The
Sunday Supplement

Connecting women, science and spirit, the Gynelogic Sunday Supplement delivers a bi-monthly dose of news, views and reviews, as seen through my lady lens. Great to have you here!

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JANUARY 7, 2024

Kickstart your new year with my 7 Day Intensive Detox

I love the new year, a time so inherently optimistic, filled with the potential of what could be. It’s a moment to set new goals, dream big, and lay the groundwork for the year ahead. 

Unfortunately it typically starts with feeling overwhelmed by the Christmas season’s excesses – too much food, too little exercise, and the emotional toll of a bustling holiday period. So now feels like the perfect time to get started afresh, with a quick easy and powerful detox!

My 7 Day Intensive Detox is like a holiday for your mind, body and spirit. It is the exact same detoxification approach that I have been using with my clients for almost 10 years, women who answer YES! when I ask them are you feeling: 

  • Tired all the time? 
  • Constant sugar cravings?
  • Struggling with stubborn weight that won’t budge? 
  • Sluggish?
  • Anxious?
  • Hormonal?
  • Brain fog?
  • Digestive troubles?

The 7 day detox gets to the root of inflammation, the hidden culprit behind fatigue, bloating, weight gain and so many ills. By removing notorious troublemakers (sugar, starches, grains, dairy, and alcohol – yes you can 1 coffee a day!) and replacing them with wholesome, healing foods so your body can finally flourish.

Here’s what participants rave about from their experience:

“I lost just under a stone in weight and my skin looked great.” 

“I didn’t realise I had brain fog until it left!”

“At the end of the 7 days no flushes at all! Literally every menopause symptom from night sweats to anxiety has reduced massively.” 

This powerful weeklong program aims to alleviate toxic inflammation — the root cause of fatigue, hormonal issues, brain fog, and unwanted weight gain. Through anti-inflammatory nutrition, stress relief techniques, and personalised guidance, you’ll give your body what it truly needs to heal and thrive.

Here’s what you can expect from the detox:

  • A specially designed shake to support your body’s detox processes (this will need to be bought separately from the course, and by Wednesday 10th January)
  • Nutrient-dense green foods to flood your system with vitamins and minerals
  • Identification of food sensitivities that may be causing inflammation  
  • Comprehensive resources including a toxicity quiz, recipes, journal pages, and more
  • Daily morning yoga for detox and zoom meetups

Past detoxers have effortlessly released 4-6 lbs, reversed brain fog, balanced hormones, ignited energy levels, improved sleep quality, and broken free of sugar cravings. 

And the benefits don’t stop there. past participants have effortlessly achieved:

  • 6+ lbs of weight loss in 7 days
  • Balanced hormones and reduced PMS/menopause symptoms
  • Increased mental clarity and lifted brain fog
  • Regulation of digestion and bloating relief
  • Floods of energy all day long
  • Controlled blood sugar and fewer cravings
  • Improved sleep quality and brighter moods
  • Clear, glowing skin

Once the detox is complete you’ll tap into the wisdom of your body and identify inflammatory foods that could be wreaking havoc – often silently – by following a guided food re-introduction plan that will identify food sensitivities. The result? A complete mind-body reset.

The course starts on Saturday 13th January but you need to have enrolled by Wednesday 10th January so that you can order and receive your super delicious and nutritious detox shake powder that is essential to the course. So best to enrol straight away and not let this opportunity pass you by. 

If you are or have been client then you will not need to pay as the detox is included as part of my service, you will only need to buy the detox shake – I will be getting in touch with all clients via my portal with a 100% off coupon.

As a special bonus for non-clients, you will have the opportunity to win a FREE initial consultation with me worth £315! If you’re not in need of personalised healthcare then I’m happy for you to transfer the opportunity to any woman that you feel could benefit. The winner will be drawn out of a hat on the morning of the detox day. I’m super excited, it could be you!

Are you ready for a fresh start this new year? To find out more click here, or to just get on with enrolling, click here. This could be the most important 7 days of your health journey!

And if you have special women in your life who might also be on the lookout for a positive health change, forward this enrolment email to your friends and family. Embarking on this path together can offer mutual support, shared experiences, and double the celebration as you both reach your wellness goals.

DECEMBER 24, 2023

Tis The Season…For Rest, Joy & Renewal

This holiday season there’s one gift I’m giving myself – the gift of rest. And I encourage you to do the same!

Over this past year, I’ve walked beside nearly 150 remarkable women as a partner on their health journeys, holding space during almost 600 consultations. Together, we navigated highs and lows, forged ahead through challenges, and celebrated triumphs. Most inspiring has been witnessing over 90% reach their goals: freedom from pain, balanced hormones, proper nutrition, boundless energy and restful sleep. By wholeheartedly committing to their own self-care, these courageous women have also cultivated vitality for their lucky families.

A standout highlight of the year was supporting a group of inspirational women through my 6 week online menopause course. Through the power of nutrition alone, every woman achieved her goals of reversing hot flushes, night sweats, anxiety, brain fog and fatigue, as well as releasing stubborn weight gain. These incredible permanent changes (and without the need for any hormones) create a empowering and solid foundation for health in mid life and beyond. On the back of this program, next year I’m hoping to finish writing my book explaining what menopause is, why symptoms happen, and how to tap into nutrition to reverse all the problems and make this 3rd stage of life truly aligned with our soulful selves.

In the new year I’m thrilled to be supporting holistic renewal through my 7 Day Detox Program, launching January 14th. This much loved tried-and-tested cleanse will reset digestion, boost energy, and prime you for health as we step into a fresh start together. Expect an email from me the first week of 2024 with details on the detox and other support to align with your best self this year ahead.

I’m sure that like me, with each passing day over the last year, you’ve grown, adapted, and forged ahead, wearing multiple hats and juggling countless responsibilities. Now, as the year winds down and the festive spirit envelops us, it’s the perfect time to hit the pause button, reflect on our journey, and truly relish the magic of the season.

So, here’s a heartfelt wish to you:

May your days be merry and bright, filled with love, joy, and endless wonder. May you indulge in your favourite festive treats without a smidge of guilt. May you dance in your living room, sing out of tune, and watch those classic holiday movies wrapped in a cozy blanket. But most of all, may you gift yourself the time to relax, rejuvenate, and rejoice in the simple pleasures.

Thank you for being a part of my journey this year, and for being part of this community. Here’s to good health, boundless happiness, and a holiday season that warms the heart and soothes the soul.

Happy holidays, from my heart to yours 🎄✨🥂

With love and festive cheer,

Sandra

DECEMBER 10, 2023

Top Ten Reads: My Most Impactful Book Picks of 2023

Apologies for this edition not continuing the theme and reviewing PMDD, PCOS and menopause – what with my daughter’s birthday celebrations, client work and life glitches, the time just ran away with me. 

I will definitely be reviewing PMDD, PCOS and menopause in the new year, but in the meantime I am sharing my favourite books of 2023. Some of them were published this year, and some are old favourites that still dip into from time to time. All of them have made an impact on my life, my work and how I support my client’s health. 

I have always believed that the answers to questions can be found in a book, because someone, somewhere, has spent time figuring out the answers to complicated questions and shared their immense knowledge with the world.

I hope you will find them interesting, let me know if you do!

NOVEMBER 26, 2023

2023 Roundup into Women’s Health Research: Fibroids, Endometriosis and Adenomyosis

As we’re coming to the year’s end, I am writing a round-up of the latest research into key gynaecological conditions. In this edition of the newsletter I am focusing on fibroids, endometriosis, and adenomyosis, and in the next newsletter I will be discussing polycystic ovary syndrome, premenstrual dysphoric disorder and the symptoms of menopause. If I have time I’ll squeeze in premenstrual tension!

Fibroids, endometriosis, and adenomyosis are common gynecological conditions affecting women, often leading to confusion due to their overlapping symptoms. All three are uterine related, are associated with oestrogen and can cause pain, heavy bleeding and infertility. Despite their similarities, they have distinct characteristics, metabolic development and impacts on health.

Understanding the distinct nature of fibroids, endometriosis, and adenomyosis is vital for effective management and treatment. I’ve had both the intensely heavy bleeding of fibroids and the unrelenting severe pain of adenomyosis so I know how debilitating they can be but I also know from personal experience and from working with clients that these can be managed very well with targeted approaches involving nutrition, supplements and lifestyle upgrades.

This series aims to shed light on the latest research and advancements in understanding and treating these conditions with a body-positive approach. I hope it will give insight into how I approach the resolution of these conditions and provide you with effective alternatives to hormone-blocking drugs and even surgery.

NOVEMBER 12, 2023

Have A Healthy, Happy Winter: Seasonal Health Strategies For Women

The winter season brings unique challenges for maintaining wellness. Shorter daylight hours can drain our mood and disrupt circadian rhythms. Dry indoor air, freezing temperatures outdoors, and being cooped up inside more often can take a toll on our mind and body.

For us, the impact of winter on health can be particularly pronounced. Shifting hormone levels, greater susceptibility to seasonal affective disorder, and increased inflammation cause many of us to suffer more pain, depression and disturbed sleep during the colder months.

Despite our best cold-weather wellness efforts, some of us will also inevitably get sidelined by a viral infection like Covid, influenza, norovirus or the common cold at some point during winter. In this edition of the Sunday Supplement I have covered strategies to prime your immune system and how to prepare for viral infections, as well as how to beat winter blues and rev up your metabolism to prevent winter weight gain.

We may not be able to make winter magically warmer, but we can definitely make it healthier. Join me as we turn seasonal suffering into smooth winter sailing!

  • The surprising reason why viral infections surge in winter

    As the chill of winter sets in, so does the dreaded wave of viral infections. It’s a perennial question: why are we more susceptible to these infections during the colder months? The surprising answer is that it’s not because the cold makes us cold – it’s because the cold air is less humid and that…

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  • Anti-virals for every stage of infection

    Cold and flu season is almost upon us as, winter’s chilly temperatures and drier air cause more of us to fall ill from viruses like the flu, colds, respiratory syncytial virus, and Covid. We all know the miserable symptoms – coughs, congestion, fever, body aches. But did you know that natural compounds found in foods…

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  • From SAD to glad: tryp the light fantastic

    Do you start feeling sad as the days get shorter in the winter? Do you get more tired, lose your motivation, avoid friends and family, eat more starch and sugar and put on weight? This seasonal cluster of symptoms is associated with Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), a type of depression that occurs at the same…

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  • Be cool to boost your metabolism and prevent winter weight gain

    In the summer, bright sunlight keeps our metabolism running high, partly because insulin is a solar hormone and is stimulated by sunshine. When the days grow shorter and the temperatures drop, our bodies become more insulin resistant, want to conserve energy and store fat. The cold weather makes us want to stay bundled up indoors…

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  • Immuni-Tea: A Zesty Immune-Boosting Brew

    Swap your regular tea – or other hot drink – for Immuni-Tea, a warm aromatic brew of spices, herbs, lemon and honey and it can go a long way to boosting your immunity and both preventing and fighting off viral infections. With this recipe you can make a batch of Immuni-Tea as frozen cubes to be dropped…

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  • The ultimate anti-viral protocol for winter: prep and kill

    As the temperatures drop and winter approaches, many of us become more susceptible to catching viral infections like colds and flu. This winter, instead of just hoping you don’t get sick, why not take proactive steps to boost your immune system and fend off illness? In this post, I’m sharing my anti-viral protocol – a…

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OCTOBER 29, 2023

Signs and Symptoms: your body is trying to tell you something

Our bodies are incredible. Every day, our complex systems work in harmony to keep us alive and functioning. But sometimes, our bodies send us subtle signs or symptoms that something is amiss. These clues can be so minor we brush them off or don’t even notice them. However, paying attention to the whispers of our bodies can provide valuable insight into our health from a functional medicine perspective.

With a functional medicine approach, I view the body as an interconnected system instead of isolated parts. This means no one symptom is brushed aside or treated in isolation. Instead, all clues are pieced together to identify the root cause. For example, ongoing headaches, fatigue, and joint pain may seem unrelated. But I understand how these could indicate an inflammatory process that ties everything together. Instead of covering up each symptom with drugs, the root issue is addressed. This holistic approach appreciates how the whole body works as one, not individual organs and body parts in silos. No clue is too small when it comes to finding and resolving the underlying imbalance. By treating the body as one integrated network, functional medicine provides lasting solutions, not temporary band-aids that ignore the deeper cause.

So while they may seem unimportant, subtle signals can indicate broader functional imbalances. Your body has an amazing way of signalling when it needs support. Learning its language empowers you to decode what it’s trying to say. Paying attention to the messages it subtly sends can help you to correct imbalances long before disease sets in.

  • Sore, swollen breasts? An iodine deficiency may be to blame

    Do your breasts become tender, swollen, and painful at certain times of the month or during pregnancy and breastfeeding? Breast sensitivity often gets chalked up to normal hormonal fluctuations. But these symptoms may actually indicate an underlying iodine deficiency. Iodine is a mineral that plays a critical role in thyroid health and breast tissue regulation.…

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  • Could your wrinkles be a sign of osteoporosis?

    If you look in the mirror and see new wrinkles forming, you likely blame aging skin. But emerging wrinkles may actually be signalling diminishing bone density. It turns out osteoporosis and skin crepiness share some surprising connections. Several studies reveal that women with osteoporosis and osteopenia tend to have more pronounced wrinkling and other signs…

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  • Why pain under your right side ribs may signal gallbladder trouble

    If you’ve ever felt a sharp, cramping pain under your ribs on the right side of your abdomen, it likely signals a problem with your gallbladder. The gallbladder is a small organ that stores and concentrates bile created by the liver. Bile helps digest fats from the foods we eat. Issues like gallstones or inflammation…

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  • Unbearable period pain? It could be endometriosis

    Do your menstrual cramps cause so much pain that it disrupts your daily activities? Extreme cramping is not normal. Having intense pain during your period is common. But when cramps become so excruciating that they disrupt your daily life, it may signal a condition called endometriosis. For most women, the very first period brings agonising…

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  • Dark circles under the eyes plaguing you? Excess histamine may be why

    If you constantly battle dark circles under your eyes no matter how much sleep you get or concealer you use, excess histamine could be the culprit. Histamine is a chemical involved in immune responses, stomach acid acid secretion, and regulating wakefulness. It also helps control our menstrual cycles, ovulation, and oestrogen levels. Excess histamine can…

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  • Bloating after every meal? How low stomach acid might be the cause

    Do you feel gassy and bloated after eating meals? While overeating can easily cause bloating, there’s another culprit that often goes unconsidered – low stomach acid production. Your stomach relies on hydrochloric acid (HCl) to break down food and kill off any potential pathogens. Adequate HCl is especially crucial for digesting protein rich foods like…

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OCTOBER 18, 2023

Are you Celebrating World Menopause Day, 18th October?

WMD began in 2019, to raise awareness of menopause and the support options available for improving health and wellbeing. Awareness raising is crucial for us to not feel alone with the life impacting symptoms of menopause, but it can also create fear and expectation of the misery to come.

That’s certainly how I felt when I found out about menopause 13 years ago. Having fought my way through periods so bad I was flooding, as well as fibroids and adenomyosis, I was devastated to discover that what’s coming next are hot flushes, nigh sweats, weight gain and another 30+ symptoms. The scariest one of all was brain fog. BRAIN FOG!!! I was in the middle of my functional medicine training and looming over the me was the prospect of losing my memory, and perhaps eventually my whole mind. 

At first I thought that surely the solutions to this bleak future already exist, but all I found was HRT. For lots of reasons I knew I wouldn’t do HRT, but mainly because I couldn’t understand the rationale of forcing oestrogen into my body and my brain when millions of years of evolution have programmed an oestrogen decline. I instinctively knew that it’s not the oestrogen that’s the problem – it’s what oestrogen has stopped doing that will be the root cause. Unfortunately all the research said one one – it’s the oestrogen stupid.

I would lie in bed at night with what felt like a stone pressing on my chest feeling incredible fear and wondering whether I should give up my training if I’m going to lose my precious brain power in a few years. Until one day I woke up and decided it’s not going to beat me – I’d succeeded in clearing my psoriasis with nutrition years ago when functional medicine didn’t even exist, I was training to be a functional medicine practitioner and I still had a few years before all hell broke loose.

3 years later, I did figure out, I haven’t had ANY symptoms, my brain is better than ever and it’s my absolute pleasure to be celebrating World Menopause Day this year, knowing that not only can I raise awareness of menopause but that I can also provide the definitive solution to reversing – and avoiding – all the menopausal symptoms that women all around the world can access. 

I have created the Menopause Core Nutrition Solution online program for this purpose and I hope you will join me there if you’re suffering through menopause and you’re looking for explanations and a solution that doesn’t include trying to increase oestrogen when our bodies are programmed to be getting rid of it.

I hope you have a great World Menopause Day, but if not, please know that you have options that don’t include HRT. Because HRT turned out to be not a solution, but a different kind of WMD – a Weapon of Mass Distraction.

  • How to Tell If You’re Perimenopausal

    Are you experiencing changes in your body that you can’t quite explain? Feeling like you’re on an emotional rollercoaster? It might be perimenopause, the transitional phase leading up to menopause. Understanding the signs and symptoms can help you navigate this natural and inevitable part of your life. During perimenopause, which typically starts in our 40s…

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  • Save money, get rid of hot flushes, night sweats, brain fog, anxiety, low moods, fatigue and weight gain within 6 weeks and feel like yourself again by Christmas

    The International Menopause Society is marking the day by publishing a report encouraging women to “have a health audit – and take action at the time of the menopause to avoid chronic diseases in later life.” Actions taken at the time of the menopause can avoid chronic diseases in later life, according to a report…

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  • Bust through 30+ menopausal symptoms with my Menopause Supplement Cheatsheet

    Apart from the 7 core symptoms that include hot flushes, night sweats, anxiety, low moods, brain fog, fatigue and weight gain, menopause can come with another 30+ symptoms. It’s really intense right? But I can help you with all of those. Why are there so many symptoms? Oestrogen is the ultimate multitasker: apart from managing…

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  • The Upgrade: How the Female Brain Gets Stronger and Better in Midlife and Beyond

    Coming across Louann Brizendine’s book about menopause was a moment of sheer joy. The Upgrade – which is exactly how I see menopause – links the physical metabolic changes that declining oestrogen brings, to the emotional changes that we can experience, and explains why the mature brain is so much better than what came before.…

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  • 50 years of Ms Magazine

    Ms Magazine – helping women to seize the power we have and to use it, to act collectively, to realise that together we can make change happen -is 50 this year, menopausal and still empowering. It helped — and continues to help — ignite a revolution for women’s rights. Last month the founders and leaders…

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  • Fuck you Fifties (and beyond) – No More Rules

    On my 40th birthday my best friend ordered a birthday cake for my party, from a du jour artisan London bakery. It turned up on the morning of the party day looking very plain, so she took it to a local Polish bakery, and asked them if they could decorate it with some fancy icing,…

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