Let me tell you a story...

When Oprah Winfrey was 48 years old, she started to develop cardiac arrhythmia. She had the best cardiologists in the business, but none of these top doctors could pinpoint what was wrong.

They ran a battery of tests, no expense or effort was spared, but Oprah's heart complaints remained a mystery. At some point she mentioned her cardiac arrhythmia to her personal trainer, who asked whether it could be a sign of the menopause. “Menopause?” said Oprah, “Me? No, my periods are still super regular.” But the seed had been planted in her mind and she decided to talk to her cardiologist about it. He laughed and said that if that was the case, she was seeing the wrong doctor - that wasn't his field! Some time later, Oprah stumbled upon a book written by a renowned gynecologist who had pioneered menopause education in the 1990s. Oprah sought advice and treatment from her – and five days later her symptoms were gone.

​​​​

This story teaches us a few things:

Firstly, starting in your mid-forties, you can have regular periods despite undergoing hormonal changes that may become noticeable in other organs first. A regular period doesn't necessarily mean

the perimenopause hasn't arrived.

Secondly, as is often the case with women's issues, we have to start at square one - even in the 21st century there is still a dearth of education and information when it comes to understanding the woman's cycle and the role of hormones - their formation, function and variability. Perhaps this is because we are maneuvering through the shallow waters of subjects that are still taboo in some circles, but it is also due to the role and status that women occupy in society by and large. 

Thirdly, after developing and finally achieving an understanding of ourselves as mensturating beings, with all that that entails, we lose it with it again when we hit 45+ . At BRAINFOODMOVES, we like to talk about what phenomena and sensations await us in the pre-/peri-/menopause and postmenopause, collecting and building on the knowledge that already exists about them so we can share it with you in our workshops, retreats, training courses and more...

​