Perimenopause and High Cholesterol

If you’re in your 30’s and beyond and your cholesterol has been creeping up; it may be a symptom of perimenopause. 

In Perimenopause you are moving toward a permanent change in your hormones; your body is shifting from a phase of life with high hormones to low hormones. This matters because your reproductive hormones are made from cholesterol, so it makes sense that if your body is making LESS hormone, you may have MORE cholesterol left over.

I am not anti-pharmaceuticals, but I’ll always opt to try to avoid them if its safe to do so. So before you jump straight into taking statin (the pharmaceutical prescribed for high cholesterol).. what we want to do is look at the other reasons your cholesterol may be high.

What else causes high cholesterol?

Whenever I see a woman with high cholesterol, we look at the other factors that may be contributing and 90% of the time there are areas we can improve, including:

• Exercise and movement

• Diet

• FIbre consumption

• Alcohol intake

• Weight loss (if relevant to you)

Genetics are another big influence but we can’t change that, but you can achieve a lot with your diet, lifestyle and bringing in herbal medicine if required. There are some powerful herbs that will safety help your body process cholesterol, lowering your levels.

What can you do at home?

If you want to get started in lowering your levels, here are my top 3 tips:

• Calculate how much fibre you are eating, and aim for minimum 35g per day; it is very likely you are eating much less than this

• Start exercising; ideally strength training (lifting heavy things) 3-4 times per week.

• Limit your alcohol intake to one night a week maximum.

With love 
xo Ell