The One Area of Mental Health Going Unaddressed

Why We Need to Pay Close Attention to Our Mental Health (And Sarcopenia) As We Age

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 20% of individuals aged 55 years or older experience some form of mental issue. Most commonly, these include anxiety, depression, severe cognitive impairment, or bipolar disorder.

But with Mental Health Awareness Month in full swing, I want to take a moment and touch on an area of mental health we don’t talk about enough.

As we age (and especially during menopause), muscle degeneration happens. What’s not being discussed is how sarcopenia (loss of muscle mass) may influence neurotropic factors, leading to cognitive and mental health declines. We know mental and physical health intersect, so why aren’t we doing MORE about it? Keep reading…..

On top of this, when mental health and cognitive function take a hit, so does our life satisfaction. And this can actually lead to a slow decline of our overall health, leading to chronic ailments, inflammatory conditions, and life-threatening diseases that occur with accelerated aging.

So, here’s the thing: When we contract our skeletal muscle, this actually improves many brain factors, like BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). BDNF is actually linked to various psychiatric conditions, hinting at the idea that brain health (and physical health) is crucial for overall mental health and functioning. BDNF further helps regulate synapses in our brains, so with reduced BDNF, inevitably, issues ensue.

Let me clarify this…. Stay with me… Skeletal muscle degeneration and cognitive decline follow the same pathway. And women in menopause (and beyond) are often more at risk due to increased muscle degeneration caused by inflammation and changing hormones.

Most doctors don’t look at these connections. It’s so ingrained in the traditional healthcare system to slap a band-aid or pill on the problem. I’ve even personally seen women go through regular doctor visits where this is not addressed, and it largely impacts how independent they are toward the end of their life. In other words, it greatly impacts their mental health and quality of life.

So, let’s change the direction of the tides. Let’s make it a point not to strictly turn to pills or treatment when problems arise but to seek out comprehensive preventative measures. In light of Nurses’ Week (which ran from May 6th to May 12th), we also see this in the healthcare world; burnout, exhaustion, mental health issues, and more. It’s time we start opening our eyes and paying attention; Not only that, but taking this step further and taking action so we can lead healthy, happy, and fulfilling lives well into our later years—especially since around the years of menopause, we also experience significant grief in the form of loss of youth, loss of life, loss of relationships, loss of loved ones, and more.

Okay, so what does “taking action” look like?

According to various research, exercise is very important for muscle retention, including regular strength, balance, and power exercises. This can help us maintain muscle mass, prevent muscle wasting, and prevent associated mental health and cognitive conditions. We need to fill in this blind spot, especially if we want to keep our independence for as long as possible (or potentially even throughout our entire life; Yes! This is possible!). If you are 35 and up and heading closer to midlife than your 20s, then resistance and strength movement is critical for metabolic, bone, and muscular health and composition.

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Lastly, we can use technology and data metrics to guide us through this journey toward better health. We can use wearable fitness trackers, such as FitBit or Whoop, to let us know how much we’re moving throughout our days and help us set goals (and achieve them). Some of these devices can further give us an estimate of our HRV (Heart Rate Variability), which can be used to determine how hard to push in your next exercise session. For instance, a lower HRV than your norm may mean you need to go for gentle movement today as your body continues to recover. High HRV, on the other hand, likely means you can push it in your workout today!

Are you interested in learning more about how you can level up your health? Sign up here!

Get more information about the future of telemedicine and hybrid services being offered by Thrive Beyond Wellness. This is a concierge style women’s health practice that I is geared for the woman who has been told:

  1. Your labs are NORMAL, but you still feel like CRAP!
  2. Need a holistic approach to hormone replacement and not sure if it’s right for you.
  3. Know your hormones are contributing to unwanted weight and poundage and ready to feel good and confident about yourself again.

 There are limited patients accepted, so register while you still can!

Start with a FREE Consultation with one of our team members and see if we are a good fit for you.

Heal Women… Heal the World

Let’s Talk About Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs)!

CGM can help us understand how our body is responding to food. This way, we can make changes before a diabetes diagnosis happens.

How Can You Use This Device to Take Your Health to the Next Level?

Is a CGM worth it? Research is leaning toward YES!

But it depends on how you use and interpret the data…

Studies show that CGMs can provide data regarding stress levels, nutritional strategies, exercise impact, and more. With over 70 million adults in the United States reported as obese and another 99 million adults categorized as overweight, our health has never been more important than now. 

But this doesn’t mean CGMs are limited to those that are overweight or those that have diabetes. For example, when using a CGM, Leann Spofford learned that her favorite low-sugar Greek yogurt didn’t spike her insulin. However, adding a side of ginger sauce to another favorite meal did cause an insulin spike. Thus, Leann made an easy change and dropped the sauce to maintain insulin consistency.

So, what’s the big deal with insulin? Well, when insulin is high, the body shuts down fat burning, which can be detrimental to weight loss efforts. This is because high insulin indicates glucose (energy) is readily available in the bloodstream. 

Case in point, one of my team members noticed that eating her routine RX Bar and favorite low sugar greek yogurt caused more blood sugar spikes.  Also, a casual side of ginger sauce to her healthy meals did the same.  Those little tweaks made a difference in meeting daily body needs and how well her body’s metabolism could recover and effectively use insulin for fat burning and glucose for energy.

At the end of the day, insulin is a hormone that promotes the synthesis of proteins and the storage of fats (besides its most critical role in regulating the metabolism of carbohydrates to promote the uptake and storage of glucose from the bloodstream into cells to use for energy).  

Insulin resistance, where cells become less responsive to insulin function, is becoming more prevalent in aging adults.  This is often due to our diet and lifestyle.  This can lead to metabolic disorders such as type 2 diabetes, obesity, and metabolic syndrome.

But a CGM can help us understand how our body is responding to food. This way, we can make changes before a diabetes diagnosis happens. It allows us to use personal data beyond the mere scale to adjust our habits for healthy weight loss and maintenance, as well as optimal health.

For women, specifically, we have an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, which we know is linked to weight gain and obesity. Not only that, but being overweight can increase your chances of heart disease, cancer, diabetes, inflammatory conditions, autoimmune disease, and reduce metabolic health. All of this can impact our hormones—and not in a good way! 

In fact, these risk factors can significantly increase our mortality and shorten our lives (and prior health and happiness).

So, where do CGMs come into play? Well, when used and interpreted correctly, CGMs can provide info regarding our blood sugar. And this can offer insights into our stress levels, aka our cortisol hormone response, where abnormal levels can further alter blood sugar balance, promote cravings, and lead to more unnecessary weight gain or hitting a plateau.  

CGMs can help gather information about how our nutrition or exercise is impacting our bodies. Do certain foods spike your blood sugar faster than others? Does exercise lead to better-balanced blood sugar levels?

Overall, CGMs and corresponding apps, like NutriSense, ZOE, or Levels, can provide crucial real-time feedback and data that allows us to optimize for good metabolic health and, thus, make lifestyle changes. These apps even allow us to interpret this data better so we know exactly what we need to do.

All of the above can help us balance stress better and prevent extreme hormonal imbalances (and even get through perimenopause and menopause with greater ease). But, as mentioned, how we interpret and apply this data is inevitably important, and this is where having a physician or clinician on your team as an accountability partner and data analyst can help you determine the best path forward for better health and a better life.

Where lifestyle modifications used to be the last treatment option on most doctors’ minds, it’s now becoming more and more of a priority. Yet, this means that we need a certain level of accountability, or else we won’t form the habits that drive change.

When left to our own devices and just like a new toy or shiny object, building new habits or using new devices eventually lose their sparkle. Then, we often get frustrated (and sometimes, we throw in the towel!). 

If COVID has taught us anything, community, and human connection are of the utmost importance to our happiness and health. Joining a community of like-minded women and with the proper accountability partner can accelerate your health journey, propelling you toward where you want to be. There is no one-size-fits-all approach. We all have our own personalized and unique paths to take.

Go beyond the app and partner with a health professional who can help you untangle the data and encourage you to take steps forward.

Get more information about the future of telemedicine and hybrid services being offered by Thrive Beyond Wellness. This is a concierge-style women’s health practice that is geared toward the woman who has been told:

  1. Your labs are NORMAL, but you still feel like CRAP!
  2. Need a holistic approach to hormone replacement and not sure if it’s right for you.
  3. Know your hormones are contributing to unwanted weight and poundage and be ready to feel good and confident about yourself again.

 There are limited patients accepted, so register while you still can!

Start with a Contacting US today with one of our team members and see if we are a good fit for you.

Heal Women… Heal the World.