Welcome to Dishing Up Nutrition.

Our podcast today is brought to you by Nutritional Weight and Wellness,

where a company in Minnesota specializes in nutrition education and counseling.

I'm Melanie Beasley, a licensed and registered dietitian,

and here with me today's Kara Carper, who is a licensed nutritionist and board-certified

nutrition specialist. And I believe our topic today is going to resonate with a lot of women.

We're going to be discussing two of the most common symptoms that women experience when

their hormones start to change. And this stage is called perimenopause, which is the transition

to menopause. That's right. And perimenopause usually starts in a woman's mid to late 40s,

but it can begin as early as her 30s.

And research shows that on average, women are in the perimenopause stage for about four years before they stop having menstrual cycles.

But, you know, it can last longer, even up to 10 years.

So if you're listening and you're in your 30s, your 40s, or

your 50s, you very well may be in perimenopause. Yeah. And if you're in the age range,

Kara mentioned, you may be experiencing your regular menstrual cycles. They may be longer or

shorter than usual. You might also have different menstrual flow. It might be lighter or

heavier than your normal flow and you think something's up here. Something's changing. There could be

breast tenderness or changes in breast size or shape. Also changes in urination are quite common.

Usually it's more frequent urination. Yep. And hair thinning or hair

loss, that's another sign of perimenopause. Your body's thermostat really starts to change,

and hot flashes and night sweats can begin, and that's pretty common. And of course,

night sweats will often disrupt sleep.

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