Yes.

You know, menopause is that day and time when you look back and realize it's been 12 consecutive months without menstruation.

But the years, sometimes 2 or 4 to 10 years leading up to menopause, is called perimenopause, and this is really when hormones like estrogen and progesterone start to change, and they can be incredibly volatile.

And this causes symptoms that are sometimes not easily recognized as hormonal symptoms.

So our Bonafide sixth annual State of Menopause survey, we- which- where we looked at 2,000 wo- women's responses, revealed that the cognitive and emotional symptoms during this perimenopausal transition were the most disruptive symptoms at all and really disconcerting.

So it's kind of surpassed the typical hot flashes and night sweats-

Mm-hmm.

They act throughout the body, and changes in these hormones not only result in physical discomfort like hot flashes or musculoskeletal joint pain, but they interrupt sleep.

There's so much

to say.

So I think it's no surprise that the Mediterranean style diet is really recommended during this stage of life and truly as a lifestyle, not as a diet for two weeks or three weeks.

The Mediterranean diet really focuses on lean protein.

It focuses on higher fiber foods, whole grains, minimal sugar, minimal salt with spices used instead.

olive oil instead of butter, and other things in moderation.

And the original purpose of the Mediterranean diet was really to be a heart-healthy diet and to help control things like hypertension and lower risk of cardiovascular disease.

So what are your thoughts? What are the tips on what we should be thinking about during perimenopause? Yeah.

So how are we thinking about these women now when it comes to that kind of treatment?

Well, I think the first thing to realize is that perimenopause lasts for a long time.

This is not a day in time.

It's not like, oh, you skip one period and that's it.

You're done with perimenopause.

This can be of a two to 10 year duration.

And oftentimes, symptoms are not even recognized or thought about by a healthcare practitioner or a person until periods become a little bit irregular.

So let's talk a little bit about, and some maybe non-pharmaceutical ones, but like other treatments that women can turn to.