Plant Powered Through & After Menopause

Alix

So hello and welcome to the Plant Powered in Menopause Summit. This is where you will learn how to eat, move and support your hormones with plant based nutrition, fitness and wellness strategies for confident, healthy aging. This is your one stop resource and each conversation will get you one step closer to implementing plant forward eating and wellness habits to feel amazing in this phase of life. I'm your host, Alix Brown, and our speaker today is the Santo Molina Ms. She is a registered dietitian and is co-author of books that have received star rating by the American Library Association as the go-to books on plant-based nutrition. Her newest is Plant Powered Seniors. Plant-Powered Protein, which reached number one on Amazon, and The Kick Diabetes Cookbook, which is used by New York hospitals, and the award-winning Becoming Vegan: Comprehensive Edition are co-authored with registered dietitian Brenda Davis. With over a million books in print in English, their books are now in nine additional languages. Vesanto has taught nutrition at Seattle's Bastyr University and at the University of British Columbia and received the Riley Jeffs Award and a Lifetime Achievement Award as a dietitian. She is lead author of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics last position paper on vegetarian diets for the whole life cycle. She is an internationally known speaker in 14 countries. Her website is nutraspeak.com. Our topic today is Plant Powered Through and After Menopause. So welcome, Vesanto.

Vesanto Melina

Thank you. Yes, good to talk to you, Alix.

Alix

Thank you. I'm so happy you're here. You have a long career teaching people about nutrition and mostly vegan and plant-based nutrition. Can you share when and why you decided to become plant-based and vegan?

Vesanto Melina

Okay, well, actually for a while I was just a dietician and teaching university on the kind of standard diet. I like things to be pretty healthy, but I'd have Chateaubriand and things like that. And then I went to India and actually lived there for four years. And in India, they really know how to do vegetarian well. So I got very comfortable with the really delicious things that can happen with lentils and chickpeas and all kinds of and learned later about tofu and so when I came back from there I was very interested in shifting because we hadn't learned that at university I'd been teaching university and we hadn't included plant-based in fact we thought it was kind of a hippie thing where you know where people that didn't shave their legs and all that kind of stuff it was part of that whole world and then I started to realize that the very positive side And so I did courses through the university and also for dietitians. And it was just the right thing at the right time. And I started to learn about what happens to animals in the food industry. I learned about boar bashing was one that really hit me hard, that they can smash pigs on the snout. to get them to get into the truck to go to the slaughterhouse. And because I'd fallen as a little kid and hurt my nose, I was really sensitive to that one. And so gradually over time, I just didn't want these things to happen to animals. So I became vegan about 32 years ago. and with our first book, Becoming Vegetarian. And then over time, we've realized a couple of things that have changed my perspectives a bit. One is that an even bigger draw towards plant-based is the environmental issues. And second, that it isn't okay just to go vegan. You've got to go well-planned vegan. And so now we're making sure because sometimes people, pop and chips or things like that are vegan and sometimes people just go vegan, say for animal reasons, but they don't get it all right and they don't include the supplements and so on. So we'll talk more about those issues today.

Alix

Right. Well, thank you for all the work that you've done and for going vegan all those years ago and plant-based. It's great. And yeah, the environmental one that came up later as well. For me, yeah, it was always about the animals and junk food vegan.

Vesanto Melina

Yeah. And by the way, for any listeners, For health, you don't have to go 100% vegan. So if you're interested in this whole area and you're feeling, gee, is this only for people that are cutting out every animal product? People are usually on a spectrum moving gradually. And so it's really okay to be at several different places.

Alix

Yeah, yeah. We kind of call it like plant forward or, yeah. Like I am 100% like vegan and plant-based. Well, as much as you can be 100% knowingly. But yeah, but plant forward meaning like eating a lot of plant protein and a lot of plant foods, right?

Vesanto Melina

Yeah.

Alix

So yeah. Okay, so let's get into it here. How does a plant-based diet change for seniors or people over 50 in general?

Vesanto Melina

Okay, well, I've gone through this and I do know what happens. So one doctor told me, an endocrinologist in Vancouver, told me that everybody practically gains 10 pounds at menopause. What? But it seems to really happen that way. I've had quite a number of clients that have had exactly that happen, or if they caught it in time and didn't go that route. Because just things shift in your whole metabolism when estrogen drop happens. Another thing that happens is that we need fewer calories kind of related to that estrogen drop. But we don't need fewer of the different nutrients, the protein, the calcium, the vitamin D, vitamin B6, several things we actually need more of, and yet we need fewer calories. So you really have to have a diet that delivers. Things like oils and sugar, they deliver calories, but they don't bring along a lot of nutrients with them. So it's the whole foods that really, really help. And so one of these things, for example, is protein. And so we want to make sure that we get that in and later we can come back to bones and how that all works.

Alix

So when you said that in general we need fewer calories, but the same amount of nutrients as we age, is that true for men and women?

Vesanto Melina

Men don't drop estrogen because they didn't have much in the 1st place. So it's kind of different for them. So this is for the women that we're talking about today.

Alix

Yeah, but okay, so I was just wondering if in general we... Well.

Vesanto Melina

Things do affect our resting metabolic rate is less. That's like how much energy you burn when you're just lying around doing nothing or sleeping. Often we have less lean body mass like muscle so we don't burn as many calories that would be for men too people often start having a lower activity level they don't exercise as much you know something hurts in their knees and all that kind of thing so that for men as well the at the calories drop so they too have to really watch things for the nutrients.

Alix

Yeah I know things are like different for women for But I think like just in general, men, you know, just seniors in general, need less calories. And our activity level, we always think we're doing more. We're eating. We always think that we're eating less than we eat and that we're moving more than we think or sorry, we're moving less than we think.

Vesanto Melina

Yeah.

Alix

Eating less than we think. Yeah. Okay. So then, yeah, so we just we just talked about how the loss of estrogen changes our nutrition requirements, menopause and beyond. Did you want to go more into specifics like protein requirements?

Vesanto Melina

Well, maybe a bit about fat first. One of the things that happens that's weird is that when our estrogen drops, we stop our factors distribution shifts as well. And it starts, the fat starts heading towards your abdominal So you might have had quite a nice little shape before and it starts pudging up around the middle. And so that's related to estrogen change and also insulin that has an effect on our insulin receptors. So we find that there's apparently a five times higher risk of obesity after menopause. So for people who are going through it or just heading into it or have just done it, really makes a difference to shift to whole plant foods and cut way, way back on the sugar and the oil and the fat for that reason, because you end up pudgy around the middle. The other thing that can happen is that you need a bit more protein. And we have official recommendations for protein, which are 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram healthy body weight. One of the important words there is healthy body weight. So if somebody's way overweight, they don't need 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram for X of the extra fat, but it is important to get enough. Now that 0.8 grams is the official recommendation for all. adults, but many countries are kind of leaping ahead of things. And Brenda Davis and I, for example, are agreeing with this, and also Sharlyn Black, who's a co-author in our Plant Powered Seniors book. But they're finding that in Scandinavia, New Zealand, Australia, they recommend higher protein intakes as we get older. because we don't absorb quite as well. We don't put the protein into muscle as well. Just that whole development is decreased a bit. So we're suggesting instead of 0.8 grams, and that's per kilogram, not per pound, You have to divide by 2.2 to get yourself into kilograms. But instead of that, you have one up to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of healthy body weight. And it still isn't that huge an amount. Often it means that you need to have 20 or 25 grams of protein per meal, maybe a few with snacks. But there's It's not that hard to reach, but it's really important to build it in. So we make sure, for example, that people have protein at breakfast, at lunch, at supper, and it's plant protein. And plant protein is really, really good. It's found in a huge range of legumes, beans, peas, and lentils. Actually, there's 20 different kinds of legumes, at least 20. And that includes brown and white and black and red and pinto and anasazi and chickpeas and different kinds of lentils and includes tofu and all the different kinds there, seitan and tempeh. Seitan is from wheat, but tempeh is soy-based. So anyway, you just kind of build it in. And that can mean, for example, that you might have peanut butter at breakfast on your toast, doesn't have to be complicated. doesn't mean you're eating 3 big bowls of beans a day, but I find for my meals a lot, it's a great big salad and then it's maybe cubes of marinated tofu that I keep around all the time sprinkled on or some beans, some colorful beans, that kind of thing. And that's lunch and supper. And of course there's more elegant things that you can do too. And in our books, this is a fun thing, but Brenda Davis, my co-author, she cooks and prepares food more elegantly. She's fast and I am kind of like the Johnny Cash style. I like simple, short, one syllable words or maybe two, you know, I like it quick. And so we have these diverse styles and we built that into our books, you know, that you can go either rude and really enjoy food. If you just want to make it quick and cook once or twice a week and have it last, or if you want to be real gourmet when the relatives come over, you know, we've got the whole thing covered.

Alix

Well, I've been making the double chocolate cookies.

Vesanto Melina

Oh, yeah.

Alix

With the black beans. I've been making those. I actually had to stop. making them for a while because they're so good.

Vesanto Melina

Yeah, they're so good.

Alix

I even put them in the freezer, hoping that that would make me not grab them, but that didn't work either. So now I just have to make them on a special occasion.

Vesanto Melina

You have to put them down at the back of the freezer in the bottom box with a hard lid to get off.

Alix

Right. Yeah. Or I just need to make sure that I'm full, you know, and yeah.

Vesanto Melina

Yeah. So, and you've got good stuff like that that's still healthy. Yeah. In our diabetes book, we have some black bean based brownies that are really good. And in the plant powered protein book, we've got some carrot cookies that have seeds and nuts in them, and those are good. And also the double chocolate surprise cookies and the surprise of black beans. Yeah.

Alix

Yeah, surprises to black beans. Yes. I haven't seen the carrot ones yet, but I actually have some carrots, so I should probably do that. Okay, all right, that's all good info. Love it. Yeah, so our protein needs are, do you know why it is that in other countries they suggest higher protein, but here they don't? Like we're in Canada, so.

Vesanto Melina

I don't know that. I'm kind of surprised that we haven't caught up. I think those recommended intakes are quite cumbersome to change, you know? like the official recommended intake for vitamin D is based on some research decades ago because we can't figure out exactly how much to say. People vary so much. So anyway, but I'm certainly looking at these other countries that suggest the one to 1.2 grams of protein per kilogram healthy body weight. I think they're right on. Also, we chat about stuff like this with Michael Greger. all the people that are working in this area, we say, what do you think about this? What do you think about this? What should we be saying? And we just scour the research and try and get a really good plan that will help people tremendously. And people like Brenda Davis and I practice all of it ourselves. I get my vitamin D levels checked, my omega-3 levels checked. I want to go, yeah, if I have this much, how does it affect things? And I'm just one example, but then I really know that it's working and of course help clients that I have as well, you know, and check up how did that work? And it does because, oh, one of the things is that nutrition's a very lively science. It's not some antique form of physics or math or something. We're learning all the time. The research is coming out thick and fast. And it's just a very evolving field of study.

Alix

Yeah, there is so much to learn. I've been... Reading like since I was a good, I went to the library when I wanted to be vegetarian when I was a teenager and I just took out all these books and I was reading, reading, reading. And, you know, that was the one thing that stood out to me as well is that plants are, yeah, that was what I, what I wanted to do. And so, yeah, anyway, it's great. Okay. So can we talk about bone health in menopause and then as well as some vitamin D and calcium?

Vesanto Melina

Okay, so bones are built of, of course, calcium, everybody knows, and vitamin D helps you both absorb calcium, stick it into the bones, and not lose it in the urine. So they're kind of a team. Actually, it's a very big team though, because there are other minerals like magnesium, potassium, there's also fiber, there's antioxidants, and the minerals are placed in a protein matrix. So we got to have all that stuff coming in. And I think sometimes people don't realize that to make your vehicle run, you've got to have the nutrients coming in. So it really makes a big difference to include these. Now, our vitamin D levels seem to vary a lot from one person to another. I've found myself to be a low vitamin D absorber. So I fooled around. I was working with a lifestyle medicine doctor for about a year and had different levels of vitamin D intake and then I'd check them which... I had to pay for the testing, but I was really very interested. And I found for me, I had to go up to 9,000 international units of vitamin D a day to get my serum vitamin D to the optimal level. Now, since then, I found I can back off on that. And of course, when it's sunny time of year and I'm walking around the lake every day in the kind of optimal vitamin D production hours, you know, from 10 till 2 or 3 o'clock, then I can have less vitamin D. But our official recommended intakes are way low, like 600, 800 international units, way, way low. And these also can be expressed in milligrams. But the amounts really do vary. And if somebody's curious about their vitamin D level, they could get a lab test, which they might have to pay for, but get that checked. And then one of the things I find when I do nutritional analysis of clients' diets, and I hardly ever find anybody that gets enough calcium up to the recommended levels. So these are, quite a good recommendation here's another place where people vary the North American ones are a thousand and then when you're a senior they go up to 1200 milligrams sorry international units no milligrams yeah we're back to calcium so they increase with age, but I find that people are not getting that at either the 1000 or the 1200 milligrams per day. And so it really helps to have a little bit of a vitamin D supplement, not too much. Probably the best is about 250 to 350 milligrams and taken that amount once a day and then that amount another time of the day, because our calcium receptor gets blocked if you have 500 or more at once, it gets kind of full. So anyway, and these are all things that we're exploring, what is the optimal amount and how do you take it? So it seems the twice a day method for calcium and just relatively small amounts works very well. Okay. The other thing that's really important is to get some weight-bearing exercise. So here's a place where people who have a little bit too much weight are actually have an advantage because they've got more weight-bearing exercise. But skinny little people will have less weight bearing and the bones respond both to exercise and having weight on them. And they like to have a little bit of an impact. That doesn't mean jumping up and down really hard, but just like walking. If you're doing swimming exercise, that's good exercise, but it's not the bone building kind of impact. So this combination of actually having a whole plant-based diet, like the one we have on our food guide on my NutriSpeak website, just having that whole pattern, it helps with so many different places. Like the magnesium is in leafy greens. It's the central molecule in chlorophyll, magnesium is. And so guess what color of foods it's in? Yes, and green. Everything green. And we find that other items like potassium, which is in fruits and vegetables, fiber, which is in all plant foods, these all have a role to play in our bones and keeping them strong and healthy. So the basic idea is the calcium, the vitamin D, lots of greens and getting a little bit of exercise with some impact.

Alix

Some impact, yes. Yeah. Yeah, basically like, you know, adding all of the different types of food, like always having the greens and the fiber and the beans and, you know, having like a very like well-rounded plate and yeah. Okay, so We talked about bone health and how exercise fits into bone health. Can I ask you to brag about your exercise routine?

Vesanto Melina

Oh yeah. And I've been inspired too by my co-author Brenda on this. So at this stage of life, and I've been doing this since menopause certainly, but I do five fitness classes a week. I did the YWCA fitness training at one point and learned there were all these different things, strength, balance, stretching, just aerobic, all the different aspects of health. So I do fitness classes that include all those different patterns, five of them a week. and two yoga classes, which are more, different side of things like the stretch and balance aspects. And that seems to really, really help with many, many aspects. And so at this point, even at 84 years old, I can do a two-minute plank. And I just came back from the gym now and they're, It has a lot of impact and it does even help when you're going through menopause. It seems to help our mental health, our heart, our lungs, our weight, our metabolic rate, our menopausal symptoms, our muscles, of course, and our bones. And people are sometimes trying to eat a lot of protein, but it doesn't build onto your muscle unless you actually use your muscles regularly so that the combination of getting these foods and then the exercise helps build them in to the bones and the muscles and your overall well-being, including mental health.

Alix

Yes. Oh, it's so good for mental health. Yeah. Just exercise, movement in general is just so good. Okay, so we talked about some healthy fats. Can you explain the importance of omegas for women in menopause and beyond?

Vesanto Melina

Yeah, omega-3s have been really interesting and that is such a lively area of research. And even in our books that we did 30 years ago, our whole presentation of that area has changed a lot. Now, people used to think it was really important to eat fish. And that was for omega-3s, basically, things like DHA, docahexaenoic acid, and EPA. And what we're finding now is, first of all, that the fish aren't getting so much, and especially farmed fish, they aren't dumping as much into their little pens of the omega-3s. And that's where they get it from. And also, the fish don't make omega-3s. They get it from microalgae. So what we're finding is that it's a really good idea to include a microalgae-based supplement, and that would probably be in liquid form or it could be in little capsules, vegan capsules. So the amount we need is entirely uncertain at this point. So I'm taking about a thousand, I think, of the DHA. but I've explored different and told you I wasn't a very good absorber of vitamin D. It seems the same for omega-3s. So some people get to their optimal serum. omega-3s with less. And we don't know unless we get it tested. These are all kind of new areas of research. So there was a company in the States, Omega Quant, that was testing, but they're also now doing it in Canada just through our labs. They have to send it away usually. But it's really interesting to get your serum omega-3 level checked, and this would be the omega-3s, the kinds that are from microalgae. So why do we want them? Well, one of the things is they help build your brain. And I think I can give credit a bit to that for being able to write books at 84 and have them turn out really well. But the DHA is a really important part of our brain cells and it's also used for cells throughout the body. And in our earlier books, we told people that you could get the omega-3s that we need from hemp, chia, flax, walnuts, and some from leafy greens. But we're finding these are the short chain forms of omega-3s. We're finding that we don't convert very well to these long chain forms. So we want to use the microalgae source for that, the long chain forms of omega-3s that are what we actually use in our brain cells. Right. So that's just an interesting one and a test that I found I had to pay for, but it was really worth it to find out whether it was at the right level. if you want to go into senior years and avoid dementia and keep lively in your brain, and it also seems to help with menopause symptoms. It's worth it, yeah, to have the omega-3s.

Alix

Okay. Yeah, I think you've convinced me that I should get that checked as well.

Vesanto Melina

Yeah, it's interesting. And even three years ago when I tried to do it through labs, they weren't that familiar with it. Like things are moving fast in the nutrition area. So now I had to pay, I don't know, close. Well, with Omega Quant, it was 50 bucks. And with labs, it can sometimes be a bit more than that. they can do it now and we get our lab results back and we find, oh, I'm a bit short. I should up the amount I'm taking.

Alix

Okay, so that would be through a dietitian or...

Vesanto Melina

No, just only ask your doctor. And your doctor won't even know what you're talking about sometimes, you know, because they don't, they're often learning a lot more about you know, medications and surgery and how to fix problems, not this prevention area. Although lifestyle medicine doctors are learning about a lot more about this.

Alix

Yeah, yeah, that's the important difference, right? Yeah. Not, yeah, there's, yeah, cool. Okay, so that's awesome. So we've covered a lot of information and a lot of this is in your new book, Plant Powered Seniors. Plant Powered is becoming this catchphrase. I didn't even think about it when I named the summer plant powered in menopause.

Vesanto Melina

Everything's good. It's good. You know, we like this idea about plants not being some weak little thing, but their power, they power us up. Yeah.

Alix

They do. Well, Popeye, hello. Right. Yeah. So what is one tip or suggestion that you can give to women over 50, the women that are listening today? So this can be from, uh, your personal life or as a professional.

Vesanto Melina

Well it is really important to keep fit you know if you can get yourself out to do something even if it's just starting you know if somebody's got an injury or something like that starting with a little bit and keeping your body moving we really learn lose a lot when we're just sitting you know bound to work computers or in bed, we lose muscle mass and that kind of thing quickly. And also have a look at my Nutrispeak website and the food guide on it. And it'll just give you an idea about half your day, just over half your day being vegetables and fruits and a quarter of it being the legumes, the protein foods, having those at each meal. and you'll have a good, time through these years. Yeah, you will. Yeah.

Alix

Awesome. Awesome. Okay, so we mentioned the Nutrispeak website a few times, nutrispeak.com. Is there any other way that people can get a hold of you?

Vesanto Melina

On the website, it says if people want to do a consultation or write to me, they can do that. There's a contact form. And also our new book that's coming out will be Plant Powered Seniors. And people can pre-order that. But it's really good. And we did it also with Brenda and I. Brenda's a vegan rock star. And I told you I'm like the Johnny Cash simple part of it. And then Brent, our co-author on this new book is Charlen Davis, a doctor who's been on the faculty at University of British Columbia and very interested in vegan nutrition too.

Alix

Nice. Okay. Well, I'm definitely going to be talking to, interviewing Brenda, Brenda Davis. So you guys will compliment each other very well.

Vesanto Melina

We do.

Alix

And I've enjoyed meeting you. Like we've met at Veg Fest recently. And are you going to be going to any of the Veg Fests?

Vesanto Melina

I am. Yeah. I'll be in Nanaimo in a few weeks on July 4th. And I would expect me in Victoria and Kelowna maybe in Montreal a bit later and yes it's such a pleasure and I just you know when you read the news you get kind of discouraged but I find it the world's a pretty good place we've got all these people that really care about the environment care about keeping themselves and their families healthy and so I feel very warm-hearted about all this yeah.

Alix

Awesome okay well I've so enjoyed our conversation and I always enjoy our conversation in person too. So I'm excited to see you in a few weeks.

Vesanto Melina

Good. Thank you. Good. Okay.

Alix

Thanks so much for being here. And yeah, enjoy the rest of your day.

Vesanto Melina

Thank you. Bye, Alix. Bye.

 

This audio recording opens the Plant Powered in Menopause Summit and frames the program as a practical resource to help women learn how to eat, move, and support hormones using plant-based nutrition, fitness, and wellness strategies aimed at confident, healthy aging. Host Alex Brown positions each session as a step toward implementing plant-forward habits that help participants feel better during this phase of life. The featured speaker is Vesanto Melina, MS, a registered dietitian and widely published co-author of multiple plant-based nutrition books, including Plant-Powered Seniors, Plant-Powered Protein, Kick Diabetes Cookbook, and Becoming Vegan (comprehensive edition). The introduction highlights her academic teaching background, professional awards, leadership on the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ vegetarian position paper, and her international speaking experience, with NutraSpeak.com noted as her website. In the conversation, Melina describes how living in India helped shift her toward vegetarian eating and later veganism, alongside growing awareness of animal welfare and, later, environmental drivers. She emphasizes that plant-based eating can exist on a spectrum (people do not need to be “100% vegan” to benefit), but stresses the importance of a well-planned approach—including attention to supplements and nutrient adequacy rather than relying on “junk food vegan” choices. The discussion also touches on evolving nutrition science, differences in protein recommendations across countries, and menopause-related priorities such as bone health (calcium and vitamin D as part of a broader nutrient “team”) and omega-3s, including the role of long-chain forms sourced from microalgae. The closing recommendations focus on staying physically active to protect muscle mass and using practical guidance (including the food guide on NutraSpeak.com) to build meals around vegetables and fruits, with legumes as core protein foods at each meal. Summit purpose: The Plant Powered in Menopause Summit is presented as a “one-stop resource” focused on plant-based nutrition, movement, and wellness strategies to support hormones and healthy aging. Key stakeholders in the audio recording: Host Alex Brown interviews speaker Vesanto Melina, MS, a registered dietitian and author/educator in plant-based nutrition. Speaker credentials highlighted: Co-author of multiple well-known plant-based titles (including Plant-Powered Seniors, Plant-Powered Protein, Kick Diabetes Cookbook, and Becoming Vegan), with broad distribution and translation; prior teaching roles at Bastyr University and the University of British Columbia; awards and leadership on a major vegetarian diet position paper. Origin story and motivations: Melina describes becoming comfortable with vegetarian eating while living in India for four years, then moving toward veganism over time due to animal welfare concerns, with environmental concerns becoming an additional major motivator later. Emphasis on planning quality: She notes it is not enough to “just go vegan”; it needs to be well planned, including supplements and nutrient strategy, and she cautions that some vegan choices (e.g., “pop and chips”) are not health-supportive. Protein guidance context: The conversation references other countries recommending roughly 1.0–1.2 grams of protein per kilogram of healthy body weight, and notes that official recommendations can be slow to change. Bone health framing: Calcium and vitamin D are discussed as working together, with additional nutrients (e.g., magnesium, potassium, fiber, antioxidants) also contributing to bone support. Omega-3 discussion: She distinguishes short-chain omega-3 sources (e.g., chia, flax, hemp, walnuts) from long-chain forms, noting concerns about conversion and recommending microalgae sources for long-chain omega-3s; she also describes using lab testing (e.g., OmegaQuant) and working with clinicians to validate levels.