EP 45: Age with Strength: Science-Backed Supplements for Women Over 40

0:00Hello and welcome back to Becoming Her, fitter, better, and stronger over 40. I'm your host and coach Shauna. I am 46, a wife, a boy mom, and a fitness and nutrition coach helping women over 40 become their best. And today I have a special episode, one that was actually a request. I want to remind you that I am always open to content requests for the podcast. I welcome you to reach out to me on Instagram or email. My contact information is below in the show notes. but it is all about supplements that are going to help support us over 40 as we are wanting to get lean and strong. But before we dive in, I want to be honest about supplements because they are one of the most common things that I get questions about.

0:40What should I take? What works? What doesn't? I understand because there's a lot out there and it can be confusing. If you walk into any store or scroll through Instagram, you're hit with big promises from all of these different little powders and pills, saying that they're going to help melt fat or give you endless energy or erase your stress overnight. But here is the truth. Supplements are not magic and they will never replace healthy habits, which means if you're not strength training, you're not eating enough protein, not getting quality sleep, not getting enough hydration, not getting enough movement in your day, or you're not managing your stress, there is no supplement in the world that's going to give you the results that you want.

1:22Those habits have to be your foundation and the supplements are just simply there to add to that already strong foundation. Supplements are just tools. I want you to think of it like this. If fitness and nutrition are your house, your habits are the walls, the roof, and the foundation, the things that keep the house standing. And supplements are more like the insulation or the extra support beams. They make the house stronger, more efficient, more resilient, but they cannot build the house for you. That said, when the foundation is in place, the right supplements can be powerful. They can help you recover.

2:03They can help balance your blood sugar. They can help you build more muscle efficiently. They can reduce inflammation and even support your mood and your sleep. But that's what today's episode is all about. Science-backed supplements that can help women over 40 look cleaner, feel stronger, and truly age with power and vitality. So let's start with the area that matters the most for shaping your body, which is muscle growth and performance. If there's one supplement that most women can benefit from, I would say it would be protein powder. And I want to make something clear. Again, protein powder is not a magic formula.

2:39It is food. It's a simple, easy, convenient way for you to reach your daily protein target. Now, why does this matter for us? Well, as we're aging, our bodies become less efficient at using protein to build muscle. This is called anabolic resistance. When you were 25, you could eat a small portion of chicken and your body would quickly shuttle those amino acids into your muscle. But at 40, 50, and over, our bodies need a bigger dose of protein at each meal to trigger that same muscle building response. Research has shown that for women in midlife, it often takes 30 to 40 grams of high quality protein at one time to maximize muscle protein synthesis.

3:28This is why having one egg and a piece of toast at breakfast is just not going to cut it anymore. So protein powder simply makes hitting your goals or you don't have to force down three chicken breasts every single day. You can add a scoop of protein to your oats, make it into a smoothie. You can stir it into your Greek yogurt and instantly add one to 30 grams of protein to that one meal. This makes hitting your target realistic, which is critical for building and maintaining that muscle that we need.

3:56Shauna:And muscle is what will keep our metabolism strong, keep us looking toned and keep our energy levels and our hormones steady. Now let's move on to another supplement that can help us with muscle, which is creatine. This is one of my favorite supplements to recommend because it's backed by decades and decades of research. Creatine is a little bit misunderstood. Some women are afraid that they're going to gain fat. But I think if you understand how the mechanisms behind creatine work, it'll help put you at ease when it comes to those fluctuations that you may or may not see in the scale. So creatine works by increasing your body's stores of phosphocreatine, which helps you produce more ATP, which is your body's energy source.

4:39Shauna:That means when you're in the gym lifting, creatine gives your muscles a little bit more fuel to push harder, squeeze out another rep, or just handle a little bit more weight. And that extra intensity over time is exactly what leads to that progressive overload, which is the key for muscle growth. But here's where creatine is especially interesting for women over 40. It's not just about performance in the gym, but studies have shown that creatine supports bone density, cognitive function, and even mood. So in other words, it's helping our muscles, it's helping our skeleton, and it's helping our brain.

5:12Shauna:With natural decline of estrogen in perimenopause and menopause, we lose some of that protection for our bones and our muscles. So creatine is going to help fill that gap. Now, what it does is it helps to pull water into your muscle cells. This does not mean you're going to look bloated. it actually means that your muscles are going to look nice and full and they're going to look really defined. Now, when it's pulling water into your muscle cells, that means you may or may not see some fluctuation in the scale, but that is just water. So I want you to step away from being really tied to a number on the scale and really focus on your performance.

5:47Shauna:If you see an improvement with your performance in the gym and your recovery in the gym, your mood, your strength overall, then creatine is well worth taking even if you're seeing some fluctuations in the scale. Remember we're focused on strong not small here. Now as far as when to take it and how to take it having just three to five grams a day is all you need. Timing doesn't really matter with this supplement. What matters most is just being consistent and taking it daily. I like to take it in the morning. I take it with my water which is important. You want to have it with a lot of water, but timing really doesn't matter.

6:23Shauna:Just make it a habit. Now, what about those days when you know you need to train, but your energy is on the floor? That's where having a pre-workout supplement can be beneficial. So pre-workout supplements generally contain things like caffeine, which is going to help your energy and your focus, along with things like beta alanine and citrulline, which can reduce fatigue and increase blood flow to your muscles. So if you are feeling flat or unmotivated, especially with ups and downs of hormones and busy schedules, a pre-workout can give you that little push that you need to train with intensity and see the changes that you want.

6:59Shauna:But pre-workout is definitely an optional thing. It's not something that you have to take, but it can help give you that little extra push. I myself like to take a non-stimulant version of pre-workout only because I enjoy having coffee. I have caffeine in my coffee, And then I'll use a pre-workout that has citrulline and has the beta alanine. So things that are going to help my recovery and my performance. But I don't get the extra caffeine. But that's up to you. If you are not a coffee person, then you can absolutely use a pre-workout that has caffeine. But what I will also say here is that if your sleep is a mess, there's no pre-workout that's going to make up for that.

7:34Shauna:So make sure you're prioritizing your rest days and sleep. But if you do feel like you need that little extra push, then a pre-workout is a great way to do that. So that covers the muscle and performance side of things. But let's shift gears here because there's another area where women over 40 struggle, and that is with appetite and blood sugar control. And one supplement that's worth discussing here is something that's called berberine. So you may or may not have heard of this, but berberine is a plant extract that has been studied extensively for its effects on insulin and blood sugar. In fact, research has shown that it can work very similarly to metformin, which is a prescription medication often given to manage type 2 diabetes.

8:20Shauna:So why does this matter? Well, as estrogen declines, our sensitivity to insulin often drops as well, which means that our bodies don't use carbohydrates as efficiently. At the same time, blood sugar spikes and crashes can lead to big energy swings and cravings, which can make fat loss harder to stick with. So berberine will help by improving how your body responds to insulin and stabilizing blood sugar after your meals. And some women also notice that it reduces their appetite. This doesn't mean that it's a magical fat burner, but if you're supporting stable energy and you're having less cravings, it can make the fat loss process more sustainable.

8:59Shauna:Typically, berberine is taken before meals. And because it's powerful, if you're already on a blood sugar medication, definitely check with your doctor before you decide to add this into your regimen. Now, one thing that I do want to add really quickly is that if you want another amazing way to help insulin sensitivity and regulate blood sugar, it's going to be with more muscle and more protein. So both of those things are really also going to help with your insulin sensitivity and your blood sugar. Your muscle cells are where your body stores carbohydrates. The more muscle you have, the more carbs you're going to be able to eat, the better your body is going to be at using the carbs that you're taking in for fuel.

9:40Shauna:And then with more protein, that's going to help maintain your blood sugar levels, helping to prevent those big crashes and cravings. But berberine is another potential supplement that's going to help you manage those things while you are building that muscle. Now let's talk about something a lot of women don't realize gets more important with age, which is digestion. Even if you're eating a clean diet full of protein and vegetables, if you're not digesting and absorbing the nutrients well, your body doesn't get the benefit. This is where probiotics and digestive enzymes can come in. So probiotics will help restore healthy gut bacteria.

10:19Shauna:Your gut microbiome plays a huge role in digestion, immune health, inflammation, and even hormone metabolism. For women in perimenopause, that last point is really critical because the gut actually helps us process estrogen. A healthier gut can support smoother hormonal health. Digestive enzymes are a little bit different. They are not bacteria. They are compounds that help break down food. If you've ever eaten a big steak and felt like it just sat there in your stomach, that's where digestive enzymes can come in and help. They help to break down protein, carbs, and fats into smaller pieces so that your body can absorb them better.

10:59Shauna:As we age, our stomach acid and enzyme production decreases. So sometimes adding support here can make a huge difference in how we feel after our meals, helps to reduce our bloating, and it helps us uptake those nutrients from the foods that we are having. I take probiotics every single day and I take digestive enzymes before most meals. And I've noticed a huge difference. Beyond muscle, blood sugar, and digestion, there are supplements that support overall wellness and things like our bone health, our heart health, our brain health, and just our long-term vitality. Vitamin D is one of the big ones.

11:37We know that vitamin D plays a role in bone strength, muscle function, immunity, and mood. And most women, most people are deficient. If you live in a northern climate or spend most of your time indoors wearing sunscreen religiously, you're probably not getting enough vitamin D from the sun. And low vitamin D is linked to a higher risk of osteoporosis, muscle weakness, depression, and even impaired immunity.

12:03Shauna:So taking vitamin D is really helpful for all of those things. You want to make sure you're also taking it with a meal that has fat because it's a fat-soluble vitamin. It's going to help you with absorption. Next up, we have omega-3s, and this is another cornerstone for overall health. These healthy fats are found in fish, but unless you eat salmon or sardines multiple times a week, you're probably not getting enough. Omega-3s help to reduce inflammation. They protect your heart, they protect your brain, and they help your joints. For women over 40, where inflammation naturally creeps up, omega-3 can be quite powerful.

12:40Shauna:I've noticed a huge difference when I started to get routine with taking omega-3s. With my skin and my scalp health, I had some inflammatory things going on, and taking omega-3s has almost eliminated all of those issues. And last up, we have a good multivitamin. So think of this less as a magic pill and more as insurance. Even if you're eating healthy, life happens. Stress and training can increase your nutrient needs. Hormonal shifts also increase your nutrient needs. Good multivitamin was just going to help fill in those small gaps so your body has what it needs to function optimally. Finally, let's talk about how to manage stress and sleep and what supplements can help those because if these are not dialed in, everything else can suffer.

13:28First up, let's talk about magnesium because it is one of the most underrated supplements on the market. It's involved with over 300 processes in the body. But what most women notice is how it helps calm the nervous system and really improve sleep quality. Magnesium helps your muscles relax. It supports your stress response, and it even plays a role with blood sugar. And most of us don't get enough through food alone and we are deficient. So supplementing with magnesium can really help us when it comes to managing our stress and just improving our sleep quality. Taking magnesium in the evening will help you wind down.

14:09It will reduce that wired but tired feeling and actually help you get deeper rest. And we all know that if we are not sleeping, we are not recovering. And if you're not recovering, you're not building muscle or losing fat. So taking magnesium can help you with those things. And you don't necessarily need them all. I want you to think of them like a toolbox. So look for where you might need support and then choose the tool that fits the need. And as always, you would want to consult with your doctor before adding anything new into your regimen.

14:41Shauna:But I will leave a link to all of my favorite supplements, everything that I listed here in the show in the show notes. So make sure you check that out. Of course, you can do your own research, but these are the products that I use and love on the daily. So if you are looking to add any of the things that I talked about today in this episode, you can find my favorites in the show notes linked below. And that wraps up today's episode. I hope that you found it helpful. I hope that this gave you some insight as to what these supplements can do and how they can help you on your Fit Over 40 journey.

15:13And like I said at the beginning of the show, if you ever have ideas on future episodes, I would love for you to shoot me an Instagram message or you can email me.

15:23Shauna:Again, my contact information will be below. But thank you so much for listening today. If this episode gave you clarity, if you enjoyed it, if you had a good time listening to it, I'd be so thankful. If you left a rating or a review, it just helps more women like you find the show. And don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss any other future episodes. Until then, keep lifting, keep fueling, keep getting stronger and I will see you in the next episode.