Midlife Strong's Maryann Jacobson on the intersection of menopause and everything else

Nov 23

Maryann Jacobson is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutrition. She has extensive experience with developmental stages, researching health topics, and writing. She’s also a forward-thinker who realizes that when it comes to aging, midlife doesn’t get nearly the attention it needs – and for the past five years, she’s been working to change that.

Maryann has a common-sense, independent thinking approach; she dives deep into research to uncover innovative and original insights. I feel like she’s my soul sister when it comes to these things, and the way the narrative is being crafted around perimenopause and menopause, in particular.

Her goal is for every woman to have the basic knowledge she needs to make informed health decisions. We cover a lot of ground here: including the role of hormones, the significance of micronutrients like iron and choline, nitric oxide's impact on health, and the necessity of a holistic approach to manage symptoms. The episode also sheds light on how lifestyle changes can enhance the effectiveness of hormone therapy and addresses commonly overlooked issues such as sleep-disordered breathing and its impact on health during midlife.

Topics covered:

Why it’s not as simple as “eat right and exercise” in midlife
The risks of drinking while taking hormone therapy (that no one is talking about)
All the things that are more interesting than hormone therapy
Resistance breathing for reducing inflammation and other benefits
The overlooked (and vital role) of nitric oxide
All the ways to increase your nitric oxide
Hormone therapy, sure, but have you heard about beets?
Pycnogenol
Nasal breathing, headaches and sleep apnea
The mixed results of hormone therapy
Sunlight
The nuances of post-menopause estrogen production
Why we both are reticent about going estrogen
Why beets aren’t much help for vaginas