Why now's the time to prepare for menopause

TV doctor Zoe Williams is already making big changes and wants women to be aware of what's coming, but feel empowered. By LAUREN TAYLOR

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DR ZOE WILLIAMS may not be experiencing any menopause symptoms yet, but at 45, she’s making big changes so she’s ready for it.

“As a woman in my mid-40s myself, the time to start preparing for menopause is before it happens,” says ITV This Morning’s resident TV doctor.

“I think inevitably, I'm in peri-menopause. I’m not having symptoms, but I know at my age with certainty that my oestrogen levels are lower than they used to be. And, you know, it’s imminent.”

So the mum-of-one, a practising NHS physician in London - and former Gladiator in the original series of the iconic Nineties show - has started building more muscle and switching up her diet as she approaches menopause, when a woman's periods stop for good.

From mood changes, hot flushes and sleep disturbance to hair loss, vaginal dryness and joint pain, women can expect some unpleasant symptoms but, “Menopause isn’t all doom and gloom”, Zoe says.

“From our 30s onwards, we should be starting to think about [it]. If we jump our bodies the best we can, then that’s one of the best offences that we have against some of the negative consequences.”

“I've already started to make some lifestyle changes,” she says.

Her focus now is “definitely on building strength and maintaining flexibility”, whereas before, “I used to really love to go spinning and get those endorphins hits. But I’ve shifted because I know what's better for me.