#18: The Secret to Better Health During Menopause

What if one of the most powerful shifts you could make for your health during menopause was also the simplest?

In this episode, we step away from complex solutions and return to a foundational truth. Water is not just a habit. It is essential to know how your body functions, heals, and restores balance.

Many women spend years searching for answers to fatigue, brain fog, headaches, and low energy. Yet sometimes, the body is not asking for more. It is asking for something basic, consistent, and often overlooked.

This conversation invites you to pause, reflect, and consider how something as simple as hydration may be influencing your well-being.

What You Will Learn

The overlooked foundation of health
Water supports every system in the body. More than half of your body is made up of it, which means even mild dehydration can have a wide impact on how you feel daily.

Why hydration matters more during menopause
As estrogen and progesterone shift, the body’s ability to regulate fluids, recognize thirst, and maintain balance begins to change. This can influence energy, temperature regulation, and even blood pressure.

The connection between hydration and common symptoms
Fatigue, brain fog, headaches, and irritability are often linked only to hormones. This episode explores how dehydration may also be contributing to these experiences.

How water supports your body behind the scenes

• Transports nutrients throughout the body 
• Helps regulate internal temperature 
• Supports cognitive function and mental clarity 
• Lubricates joints and protects tissues 
• Assists the liver and kidneys in removing excess hormones and waste 
• Supports cardiovascular function and overall balance 

Think of water as fuel for your body.

Just like a car cannot function without oil, your body cannot function well without proper hydration. It may continue running for a time, but eventually, the strain begins to show.

Or consider a plant. Without water, it does not immediately die, but over time it begins to weaken.

Your body responds in a similar way.

Water has been present since the very beginning. In the book of Genesis, it is mentioned at the start of creation, and throughout scripture it continues to appear as a symbol of life and renewal.

It invites a simple question
If something so basic has been present from the beginning, why do we so often overlook it?

Practical Guidance for Daily Hydration

• In the morning, consider starting with room temperature or warm water 
• Throughout the day, choose the temperature that helps you stay consistent 
• During heat or physical activity, cooler water may feel more refreshing 
• Focus less on perfection and more on consistency 

The goal is not to complicate the process. The goal is to support your body in a steady, intentional way.

To learn more about our program visit our website at

https://www.happinessinyoucoach.com/menopause-elite-program/

Also, if you are a woman going through peri-menopause, menopause, or post menopause and would like to be a part of our mailing list to stay updated about programs, resources, and more, send a message to ksmith@happinessinyoucoach.com and type in the subject line, e-mail list.

Don’t forget to download and share this podcast with other woman. This allows woman that need support to find this podcast more easily.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to menopause Breakthrough, the podcast for professional women who want to reclaim their clarity, energy, and balance while navigating perimenopause, menopause, or postmenopause. I'm your host, Katina Smith, your menopause and wellness coach, and I also am a certified functional nutrition practitioner where I use nutrition and lifestyle to support women in this stage of life. I know firsthand how challenging this season can be physically, mentally, and emotionally, and what it's like to feel stressed and maybe even a little burnt out. Here you'll find education, strategies, and encouragement to help you thrive at work, at home, and in life. So let's dive in. Hello my friends and welcome back to the podcast. Let me start by asking you a simple question. When was the last time you truly paid attention to how much water you drink in a day? And I'm not talking about coffee or tea or soda or juice, just water. Many women just spend years searching for, I would say, complicated solutions to their fatigue, brain fog, headaches, and low energy, and they try different supplements and the latest diets and different health trends, but sometimes the body is just quietly asking for something far more basic. But before we go any further, I just really wanted to take a moment to thank everyone who has just reached out and shared feedback about the show. I truly appreciate hearing from you and knowing that these conversations are helping. I'm here to support you. So if there is ever anything you want to know more about, you want me to do a show on or a certain topic, I am here to support you with that. So you have my contact information at the end of the show notes. Um, you can get that information and just reach out to me. I would love to hear from you. Well, so to continue on, um, you've probably already guessed it from the first few words of today's episode. Um, but we are just talking about, I would say, one of the most overlooked foundations of health, especially during menopause, regardless of what stage you're in, if you are in perimenopause, you've reached menopause, or even in postmenopause. And that is water, of course. And it's really not just for women going through menopause. I mean, water is something that every person should incorporate in their daily life. And I'm gonna share this quick story with you about water. Um, you see, when I was younger, I just remember getting water, um, like if it was served to me, it was always in a glass and it was ice cold. And I never liked how I felt. Like I would get super cold when I drank ice water. Um, the ice would hurt my teeth. So when I was younger, I really just didn't like water. I would actually rather drink it, drink it from like a water hose. Um, I just didn't like drinking like a glass of water. Um, when I got older though, um, something happened when I was probably like a young adult, and I would just put like a bottle of water in the refrigerator, and I had forgot to put a bottle in the refrigerator. I had just had like um room temperature water. So I drank a bottle and I was like, wow, this water is really good. And I just continued to drink it that way, and it made me realize that was one of the reasons why I really didn't care for water because it stemmed back from my childhood. It was served to me ice cold. Um, so I like it room temperature. So that I don't know if that could help someone, if that could be a challenge you're having, but I just wanted to share that because sometimes we don't realize how different things are impacting us. Um, but there's various reasons why people decide not to drink water. But I know that there's, you know, controversy um surrounding whether you should drink water at room temperature or ice cold. Um, but I think the more important factor here is just making sure you're getting enough water into your body daily to stay hydrated and really just to support the various functions in your body. But one rule of thumb I tend to tell my clients is that in the morning, you know, drink at room temperature or warm water in the morning time, but during the day, whatever temperature, you know, that you feel comfortable drinking. But like those extremely hot days, or when you have done an intense exercise workout, it might feel better drinking cool water or colder water. So, you know, that's just a tip that I tend to give to my clients that ask me that question. And I really see water really as a true gift of life, something we should be giving our bodies daily, as I mentioned. And when I think about water, I often think about like oil in an engine. A car can look beautiful on the outside. Like I saw this beautiful classic car, candy apple red going down the highway. It was probably from like 1950, 1960. It was a beautiful car. So it can be polished, it can be clean and well designed, but if there is no oil in the engine, eventually a car is going to break down. So water actually works the same way in our bodies, it keeps everything moving smoothly behind the scenes, you know. And one of the things I notice often is that, as I mentioned, many people really struggle with drinking enough water. And a part of that is because of our culture that we live in, maybe even how we grew up. Um, maybe we weren't exposed to drinking water, and like in my case, how it was served to me. Um, and then marketing. Marketing is constantly all the commercial social media. We're seeing things um about drinking, and this is a refreshing beverage. So things like soda and juice and teas, we're constantly being bombarded with these as the most important things to put into our bodies. You know, there's flavored drinks and even Kool-Aid. Like I actually grew up drinking Kool-Aid. Some people probably won't admit that, but it had a lot of sugar in it. Yes, it did, and it was not a good thing. I mean, yes, it tasted good, but it was not a good thing. So just stay away from the Kool-Aid, also for other reasons. But um, many of these drinks, again, are just filled with so much sugar, and it causes just different um spikes in our blood sugar level. Like it affects our blood sugar levels, and it contributes to inflammation in the body, and over time it will just have a negative impact on our overall health, and it's not even good for our teeth, you know, it can lead to tooth decay, for example. So drinking sugary drinks instead of water, it's kind of like pouring syrup into your gas tank instead of fuel. Um, it may taste good for a moment, but over time it's going to go gum up your system. So water, on the other hand, is more like that clean fuel that our bodies need. And I will also say that water is like life, it's truly life. And think about a plant for a moment. Um, if you forget to water it, for example, like the leaves begin to droop in. I am guilty of this. Like I've probably kept a plant alive for like three months, um, only because I forget to water it. But the soil, what happens? It becomes dry, right? The plant does not die immediately, but it slowly just begins to weaken. And that's what's happening with our bodies, how our bodies respond. Our bodies will respond in a similar way, like the plant. And I want to just share too something interesting. I was reflecting on. I was reading in the book of Genesis when God created the heavens and the earth, and the second verse where it talks about water and how God hovered over the water. And I just thought that it was like, wow, just how God created things, the order of things, and how he was hovering over the water. Of all things, he hovered over the water, and it really just made me pause a moment. Um, again, when you think about the order of creation, the heavens, the earth, how they were formed, and eventually human beings. And when I think uh water is actually mentioned maybe like 700 times in the Bible. So to me, that says it's very important. So just really think about that. But scientifically, we also know that water plays a major role in just our physical structure. And you've probably heard that the body is about 60% water. That's over half of our body, like we are water, so that means that dehydration is not really a small issue, it affects a large portion of our entire being. And according to uh certain research that I had looked up, um, according to the National Library of Medicine, um, total body water can range from about 45% to 75% of a person's body weight, and muscle mass is about 70 to 75 percent water, while fat tissue can range between about 10 and 40 percent of 40 percent water. And even though water is, I would say, often overlooked as a nutrient, it truly is one of the most essential nutrients for life. And it really plays so many important roles in the body from like transporting nutrients. So when we eat our food, you know, that food gets to the cell the way it needs to get to the cell. You can kind of think of it as a delivery service. Think about you know, the well-known delivery service that delivers packages every day. Um, some of us get those packages weekly, um, but the vitamins and the minerals can be seen sort of like a package. And water is kind of like that truck that carries those packages where they need to go. So without enough water, those packages just send in the warehouse. And what good is that, right? That's just one way to look at it, though. But water also helps regulate body temperature, which is really important for women that are going through menopause. And you can also think of water maybe as a cooling system for the body. Just like a radiator keeps a car from overheating, water actually helps regulate your internal temperature. And for many women experiencing hot flashes, that cooling system becomes even more important. So, really, again, think water. Just think about why you really need to incorporate drinking water into your daily routine. And water it helps with lubricating our joints as well as internal organs. Um, it gives structure to our cells and tissues, and it also helps support our cardiovascular function. And it's also been known to help with managing um our weight. So, again, just think of all of the functions that water and benefits that water has in our bodies. And another area, many people, I guess I should say they don't really think about it, um, is that it helps with our brain function. Water actually, we have like deficits, like we're dehydrated. Um, that, and this has been scientifically um proven that it's shown to affect our cognitive performance. So things like our ability to judge, our judgment, our memory, um, our ability to reason and concentrate are impacted even with just mild dehydration. It can feel like trying to think through fog and your concentration slips, and your memory slower is a lot slower, and your judgment just feels a little bit off. And many women will say, Well, it's my hormones, but have you ever thought that maybe it could be that you're dehydrated? And of course, there could be other things going on, but I would definitely say think about water during those times where you're having these um periods where you feel like you can't focus. Just go get a little bit of water. So now I guess when we think specifically about menopause, I think hydration just becomes more and more important because during this stage of life, the body needs to process and eliminate metabolites and excess hormones, including forms of estrogen that the body can no longer or the body no longer um needs, because our body will use what it needs and then expel what it doesn't need. So sometimes women have a difficult time getting rid of that excess estrogen in the body, which can wreak havoc um on our hormones. So they're having symptoms, not really understanding that their body is having difficulty getting rid of what it doesn't need. And you know, our livers and our kidneys come into play, and you can really think of the liver and the kidneys as a filtration system, but they need water, water to help flush out what the body does not need. And without enough water, it's like trying to rinse, I guess, soap off a dish with only a few drops of water. You're still going to have soap sud on that plate or whatever you're washing. So that process just will not work well. So what's also I would say important to understand um during menopause as estrogen and progesterone begin to shift, the body does not just really change emotionally and metabolically. It also changes how our fluids are managed in the body, like our third, our thirst signals, um, our blood pressure as well. Um, estrogen, estrogen declines, the body may not recognize thirst as quickly, and it may regulate water and sodium differently. So some women tend to notice that they feel dehydrated more easily, and others may just experience fluid, um, fluid retention or just changes in their blood pressure. A lot of women have reported that all of a sudden their blood pressure is high and they've never had high blood pressure, but um, there could be lots of things going on in the body, which could be your water intake or not enough water in the body that could be impacting this. And hormone therapy can also influence this depending on the type and the balance of hormones used. Um, but menopause it affects the entire system, including how the body handles hydration and cardiovascular health. And when you understand that, you can begin to be more intentional about hydration and about the lifestyle habits that support your body during this season. So I just really want to leave you with a few key takeaways from today's conversation. And the first thing is that water is not optional, it is foundational. Think about it again. More than half of your body is made of water, and every system depends on it to function well. Um, secondly, during menopause, your body's relationship with fluids are changing. So, as your hormones are shifting, your thirst cues, your fluid balance, and blood pressure, all of this can be impacted, and that means you cannot always just rely on thirst alone as your signal to drink water. Also, hydration, it supports much, much more than um temperature control. It helps with the transport of nutrients, um, you're regulating your blood sugar levels, protecting your cognitive function, lubrication of the joints. Many women um complain about um joint pain that they can't exercise. So water is important, it's an important part of this um season of your life, and it also supports cardiovascular health and assisting you with um eliminating excess hormones and waste out of the body. And many women, or many of the symptoms that women contribute to just hormones, like your fatigue, brain fog, headaches, for example, um, it could be that you're dehydrated. So you always want to be thinking about water. Did I get enough water today? Just begin to ask yourself that if you start to have these different symptoms. And finally, just drinking water daily, I would say is probably one of the simplest and most powerful actions that you can take for your health and just during this season of life. And I will say it's the small habit that you incorporate, it's a small habit with a wide impact. So in this season of life, just don't overlook the basics. Sometimes the most transformative shifts begin with something as simple as a glass of water, maybe room temperature, but yes. Well, my friends, that is it for this episode, and I'm truly honored that you chose to spend this time with me today. So I will chat with you on the next episode. Bye for now. Thank you for listening to Minipod's Breakthrough. If this episode resonated with you, don't forget to hit the follow button so you never miss a new conversation. Share it with a friend, colleague, or anyone who could benefit from support during this season of life. You can connect with me, access more resources, great tips, and coaching support, and learn about our menopause program for women by visiting www.happiness in you coach.com dash menopause dash elite dash program forward slash. Remember, you don't have to just survive menopause. You can thrive through it. And you are not alone in this season of life.