Jul 13, 2026 · 33 min · 10 segments
**What is lifestyle medicine — and how can it support your menstrual health?** In this Lunch & Learn session, Handpicked's Deborah Garlick sits down with Handpicked director Sally Leach to open up a…
Sally LeechGuest
Deborah GarlickHost
So it's a really great place to start because I think lifestyle medicine may not be a term that we use, but we often talk about the way we look after our bodies or the kind of lifestyle approach to our mental health.
And it's really about the kind of evidence based daily behaviours that support kind of long term health.
and looking at our well-being so when we think about menstrual health it's things like nutrition it's things like movement and exercise it's sleep it's how we might manage our response to stress and that kind of social connection awareness of our own menstrual cycle so there's lots of things incorporated in it and I think when we think around our menstrual health and why this is so important is because our hormones really interact with pretty much every system in our body and so it can our hormones can affect our metabolism it can affect things like inflammation it can have an impact on our stress response our brain chemistry how we sleep our gut health our emotional well-being so it means when we think about what we eat the way we move how we sleep how we manage stress those things can really influence how we might feel throughout the menstrual cycle And it's important, we're going to come on to talk around some of the menstrual health conditions and recognizing lifestyle medicine is not there to replace medical treatment.
And some of the conditions we'll talk about, they're real conditions that deserve appropriate health care.
But lifestyle medicine can very much work alongside medical care to meaningfully improve someone's quality of life and say those things can directly influence how someone might experience their menstrual cycle.
And when I talk about menstrual health, I always want to remind ourselves that menstrual health is more than just about periods.
It's about that kind of physical, mental, emotional and social well-being in relation to that menstrual cycle.
It can affect things like energy, mood, sleep, concentration, the pain people may be living with.
And all of those lifestyle factors that we think about when we come to lifestyle medicine can influence those things.
And I'm pleased that you said it's not just during the menstruation cycle, because I would have to say, and I am going back in memory here, when I had my period, all I ever wanted to do was sit and do absolutely nothing, maybe watch TV, eat chocolate.
But that is just a few days in your cycle, isn't it? What you're talking about, it sounds is actually building up your general health through lifestyle so that you can adapt and, if you like, manage those bumps.
And I think it's that recognition that for all of us, the way we look after ourselves can really have an influence on our health and well-being.
And I think when we start to delve into what, in particular, how menstruation can affect people and in particular how certain menstrual health conditions can affect people, that actually...
the way we take care of ourselves becomes a real priority, but we often don't prioritize that.
And when we think about some of the challenges people have in terms of accessing healthcare support, in terms of feeling like, oh, it's just periods, you've just got to get on with it, that whole kind of messaging we have around challenges around menstrual health, It's really easy for us to not prioritize it and actually really listen to our bodies and what's going on.
And so that's why to me, this is such an important part of the whole way we look at taking care of ourselves, especially when we have challenges around our menstrual health.
So it's a really great place to start because I think lifestyle medicine may not be a term that we use, but we often talk about the way we look after our bodies or the kind of lifestyle approach to our mental health.
And it's really about the kind of evidence based daily behaviours that support kind of long term health.
and looking at our well-being so when we think about menstrual health it's things like nutrition it's things like movement and exercise it's sleep it's how we might manage our response to stress and that kind of social connection awareness of our own menstrual cycle so there's lots of things incorporated in it and I think when we think around our menstrual health and why this is so important is because our hormones really interact with pretty much every system in our body and so it can our hormones can affect our metabolism it can affect things like inflammation it can have an impact on our stress response our brain chemistry how we sleep our gut health our emotional well-being so it means when we think about what we eat the way we move how we sleep how we manage stress those things can really influence how we might feel throughout the menstrual cycle And it's important, we're going to come on to talk around some of the menstrual health conditions and recognizing lifestyle medicine is not there to replace medical treatment.
And some of the conditions we'll talk about, they're real conditions that deserve appropriate health care.
But lifestyle medicine can very much work alongside medical care to meaningfully improve someone's quality of life and say those things can directly influence how someone might experience their menstrual cycle.
And when I talk about menstrual health, I always want to remind ourselves that menstrual health is more than just about periods.
It's about that kind of physical, mental, emotional and social well-being in relation to that menstrual cycle.
It can affect things like energy, mood, sleep, concentration, the pain people may be living with.
And all of those lifestyle factors that we think about when we come to lifestyle medicine can influence those things.
And I'm pleased that you said it's not just during the menstruation cycle, because I would have to say, and I am going back in memory here, when I had my period, all I ever wanted to do was sit and do absolutely nothing, maybe watch TV, eat chocolate.
But that is just a few days in your cycle, isn't it? What you're talking about, it sounds is actually building up your general health through lifestyle so that you can adapt and, if you like, manage those bumps.
And I think it's that recognition that for all of us, the way we look after ourselves can really have an influence on our health and well-being.
And I think when we start to delve into what, in particular, how menstruation can affect people and in particular how certain menstrual health conditions can affect people, that actually...
the way we take care of ourselves becomes a real priority, but we often don't prioritize that.
And when we think about some of the challenges people have in terms of accessing healthcare support, in terms of feeling like, oh, it's just periods, you've just got to get on with it, that whole kind of messaging we have around challenges around menstrual health, It's really easy for us to not prioritize it and actually really listen to our bodies and what's going on.
And so that's why to me, this is such an important part of the whole way we look at taking care of ourselves, especially when we have challenges around our menstrual health.
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