By Jenya Di Pierro, renowned naturopath, herbalist, and founder of the Cloud Twelve Wellness and Lifestyle Club in Notting Hill.
Balancing the demands of parenting is challenging, particularly for mothers navigating perimenopause, which can feel like an uphill battle. However, nurturing your well-being doesn’t have to be overwhelming. Simple, intentional practices incorporating nature’s gifts — such as healing herbs, nutrient-rich vegetables, and mindful routines — can help replenish energy and restore balance.
Healthy Diet and Healing Plants
For many, spring is a favourite time of year. As days grow longer, we embrace sunny outdoor activities, become more active, and reintroduce seasonal vegetables and herbs to our diets, replenishing nutrients after winter.
How do you boost daily nutrient intake in the most efficient way? Contrary to what many may think, my answer is not going to be about supplements. Ideally most of our nutrition should be coming from diet, because when we enjoy the process of eating, we have the optimal amount of enzymes and other digestive juices, ready to help us fully absorb and make the most of the nutrients in food. It is not quite the case when we have to swallow a handful of pills, is it?
Nature has given us so many amazing herbs and superfoods and spring is a great time to start incorporating them into your menus.
The healing power of spring herbs
Nettle is one of the first herbs to emerge in early spring, right before hayfever season, when we need it most. Nettle helps clear toxins, reduce water retention, stimulate circulation, and ease inflammation. Nettle is an excellent all-around anti-histamine remedy, which helps not only with seasonal allergies but also chronic allergic skin conditions such as eczema. It makes a delicious ingredient for soups, pesto, and sauces. Being a weed, nettle regrows within a week, so you can have an endless supply of it until autumn. You can also find ramson or wild garlic, spring onions, sorrel, each offering healing properties that boost the immune system and nourish the gut with healthy fibre.
Add spices to your dishes
Adding spices to your dishes is a fantastic way to support your body with nutrients. It also enhances metabolism and strengthens gut immunity. Fennel, cumin, coriander, basil and anything aromatic will boost enzyme production and improve absorption of nutrients in food. Clove will protect against parasites. Thyme, oregano and rosemary will support the immune system amongst other health benefits. Ginger and chilly are warming for the body and are known to improve circulation, while also enhancing defence against infections. Finally, turmeric is a super herb that possesses all of the above-mentioned properties. It is easy enough to add most of these spices to soups, curries and stews, but make sure you do not overcook them and add some at the end of your cooking process. During spring and summer when we are able to harvest fresh herbs such as chives, ramson, nettles, basil, sorrel, oregano, thyme and rosemary, they will make a great addition to raw recipes, such as pesto or gazpacho.
Drink Herbal Teas
Herbal tea is probably the easiest way of using herbs as medicine. They are made from dried fruits, flowers, leaves and spices. One of my favourite teas that helps me to relax after a busy day is called Sereni-tea. The tea contains nervine herbs – passion flower, lemon verbena, chamomile, oatstraw, skullcap and rose – which are known to reduce stress, enhance production of endorphins and lift anxiety. The herbs are not sedative and are safe to take throughout the day, however they will also improve the quality of the sleep, if you find it hard to unwind on some days. For best results, infuse 1 heaped tablespoon in a small teapot for 10 minutes or even overnight.
Boost your nutrition with sprouts
Another way to keep up your nutrient intake is to sprout dry chickpeas, lentils, peas, mung beans and any other pulses or seeds you can find in your cupboard (but not kidney beans!). Sprouting increases protein, fibre, vitamin and mineral content and improves bioavailability by decreasing levels of anti-nutrients (i.e. phytic acid). Sprouts are also full of Prana or Life energy and are very tasty!
How to do it? Place 1 part seeds in a clean jar, cover with 3 parts cool filtered water, cover it with either a sprouter lid or a piece of breathable natural fabric (like muslin) secured with a rubber band. Set it aside to soak for approximately 8 hours. Once the soaking time is up, you need to drain your sprouts. If you have a sprouter lid, just tip the whole jar over the sink, otherwise drain the seeds in a sieve, add more water to the jar and rinse again. Then prop the jar, upside-down, in a bowl, tilting it to one side. 8 hours later rinse, drain, repeat for 3 days. Afterwards spread sprouts on a kitchen towel and let them air dry for 30 minutes before storing. Store in the fridge for up to a week and enjoy in salads, wraps, or stir-fries.
Avoid high glycaemic index sugars
As we accumulate a certain amount of toxins during winter, in spring we should move to lighter less sugary food. Switch to fresh fruit and berries as soon as they start coming out. If you need to use sugar in cooking opt for lower glycaemic index sugars. My favourite alternative to high glycaemic index (GI) sugars is yacon root. Compared to white sugar’s (sucrose) GI of 65, yacon root syrup has a GI of only 1, which means it doesn’t cause a spike in blood sugar. The secret is that our body lacks the enzymes to break down the fructooligosaccharides found in yacon root, so while they taste sweet, they pass through our digestive tract practically unmetabolised. Yacon root is also a prebiotic and helps with the absorption of calcium, magnesium and B vitamins. As a result, it contributes to strengthening your cardiovascular system, improving bone density and supporting beneficial bacteria in the digestive tract. Because of its high antioxidant value, yacon root is beneficial for reducing free-radical damage in the body. Use yacon syrup on your morning pancakes, as a dessert topping or sweetener for your teas and coffees. Yacon syrup powder can also be added to smoothies and energy balls.
Perimenopause & the loss of progesterone
Perimenopause is a crucial time for women to prioritise their health and make the changes that will pay huge dividends in later life. It starts in the mid-40s and can bring a host of symptoms such as breast pain, brain fog, anxiety, migraines, heavy periods and fatigue. The majority of these symptoms are linked to a decline in progesterone, which is the first hormone that starts to drop.
- Progesterone has a calming effect on the brain and can influence mood regulation, and losing it may contribute to mood swings, increased irritability, and a higher susceptibility to depression or anxiety.
- Progesterone is involved in the development and maintenance of breast tissue. Its loss can result in changes such as breast tenderness, fibrocystic breast changes, or an increased risk of developing benign breast lumps.
- Progesterone also reduces inflammation and supports muscle building.
- Other signs of low progesterone include PMS and premenstrual spotting
Offset progesterone decline with mindfulness, and stress reduction protocols such as meditation, qigong, grounding and breathing exercises. Introduce calming and mood-boosting herbal teas with chamomile, rose, melissa, St John’s wort and passion flower. Consider adaptogens such as Rhodiola, Siberian ginseng, Rehmannia, and Panax to boost energy and resilience to stress.
Oestrogen rollercoaster
During perimenopause, the pituitary gland produces more follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) which triggers ovulation and a surge in oestrogen to keep a woman fertile. Higher levels of FHS speed up ovulation, while higher oestrogen thickens uterine lining. As a result, periods get shorter and heavier. Progesterone, on the other hand, thins uterine lining and helps balance the effects of oestrogen, ensuring that oestrogen levels do not become too dominant. When progesterone declines, and oestrogen runs unopposed, menstrual flow can get even more uncomfortable. At this time, conditions like endometriosis which are already linked to painful, heavy periods and anaemia, become especially daunting and need naturopathic support.
At the same time in other women oestrogen levels start declining together with progesterone and they may begin experiencing hot flushes, dryness and other symptoms of low oestrogen.
Miraculously in herbal medicine phytoestrogens are an answer to regulate both high and low levels of oestrogen. Phytoestrogens mimic the action of oestrogen in the body and when we have too much oestrogen, they bind to oestrogen receptors blocking more potent oestrogens from entering the cells and by doing so, reducing their overall activity in the body. Conversely, when we have low levels of oestrogen, phytoestrogen replenishes some of the decline helping with a smoother transition to menopause and thereafter.
My favourite phytoestrogens:
- Red clover, because it’s so yummy in tea.
- Vitex or agnus castus, because of its ability to regulate and reset the entire system of female hormones.
- Shatavari, because it is also one of the most important female reproductive tonics and adaptogens, slowing down the aging process and increasing our resilience to disease.
Long story short, just like many herbs, phytoestrogens do not upregulate or down regulate, but gently support us depending on what our body needs. Isn’t that amazing?
Honour your body’s need for rest
Rest is essential to life. Your body works so hard for you all day every day, you need to give back and give it some time to replenish. Recognise and accept your limitations both at home and work and make sure if you come close to burnout, you never cross that line and prioritise rest to restore your vitality.. Pushing your body into overdrive whilst juggling all aspects of life will also manifest physically through poor concentration, anxiety, fatigue, tight neck and shoulders and usually digestive malfunction.
Sleep is the foundation of health, yet it often eludes busy parents. Good quality sleep allows our body to self-heal, detoxify, recover from stress and restore any imbalances that may be taking place. A regular nightly routine helps the body recognise that it is bedtime. This could include taking a warm relaxing bath with essential oils or Epsom salt, reading a book, meditating, listening to reiki music or doing breathing exercises. After you’ve put the children to bed and engaged in a mindful activity, start to go to sleep around 10pm when melatonin production starts to rise.
About the expert
Jenya Di Pierro is a leading naturopath, herbalist, and founder of the Cloud Twelve Wellness and Lifestyle Club in Notting Hill. With qualifications in herbal medicine and homeopathy from the College of Naturopathic Medicine, she specialises in gut health, hormonal balance, fertility, and autoimmune wellness. Her work champions the transformative power of natural therapies, combining traditional practices with modern techniques to support overall well-being.
