Brain Fog & Beyond: A Survival Kit for Your 40s ( Amita Sharma)

Diva Tonight with special guest Amita Sharma! 

The silent struggle of perimenopause affects millions of women all over the world, often beginning as early as age 35 and lasting up to a decade before menopause officially starts. Yet many of us don't recognize the signs until we're deep in the throes of hormonal chaos.

In this eye-opening conversation with holistic wellness champion Amita Sharma, we dive into the realities of perimenopause that's the elephant in the room: the 48+ symptoms beyond hot flashes, the cultural factors that influence when menopause begins, and why women across cultures feel pressured to suffer in silence. Amita shares her personal journey of battling perimenopause without support, which ultimately inspired her to create Nourish Doc, a groundbreaking digital wellness platform designed to make holistic health support accessible to women everywhere. 

What makes this discussion particularly valuable is how we bridge the gap between conventional medical approaches and holistic therapies. From naturopathy and Ayurvedic practices to cognitive behavioral therapy and nutritional interventions, Amita outlines practical, affordable steps women can take to navigate this transition. Most importantly, she emphasizes that preparation should begin in your 30s and 40s, not when you're already experiencing the full impact of hormonal fluctuations.

Whether you're personally experiencing perimenopausal symptoms, supporting someone who is, or simply want to prepare for what's ahead, this conversation offers compassionate guidance without judgment or clinical jargon. The $5/month platform launching between Mother's Day and Father's Day represents a new era in women's health support - one where expertise is affordable and suffering in silence is no longer the norm. Check out nourishdoc.com or follow @nourish_doc on Instagram to learn more about this revolutionary approach to women's midlife wellness.

Chapters

• 0:00 Meet Amita, Holistic Wellness Champion
• 2:06 Understanding Perimenopause vs. Menopause
• 4:48 Common Symptoms and Health Challenges
• 5:55 Holistic Therapies and Self-Care Approaches
• 10:10 Cultural Differences in Menopause Experience
• 15:22 Breaking the Silence Around Women's Health
• 24:17 Nourish Doc: Affordable Wellness Platform
• 30:44 Closing Thoughts and Resources

Transcript

Speaker 2: 0:04

Hi, I'm Carlene and this is Diva Tonight, and I am doing something a little different with the series here, talking to women who have expertise in various areas. And tonight is interesting because I have with me on Zoom Amita Sharma. She is a holistic wellness champion and advocate. She also has a program that she does to help women who are dealing with perimenopause, menopause and various other health concerns. Like you know, our health is very important and she's also the co-founder of Nourish Doc, a holistic wellness platform dedicated to empowering women and advocating for women in various channels. I guess, Hi, Amita.

Speaker 3: 1:06

Hi, Hi, how are you, Carlene? I really appreciate the work that you're doing and appreciate that you know we are going to talk to not menopausal women, which are necessarily generally in 50s, but younger women, so that they are prepared right.

Speaker 2: 1:21

Yeah, I think it's important to be prepared because you have no idea what your body is going to do, how it's going to change. Like me personally, I mean 40 has been great, but I've seen my doctor more than I want to say. You know, I've had so many visits, right, you know what I mean my diet and it. It is a change and there are certain things that you can do with your diet and your lifestyle, but I think there's other things that are hereditary that you can't control. But I think the one thing that's amazing that you do is that I guess you have a wellness program and you help other individuals that are maybe suffering Right. So, to start things off, what is perimenopause and menopause?

Speaker 3: 2:06

Yeah, you know a lot of us are confused about these two terms, right? Because as women we don't understand. And the perimenopause are the years transitioning into menopause. Menopause is when our menstrual cycle is done. You are technically in menopause if you haven't had your periods for 12 consecutive months that's the definition of menopause. And then rest of your life you're in menopause Now. The perimenopause starts typically age 40 or even earlier, 35 plus. It can last up to 10 years, believe it or not, and there are over 48 symptoms associated with this whole thing. Can you imagine? So no wonder you're feeling. You know whatever you're feeling because more than likely, your hormones have started fluctuating.

Speaker 2: 2:52

Yeah, definitely, and I have. I'm anemic, so that doesn't help. Anemia is really bad when you have your, your periods too. You know what I mean, and so it's just been always trying to balance everything out when I already have what do you call it An autoimmune deficiency or whatever they say in medical terms right, which doesn't help my situation, but, like you said, 10 years and so what are the symptoms? I know a lot of symptoms are similar, but are there different symptoms in perimenopause? You mean from menopause? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 3: 3:29

Some are similar, for sure. But menopausal woman is a bit older, right, she's in her 50s and perimenopausal, like I said earlier, could be 35 plus or typically 40 something. But that's when your body is going to start changing, your hormone fluctuations start changing, so you're going to have, like heart flashes, anxiety. You know some of the common symptoms brain fog, you can't remember, suddenly things that said, oh, what did I say? And then suddenly your memory feel like your memory laps a little bit and sleep at night could be a problem. You know you start getting bloating all the most of the time. So these kind of things start happening. And there are so many other.

Speaker 3: 4:10

Now menopausal women have something else to worry about, because 80 percent of the women in the united states over the age of 55 which are obviously menopausal most of, I'm assuming, with because of the age they have one chronic condition so they have to worry more about. Oh, they don't get into any chronic conditions like diabetes, like osteoporosis, like heart health, right, like even cancer, even dementia. It becomes more of thinning and skin and weight, all those things, anxiety, all those things. And relationships, even loss of libido. You know that's another one of the symptoms. So I don't know when what happens when you know it's different for every moment. But, like you were saying, a lot of things you can do with dietary and lifestyle modifications. But the way our genes are, the way the culture we are coming from, it depends a lot on the lifestyle we've had, even the lifestyle our moms have led. All that can contribute to the journey of how we are going to go through the perimenopause as well with other than perimenopause.

Speaker 2: 5:28

There's other ailments that women deal with on top of it, like fibroids, endometriosis that can make menopause even more painful. So what is it exactly that you do as a holistic practitioner for someone who does not know what that is?

Speaker 3: 5:44

Yeah, so our app platform is all about, first, self-care using holistic therapies, meaning naturopathic, nature-driven right. So what we are trying to do is we are trying to help you through the journey of going through this midlife whatever using dietary lifestyle and some holistic therapies, for example, like naturopathy, like CBT, like hypnotherapy, like aromatherapy, like Ayurvedic therapy, like massage therapy, like acupuncture, acupressure, yoga, breath work, meditation, diet right, food as medicine, herbs and supplements right.

Speaker 3: 6:28

so I'm counting there are over 15 yeah, right, 15 or 20 different therapies, that we have incorporated all these things into simple self-care program that women can take as a first step right Now. If some women, let's say hypothetically is suffering from fibroids or endometriosis, then our program alone is probably not sufficient, is what I'm trying to say. You need an expert intervention along with that, right? This program is for generally women who doesn't have these conditions and she started these perimenopausal hormonal fluctuations and having all these symptoms and doesn't know what to do. Then, okay, the first step is okay. Let me just try to understand what is. How can I change my diet? How can I change my lifestyle? How can I do that? So? But as soon as you put, hey, I have fibroids or whatever, then we have vetted and curated experts who can help you based on your personal needs, right?

Speaker 3: 7:33

So that's kind of how it's structured, because the reason is we wanted to make it very affordable for every single woman in the world. That was the way we have done it. This was the only way we could have done it. So the self-care is going to be priced like $5. So it's going to be super, super cheap. And then, of course, we know how much a naturopathic doctor charges, or you know, that's not our, we don't control that. That's how much they charge. That's kind of the one-on-one consultation or a group coaching, right. So that's kind of how this whole thing is structured I understand that.

Speaker 2: 8:11

So I guess it's it's your company, what you're doing is going in the digital era, because we are in a digital era, a time of transformation, and pretty much what your program does is it helps women who are looking to change the way that they eat. You know what I mean. Maybe the diet, like I mean, because even though you see a doctor like I mean once you figure out what's wrong from your doctor, then you can look at other ways in which you can help yourself. If you're dealing with perimenopause because it's it's not something that's fun you know what I mean having the hot flashes, always being hot, having problems sleeping like you know what I mean, sleep is the most important thing in in daily life and and I can say for myself, like you know, when I have problems sleeping, it's not fun.

Speaker 2: 9:04

So I'm Based on your background. You mentioned that you're in San Francisco and you know, obviously the weather's a lot warmer there than here in Canada. So I guess what I'm trying to say is you offer a service for anyone anywhere. It's not limited because it's not an office, it's all online and and so what pushed you to create this platform?

Speaker 3: 9:33

Well, you know my, my journey. I would say that you know I went through the entire perimenopause journey in silence. I never, you know, kind of expressed that I'm having these problems. I never reached out for help. I was so kind of scared is the word at workplace that I would be judged as maybe age discrimination? Maybe I can't do my work properly if I express that I'm going through all these symptoms. I mean, I'm talking about a decade back.

Speaker 2: 10:01

Look right, I'm, you know I am you know what a decade ago, amita. It's a struggle now for women like we. We can't, you know, taking time off work. We have to be so mindful of that, so even now it's the same thing.

Speaker 3: 10:15

It's like, you know, I'm a Gen X, you know and, and, and. You know, about a decade back, nobody even had heard of the word perimenopause, menopause, and, and, and. Can you imagine going into HR and saying, oh, by the way, I was lucky, we were lucky in our generation that we were getting some time off when we had babies or kids, and even that was considered like oh, are you taking six weeks off? You know so it was very different a decade back, 10 years back. So I just kept suffering and suffering. So I just kept suffering and suffering.

Speaker 3: 10:47

And suddenly in the last two, three years, you know, somehow I got an opportunity after COVID to.

Speaker 3: 10:58

I wanted to always create something that has a meaningful impact for younger women who are coming behind me, and this is something I felt very passionate about, you know, and I felt like I never spoke up and this is the opportunity for me. I'm wiser, you know, I can help so many other women who are behind me, who are going to enter this space, and why not go deeper into it and start talking about it? Right, and that's kind of how it started, and I personally had a lot of issues and I honestly, didn't even know that this is all perimenopause, because even the doctors are not taught about perimenopause. Obgyn told me and they never told me that you're going through this hormonal fluctuation. I wish I had known about it. I just started experimenting on myself research, experiment, research, experiment, fail, success, you know going through this whole roller coaster and finally I figured out a way that I'm able to maintain my metabolism and maintain my whatever mental mind, mind, mind, body connection and balance, so to speak. Yeah, there's a lot of trial and error.

Speaker 2: 12:03

It is, and you know, you know how you said. You're suffering in silence. A lot of people, a lot of women, suffer in silence and we ignore the warning signs, we ignore certain things that our bodies are changing. And even for me, like I think I can relate to you, not with perimenopause, not with menopause, but with my own issue when I ended up in the hospital too, and like you're speaking for other women and that's what pushes you, and I think that's what pushes me too, because I want other women to advocate for themselves, because sometimes, even if you're not silent, your family doesn't educate you.

Speaker 2: 12:39

My mom didn't tell me about certain things because she's part of your generation, she made me what's it called. Your parents always make you eat certain foods and I never understood why am I eating? Why do I have to eat spinach? Why do I have to do all this? You know what I mean, and obviously it's to help my anemia. You know what I mean, but, like when I had my own health scare, I had no idea that this was something that was hereditary until after, when it's like you know. So you creating something like this for other women, especially women all over, like anyone who has access to the internet, can go online on the website and look at courses or find a mentor or something, right? So basically tell me you said that it's 3000, you have 3000 experts along those lines, like you were saying earlier, right?

Speaker 3: 13:31

Yeah, I interviewed over 3,000 plus holistic experts from all over the world and went deep into this topic to understand this topic. Research and everything and the programs we have are simple, digestible information that we want to give which is pretty interactive for the women, and I want, and I specifically wanted, to include younger women. The reason is, as I said, I think but by the time you are 50 years old, like me, it's too, too late. It's that you know, if you're over 50, it's too late. What you need to do is you really need to come here when the woman is about 35 plus, and that's what I really wanted to capture those women, because we know almost everyone is working, they're all digitally savvy and they're the ones who are going to suffer until they hit, you know, the 5-0 button, right? So that was where we went back and said we want to create something for women who are entering perimenopause or going to enter perimenopause. The menopause part, like I said, it gets too late, because now you're worried about hopefully I don't have a chronic condition, right, it's a different phase of life.

Speaker 3: 14:45

Diva Tonight Glamour for your ears.

Speaker 2: 14:48

This is 40, a female, female perspective so you brought that up, which is really important. So if you catch it early on, like I mean, okay, so how do you prepare for menopause? Or like what you say to someone like me who's in their early 40s like to prepare yourself so that it doesn't hit you like a ton of bricks, you know exactly 40.

Speaker 3: 15:15

40 is when I I got my perimenopause, you know, for if you're in your early 40s, you're definitely going to start entering or maybe you haven't had perimenopause already because menopause is 51 52, that's what menopause age is very normal I'm talking about the normal, but menopause is also different. As for the culture, a lot of us we don't understand that, you know. As for the cultural and the ethnic backgrounds, also, at the journey of a penny for you might be different than, uh, another woman who's from a different culture, is what I'm saying.

Speaker 2: 15:50

Right. So yeah, I'm from Grenada originally but I've been, I've been living here in Canada for over 30 years and I guess when you say ethnic background, it means like how, I guess how did my aunt feel when she was going through it? Because she said she already went through all that, but her symptoms may be similar to what I get, because I mean, it's all in your family history too in some cases, right? Or you said cultural ethnic background yeah, cultural.

Speaker 3: 16:20

What I mean is by latino american women. I mean, this is north american, close canada as well yeah even black american women. They generally get menopause at an earlier age, like 47, 48, and caucasian women are getting around normal 51, 52 and then indian women. I originally come from india but I I didn't get menopause at 46, but most of them in india are getting in the mid 40s, which is pretty scary, which is not good.

Speaker 2: 16:49

That's what you think it's the climate or the food. I mean you say cultural, so is it the food that they're eating? What is life different, I think?

Speaker 3: 16:59

it's a lot of things. So Latino American and African American women have a majority of the time not that I'm putting everyone in the stereotype I'm having more processed food, right, more processed food. So if you're not eating on time or having more processed food, all those things and the obesity factors are higher, more prevalent in these two communities. So those are some of the factors. Now in indian women is the lifestyle, the very sedentary lifestyle. Typically typically this age women 40 something, 50 something don't work, they quit working, they are generally home, they're taking care of the kids. Even in today's day and age, majority of them and they repeat, they lead a very sedentary lifestyle, not very active lifestyle, and also the culture of generally women being subservient.

Speaker 3: 17:53

Now the things have changed, of course, all over the world, but I'm talking about a decade back, 10 years back, right, my generation of 50-something women are not working in a lot of places in the world is what I'm saying. So it's a lot of cultural being subservient, being not active, physically sedentary lifestyle, not eating properly at the right times. All those things contribute. It's not just one thing. And, of course, environmental too. There's more pollution and toxins in the environment sorry, that could be endocrine disruptors and that are not good for women's bodies as well. Right, so there's a multitude. It's very complicated, it's very difficult to understand, but, overall, what the research has been done, that's what the research I'm sharing, the research, that which is important, which is important, they've taken a subset of not everyone in those countries.

Speaker 2: 18:53

Yeah, like you said, I mean I went, went on, I did a little bit of my research too, and in canada they say the average age for menopause is, like you said, 52, but that's average, right.

Speaker 2: 19:03

And so you were talking about african-american women, latino women, which is a culture where, even here in North America, a lot of highly processed foods, but also in the Caribbean, we eat a lot of, like curry, chicken, rice, all these foods that are high in carbohydrates. You know what I mean and like, and not a lot of leafy greens, like in the main dishes, so that those things. But I think the one thing that you address in the beginning that's really important is the timeline that I think a lot of us are not aware of. That perimenopause starts like 12 months before you even miss your period. So you know what I mean, like leading up to that too, and like your body's changing and noticing those things, right. So, as someone like myself, who's, I guess, african-american or, you know, a black female with a lifestyle of my own, where do you start? Because you said you have it's a lot of things, it's not just one. But I guess what are the stepping stones to change, you know?

Speaker 3: 20:09

yeah, I mean, the caribbean has natural resources. So you know it's actually right. I think you just have to clean up your diet. You start with the diet first and then you need to have movement. I mean those are the first steps. Typically, look, it doesn't happen in monday, or you know it's not right, it's gonna it. It's a process. So so where do you start Right? That's why we've created this whole self-care thing, helping women. To where do you? Where do they start? But just to give you an idea, start with simple making small changes every single day. Start with adding some more, like getting rid of red meat. Maybe you know I don't know if you eat red meat as an example.

Speaker 2: 20:50

I had to start eating more red meat. I was only eating chicken and fish, and that doesn't have a lot of iron in it. And because I'm going to be quite honest with you, I have fibroids. And so, yeah, I don't talk about it a lot, but I think like that too. When that, when I got that diagnosis, I'm like really you know that's a tough one.

Speaker 3: 21:13

See, look, you have a medical condition at which needs medical intervention, but let's say, hypothetically, if you didn't have fibroids and you were like a good health going through perimenopause, the first step is to cleaning up your diet. You need to clean up your diet right Even with the fibroids.

Speaker 2: 21:30

I mean I could do medical intervention, which is what I've looked into. Obviously, that's how I know. But even with that, I have to clean up my diet too.

Speaker 3: 21:39

Yeah, that's so. That's very, very important. And then adding some exercise, movement, some kind of movement, right Type of movement, is important. Fibroidsids, you know. Maybe consulting a naturopathic doctor, maybe they you know a lot of naturopathic doctor that I have interviewed. You know they also do fibroids, so I don't know what the system is in canada, but consulting someone who can help you, uh, you know, putting together a holistic plan is what I'm saying. It's not just one thing right and sticking to it.

Speaker 2: 22:10

Yeah, making it a routine and that's the thing.

Speaker 3: 22:14

The problem is sticking to a plan. You know, I've made all kind of plans for sticking to the plan because after two months I lose my weight, I'm perfectly fine. Then after two months, I don't know what happens. I'm picking up on some strange things like that are sweet and I'm again bloated and I'm like, oh, wasn't it looking perfectly fine? And now what the heck happened, you know. So I think all of us have gone through this problem. It's having to do what we can maintain and sustain. That is the hard part for all of us.

Speaker 2: 22:48

And you know what? I think we're talking more about the health part of it, but I think there's the person behind the company, and your company is called Nourish Doc, which is a great website, by the way. I looked at some of it and I'm like, wow, we have a specialist in many different areas, like a chiropractor, a naturopath, like it's. It's really you really have put in the work, which is amazing. You know what I mean, especially now more than ever, it's not just physical health, it's mental health too. That are struggling um more in north america, across the world, you know.

Speaker 3: 23:28

And 50% of women have anxiety or depression or even suicidal thoughts. You know, earlier it used to be a taboo to even talk about mental health, but we've normalized the mental health topic now, more or less all over the world, for that matter, and I think now it's time to normalize the perimenopause menopause you know all these things.

Speaker 2: 23:48

Yeah, and hopefully you know, get like, allow women to have time off and not feel guilty because they're struggling, Right. But I want to know from you, as someone who has done the research and has struggled, when you look back to your own personal experience, what are your thoughts with this journey?

Speaker 3: 24:09

it actually impacted my entire, not only my physical health, my mental health, for sure, I was definitely depressed. I had different anxiety issues I'm not sure if I had suicidal thoughts, but but a borderline of you know, a lot of time depression, serious depression, dark thoughts, right. So how do you, how do you handle all this? How do you come out of right? That's the problem. You have to be open communication and that was what I never did. I like I said I told you I was holding on to everything inside my, my little thing. I'm like, I'm never going to talk about it, and that's the problem. It's not just me.

Speaker 3: 24:47

A lot of women around the world, they want to project themselves as being almost perfect. That is how we've been brought up right Stereotypical. Oh, you have to look a certain way or you have to behave a certain way. You cannot show weakness. You are the caregiver. You know all those things are kind of fed into our brains when we are little girls. You know, I'll tell you, irrespective of the culture I literally didn't matter which culture women are coming from most of the women feel like that. So that is the problem.

Speaker 3: 25:18

We women have to keep shed our you know those kind of masks. You know the, the superficial masks that we put on and let people see our loved ones or the family and the people who are. We are with that. We are going through some problems and we need help. We need to seek help.

Speaker 3: 25:37

We need to be open communication and that is the only thing I would say and and not feel, oh my god, I what if I say this and that person's going to feel bad, it doesn't matter, you need to take care of that, and that's the fundamental issue I have with myself, and I decided to do that after 10 years of when I went through the journey. I never said a word. I kept going silent, silent, silent. That's not the right thing to do. Is what I'm saying? You need to speak up, open up. It's a natural phase of a woman's life. There's nothing bad about it. There's nothing wrong about it. That is just all women are going to go through. All women are not going to get pregnant, but all women are going to go through this, whether they like it or not, right?

Speaker 2: 26:21

yeah, even even the periods. You know, like, we all go through the menstrual cycle as part of being a woman, right and so. But you know what? I think I appreciate what you said there, because that hits home for me, because it's, like you said, whatever you're going through, like when you suffer in silence, the only person suffering is you, and it's hard. Like you said, we have in many cultures, and I think not just in your culture you're originally from India, right so in many cultures, even in the Caribbean, like you said, many women. We are always. We always have to be strong, we always have to put our fist up you know what I mean and put on this mask, as you said.

Speaker 3: 27:01

So it's very, I think, when we wear our makeup.

Speaker 2: 27:05

Yeah, right, you put on like you don't. You're not supposed to cry, you're not supposed to show emotions, like, if you like it's, it's a sign of weakness, right? I think, like that with a friend during covid, where she's like I've never seen you cry, you're not an emotional person, and it's true. So when you have those moments, you're like, oh my gosh, I can't believe I did that. But getting back to this amazing website, you said there's an app coming, so tell me more.

Speaker 3: 27:35

Yeah, so people can find us at wwwnourishtalkcom and the app is coming next month, hopefully between the Mother's Day and the Father's Day. That's the intention. The Mother's Day is in mid-May and the Father's Day that's the intention. The Mother's Day is in mid-May and the Father's Day is in mid-June. So somewhere over there we're going to launch the app and the web portion as well, when women will be able to log in and spend only like $5 a month. That's it to start on the self-care journey. And then, if they need any intervention and most of them are all holistic experts we'll have medical doctors as well. Then they can get consultation or get a personalized meal plan or personalized holistic plan, even group coaching, if they want to do it. Initially affordable, all those things are going to be offered through the app. That's the intention to start with, super affordable, really cheap, so that everybody can get access to that. And then, as you progress, you know, of course, whatever the doctors, whatever the experts charge, we just facilitate that as a plan.

Speaker 2: 28:47

Wow, it's going to be great. So next month, I mean and even the price $5 a month, that is for what you get on on nourish doccom. I mean, it's amazing. Like to see a specialist individually is so much. But to have an, a digital platform where you can go online and get expert help, not to say you still can't yeah, I mean you.

Speaker 3: 29:09

It's not all in one, you still have to see your doctor, but at least you have other experts too that can help you you get some, you know, even if you go to your doctor, but you have, you have somewhere like your helper, right you to go, you can go access, you can see what other people are doing. Maybe there's a community of women who have fibers as well. You know things like that right. It's not just you don't feel alone and and you have some somewhere to go and for reference and for checking or what you know, all those things right. So that's really the intention yeah, well, you know what?

Speaker 2: 29:44

I'm really happy that you made the time to talk about this important topic of perimenopause and menopause. Amita sharma, and the website is nourishdoccom right, and you're on social media. What's your instagram?

Speaker 3: 30:01

yeah, it's. Uh, we are everywhere. The instagram is nourish. Underscore d-o-c. N-o-c. N-o-u-r-i-s-h underscore D-O-C. So, like I said, we are on all the social media platforms, so check us out everywhere Facebook, insta, linkedin. We're very active on these three platforms. Not so active on the Twitter so much, but these three we are posting regularly. When the app comes out out, we will be announcing it as well.

Speaker 2: 30:31

We haven't announced it yet yeah, I actually saw one of your posts on instagram, so I think you're on your way. I think one day at a time, one step at a time, you're helping women, all this with this simple things.

Speaker 3: 30:46

yeah, we're posting simple things and then we bring in, you know, expertise like simple tidbits that people can follow. That's really the intention, and then when you start small, slowly, slowly, you start making the difference. So that's the well. Thank you so much.

Speaker 2: 31:01

Yeah, thank you, Amita. I think I will definitely have to have you back on the show about some other things. You have to have you back on the show to talk about some other things. You know I'm Carlene and this is Diva Tonight with Amita Sharm,a and send us a text. You can text the show if you found this topic interesting or if you want more information from Amita. That'd be great.

Speaker 1: 31:24

Diva Tonight with Carlene will be back. Send us a message on Instagram at diva underscore tonight.