“The disruptive nature of menopause and its health impacts have been known perhaps for millennia and frankly should have been a priority topic for health funders for a long time. It is never too late to start.” Nature, January 2025
We’ve probably heard the off-colour jokes from B-list comedians. Seen older women in our circle hot and bothered, yet never quite explaining why. Felt the unspoken embarrassment around symptoms that so many women will experience once they reach their late forties or early fifties. Until all too recently, menopause has been met in society with responses ranging from silence to denial to outright hostility.
In ancient Greece and Rome, Roman women were often banned from the kitchen (secret high-five here we imagine!) in case their physical presence curdled the milk, soured wine, or left bread dough flat as a pancake. Less comically, in the Middle Ages, women who lived alone or were too feisty and assertive risked being labelled as witches and suffering persecution. Their sour looks, it was said, could bewitch children and livestock. Even in more enlightened Victorian times, female health at any age was thought to be too complicated and chaotic to investigate, and ‘hysteria’ was a convenient label under which to group many symptoms of hormonal change.
Things started to change from the 1960s and 1970s onwards. The postwar baby boom and women finding their voice in all aspects of society helped the movement gain momentum. In 1996, over 3000 pre- and peri-menopausal women in the US had their health monitored for decades. This Study of Women’s Health Across the Nation (SWAN) clarified the classic symptoms: memory issues, weight gain, bone density loss, sleep disturbances, depression, vaginal dryness and pain during intercourse. Treatments such as HRT were developed to alleviate the most troublesome effects. Today we can choose from hundreds of menopause products both medical and therapeutic.
We’ve certainly come a long way from the ‘dark ages’ of silence. In 1999, the WHO and the International Menopause Society nominated the whole month of October as a Menopause Awareness Month, featuring education and awareness campaigns worldwide, to break down taboos and encourage dialogue. World Menopause Day, on 18th October each year, intensifies the focus on one aspect of women’s health in midlife, for example cardiovascular health, or brain health and mood. In the UK, organisations like Wellbeing of Women and Menopause Support (#MakeMenopauseMatter) offer plenty of resources, including advocacy and online meeting points.
In just the past decade, research funding and medical interest has transformed the menopause landscape, and new findings are being translated into effective treatments. Yet there is also a lot we can do to feel good within and about ourselves by reshaping our lifestyle, diet and exercise. The Peachie range itself is developed by nutritionists to reflect the latest understanding of essential ingredients: protein, Omega-3, fibre and a selection of focused vitamins go into every Peachie product.
“As busy women ourselves, we wanted to create a practical yet pleasurable way to get the nutrition we need to power us through our days,” says Becky Horrocks-Taylor, a founder-member of the all-women Peachie team.”
As we take our midlife wellness more and more into our own hands, let’s celebrate an important month and day in women’s health. We can look back with compassion (and some amazement) on the ignorance, disinformation and resulting suffering for previous generations of women. Today, we are free to think, speak and act naturally about this most natural of transitions.
