Nutrition for a Healthy Heart – The Happy Menopause Podcast

Season 5 • Episode 5
Jackie Lynch, Nutritionist & Author

The theme for this year’s World Menopause Day is cardiovascular disease. You may wonder what that’s got to do with the menopause, so here’s the thing: once you come through the menopause, your body will adjust to the new hormonal version of you and for the most part your symptoms will settle down, just like they did after puberty. But there are one or two key areas that you need to continue to focus on in the long-term – bone health is one, as I’m sure you’re aware. Heart health is another, which is why we’re shining a spotlight on it this year.

It may surprise you to know that cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death amongst women, so it’s much more common than you might think, and your heart definitely deserves your full attention. I come across cardiovascular conditions quite a lot in my menopause nutrition clinic, so I’ve decided to dedicate this episode to sharing a range of diet and lifestyle approaches to support a healthy heart.

I explain blood pressure and cholesterol, so you know what role they play in the body and how they can impact your cardiovascular health, and I talk you through the different parameters, so that you can understand the basics of any test results.

Tune in to find out which foods to focus on to maintain a healthy blood pressure and to regulate your cholesterol levels and what you need to avoid or limit to keep on track. I also talk you through the heart healthy diets with the most research, so you can start to tweak your shopping list and meal planning to keep yourself on track.

This episode is full of all my best foodie tips to help you show your heart some love!

Show Notes

Buy your copy of Jackie’s book: The Happy Menopause; Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish

Book in for your personalised nutrition consultation

Follow Jackie on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Understand how to interpret your cholesterol test results

Find out more about the Dash Diet

Find out more about the Mediterranean Diet

Biography

Award-winning nutritionist and author, Jackie Lynch is the founder of the WellWellWell nutrition clinic, where she specialises in women’s health and the menopause. Keen to break the taboo about discussing the menopause, she launched the hugely popular diet & lifestyle podcast The Happy Menopause in 2019 which was shortlisted for the 2022 International Women’s Podcast Awards.

Her latest book, The Happy Menopause: Smart Nutrition to Help You Flourish (Watkins, 2020) was Highly Commended in the 2021 Health & Wellbeing Awards for the Wellbeing Book category.

Jackie is also the author of Va Va Voom; The 10-Day Energy Diet (Headline, 2017) and The Right Bite: Smart Food Choices for Eating on the Go (Nourish, 2016).  Jackie’s advice features in a range of national media and she has appeared as a guest expert on radio and TV, including Channel 4’s Superfoods.

Jackie’s nutrition clinic was recognised as Menopause Nutrition Clinic of the Year in the 2021 and 2022 London & South-East Prestige Awards. She is also a Guardian Masterclass tutor.

From 2011-2022, Jackie was the Chair of the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, the renowned training provider for accredited nutritional therapy in the UK. She is a Fellow of the British Association for Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine.