Lara Briden - The Period Revolutionary

13/12/2025

Telling women to ‘fix your flaws’ is (and always has been) a great way to sell stuff.

Mitchell & Webb nailed it years ago...

From That Mitchell and Webb Look. Season 3, Ep 2Women, sort yourselves out!Men! Shave and get drunk, because you're already brilliant!

13/12/2025

Confused by conflicting health advice? You’re not alone. It’s gotten a bit crazy out there. Don’t be afraid to trust your own instincts.

10/12/2025

When are you “healthy enough”?

If you follow a lot of health accounts, you could feel like health is a never-ending self-improvement project. It doesn’t have to be like that.

Maybe it’s time to take stock and say: "I’m healthy enough to live my life."

If that's true, then you don't have to keep striving or thinking about health all the time. Instead, you can join a singing group, ride a horse, go on a walking holiday, volunteer, study something new, or do whatever gives life meaning.

✨ Health is for living. Not the other way around.

07/12/2025

Low iron could be the explanation for your anxiety and brain fog. Especially if you’re 40-something and having heavier-than-normal periods.

Have you had your ferritin checked? It should be at least 50 ng/mL. And for an accurate result, make sure you test 8–10 hours fasted and at least 24 hours after exercise.

For more, check out:
• Low iron could cause brain fog in perimenopause: https://www.ou.edu/news/articles/2025/april/low-iron-brain-fog-menopause
• My interview with Dr Libby: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIZoxhSf5EI&list=PLrmPZp_fmeiq8tb9igac-s7c45Wpoebjl&index=2

05/12/2025

Sleep is not just about the brain. Your gut is also deeply involved.

Ways a healthy gut can support sleep:

• Stronger vagal tone — the vagus nerve is the communication superhighway between gut and brain
• Higher serotonin, melatonin & GABA — key neurotransmitters for calm and sleep
• Lower inflammation & cortisol —so you can feel less “wired-but-tired”
• Better circadian rhythm — the clock of the digestive system helps to synchronise the clock of the brain

Link to the Conversation article: https://theconversation.com/good-sleep-starts-in-the-gut-270487

05/12/2025

Another study adds to the growing concern about diets very high in linoleic acid from soybean oil.

It’s an animal study, so is not proof of harm in humans. But it does add to a growing body of research showing plausible biological mechanisms by which large amounts of vegetable oil may interfere with metabolic health (as one factor among many).

Link: https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-warn-this-popular-cooking-oil-may-be-quietly-fueling-weight-gain/

And if you’re thinking, “But I don’t eat soybean oil,” check the ingredient list on:
• salad dressings
• sauces
• margarines, including "olive oil" spreads
• mayonnaise
• packaged foods

Often, it will explicitly say soybean oil. And if it only says “vegetable oil,” there’s at least a 60% chance it’s soy.

And yes, many experts still defend high-dose vegetable oil as healthy. But some of those same experts will quietly admit that they don’t actually eat much of it themselves, which is interesting.

01/12/2025

Some of the most important tests for hormonal health aren’t the hormones themselves, at least not estrogen and progesterone.

I do sometimes test ovarian hormones. But I’m usually far more interested in what controls them: thyroid, androgens, nutrient status, and metabolic health. These are the systems that determine whether ovulation can occur and, therefore, whether estrogen and progesterone can be made.

I also routinely test FSH, LH, and prolactin for the upstream story they can tell about what’s really going on.

Because estrogen and progesterone are the consequence of ovulation, not the cause.

Ask me in the comments.
Link to my article "The right way to test progesterone": https://www.larabriden.com/right-way-test-progesterone/

P.S. If your main question is “If and when to start estrogen in perimenopause?” that is (in my view) best guided by clinical signs and symptoms rather than testing.

28/11/2025

Choline is the poster-child nutrient for metabolic health. It improves insulin sensitivity, promotes satiety, and reduces inflammation via the vagus nerve. Yet most people don’t get nearly enough!

That’s why my recent book features choline as one of the five “missing metabolic nutrients."

Now, a new study connects choline, metabolism, and brain health with the finding that young adults with metabolic dysfunction have low choline alongside early markers of brain injury.

Article: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251127010319.htm

My book: https://www.larabriden.com/metabolism-book/

27/11/2025

Is estrogen inflammatory or anti-inflammatory? It depends. 

Estradiol (our main ovarian estrogen) can calm inflammation in the brain, blood vessels, and bone. And it reduces central pain sensitisation, which is likely the main way estrogen therapy can relieve joint pain.

At the same time, estradiol typically has an immune-activating effect, resulting in more histamine, prostaglandins, and autoantibodies. That's why high estrogen or estrogen medication can potentially worsen autoimmune conditions like rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, and endometriosis.

And not all estrogens are the same. More inflammatory estrogens include:
• 4-hydroxyestradiol (an estrogen metabolite)
• estrone (E1) from visceral fat (common in PCOS & menopause)  
• ethinylestradiol (the synthetic estrogen in most birth control) 

What have I missed? Share your questions and knowledge. 👇🏼

23/11/2025

Hot bath people… this one’s for us. 🙋🏽‍♀️

Regular heat therapy can:
• support immune function
• boost blood flow + vascular health
• calm inflammation
• build stress-resilience
• even mimic some of the effects of exercise

And according to brand-new research from the University of Oregon, a hot bath delivers these benefits more effectively than a sauna, because hot-water immersion raises core temperature more deeply and consistently.

Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/11/251120002611.htm

19/11/2025

Just like the to***co industry, ultra-processed food companies use powerful lobbying, marketing, and sponsored science to drive consumption. In 2024, the biggest companies spent more on advertising than the WHO’s entire operating budget! 😢

It’s overwhelming, and honestly heartbreaking, because the health toll is huge, especially for younger generations.

Check out the Conversation article, plus my metabolism book, where I share simple, practical ways to “shelter” from the modern food environment.

Links:
https://theconversation.com/the-ultra-processed-foods-problem-is-driven-by-commercial-interests-not-individual-weakness-heres-how-to-fix-it-269401

https://www.larabriden.com/metabolism-book/

Without policy action and a coordinated global response, ultra-processed foods will continue to rise in human diets, harming health, economies. It’s time to act.

18/11/2025

New research has linked choline deficiency to anxiety. It makes sense because choline is so important for the brain!

Links below.

Here are a few quick facts about this key nutrient:

💜 Choline is the precursor to acetylcholine, a neurotransmitter that’s calming, supports memory, and even helps to regulate appetite, gut motility, and metabolism.

💜 Your body can make a little choline, but not much. Most of it needs to come from food.

💜 Choline production depends on estrogen, which has researchers wondering if some of the brain benefits of estrogen therapy come from its support of choline metabolism. (You can also just take choline.)

💜 Scientists are pretty worried about how little choline most people eat.

💜 Choline is one of the five “missing metabolic nutrients” I highlight in my metabolism book.



Article: https://medicaldialogues.in/psychiatry/news/low-choline-levels-in-the-brain-associated-with-anxiety-disorders-suggests-study-158865
My metabolism book: https://www.larabriden.com/metabolism-book/