Women Wise

Victoria Keith-Roach and Sarah Williamson are the founders of WomenWise, a game-changing new personalised at-home menopause service helping women to understand their midlife body, so they know how to support it through perimenopause and beyond. We caught up with them to find out more about their mission and why every woman deserves to have a positive experience through this transition.

Tell us about WomenWise and why you started the business?

Sarah: I’ve been a nutritional therapist for over 20 years – before it was fashionable! – I am fascinated by diet and the impact it has on our health. The foods we choose to eat or choose to avoid act as levers we can use to increase our vitality and wellbeing. Overtime I became frustrated and worried about friends’ difficult menopause experiences; the stories they told were very different, but often involved symptoms such as low mood, brain fog, anxiety and a loss of confidence leaving them feeling they were underperforming at work and at home. Some of them were thinking about leaving their jobs and long term relationships mostly to reduce the sense of being overwhelmed. The devastating impact of menopause for these women and those closest to them ignited something in me –and I began to dig into the research. I asked myself- if menopause is a natural transition, so why is it hitting some of us so hard?

Victoria: We spent three years developing the WomenWise product and really understanding all the complex causes behind why we get symptoms. For us the key is hyper-personalisation; a one-sizefits-all approach just doesn’t work for the majority of women. Every woman is different and our service reflects that.

How does the service work?

Victoria: We wanted to make it super easy for women to access, so it’s all done in the comfort of your own home. You receive a special WomenWise box with everything you need to collect a little sample of blood, urine and DNA which you then send to our partner labs for analysis. You complete a detailed questionnaire that allows us to understand your health history, symptoms and lifestyle choices (what you eat, if you drink, how you exercise et cetera.

Sarah: We use the tests and questionnaires to assess underlying causes of the symptoms you are struggling with. We look at how your genetics may be playing a role in your mood; we can see the impact of the stress hormone cortisol on your body throughout the day; we can see if you are able to efficiently fuel your cells or tend to store energy as fat instead. Other tests unveil important nutrient deficiencies and how well your thyroid hormones are functioning. As you would expect, we assess your sex hormone levels too (oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone) . Using all this information the team is able to determine the unique issues affecting your wellbeing.

You receive an in-depth report revealing the key factors contributing to your symptoms and tailored recommendations to help you manage them. Your science-backed report is built by our expert team of nutritional therapists and reviewed by doctors. What’s more, to help you take action and turn choices into habits, we provide 12 months of targeted knowledge and support focussed on the changes you need to make and a symptom tracker to see how those changes are working for you.

Victoria: This is such an important time in our lives; our offer goes above and beyond other options available to really get to the heart of what you need to know to thrive through midlife.

What about HRT?

Sarah: HRT can be very helpful but it’s worth remembering what it’s designed to do (and what it’s not). HRT replaces oestrogen or oestrogen & progesterone (depending upon whether you’ve had a hysterectomy). For women whose symptoms are principally caused by lower levels of these sex hormones, it can be very effective.

However, for symptoms caused by other factors (fatigue linked to low iron or weight gain linked to insulin resistance), HRT alone won’t be enough. This is why, for over half of women who take it, HRT can help but not completely. Women continue to suffer from symptoms that aren’t only caused by low levels of oestrogen and progesterone. For these women to gain back their vitality they need to look at other imbalances to piece together their health puzzle.

Website: womenwise.health

Why do you think it’s important for us to understand our mid-life health?

Sarah: There is so much more to our mid-life health than changing sex hormone levels. By understanding what’s going on with our underlying health, we can set ourselves up for a much better perimenopause and menopause experience. We believe that you’re never too young to start understanding your body and equip yourself with the knowledge you need to manage or even avoid those symptoms and have the best experience you can.

We believe that women don’t need to suffer or lose confidence and vitality during this time – menopause is a natural transition, not a disease. Our focus is on identifying and addressing their key imbalances and help women sail rather than stumble through the menopause. WomenWise is here to transform women’s midlife health, for the better and for the future.

The menopause has become a hot topic in the past few years, why do you think that is?

Victoria: It’s brilliant that people are talking about it, after all 50% of the population will experience it. People like Davina McCall, the brilliant team at the Menopause Mandate, MP Caroline Harris and many more have helped to make this something that people are finally discussing. We want women to feel empowered to have this conversation, but also know that there are a range of solutions out there that don’t just focus on taking HRT. If your daughter, sister or friend were struggling with these symptoms you’d urge them to seek out help and find a solution. As women we often put ourselves to the bottom of the pile. It’s time for that to change!