They're a supplement? Yeah, it's a supplement. You know, it's not, it's not a medicine, it's a supplement. And you know, some don't work for some and they do work for others. So it's all about just trying it and finding out what works for you. There are like core, there's like, you could say that an omega-3, a probiotic, and a multivitamin could be the sort of holy trinity of supplements. You might just decide that you want to take those for general health, you know, covering all your bases if you feel that your diet's just not quite up to scratch. But Yeah, yeah, they're there, and there's some really interesting— there's always new and interesting supplements that pop up. Are there good and bad supplements out there? You know, like, you know, like anything really, you know, you can get expensive makeup, cheap makeup, but it does the same thing, or is that not the case with supplements? I think what you need to look at is you need to make sure that they're GMP tested, which is General Manufacturing Practices, so that just makes sure that what is in the supplement is what it says on the box. So there's different regulations and guidance that supplement manufacturers have to follow to make sure that, you know, every supplement contains the right amount of the ingredient that it's meant to contain and that kind of thing. So that's good to look out for. I don't think you need to spend an absolute fortune on supplements. I've seen some supplements that are eye-wateringly expensive, and you don't need to spend to spend that kind of money on most supplements to get the effect that you're looking for. I think where the supplements originate from, the ingredients, is quite good. So looking at the quality of the, yeah, where they come from. So for example, where your omega-3 oil comes from, or where your turmeric, if it's come from India or wherever it's come from, it's just making sure that the provenance is good. Of those supplements as well, the ingredients that are used. Okay, so how do you know that it's a good place though? Or if you're looking, you know, like you just said, you would imagine turmeric coming from India, but where would you, how would you know where the ingredients— Yeah, I mean, you can, you can do a bit more research on the supplement brand. You can look at their website, they'll have something, they, they would if they're proud of their supplements and where they get their ingredients from. They'll have some information there. At Healthspan, we actually have a call centre as well, so we support our customers and answer their questions with our team, which a lot of supplement brands don't. So we're there to advise, not in a sort of medical capacity, but give you the advice, general advice, on what these supplements do and how they might help. That's good. So yeah, it's useful because I think there's a lot of confusion as well, and You know, we're not trying to sell you every supplement under the sun. It's just finding something that's going to work for you. So you can make a better choice because you can walk into Boots or anywhere and you're just overwhelmed with everything that's there. So it's knowing what there is, what it's meant to do, and how it can help. Is Healthspan just online or is it in any of the stores? Yeah, it's online, but it's now— you'll find the supplements in Boots, Superdrug, certain types of supplements. Amazon you can go on as well. So again, that's online, but there are— yes, we are available on high street outlets. Not the whole range, but the core elements of our range. So you will get the menopause supplements will be in Boots, for example. Are they one of the best sellers? Yeah, yeah, they are up there. So they're definitely up there as an important one because I think it's You know, women are looking for, for help and solutions that maybe don't necessarily mean they need to go get medication. I think we spoke earlier about this thing with anxiety, and we did a bit of research at Healthspan of 2,000 women, and nearly 40% had visited their doctor for anxiety, having no idea that it was to do with perimenopause. And a lot of those were prescribed antidepressants, but there may have been a more natural solution, a natural remedy that they could have used. You know, a new supplement that's, that's new to Healthspan is saffron. And there's a lot of research around saffron and mood and helping with mild to moderate depression, that kind of thing. So I personally always think it's nice to try something a bit natural before going down the medical route. But that's me personally. I mean, some people may prefer to just take a pharmaceutical. It's, it's, it's down to personal choice. Yeah, yeah, it's good that, um, it's good that we've got the options now though, isn't it? Yeah, I think it is really good. I think it's important that you're able to make an informed choice and not think that you have to take what your doctor's given you for everything if you don't want to. I mean, sometimes it's you have to, right? But other times it may be that there's another option out there that you could think about. Yeah, okay. So tell me what the other bestsellers are. I'm interested. I'm curious just to— You know, you put me on the spot. I can't remember. Definitely things to do with bone health definitely are really big sellers. So glucosamine, chondroitin, those kind of supplements. And bone health is a big concern for a lot of people, especially people that are older. So they would definitely be up there. Probiotics are good. Vitamin D is always a big seller. And actually turmeric is really popular. And turmeric is, is, is good for joint conditions, that kind of thing. It's an anti-inflammatory, so that is another popular, popular supplement. It also, it's a bit seasonal as well, I think. So vitamin D would become more popular now because the government recommends that we take a supplement during the winter months. And also it goes in waves of kind of what's trending. So sleep is always quite a popular topic. It comes in waves, but it seems to be one that doesn't seem to be going away. What's the best supplement for sleep then? So you could take something like valerian, which is a natural herbal remedy. It's actually used for mild anxiety, but that sort of relates to trying to get yourself off to sleep. So that's very popular. Magnesium is quite popular for sleep. Again, it sort of centers around the anxiety side of things. So, and obviously sleep is really, I guess this is another big issue for women during menopause, disrupted sleep, especially if you suffer with hot flushes, that kind of thing, and night sweats. Yeah, so it's so bad if you don't get, you know, your sleep is so important, isn't it? And some, you know, like a lady I spoke to the other day, she wakes up 8 times a night, you know, soaked in the hot sweats, and you can't get a good night's sleep like that. No, it's really, it is really tricky. I actually wrote a book on sleep a while ago called The Art of Sleeping, and there are, I mean, you can have a look at basic, you know, sleep hygiene, trying to keep your room cool. I definitely recommend if you're struggling with night sweats to don't sleep in the nude, like get yourself some nice natural fiber pajamas because that will sort of wick the sweat between your skin and your bedding so you're not sort sticking to your bedding, which is really uncomfortable. You know, using natural fibers as your bedding. Don't have spicy food or alcohol before you go to bed because they can sort of cause your blood vessels to dilate and bring the heat to the surface. So they're good ways to think about it. You know, sometimes it might help, it might just not, because you just, you know, you're just very sweaty, so it might just it might not work. But there are definitely things to think about. What I noticed when I wrote the sleep book is everybody's— a lot of people struggle with sleep, and they like to tell you that they can't sleep, but very few of us actually really do anything about it. And I think sometimes that's because it's a thing late at night, and it's like, oh, you know, you just, you sort of can't be bothered, can you? Because you're tired and you want to go to bed. But there's definitely ways that you can do the very best you can for yourself to to try and get, to try and get yourself to sleep. And what, like, well, yeah, I referred to it as BED, which was behavior, environment, and diet. So your behavior is, you know, we all, we all know about this, the blue light that you get from your screens, making sure that you're, you know, really trying to switch off before you go to bed. Yeah. The environment, which I think is the most important one, it's like getting your room tidy. I, I couldn't sleep for ages. And actually, this made the biggest difference to me. Like, I always say mess causes stress. Having a completely uncluttered room, that's almost like walking into a hotel room. That's cool. You've got your side tables, your bed, your wardrobe. You know there's nothing like just shoved under the bed. You know that your bedroom has been reserved for sleep, so you haven't like eaten in your bed or you've been working in your bedroom. It's just all about making sure that room is preserved for sleep. It's dark, it's cool, it's like a serene space. That really, it really helps. I really agree with you, Rob. I really do, honestly. Like, I really agree with you, um, totally agree with you that your bedroom should be clear, not clutter everywhere, nice and cool, clean sheets, window open just a little bit. But, uh, yeah, it's hard sometimes when You know, people like— I know I keep bringing my husband up, but he likes to be boiling hot in bed and he likes the window closed. And the other thing that I do, which is really weird, I listen to white noise when I go to sleep. Have you ever heard that? Yes, I have. The sort of TV noise when it's not on. No, not TV. I listen to a fan or The sound of a Hoover. How weird is that? I've never ever heard— okay, before you will, because if you go on to YouTube or apps, they have like 8 hours of Hoover recordings on there, which— that's fascinating. I can't believe you didn't put it in your book, really. Yeah, I know, the Hoover noise. I actually, to be honest with you, I, I do listen to these noises sometimes. So I like the rain one, I find that really relaxing, or the sea that comes in. Don't do it for me, it's got to be Hoover, hair dryer, that's another one, the fat. So I've got apps on my phone that have those noises, you know, those sounds for like 10 hours or whatever. So I do have a friend that listens to the shipping forecast all night. I know it's weird what people listen to, but the room thing actually was so interesting because even things like, I would get changed before I go to bed, just chuck my clothes over the chair that was in the bedroom. Yeah. And that, those clothes would get bigger, the pile would get higher and higher and higher, and you just don't realize it. But honestly, once you've cleared it all up and everything's organized, it really does set your head straight a little bit. It's difficult when you live with someone though, And I should imagine that if you've got kids as well, it's really, really hard. But I do totally get what you just said because I like, I like my room to be really tidy and nice and cool. And just in case anyone like is listening, you know, and has the same problems as me, you can get duvets now that are half and half. Did you know that? Yeah, that's really useful actually. Yeah, you can get half the side of it is, you know, like a summer tog and the other half is a winter tog. So you can still lay in bed with the same duvet as your partner, but they can be really hot and you can be really cool. So yeah, the other thing, I mean, it's really interesting about the bedroom thing because if you've tried— so the other element I talked about was diet. So, you know, the foods rich in tryptophan, for example. So tryptophan is found in meat, fish, tofu, those kind of protein foods. If you mix those foods with a source of— what am I trying to say here— with carbohydrates. If we had a stir fry with chicken and a bit of rice before you go to bed, it helps you to take tryptophan up into the brain, and that's then used to make serotonin. Which then makes the sleep hormone melatonin. So that's quite a useful dinner before bed. Keep it light like that. Also vitamin B and magnesium are used to make serotonin, obviously then turn into tryptophan as well. You know, again, making sure that if you suffer with heartburn, for example, then don't go to bed eating heavy, you know, foods that are going to trigger, trigger any reflux or anything like that. You can also think, if you do struggle like that, you can also think about the side that you sleep on. I can't remember, I think it's if you sleep on your right-hand side, then that will help you if you suffer with heartburn when you're in bed because it's the way that your organs are positioned. So there's, you know, thinking about, you know, what you've eaten before you go to bed and how that can help can really make a difference. And if you do then still struggle, then there are solutions. Like, you can go to psychologists that help you with psychological ways to deal with it. So what some people really have the trouble with is the bedroom becomes a problem, and they start to suffer with really anxiety about going to bed because they spent so much time in bed not able to sleep. So sort of cognitive behavior therapy, that kind of thing, will help you to deal with that much better so you can reduce anxiety and obviously help, help yourself to sleep. Oh, look at that, it's actually your left-hand side. So if you are struggling with heartburn, go on your left, not your right. So why do we get heartburn as we get older? We didn't get it when we were younger. It could be to do with digestion. Yeah, you know, everything just, everything works a bit more slowly. Yeah, you know, even the way that you, you absorb nutrients in your diet can change with age as well. So one of the problems with the whole bone health kind of thing is, is that maybe your body is not absorbing vitamin D as effectively from the sun, or maybe your body's not able to assimilate calcium as good as it used to be able to when it's, you know, as it did before. So it's just really part and parcel of that. Digestive enzymes, you might produce less digestive enzymes as you get older, and that can obviously cause digestive problems. So Yeah, I think maybe just eating— you can help with this though by eating more little and often, making sure you avoid very rich, heavy foods, anything that's going to sort of create more stomach acid as well to avoid. So very acidic or very spicy foods, that kind of thing. Yeah, so that's why wine doesn't help. Wine is not great. Wine is great, but it's not great. And actually, on the wine thing, wine is great, but it's not great. Yeah, I know, exactly. It's not brilliant sleep actually, wine. It's— everyone thinks that if you can knock yourself out as a sedative, but you know, it does a lot of stuff in the body. It can disrupt certain stages of the sleep cycle, and they're the stages that sort of are the most restorative stages. And obviously, if you go to bed and you've drunk, you're more likely to want to get up to go for a pee because it also prevents, you know, it stops this thing called antidiuretic hormone, so you want to pee more often. And also, you could also wake up Conversely thirsty. So, you know, it's not— if you can reduce your alcohol intake, then that's, that's not a bad shout through menopause. And also if you're struggling with sleep, so, you know, once every other day or just on the weekends or whatever it is that works for you. We're all different. No, I do find that if you do have a night out on the town and you drink too much wine or whatever, you tend to fall into a bit of a coma. For a couple of hours, but then you wake up and, you know, you're wide awake. So it doesn't really work, does it, the wine sleep? Yeah, I think every so often it's fine. You know, you don't want to deny yourself, you know, you want to go out with your mates and have a good time, don't you? So you can't be, I'm never ever doing that. So it's just about preparing yourself for that. So make sure you've maybe drinking a glass of water between your drinks or whatever it is that you do to have prepare for that. But I think it's more that sort of consistent drinking when it's just a glass or a glass or two every night is probably a good idea to sort of try and space that out a little bit. So because even a glass can make a difference to your sleep. And if you are going to drink, then I'd probably say maybe try and drink a bit earlier in the evening with your meal. Yeah, might be a useful way to approach it a bit better. It's hard, isn't it? Like being good, it's quite hard though, do you know what I mean? Yeah, it is, isn't it? I mean, it also is so emotionally attached. You probably, like, it's just such a way of life for you, so you just, you live by it, and but it is quite hard for people sometimes, and they've got, had a really hard day and they want to get home and drink wine or eat chocolate just to relax and treat themselves. I mean, I don't come home and just drink a glass of kombucha and a handful of seeds, that's for sure, but Do you drink kombucha? I started drinking that. I'd never heard of it, and then they actually sell it in Sainsbury's or Tesco's or other supermarkets are available, but I'd never heard of it before. So yeah, it's actually— we were talking about probiotics, weren't we, earlier? So it's actually got some probiotics in, so it is good. But what I would say is just watch, check the label a little bit because some are really high in sugar. Yeah. And it's difficult, isn't it, because we're told these foods become very popular because they're sold as healthy foods, but then when you check the label, sometimes they're not as healthy as you might have thought they were. So just check the label. And it's the same with kefir as well, actually, if you're thinking about other probiotic foods that you can eat. Just have a little gander at the label because some of them are, especially the flavoured ones, are quite high in sugar. Yeah, because the kombucha that I— I don't know how you say it properly, but kombucha. Yeah, kombucha. It was actually really tasty, and I was thinking, well, this tastes like lemonade and it's good for me. And, you know, so I have to check the label now and make sure that it's not high, too high in sugars or the fake sugars. Yeah, which kind of defeats the object because obviously if you've got a diet that's very high in sugar, that can cause, you know, you could get a slightly imbalance of bacteria in your gut. So more sort of, I'm going to say bad to good bacteria. So yeah, and I think in terms of just trying to be good, I mean, you know, you have to take a— you have to be realistic with your lifestyle, don't you? So you have to do what works for you because I think what's important is when you're— if you're perimenopausal and you think, well, I'm going to change the way that I eat, you have to be really realistic about how you're going to do it because it's really important that you do stuff that's going to get you long-term results. So I would avoid a health kick. I do, even if it's just one thing a month that you decide you're going to change, like, right, this month I'm going to just have one night when I used to drink, I'm not going to drink, or I'm going to switch to brown bread and brown rice and brown pasta. Do you see what I mean? So you give yourself time to adapt to these certain dietary changes so they become everyday things and you don't think twice about them. I think when I see that it all goes a bit wrong is when, like I said, people like, right, just from this day forward I'm going to do everything under the sun to try and change, but I just think sometimes it's a bit overwhelming, and you sometimes set yourself up for failure. So yeah, just be really realistic and try and make changes that are really going to make a difference. Okay. And so lastly, what are you— are you good with your exercise? What, I mean, you know, obviously we all know exercise is important, but what's your thoughts on exercise, and do you exercise? I exercise quite a lot. I need it in my life because I get quite stressed and anxious. So for me, it's just a daily thing, and it's been a daily thing for so many years now. I just don't think twice about it. And it doesn't have to mean going to the gym. I mean, I don't drive, so I walk everywhere. So it's about just keeping active. I used to do a lot of endurance events, and I've done things like HYROX, but actually, I think as you get a bit older, some of those things are probably actually not that great for you because you're really pummeling your body. So these days I tend to do more like yoga, hot yoga, and then I just go in the gym to do some resistance exercise just to kind of keep your, your muscle mass healthy. You know, don't look like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but definitely just keep your— retain some muscle mass and retain a strong core and try and do the yoga stuff because that's really nice and balancing and keeps you mobile. So I think, again, I think that's a really important point. Things like mobility are gonna see you, and flexibility and things like that, I think are really important as well as sort of cardiovascular fitness. Yeah, Pilates, yoga, that kind of thing is— want to be able to put your own trousers on when you get to 80, or wipe your own bottom, as my friend said, which is why she does yoga. Oh my God, I wasn't gonna say that, I was thinking it, but you said it, Rob. Oh, I'm sorry, it's just a sorry house band. That's funny, I'm sure everyone will love that, but it's actually true. Yeah, it is. All I think, I just do that. Yeah, and also, you know, you don't, like I said, you don't have to think that you have to do marathons. There's a lot of people that might be starting exercise from scratch, so I think it's good to just get out walking. I think it's brilliant. So walking every day for an hour, I think that's brilliant. You're keeping active. Maybe try and think of some nice events that you can do with your mates. You could raise some money for charity, or you could just sort of all come together to do, you know, a night walk, or it might be a big bike ride that you're interested in. And yeah, just, it's not about being super, super fit and running marathons and all that kind of thing. It's just finding something that, again, it's like the food thing, be realistic. What is it that you're going to do that you can stick to for the long term rather than going on a quick fix? Yeah. I get you. What about yourself? Do you do exercise? Oh, do you know what? I'm, I'm pretty bad really. I did, did do yoga and Pilates and then stopped and haven't got back to it. The only thing that I do do, um, is I walk my dogs every day, like you just said, for an hour. Um, and, but I, you know, I'm gonna be honest, I, if I didn't have the dogs, there would be days when I wouldn't do it. It's, um, they're that— they do give me the, um, that I feel bad if I don't walk them. So I— yeah, but you're great incentive, isn't it? What, darling? It's a great incentive. It's a very good— yeah, because when you've got like 4 faces staring at you, you know, when we're gonna go out, Mum? Oh yeah, dog guilt. Yeah, I have to go. So I'm glad— I mean, I'm glad I have dogs because they're the They're my favourite thing in the world, but also they do make me exercise, which is good. So when you're, you know, you can't sort of get your act together, you have to. And once you're out there, you're fine, aren't you? Yeah, I think that's the same with any exercise though, isn't it? I just think you never really regret going out and being active. It's just getting out the door to do it. Exactly. It's just hard to get out the door sometimes. And especially if the weather's not great. But yeah, it's— they are a good incentive. I should actually— sorry, when we're thinking about the menopause as well, just to bring it back to that, I think if you can do a bit of resistance exercise as well, that is really good. Because alongside— I said earlier about eating protein, because you lose more muscle mass as you age, and it's sort of that, that, that reduces much more quickly during menopause. So if you can eat your a little bit more protein and team that with some resistant exercise. So just a bit of weights and not heavy weights or, you know, doing some bodyweight exercises. It really is beneficial and it really will see you through to healthy aging. Yeah, and the other thing with women, yoga and Pilates, it's really, really good to go to that for your pelvic floor, which, you know, as Unfortunately, women, you know, it gets lax and they have all sorts of problems in menopause. So, um, yeah, Pilates and yoga is really, really good for that. Yeah, focus on your core, it's brilliant. Yeah, and, um, and pulling up. I never know if, if I'm doing it right, but the pelvic floor thing, I mean. Is that in the gym? Is that when you're in the gym? No, when you're doing Pilates and you have to, or yoga, and they put— you pull up your pelvic floor, you squeeze. You pull and squeeze. Yeah, but you don't know. I never know if I'm doing it right, you know. Yeah, just don't push and squeeze. You definitely can't push and squeeze. Not in yoga. So yeah, yeah, you have the opposite effect. Yeah, yeah, you already get strange noises in yoga, don't you, sometimes? Yeah, yeah, exactly. Okay, Rob, so, um, yeah, we're coming to, to the end of, um, the show really. We've sort of like 5, 5 more minutes. Um, so how can, um, so the Healthspan products are available in like high street stores, and do you know the website off by hand, or? Yes, of course. So you can definitely find them in Boots and Superdrug, and then the website is healthspam.co.uk. Okay. And it's— you'll find lots of information on the website, so it's not just about accessing supplements to buy them. We've got articles to help you inform you about certain health conditions, and there's recipe ideas as well, and recipe videos and stuff for you to follow that are linked to certain health conditions as well. So there's loads of information there for you to look at. And you also said that there's a helpline as well if you, you know, know what to buy. Is that correct? Is that what— Yeah, you'll find that on the website as well, and then that will help you to get some good, good advice about the supplements, what they do and what's right for you, rather than just sort of buying everything and sort of wasting your money really. It's good to get some good advice so you have a more targeted approach to how you use it. Exactly. Yes, yes. And weekends as well? Yes. So, oh well, that's excellent. Yeah, that sounds good. I think I might go on there myself later. I did briefly, but I'm going to go back on and look at some of the recipes. And yeah, and I'm going to go and buy your sleep book. So how many books have you got, by the way? I've written 3. And then I've got another one coming out in January. And what's that? I'm not really allowed to say just yet, but it's another cookbook. Embargoed. It's embargoed. Keeping it under my curly kale for another couple of weeks until they let me talk about it. But yeah, it'll be another cookbook and it's, yeah, healthy eating cookbook. Okay, so that's good. Okay, well, thank you for coming on the show and You've been very interesting and it's been fun and I'm just going to sort of talk out to the listeners and maybe you'll come on again sometime, Rob. Yeah, I'd love to. And if they want any information from my website, it's robhobson.co.uk. And yeah, like I said, there's just, there's more information there as well about health and different elements of your diet. Okay, okay. Thank you, Rob. That's okay. Lovely to talk to you. And you, and you. We'll speak soon. Bye. Thanks, Sue. Bye-bye. So that was Rob Hobson, and he's an ambassador for Healthspan, which is a supplement company. And, you know, he was really, really interesting to talk to and about the diet as well. Which, you know, it is hard. It's very hard if you're not a cook like me, and then you, you know, you do get a can of chickpeas out and you don't really know what to do with them. But he is right, make the effort, have a look online, maybe get a cookbook. You know, I need to listen to my own advice, really, and just trying to start thinking of some you know, really healthy but simple to make foods. And I'm sure that's going to help with the menopause and weight issues and all those kind of things. So, and so we're coming to the end of the show, but thank you all for listening. And you can follow us on Instagram, which is Women's Radio Station, abbreviated STN. Um, you can find us on Facebook and also on YouTube. And if you go on to the website, um, not only can you listen to, uh, the shows that are, you know, going out every day, but there's loads and loads of podcasts on there that stay on there and you can pick out whatever you want. Might be to do with mental health or, or weight or The Menopause Show. And there is lots and lots of really, really interesting things that you can listen to. So thank you all for listening, and I'll see you in 2 weeks with a brand new show. So this is The Menopause Show. I'm Sue Moxley and Women's Radio Station. So bye, see you soon, speak to you soon. Bye-bye.
