Bite Back with Abbey Sharp - The Perimenopause LIES & Omissions We’ve All Been Fed with Sadhvi Siddhali Shree and Sadhvi Anubhuti

Episode Date: February 17, 2026

Here’s a run down of what we discussed in today’s episode:What Is Perimenopause? Early Signs You Shouldn’t IgnoreWhy So Many Women Are Blindsided by PerimenopauseThe Biggest Myths About Hormones in Your Late 30s and 40sWhy Perimenopause Is So Often Dismissed by Healthcare ProvidersThe Massive Gaps in Perimenopause Research and EducationMood Swings, Brain Fog & Insomnia: What’s Actually Happening?Is It Stress, Aging, or Hormones? How to Tell the DifferenceThe Wellness Industry’s Perimenopause Marketing MachineHormone Therapy: What the Evidence Really SaysEvidence-Based Nutrition Strategies for PerimenopauseHow to Advocate for Yourself in a Dismissive Medical SystemRewriting the Perimenopause Narrative: From Self-Blame to EmpowermentCheck in with today’s amazing guests: Sadhvi Siddhali Shree and Sadhvi Anubhutsiddhalishree.cominstagram.com/siddhalishreefacebook.com/SiddhaliShreex.com/siddhalishreesadhvianubhuti.comfacebook.com/SadhviAnubhutilinkedin.com/in/sadhvianubhutiinstagram.com/sadhvianubhutix.com/sadhvianubhutiDisclaimer: The content in this episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is never a substitute for medical advice. If you’re struggling with with your mental or physical health, please work one on one with a health care provider.If you have heard yourself in our discussion today, and are looking for support, contact the free NEDIC helpline at 1-866-NEDIC-20 or go to eatingdisorderhope.com. • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •✨ Reach Your Weight & Health Goals — Without Dieting! Pre-order The Hunger Crushing Combo Method, Abbey’s revolutionary additive approach to eating well. Learn how to boost satiety, stabilize blood sugars, reduce disease risk, and improve your relationship with food — all while getting the best nutrient bang for your caloric buck. With 400+ research citations, cheat sheets, evidence-based actionable tips, meal plans, and adaptable recipes, The Hunger Crushing Combo Method is the only nutrition bible you’ll ever need. 👉 Pre-order today! 🛒 Where to Purchase:AmazonBarnes & NobleAmazon KindleApple BooksGoogle PlayKoboApple Books (Audiobook)Audibleabbeyskitchen.com/hunger-crushing-combo• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •✉️ Subscribe to My Newsletters:Abbey’s Kitchen Newsletter 📘 Check out my FREE E-Books:Hunger Crushing Combo™ E-BookProtein 101 E-Book👋 Follow me!Instagram: @abbeyskitchenTikTok: @abbeyskitchenYouTube: @AbbeysKitchenBlog: abbeyskitchen.comBook: The Mindful Glow Cookbook • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 🎧 Don’t forget to subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you listen — and leave us a review! It really helps support the show ❤️ 💬 If you liked this podcast, please like, follow, and leave a review — and let me know who you’d love to hear about next! ⭐ ⭐ ⭐⭐ ⭐ 

So women are just taught to normalize suffering. And so a lot of us are just told like, oh, it's just stress. Oh, it's just getting older. Oh, it's just in your head. You know, welcome to being mom. You know, mom. And I think that gaslighting makes people less likely to name it or track it or even like demand good evidence to support it.

Welcome to another episode of Bite Back with Abby Sharp, where I dismantle diaculture rules, call it the shellotin spinning the pseudoscience and help you achieve food freedom for good. So I just turned 38 back in December, and it feels like every few months I'm noticing some sort of new unpleasant body sensation or experience that I have not noticed before. You know, whether it's like my period being late or early or new waves of insomnia or moodiness or brain bog or forgetfulness that honestly no amount of IVAN seems to be able to fix. So yeah, I am very likely in the early days of the ubiquitous paramenopause pilgrimage. And despite being an inevitable phase of life, paramenopause often arrives for women with so much confusion,

dismissal, and a whole lot of self-blame. But today's episode is about changing that narrative. I'm joined today by Sadvi Sadali Sari and Sadvi Enabuti, the Jane Monk filmmakers behind the brand-new docu-series balance a paramenopause journey. This series doesn't just dive into the science. It centers lived experiences, exposes the massive gaps in health care and education, and challenges the cultural pressure on women to fix their bodies during yet another hormonal transition. We'll be talking about some of the biggest paramenopause myths and misconceptions, the current gaps we are facing in paramedopause treatment and care, the shady tactics of the wellness industry, and some actual evidence-based nutrition tips for minimizing the unpleasantries. If you're part of the 50%

of the population who is already or will eventually embark on this journey, you do not want to miss this conversation. Now, a quick reminder that my new book, The Hunger Cushing, combo method is now on sale. And we've got a whole chapter on paramenopause and menopause. So I will be leaving a link to where you can order that in the show notes. Honestly, the reviews so far have been overwhelmingly positive. So if you have already purchased, I would love if you would leave me a five-star review on Amazon, Goodreads, or wherever you purchased your book. It honestly makes a huge difference in the success of the book. And also, ditto for bite back. Honestly, your comments and subscriptions and shares and reviews are keeping these conversations

alive. So thank you all so much for your support on the podcast. All right, folks, let's get into it. Well, hello, Sadali and Anna Bouti. Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to us today. And also for creating this very much needed series. I really appreciate you coming in today. Thanks for having us, Abby. I want to set the stage, you know, in your own story. stories because in the series you describe living your lives as Jane Monks in the state of balance. So the physical and emotional shifts of paramenopause felt overwhelmingly foreign and disorienting. Can you talk a bit about some of the types of symptoms or experiences that felt the most unsettling for you? Definitely, especially the first two and a half months.

It came with, you know, no sleeping, high anxiety. loss of self-confidence and actually raging moments. So all of that took me off guard, especially with all of the inner healing work that we've done and teaching workshops and guiding people through these things. And then here I am feeling like a hypocrite and fraud, not knowing why this is happening to me. Wow.

And then for me, just so you know, every person, every woman is going to have different symptoms and will experience perimenopause in a different way. way. I did not have her symptoms. For me, it was starting to lose control of my health. Like I became pre-diabetic, high cholesterol, fully deficient on iron and a lot of vitamins. And it just all happened all at once when I turned 40. So it's it's like, what did I do? Did I not do enough yoga? Did I not meditate enough? You know, so we start kind of blaming ourselves. Oh, you know, I'm sure so many women can relate to that. And, and yeah, as your documentary,

has uncovered, like these are the nuances that we just haven't really been talking about. And, you know, speaking of perimenopause nuance, I feel like, you know, candidly, up until I was doing research for my recent book, because I have a whole chapter on paramedopause and menopause, really all I knew about this phase of life was that you get hot flashes and maybe you gain some weight. And in talking to so many women and even through your own lived experiences, is what do you feel that the narrative around paramedopause and menopause has massively been missing? I think we have this idea that menopause happens in our 50s and we're not prepared. No one prepares us.

We didn't even know about the word perimenopause. It took a social media video from Dr. Amon and her showing me like, oh, I think you're going through these symptoms. And it starts with low progesterone. And having that word perimenopause just brought so much. clarity. And I think that is so, you know, it's helpful to women, you know, for them to know and understand what's going through their bodies. But we just have this idea that menopause happens in your 50s. It doesn't start as early as 35 as far as symptoms. So we need that education

out there to reframe perimenopause and menopause. Absolutely. Yeah. I obviously, I'm the exact same way. I had never even heard that term until recently and I'm now, you know, 38 and absolutely on the journey as, as we are uncovering. And I feel that, you know, paramounted pause is often treated as this like whispered phase or just something that women should push through because it's, you know, quote unquote, like natural to do so. Why do you feel that, you know, this, this long journey of four to ten years on average, like, why is this being so silenced and under-acknowledged? I think for a very long time, it just has been misunderstood. I don't think a lot of people knew that there was such a thing as perimenopause. We were just

talking menopause, menopause. And it's quite shocking to find out that menopause, it's actually just one day in your life. And so we've put so much emphasis on menopause, you know, when the day that you will stop your period completely. but nobody really focused on the prior seven to 10 years before the menopause. And so it's been underfunded, under research, misunderstood. If you ask your mother, our mothers, you know, they had no idea about anything perimenopause. They just knew once you got closer to the menopause, you know, you start getting hot, and then your period ends.

But, you know, things have changed. The lifestyles have changed. And research is starting to shift in this direction, so we're starting to understand it better. Yeah, yeah, I 100% agree. I feel like, you know, because paramedopause is just like so messy, it's not easily packaged. And, you know, we talk about these these times, finite times in our lives. We're talking about like neat packaged experiences that we can all, like there's a very specific set of symptoms that every single person will go through. But as you both have just discussed, like everybody's journey is going to look different. And, you know, symptoms.

can be all over the map, it's not like a clean before and after story. And medicine and media just like loves these tidy little narratives. And paramedopause is like quite the opposite of that. It's it's it's so much uncertainty like is this, am I just tired or is this perimenopause? Am I, you know, am I just getting older or is this paramedopause? Is this like the fact that I had a baby relatively recently or is this paramedopause, you know? And so I think also women are just taught to normalize suffering. And so a lot of us are just told like, oh, it's just stress. Oh, it's just getting older. Oh, it's just in your head. You know, welcome to being mom. You know, mom. And, and I think that gaslighting makes people less likely to name it or track it or even like

demand good evidence to support it. So yeah, I really appreciate these conversations. And, you know, you interviewed a lot of really noteworthy experts for this documentary, like Dr. Mary Claire Haver and Dr. Vonda Wright and so many more. What were some of the biggest myths or misconceptions about paramedopause that shocked you to learn the truth about? That's a good one. Yeah, I would say for me when we were in the interview, and I know it's shocked Anabuti because she replies in the docu series, just learning that menopause is one. day. Like we think menopause is, you know, a time in your life and you start to get those hot flashes, but it comes down to one day. So that was a big mythbuster for me. And then for me personally,

for Dr. Vonda Wright, just we don't really think about bones, right? We don't think like bones are associated, like bone health, you know, osteoporosis is coming because of the menopause and the decrease of estrogen. So I think it's one of those mind-blowing things because we just think, again, menopause is later, but we don't realize that the estrogen decline is affecting all areas of our body. That's for me. Yeah. And adding to that, I think we think of penipause and menopause as a face. We think of it as a transition, but we don't know that as soon as we enter pari menopause, for the rest of our lives, we are going to be menopausal. So that was a big one to find out that, you know, it's not just a temporary thing. We're going to be menopausal until we

die. And that, that is huge. Why? That's my next point is because perimenopause and menopause has long-term consequences. So again, it's not just those seven and ten years and just becoming menopausal. It is, what does it do? The decline of the hormones, what does it do to your brain? What does it do to your skin? What does it do to your mouth? What is it due to your entire cardiovascular health, genital urinary, muscular skeletal, it has a head-to-toe impact in your body. And that's why we need to be so educated about it. Absolutely. And just to give people a little snippet of some of the things that you're talking about here, and obviously I'm not a doctor, and there's so much more to this. But, you know, for example, when your estrogen levels decline, we, estrogen is

cardioprotective. So it's going to help protect the heart. So we see an increased risk of heart disease. It also protects the bones. So we see an increased risk of bone loss and osteoporosis. It also can shift the distribution of fat in the body to be in that more belly fat, visceral fat area, which then increases the risk of insulin resistance, which then increases the risk of type 2 diabetes. So it's like all these things are stacked up against us, really centered around this one hormone and how it's, how it operates in the body. And you're right, like, none of these things have been discussed with us as women. You know, it's quite shocking.

So I'm curious, like, what was the biggest disappointment you learned from, you know, all these women's health experts about the state of menopause and paramedopause health care in North America? Oh, that's a loaded question. Great question. I would say overall hearing it from the doctors, the experts, and also interviewing the women that we did, just hearing about so much of the neglect, so much of the dismissal that they hear and experience, and we've even witnessed. So it's just really hard to know that women are just, you know, sucking it up, driving on, but suffering in silence, going to doctors, even when this series comes out. they're going to be empowered, they're going to be advocating for themselves, they're going to be like,

hey, doctor, I think I'm in pari menopause. I have high anxiety. I'm gaining weight. I'm having brain fog. And they're going to be all empowered. And the problem is they're going to be going to their doctors and their doctors are going to dismiss them because the doctors don't know, because they are not educated. And that is definitely, you know, one of the things I picked up on is that, you know, the experts and the women would drive home is the doctors don't know. and they're not getting enough training. That is the core of the problem here is that we have an entire generation of medical professionals who have neglected menopause for the longest time

as a result of the WHO study that happened in the 2000s. And so all meaningful education on HRT, how to prescribe it, and the understanding of it completely stopped. And so since 2002 to now, we've had completely generations of doctors who are not educated on, how to prescribe hormone therapy, how to assess it, and also how to care for women in menopause.

And that, to me, it's the most unfair and, you know, it's so unjust to women because knowing that 100% of women are going to go through menopause, it's shocking that doctors are not equipped and educated on it. So it's definitely a big problem. I think it also goes to your point, too, that you can see, like, the medical care system, they only take care of you up until, you know, you're pregnant or you're going to give birth. But what about when that time ends and for the rest of your life? And then what about for people like us, monks who are not going to have family. So our health care doesn't matter either.

So we're up against a huge system. And that's what we're aiming to do with the docu series is really to raise awareness and power women. And we all get loud because things need to change to protect our own lives and future generations too. Oh, I absolutely. And, you know, this is not even the first time in life where, you know, in the life cycle where I see similar things happening. And I've had conversations with experts in the parent, like, in, you know, pregnancy care space, especially as it relates to mental health where it feels like, you know, because of lack of information, because we don't have great research on women's health period, because of lack of education on up to date women's health with regards to like the HR. tea, you know, in prenatal care, it's like doctors will just tell women not to take anything in

pregnancy because they aren't 1,000% sure to say that it's safe, which communicates to women, you know, your health and your well-being doesn't matter because the minute or hypothetical or outdated evidence of a risk to, let's say, your unborn child is always greater than what, you know, your well-being is worth. And it's similar to what's happening here where, you know, doctors may not be incentivized to stay up to date in best practices when it comes to hormone replacement therapy that would help women live better lives. Because just out of fear that, you know, we don't know 100% and, you know, we're still basing this off of old data that's, you know, now very outdated. So I'm really happy that you've had these experts on to kind of, you know,

talk about some of that, some of that research and how it's evolved over the years. And I'm so glad we're just having more conversations about women's health in general. But I also know this means that, you know, more wellness culture grifters and snake oil is going to be coming out to convince women that they can quote unquote fix their bodies with this cleanse or detox or hormone balancing diet or biohack, right? In your experience and also in those that you've spoken to, what does that pressure feel like on women right now? I think people are just trying to find answers. Like when I started going through of course, I didn't know the word perimenopause yet, didn't know that my progesterone was low and I had

options. So I was looking up like, you know, how to address anxiety. Do I have adrenal fatigue? What does that mean? Like, can I get some drops? Okay, Ashwaganda, something like this or maybe take some turmeric and add this. So, and I'm sure there's roles for these supplements and there are roles for certain things to bring up the deficiencies in our body and of course like vitamin D, magnesium, vitamin B12, all of these things. But it comes out of that desperation because you want to feel like yourself again and you're willing to do whatever it takes. And the problem is people don't know about perimenopause. People don't know that, you know, hormone therapy is an option and don't know, like they just don't know. So they're going to just take and grab whatever they need to do because

they want to feel like themselves again. And I was definitely in that boat until I learned about what I was going through and what my options are. So that's why the education is critical. Yeah. I mean, as a dietitian myself, I also see that a lot of cases, these pressures are not benign, right? Like there's been recent reports that 8% of middle age women meet the criteria for a full-blown eating disorder. 13% display at least one major symptom. of an eating disorder and you know paramenopause and menopause are now seen as the second vulnerability window for eating disorders after adolescence because there's now all this pressure and misinformation poor information information information coming from non-experts because there's

a lack of actual good information coming from experts and you know after all we've lived through you know i just feel like we should be not spending the what could be our most confident years hating our bodies and feeling like what else can I do to change this, to stop this, to, you know, get out of this. It feels hugely disappointing to live the rest of our years in that state without, you know, having that strong foundation that we could have if we just had better support from the healthcare system. So I'm curious, like, you know, if this series succeeds in the way that. you hope and I'm sure that it will. What changes would you like to see in health care or media or policy? I think going a little bit back, one, your question before, I think also there is such a resistance against the pharmaceutical companies that, you know, we have a big group of women

who really just resist and don't want to take any drugs or medications and because HRT falls under that category. So I think automatically a lot of women just block and they don't want to hear about it, but that's part of the series. The series is to really educate women. We have very trusted voices in the series who will talk about all the benefits of hormone therapy. And I think once we understand it, and even coming from the naturopathic world, because we integrate medical professionals, traditional medicine, and also naturopathic doctors, to really explain that, you know, we want to tackle the root of the problem. What is the root of the problem? And that's what naturopathic.

doctors focus on the root of the problem. The root of the problem is the decline of the hormones. And so just like we are deficient on vitamins and other hormones, you know, what's the answer? Will you just take the supplement? You take the vitamin or you take whatever is missing in your body. So we are trying to really bring this education and focus so that, you know, women understand that hormone therapy is not like the other narcotics or drugs out there. This is treating the root of the problem. But your next question, what are we hoping that the series will change? I think the first thing is we're trying to really inspire the medical establishment to bring more education to universities so that the new generation of doctors are more informed, more educated, and they know how to

properly treat women in perimenopause, whether it is with hormonal or non-hormonal treatments. and I think that's the core and the root, but I'm sure we have other ways we want to impact. I mean, absolutely. Like first we have to start with education, not only women, but the medical establishment, but also policy, right? So, and dealing with insurance companies,

like how do we make hormone therapy, or at least education, accessible to all? And not just for a set group of women that can afford it because that's also expensive, but for all communities. And so that's why, you know, with balance and our vision, it first starts with community, then it starts to go up into local policies, local government,

and then national government, and then, of course, in the medical side of education, it's going to take all of us on all levels, and even in the workplace too, because if the workplace or corporations, they're not educated, so how are they going to take care of their women employees? And so we're actually doing Perry Power talks where corporations invite us to present an episode,

and we have this discussion this way their employees are educated, and the human resources are, that department is also taking care of the women, too. So it's really all about education in all industries. And also, if I can add more funding, because right now when we look at the overall budget of how much money goes into women's research, women's health research, menopause, it's like a 1%. So again, it blows my mind.

knowing that all women are going to go through this, and only one percent of the budget is going to menopause research. So definitely more funding and more research needs to be invested in women's health, and specifically mid-age women's health. We matter. We matter. We matter. Right? Absolutely. Like we always matter. Yeah. And you're right, considering we are 50% of the population, if we can ban together and demand better care, better policies. policy, better understanding so that we can move through this next phase of life gracefully and with feeling empowered and living our best lives, then I really, we all need to get on board with this to make this happen.

So I am so grateful for this docu-series and getting the word out here. And thank you guys so much for joining me. I'm really sure this is going to make such a. difference for so many people, both women watching, the people who have women in their lives that they want to support, and also just, you know, the healthcare professionals who also should be dedicated to our care as well. So thank you so much. And where can we watch the docu series? Thank you, Abby, for having us. And Balance is going to be available on Amazon Prime and Apple TV starting January 30th. Wonderful. Thank you again.

This conversation was honestly so helpful and so overdue. You know, it really wasn't until I started to write a book that included a whole chapter on paramedopause that I knew anything about it at all. And while we cannot necessarily stop the paramedopause train, what I learned while writing the hunger-crushing combo method is that how we fuel our bodies may help us make the experience a little more tolerant. ball. So if you're starting to feel some of the unpleasant effects of middle age womanhood, here are my top four paramenopause nutrition tips. Number one, do not over restrict. I know it's super

tempting not to sign up for that 14-day cleanse or extreme weight loss challenge, but when we lose weight quickly through severe restriction over exercising or pharmaceutical support, we see greater losses of metabolically active muscle mass and independence protecting bone. And once lost, this lean mass is really, really, really hard to get back. So if you do have a weight loss goal, a modest 0.5 to 1% body weight loss per week is the maximum, I would suggest, to minimize the long-term risk to your health or body composition goals. Remember, friends, we need to shift our thinking to focus on adding, not

taking away. And speaking of adding, hit your fiber goals. When estrogen declines, we do tend to see an increased risk of high bad LDL cholesterol, insulin resistance, and a redistribution of fat to the belly area. Thankfully, fiber understands the assignment by providing satiety in a low calorie package, reducing bad cholesterol, and stabilizing blood sugars to reduce the risk of visceral fat gain and chronic disease. Plus, research suggests that hot flashes happen when blood sugar levels drop. So adding more fiber-rich foods like beans, legumes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables can help to quell the sweats along with other unwanted symptoms like poor concentration,

insomnia, headaches, depression, and irregularity. So aim for at least 25 to 38 grams of fiber per day from a wide range of plants. And speaking of plants, focus on protein. with an emphasis on plant-based options. Protein is the king of the satiety hierarchy. It helps to spare muscle from being broken down as fuel. It supports strong bones to reduce the risk of fractures. It stabilizes blood sugars to reduce the now increased risk of insulin resistance,

and it can help to support belly fat loss when accompanied by a modest calorie deficit. Soy protein specifically is rich in phytoestrogens called isoflavones, which mimic endogenous estrogen in the body. So in addition to providing a heart-healthy source of protein plus fiber when it's in its whole-food form, research suggests that soy protein may also help to reduce common menopause symptoms like hot flashes and vaginal dryness. So aim for between 1.2 to 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight with at least one serving of whole-food soy per day from foods like tofu or edamami. And finally, the last tip is to include more plant-based. healthy fats. One study found that extra virgin olive oil was associated with reduced depressive mood,

irritability, anxiety, and tiredness, while another study found that mono-unsaturated fats from foods like avocados helped to reduce the risk of cognitive decline. And I have a lot more specific tips and evidence-based nutrition suggestions in the hunger-crushing combo method. So I will be leaving links to where you can purchase in the show notes. So to wrap up, I get that mainstream science has definitely done us women dirty by not investing more money, time, and influence into understanding how to help women through this tumultuous female era. But I am so grateful for new films like Balance that have helped to stimulate more critical conversations and social demand for better solutions. So another big thank you to Sadfi Saddari and Anabuti

for helping to lead this conversation. Signing off with Science and Sass, I'm Abby Sharp. Thanks for listening.