Open Thread #7: The Menopause Brain Book Club
Let’s discuss Dr. Lisa Mosconi’s new book
Hello, everyone. A few months ago I shared an exclusive interview with my friend, Dr. Lisa Mosconi, right before her new book The Menopause Brain: New Science Empowers Women to Navigate the Pivotal Transition with Knowledge and Confidence launched into the world. And boy did it launch! Since its release on March 12, The Menopause Brain has been translated into 20 languages and been included on 6 bestseller lists. I am incredibly happy for Lisa whose life’s work has been to study the similarities and differences between men and women’s brains, especially with regard to nutrition, hormones, and lifestyle factors. And I am happy for everyone who has had the opportunity to read this book.
As many of you may recall, I have a personal interest in menopause and women’s brain health. Before I started Brain Health Kitchen, I was an OB/GYN physician specialized in menopausal medicine. During the eight years this was my focus, I took care of thousands of perimenopausal women (defined as the transitional years before and after the last menstrual period). In fact, helping women navigate the cognitive symptoms of menopause—like memory loss and brain fog—is what sparked my interest in brain health years ago.
Helping women age with resilient, dementia-free brains is at the center of my mission at BHK. Women are twice as likely to develop Alzheimer’s as men, and much of what we are learning about preventing Alzheimer’s has to do with what happens during the menopausal transition. I have written extensively on this topic here on BHK, in my book, and elsewhere. If you would like to catch up or review, I’ve bookmarked sections from past posts addressing key points pertinent to our discussion of The Menopause Brain by Dr. Lisa Mosconi.
Posts About Menopause, HRT, and Women’s Brain Health
Today, I am excited to introduce our very first BHK Book Club discussion.
Here’s how it works: Using the Open Thread format, I have prepared discussion prompts from some of my favorite sections of The Menopause Brain. Just like in a real life book club, these prompts are meant to start a discussion, but you will determine where the conversation goes. I want to hear from you—what you learned, how it has changed your life, and what questions it brought up that still need to be answered. As always, here on BHK we are especially keen on sharing how we translate the latest science into real life action.
If you are new here, Open Thread is a space to connect and chat obsessively about a topic. Here on BHK, we have gotten into lively discussions about our favorite books and podcasts, our food fears, our biggest brain health challenges, blood sugar and brain health, and the brain-healthy food groups. Everyone is welcome to follow along and paying subscribers are invited to share thoughts in the comment section.
In Part 1 of The Menopause Brain, Lisa defines brain fog and gives concrete examples of what that may feel like, such as difficulty concentrating, multitasking, fumbling to find the right word, or feeling mentally fatigued. She emphasizes that these cognitive challenges are common, valid, and real in a woman approaching or past menopause. But—crucially—these cognitive slips are short-lived. Once the transition passes “the clouds clear and the fog lifts.”
Have you experienced brain fog as part of the menopausal transition? What does or did it feel like for you? And how did you adjust your daily life to compensate for these temporary cognitive challenges?
In Chapter 6, Lisa describes the 3 P’s (Puberty, Pregnancy, and Perimenopause) like 3 peas in a pod. Each life stage actually changes the brain in ways that give women new cognitive skills and enhanced resilience. I like to think of these stages as the source of a woman’s superpower; by weathering these challenging times of life the female brain emerges with unique brain health attributes.
Did this new concept of the 3P’s help you appreciate what your brain went through during these life stages? Mothers of daughters: do you find this model useful when talking to daughters about what to expect as they approach puberty, pregnancy, or menopause?
“Menopause is a dynamic neurological transition that reshapes the landscape of the female brain,” is one of my favorite quotes from the book.
How has reframing menopause in this way empowered you?
In Part 3, Lisa presents a balanced argument about the role of hormonal therapy for women. As we’ve discussed here on BHK, the decision whether or not to take hormone replacement therapy (HRT) requires an individualized approach.
Did the information in this section help you see HRT in a new light? Did you change your views on taking or not taking HRT based on the science presented? And did you learn anything new about non-hormonal therapies, such supplements and other drugs?
In Chapter 14, Lisa writes about the impact of diet and nutrition on the female brain. You probably weren’t surprised to learn about the importance of getting enough fiber, moving towards a more plant-based diet, upping your vegetable intake specifically, avoiding non-nutritive sweeteners, and embracing whole grains (all topics we've gone into on BHK.) And you may have been delighted to learn that Lisa personally follows her own version of the Green MED diet (which launched us into a 3-part mini-series all about polyphenols, including a deep dive into tea). But did the section on feeding your estrobolome surprise you? The estrobolome is a facet of the gut microbiome that metabolizes estrogen into its active forms. Lisa calls out these foods as being important to cultivating a diverse estrobolome:
Prebiotics: garlic, onions, asparagus, beets, cabbage, leeks, artichokes, peas, beans, and lentils
Probiotics: fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, unsweetened yogurt, and lacto-fermented vegetables
Bitters: plants high in polyphenols like dandelion greens, endive, radicchio, and arugula
Has this knowledge of the estrobolome informed your food choices? Are there any new foods you have folded into your dietary pattern because of this?
In Chapter 17, Lisa writes about how environmental toxins play a role in sabotaging brain health. She lays out a plan to reduce environmental pollutants in daily life, such as using an air purifier, avoiding plastic, and being choosy about personal care products.
Have you taken action to follow any of these recommendations in your daily life? I am curious to learn how you have reduced plastic in your kitchen, if you’ve changed up the skin care products you buy, or any other concrete way you have taken this chapter to heart.
Did any other questions come up while reading The Menopause Brain that you’d like to pose to our community?
I look forward to chatting with you about these topics in the days to come. I’ll be back later this week with Part 4 of our tea mini-series—all about herbal teas.
Love,
Annie
Upcoming Brain Health Retreats
Ortigia, Sicily October 13 to 19, 2024
Palermo, Sicily October 27 to November 4, 2024
Tecate, Mexico, Rancho La Puerta BHK Group November 2024: SOLD OUT, join the waitlist by contacting Donna at dsher52@hotmail.com
Costa Rica, January 9 to 14, 2025
Well, I may have had brain fog during my menopause transition. I don’t recall, associating it with menopause. So I can’t really speak to that however, I would’ve easily dismissed it as a personality flaw but looking back, I wonder if the times that I was so hard on myself for not being able to problem solve or troubleshoot could’ve been based on the menopause experience and not my lack of knowledge or skills in general.
Absolutely the puberty/peri-and menopause link has, increasingly, made perfect sense and I can look back now and connect so many of the issues and symptoms I experienced during adolescence with this hormonal transition (including debilitating, at one stage, anxiety during school years). So important in helping us to help the young women in our lives, too, and for us to be able to reframe it in a way that helps makes sense of all we've been through, as a whole. And, thanks to the work of Dr Mosconi, yourself and others passionate about research and education, help ourselves and others, too! 🙏❤️