In this episode, Brooke Davis explores effective supplements for hormonal balance during perimenopause and menopause. She delves into the benefits, recommended dosages, and scientific support for key supplements like multivitamins, vitamin D, magnesium, and more.
Brooke also offers targeted solutions for prevalent symptoms such as hot flashes, insomnia, vaginal dryness, mood swings, and stress. Emphasizing the pivotal role of foundational nutrition and lifestyle habits, Brooke equips listeners with strategies to proactively manage hormonal changes.
Ready to empower yourself against menopausal symptoms? Tune in for expert insights!
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Contents
Disclaimer: The content provided in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition. Never disregard professional medical advice or delay in seeking it because of something you have heard on this podcast.
Any information provided about nutrition, supplements, or fitness is based on personal experience and should be discussed with your health care provider before making any changes to your diet or lifestyle. Remember, your health and well-being are unique to you. What works for one person may not work for another, so always consult with your medical professional to determine what is best for you.
Welcome to the Fitness Simplified podcast. I’m Brooke Davis, women’s functional nutritionist and fitness specialist with Elysian Women’s Wellness, and I’m here to simplify your fitness. This is part two where we’re focusing on providing you with the tools and knowledge to navigate the complex journey of hormonal balance during menopause.
As women, our bodies undergo significant hormonal changes during this transitional phase leading up to midlife, and while diet and lifestyle play a huge role in managing these changes, which I covered the nutrition side of it in part one, supplements can offer a targeted support to fill in the gaps and offer some major relief from symptoms. In today’s episode, we are diving into the world of supplements specifically designed to support hormonal balance during perimenopause and menopause. We’ll explore the benefits, dosages, and scientific backing of key supplements like multivitamins, vitamin D, magnesium, and more.
Each of these supplements plays a unique role in addressing symptoms like hot flashes, sleep disturbances, mood swings, and bone health, helping you feel more in control and just at ease during this stage of life. Our goal is to provide you with evidence-based insights and practical advice on how to integrate these supplements into your daily routine effectively. Whether you’re just beginning to experience the early signs of perimenopause or you’re well into your menopausal journey, this episode is packed with valuable information to help you make informed decisions about your health.
So sit back, relax, and join us as we explore the supplemental strategies that can make a real difference in your hormonal health and how you feel. Number one is going to be a multivitamin. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association shows that multivitamins can help improve micronutrient status and may reduce the risk of chronic diseases.
Unfortunately, even if you followed all of the advice in that first podcast and your nutrition was spot on, you are likely still deficient in some vitamins and minerals. The reality is that our food, our soil, is just not what it used to be. No matter how you try and eat, it’s almost impossible to get and absorb everything that you need.
So having this multivitamin just kind of fills in the gaps with anything that you may not be getting from eating even a variety of fruits and vegetables, meats, and complex carbohydrates. So overall, you’re really just supporting all functions of the body but filling in those nutritional gaps and that can also help improve your energy levels as well as other functions in the body that are required to create hormones. For a multivitamin, Thorne has a great one actually for women 50 plus and it does have some extra magnesium and calcium in it.
The only thing I don’t love about it, it doesn’t have any iron in it. It specifically says without iron and copper, which most women are also deficient in iron. So that may be something that you need to add outside of that.
The other multivitamin that I love is Legion. They have a great scientific-backed dosage and amounts of nutrients fully transparent. So, all of their supplementation is great.
I will link all of these in the show notes as well at the end. Number two is going to be vitamin D3 and K2. So, 40% of adults are deficient in vitamin D. K is going to help the D absorb, but they work synergistically to support your bone health and cardiovascular function.
In general, you can very safely supplement with 2,000 IUs a day. Most people are deficient anyway, but if you get labs done and find that your levels are low, you can safely increase your intake to 5,000 to 8,000 IUs a day, depending on your current levels.You also want to make sure that you are getting morning sun, which this is part of the lifestyle component, which I’m not going to get too deep into it.
And then getting some on the abdomen will help you absorb that as well. And then with the K2, 100 to 200 micrograms per day. Again, that is going to also enhance calcium absorption, which your bone density decreases with a decrease of estrogen.
We’re going to hear a lot about that and bone strength. So, making sure that you’re getting enough D is going to help support that calcium absorption, putting it to use. And then of course, cardiovascular health, which your risk also increases as estrogen declines and then your immune system.
So, the study in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism found that vitamin D3 supplementation improved bone density in post-menopausal women. And K2 not only helps absorption with that, but it also supports cardiovascular health by reducing arterial calcification. Again, Legion has a wonderful D3 K2 supplement.
And then as does Thorne, theirs is a liquid. So, it’s kind of your preference, whether you want capsules or liquid, whichever you taste. The next one is magnesium glycinate.
We did talk about magnesium again in the nutrition component, but most people, if they’re taking magnesium, are taking magnesium citrate. Not only is that not super bioavailable—it’s actually the least bioavailable type of magnesium—but it’s also a laxative. A glycinate or an L3N8 or microsomal, which is what Legion has, is going to be far superior.
If you are struggling with bowel movements and feel like you have to take magnesium, let’s talk about that because that’s usually a different issue, and you shouldn’t have to take magnesium all the time to have passable stools. So, for magnesium, 400 to 600 milligrams per day. Again, most people—over 50% of the population—are actually deficient.
So, an upwards of 600 milligrams per day is going to be totally fine for most people. This is also going to help promote bone density, but mostly it is muscle cramps, tension, joint health. It’s also great for relaxation and improving your sleep.
And then my favorite, Legion has sucrosomal, which is super bioavailable. It is a newer technology that has come out. And then Thorne has a powder of magnesium.
It’s called bisglycinate, but it is the same thing. So bisglycinate or glycinate is going to be the exact same thing. And that is in a powder or however you like your supplements.
And then some extra calcium. It depends on your multivitamin. If you’re taking that Thorne 50+, you likely don’t need extra calcium, but again, just for bone density and ensuring that you are getting everything that you need with the formation of bone, getting 500 to 1,000 milligrams per day of extra calcium can be really beneficial for perimenopausal and menopausal women.
Next up is going to be a probiotic. So as far as healthy gut microbiome goes, we talked a lot about this in the first one also, but eating fermented foods is a great source of them, but also getting a wide variety of probiotics in the gut, the more you can have, the healthier your body in general is going to be. Also, this is important for detoxification of estrogen as well as absorption of nutrients.
So, making sure that your gut microbiome is healthy through menopause can help reduce bloating, which is really, really common because of all of the estrogen receptors in the gut, and then as well as the specific estrobilone, which is the metabolization and utilization of estrogen that comes in. So, you want to find a probiotic that is one to 10 billion at least. And again, that is not just for digestive health, but it can also improve your mood and mental health.
A study in Psychiatry Research found that probiotics actually help reduce the symptoms of depression and anxiety in menopausal women. My favorites are going to be Megaspore probiotic. That one you want to rotate every three months.
With any kind of probiotic, you can get an overage of even good gut bacteria. So testing is always going to be the best thing you can do. Get a GI map, which we run them, and see actually what comes out and where your gut bacteria are.
But if you’re not doing that, then Megaspore probiotic, rotate every three months. You can do Legion, Biome has a great probiotic, and then Pure Encapsulations, which also has one of the positive probiotics for UTIs and yeast infections, which we’ll talk about down the line. And then Omega-3s, another one of those nutritional components.
So, if you are not eating fish, fatty fish, two to three times a week, then you absolutely need to be supplementing with an Omega-3. So, it’s anti-inflammatory. It’s going to support your heart and brain health, as well as hormonal creation.
Hormones need B vitamins. Your steroidal hormones need B vitamins and cholesterol to be created. And so, Omega-3s just help contribute to that.
You want an EPA and a DHA of 1,000 to 2,000 milligrams per day. And the other bonus here is that a study in Menopause Journal showed that Omega-3 supplementation actually reduced the frequency and severity of hot flashes, along with reduced the risk of depression in menopausal women. So kind of a triple threat there.
For the Omega-3s, Legion again has an amazing one. It’s called Triton, Nordic Naturals has a Pro-Omega, and then Thorne also has a Liquid Omega, depending on how you like to take them. The next one is going to be fiber.
So this is, again, one that needs to mainly be coming from your diet. However, the most standard American diets are getting 12 or below. What you should be getting is 25 to 35 grams per day.
If you can get 20 to 25 grams from your food, supplementing with the other 10 grams is fine. So fiber not only feeds the gut microbiome, so all the bugs inside your gut, and it keeps them healthy, but it helps maintain stable blood sugar levels, helps stabilize insulin levels, and then it also helps keep you full. It is satiating.
And a study in the Journal of Nutrition shows that high fiber is associated with lower body weight and reduced risk of chronic diseases. For fiber, Sun Warrior has a great soluble and insoluble blend, and then Thorne from FiberMend is also a great blend of fibers. Metamucil, not great.
It’s okay, but not something that I would recommend taking on a regular basis. Next up is protein powder. So again, most of your protein should be coming from whole foods, from your foundational nutrition habits.
However, most women struggle to get enough quality protein in their diet. This is not a must, but it can be really helpful for just hitting your protein goals. 20 to 30 grams per serving of whey isolate is going to be the highest quality and the most bioavailable protein.
If you can’t do dairy, then a plant-based protein is a great alternative. If you don’t use the ones that I suggest, however, make sure you look for one with minimal ingredients, no artificial flavors or sweeteners, and one that has been third-party tested. It is very common for protein to have heavy metals as well as fillers.
So, my favorite, surprise, surprise, is Legion. Their whey is amazing, and they also have a plant-based one.
Thorne also has a whey isolate. Next up for supplementation is creatine. It is the longest and most studied supplement on the market.
And it is also the most beneficial when it comes to supporting muscle health. And we are now finding that it actually has benefits for cognitive function. So as far as supplementation goes, start with two and a half to three grams per day.
A lot of the old school thought was to load it and start with 10 grams a day for like one to two weeks. That is not necessary at all. What I would suggest is start small.
It is very rare, but some people do have digestive discomfort with it. And so making sure that you eat it or take it with food and then start with two and a half to three grams and go up to five grams and take it per day. So this is a saturation effect.
It is in food already. So it’s in chicken is the highest one and it’s in some other foods. But once you take it for a week or two, your body is saturated with it.
If you skip a day, not ideal, but it’s not that all of it went out of your system. So your consistency here is what matters most. But it has been proven to enhance muscle strength, power, as well as reducing fatigue, physical fatigue and improving recovery.
And then like I said, we are now discovering that it is having some improvements in brain health and cognitive function in older adults, as well as people with dementia. For creatine, surprise, surprise, Legion has a recharge, which is a post-workout and has a couple of other things that will support recovery. But then they also have just a plain creatine powder.
You want to look for a creatine monohydrate specifically. You don’t need anything special. It should be fairly cheap.
And then Thorne also has a great creatine that is just a creatine monohydrate. So lastly, when it comes to foundational supplements that I think most people obviously should be taking, but especially women in perimenopause and menopause, that is electrolytes and or trace minerals. So electrolytes like sodium, potassium, magnesium, and of course calcium, they are essential for maintaining proper fluid balance in the body.
They conduct nerve impulses and support muscle function. So during menopause, hormonal fluctuations affect all of these processes and something you may experience like muscle cramps, muscle fatigue, joint pain, as well as mood swings. Adequate intake of these electrolytes and these trace minerals can help mitigate these symptoms and then support just really feeling better overall.
For the trace minerals, they also have sulfate, lithium, and boron in them. And while they’re often overlooked in menopause, their roles supporting detoxification, mood stability, cognitive function, bone health, and hormonal balance are actually super important. So integrating these minerals with either your nutrition, of course, and then adding in the supplementation can really just help manage the physical and even emotional challenges of menopause a little bit better.
So my favorite are Cure is amazing. Trace minerals, of course, with the drops, there’s trace minerals, and then there’s 40,000 volts. And then trace minerals also has a zero light, which is a zero calorie electrolyte packet or powder that you can use that is flavored.
Next, we’re going to dive into symptom specific solutions with herbs and specific blends of supplements. And so, the first one is one of the most common, and that is hot flashes. So the first herb that can be really beneficial for hot flashes is pycnogenol.
It’s an extract from French maritime pine bark, and it’s known for its antioxidant properties and also clinical studies have shown that 150 to 200 milligrams of pycnogenol daily can significantly reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes in menopausal women. So 150 to 200 milligrams per day of pycnogenol. And there are some supplements for hormonal balance during menopause products here down at the end that I’m going to show you, and I will link as well, that just have them in it, but you can also get just pycnogenol on its own if you want to create some of your own blends.
The next one that has been shown to be beneficial for hot flashes is Chinese or Siberian rhubarb. So that has been shown to effectively reduce the frequency and severity of hot flashes. There is no specific amounts, but it is a very common one that is in one of the hot flash remedies that I’m going to tell you at the end of this section.
And then puraria marifica. This is just an herb, and it is known for its phytoestrogenic properties, which like the flax seeds and soy, it mimics estrogen in the body. So some of these are more effective than others, but this herb specifically, studies have shown that daily supplementation with 25 to 100 milligrams of puraria marifica can effectively reduce hot flashes and improve vaginal health in menopausal women.
So long-term use is even recommended for bone health. The Osteoporosis International study found that long-term use of it actually helped maintain and improve bone density. So that is a kind of a triple whammy here with the hot flashes, vaginal dryness, and bone density.
That is because of the estrogenic effect, because there are estrogen receptors everywhere in the body. And then as far as products go, so Astravera is a very common and very beneficial one, and that is the Siberian rhubarb, and that is by Metagenics. And then Thorne has a Metabalance, that is black cohosh, chaseberry, which is vitex, and pycnogenol.
So that is for hot flashes and stress. And then Vitanica has a phytoestrogen herbal, which again, going back to that phytoestrogens, flax seeds, it has non-GMO soy, black cohosh, and that is for hot flashes, and then just overall hormone support. So something with the phytoestrogen, you will probably see improvements in, again, bone health, vaginal health, and then as well as the hot flashes.
The next one we’re going to discuss is insomnia, which I know can be super miserable and just make everything else way harder. The first one is going to be magnesium. We talked about magnesium earlier, but four to 600 milligrams per day can be one of the best things for that.
Again, it’s been proven to improve sleep quality, as well as muscle cramps. And then melatonin. So melatonin, contrary to popular belief, is a cycle regulator.
It is not a sleep inducer. And so melatonin does require somewhat of a regular intake, and there is kind of conflicting evidence whether or not our bodies will start to depend on it or not. So melatonin isn’t necessarily something that I would suggest taking on a long-term basis at this point.
High dose melatonin has actually been shown to be really beneficial for a lot of other things, including immune function. But that aside, not something I would suggest taking long-term, but it can help you regulate your sleep and wake cycles and improve sleep quality. So if you’re waking through the night, melatonin might be one to do.
But that is going to also be something to address in the lifestyle. So we’ll talk about that too. But morning sun, melatonin is actually made in the morning when you see the morning sun, and then it is created at night.
So the more morning sun you can get, the more likely your body is going to create it on its own. And then there are, of course, melatonin-inducing foods, which we talked about in that other podcast. And then dosage is going to be one to three milligrams per day, taking about 30 minutes before bedtime.
Again, short-term use for improving sleep quality. And then this one is a blend, and you can take them individually, but there are some specific supplements that combine them. So hops and then valerian with lemon balm are known for their sedative and calming effects for relaxation and improved sleep.
So clinical trials have shown benefits with daily doses of two to 300 milligrams of hops extract for improving sleep quality and reducing insomnia. And then also hops has been shown one to 200 milligrams per day was shown to support estrogen balance and then reducing the symptoms of vaginal dryness. So this is another one that is kind of a double whammy in terms of bang for your buck.
When you are looking at the best ones to use, I would go for something like that. And then reishi mushrooms. So these are adaptogens, and they not only protect against cellular damage, but they also promote better sleep.
So supporting your immune function, relaxation, one to 2000 milligrams per day of a standardized extract. And these can be long-term, it should be totally fine. And then that is going to be, like I said, for we’re on sleep.
So improving sleep quality here, as well as immune health and general relaxation, muscle relaxation. The next symptom we’re going to get into is vaginal dryness and libido. So Pururia, Morifica, and hops supplements for hormonal balance during menopause.
Again, we talked about that earlier, but improving the vaginal moisture and elasticity while hops provides phytoestrogen. So that phytoestrogenic effect acts on those estrogen receptors, kind of restoring normal function to the body. 25 to 100 milligrams per day, and for at least six months, was shown to improve vaginal dryness and improve vaginal tissue.
And then maca. So maca is a root, and that is known for improving sex drive and mood. For dosage, you’re looking at 1500 to 3000 milligrams per day, divided up throughout the day.
It is generally safe for ongoing usage. You can take it as long as you need it. But studies have shown that it can improve sexual function and mood in menopausal women.
There is a product called Fem Vitality by Vitanica, and it is maca root fenugreek, and a couple other things. But it’s specifically for libido and energy as a little blend. But you can also take just maca root as a powder.
And then UTIs. This is overwhelmingly common throughout menopause. Again, has a lot to do with the microbiome and the estrogen, estrogenic effects.
Cranberry and D-mannose. So they can help prevent urinary tract infections. They inhibit bacterial adhesion to the urinary tract.
So with the dosage of the cranberry, you’re looking at 500 to 1000 milligrams per day. D-mannose is going to be 500 milligrams two times a day, and you can increase it to two grams a day during actual UTI symptoms. And that is generally safe for ongoing urinary tract health with those higher doses just during when you’re having symptoms.
And then probiotics. We talked about the probiotic earlier, but probiotics specifically with L-Rhamnosus, L-Rootery, and L-Crispatus have been shown to improve and maintain healthy vaginal flora and immune function. So this can help prevent recurrent UTIs.
These are fine for ongoing use, and studies have been shown specifically with these blends. And these are in the Pure Encapsulation probiotics specifically that I had mentioned earlier. And then mood swings and stress.
Stress is probably one of the biggest root cause factors when it comes to a lot of these symptoms because, like I had mentioned in the last podcast, cortisol, when you get that stress response, your energy reroutes directly to cortisol and it skips right over all the other hormones. So if you are constantly having this cortisol stress response, then you are diverting all of your energy to cortisol and you’re taking it away from all of your other sex hormones. So estrogen, progesterone, testosterone.
And that is what’s causing these symptoms. There is the inevitable decline of progesterone and estrogen throughout perimenopause. We see this up and down roller coaster that is generally declining, but having high stress, chronic high stress is not helping that.
So to address that, we’re talking about adaptogens. So ashwagandha is the first one. Studies have shown that ashwagandha specifically, ashwagandha and rhodiola are two of the main stress-reducing adaptogens, and they have been proven to reduce stress and anxiety in menopausal women.
They reduce mood swings and just improve your overall well-being and how you feel. And then St. John’s wort. So this is known for antidepressant properties as well as mood stabilizing.
And so with the St. John’s wort, looking at 300 to 900 milligrams a day of a standardized extract, and it should be fine for daily usage, but it is definitely been proven effective for managing menopausal symptoms. And then maca is another one that can be beneficial for the stress reduction. Of course, as always, make sure you talk to your doctor before taking anything.
Make sure that it is not interacting with any of your other medications. I am not a doctor. I’m not a licensed professional. Do not take this as medical advice.
Okay. I know this was a ton of information.
I hope it was helpful. I hope it brings you some relief with the roller coaster that is perimenopause and menopause. Keep in mind that your foundational nutrition and lifestyle habits are going to be the most important aspect of maintaining healthy hormone balance and mitigating the symptoms of perimenopause and menopause.
You cannot out-supplement poor nutrition and lifestyle choices. You just can’t. I do have all of this in one nice little package in our Menopause Supplement Bible, linked below.
I have also linked my Fullscript account, where you can get 20% off all of the supplements available on the site. They are linked under the menopause must-haves for the foundational supplements and then menopause favorites for the symptoms specifics. You can also order straight from the Legion website and get 20% off your first order or double rewards with code BDAVIS.
If you’re feeling a little lost about supplements for hormonal balance during menopause and really aren’t sure what’s going on, you can take advantage of our free hormone analysis and support call, where we’ll give you some more individualized practices to implement based on what you’re experiencing. The link is below and if you need more support with implementing this into your life, of course, we can take you step by step by making these changes in a sustainable way to help you look and feel your best. There’s a link in the show notes to apply for a free discovery call to see if you would be a good fit for our coaching program.
If you have any questions, suggestions for future topics, or just want to chat, feel free to reach out to us on Instagram at Brooke underscore Elysian and Facebook linked in the show notes or via our website ElysianWomensWellness.com and if you enjoyed what you heard today, we’d be thrilled if you could take a half second to leave us a five-star review. Not only will you be helping others find our show, but you’ll also be entered into our monthly $100 giveaway for new reviews. New episodes drop every Monday, so make sure to hit that subscribe button and stay tuned for more.
Thanks for listening. See you soon.
Coach Brooke Davis Links:
Website: bdavistraining.com
LinkedIn: Brooke Davis – Owner – Davis Fitness
Facebook: Brooke Davis, CPT
Instagram: Brooke Davis (@brooke_elysian)
Free Community: Women’s Fitness Simplified: Lean down, tone up, build confidence!
Healthy Hormones Guide: https://elysianwomen.myflodesk.com/ki1a5240ag
Hormone Analysis: https://brookedavis.typeform.com/to/quKUjmTI
Menopause Supplement Bible: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1X8YbERm5LsPHQxnF_Qo5eikKPDZQfIRg/view?usp=sharing
Schedule a Free Discovery Call!: https://calendly.com/elysianwomenswellness/strategy-call-clone
Women’s Functional Nutritionist & Fitness Specialist along with CEO of Elysian Women’s Wellness.
God, family, fitness – in that order. Fitness isn’t my job, it’s my passion. My favorite things include traveling the world, being a mama and making a difference.
14 years of experience in the wellness industry has brought me to an understanding that when you’re ready – you’ll do it. So when you are, we’re here to keep you simply well.
The last “program” you’ll ever buy. Your individualized training & nutrition plan that teaches the why & how to create lasting changes with me by your side every step of the way!
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