Nutrition for Living

I have some version of this conversation most weeks in clinic.

“I tried intermittent fasting because someone said it would help my metabolism.” Or, “I’ve been doing apple cider vinegar shots every morning, is that actually doing anything?” ⏰🍏

I get why.

Both are marketed as hacks, and when you’re exhausted and just want something that works, that’s genuinely appealing.

But both have a real, clinical reason I steer women away from them at this life stage.

Skipping meals can raise cortisol, drop blood sugar, and tend to make sleep and evening cravings worse, exactly the things already under pressure in perimenopaus 🥲

What I consistently see in clinic: clients who move to regular eating across the day report steadier energy within days. It’s genuinely one of the simplest shifts I recommend.

And apple cider vinegar’s evidence is thinner than TikTok suggests.

What actually moves the needle: regular meals, sleep, sunlight, and movement. Not very glamorous, but it’s what works.

If you want a plan built around what genuinely helps (not another hack), link in bio to book 🥳

You’ve probably had the appointment where you leave with a generic printout and no real plan for a Tuesday night 🥲

Grace has sat in that exact seat herself. She has PMOS, and it’s shaped exactly how she practises.

Her clinical focus runs deep: PMOS, endometriosis, perimenopause and menopause, sustainable weight management, sports and performance nutrition, chronic disease prevention, and nutrition for cognition and longevity.

If a meal guide would help you put that into practice, she’ll build you one: practical recipes shaped around your actual week. Not everyone wants that level of structure, and that’s completely fine too. It’s there if you do.

She’s telehealth only, Thursdays 12–6pm, and her books are filling quickly 💻

You’re always welcome to book in with Grace today! Link in bio 🥳

Last week, Michael, Amy from .health, and I hosted the Gut Evolving dinner. An evening of honest conversation with GPs and allied health about what good gut care actually looks like 🥝🧠

Three presentations. Three very different angles on the same types of clients we all see.

The thing I keep thinking about is how often people with gut symptoms have been managed in isolation, when what they actually needed was a more complete picture 🧩

The right nutrition support. Screening for underlying concerns. A gut-brain intervention that addresses where the problem is actually coming from.

That’s what the evening was really about.

If your gut hasn’t been right for a while and you’re not sure what’s been missed, we’re all available to help. Links in our bios 🥳

Save this and share it with someone who’s been going around in circles with their gut health.

Something I hear a lot in clinic.

Women in their 40s and 50s who feel like their body has started doing something different, but nobody has quite connected the dots for them yet. Maybe a GP mentioned bone density in passing. Maybe a friend was recently told she has osteopenia. Maybe it’s just a quiet sense that this is something worth paying attention to 👀

It is. And I want you to know it’s not too late to do something meaningful about it.

Bone changes can begin in perimenopause, sometimes years before you’d ever feel them. Not because you’ve done anything wrong. The hormonal shifts of midlife affect bone directly, and they rarely come with a warning.

The good news is that the foundations of good bone health aren’t complicated.

Calcium is the starting point. Thee target in midlife is 1,300 mg a day, and most Australian women are sitting closer to 600 to 800 mg without realising it.

Beyond that: protein matters more in this stage of life than most people are told (worth a conversation with a dietitian to understand what you specifically need), vitamin D is worth checking on your next blood test, and resistance training.

If you’re not sure where to start with movement, an exercise physiologist is a brilliant referral 🏋🏽‍♀️

And the one I want to name, because it often goes unsaid: eating enough. Chronic restriction is quietly associated with bone loss at the sites that matter most.

and I have put together a practical resource for women in midlife who want to take this seriously without the overwhelm.

It’s called What’s Happening to Your Bones Right Now and it covers the 1,300 mg target broken across real meals, a self-assessment to see where you currently sit, a supermarket guide for Coles, Woolies and ALDI, and 25 everyday foods with their calcium content.

Follow so you’re there when it lands.

— Annabel + April Health 🧡

If you’ve been bloated for months and you’re about to cut out gluten, dairy, FODMAPs, lectins, nightshades or whatever “trigger” the algorithm suggested last week, please read this first.

In clinic, here are the five questions I work through before we start any elimination diet.

1. How are you eating?

2. What does your fibre and fluid look like?

3. Where are stress and sleep at?

4. Where are you in your cycle?

5. And then, what are you eating?

The reason I’m so cautious about cutting things out: every food group you remove makes the next round of investigation harder, the diet socially smaller, and the microbiome less diverse.

Sometimes restriction is the right call. Often, it’s premature.

If you’ve been bloated for months and you don’t know which of the five is yours, that’s the conversation we have in 1:1 work. Link in bio.

Comment with the one that hit closest to home.

Annabel 🥝

I spent a day recently at the Menopause Conference, taking pages of notes for the women I see in clinic.

Here are the four things I came back wanting more of you to know!

1. The mood and brain fog come first 🧠
Around 80% of women present to a GP with psychological symptoms before they ever mention hot flushes. If you’ve been told “it’s just stress” in your 40s, please ask about your hormones too.

2. Menopause is a cardiometabolic transition ❤️
Cholesterol, insulin resistance, visceral fat, blood pressure and inflammation all shift upward. Muscle and bone shift down. This is why I keep saying nutrition matters more in midlife, not less.

3. Bone loss starts 1 to 2 years before menopause 🦴
A DEXA scan is more useful in your 40s than in your 60s. The four modifiables are calcium, vitamin D, protein and weight-bearing exercise.

4. CVD risk doubles in natural menopause and is four times higher in surgical menopause 💔
A Mediterranean pattern, sleep, and movement do real work here.

If you’d like a plan that takes all of this into account (gut, energy, bones, weight, and what you actually like to eat), the link in bio is where 1:1 work happens. I have availability this month.

Comment with the one that surprised you most.
— Annabel 🥝