71: Zora Benhamou: What Women Around the World are Experiencing in Perimenopause: Symptoms, Stigma, and What Actually Helps

Have you ever heard that women in other countries do not struggle with menopause the way women in North America do? Or that menopause is somehow easier in certain cultures because women do not talk about it as much? In this episode of Hello Hormones, I'm talking with Zora Benhamou about what women around the world are actually saying when someone finally asks them.

We get into why menopause is global, but the way women experience it, talk about it, and get support can look very different depending on stigma, culture, socioeconomic status, access to care, and fear of doctors. We also talk about the symptoms women are rarely warned about, including joint pain, frozen shoulder, hip pain, bone loss, osteoarthritis, and why so many women are told they are "just aging" when hormones may be part of the picture.

Zora is a gerontologist, host of the Hack My Age podcast, author of The Longevity Master Plan, and creator of the Menopause Around the World series, where she has interviewed over 350 women across the globe. She has built her career teaching women how to age strong, and then her own experience with hip osteoarthritis and double hip replacement turned her into a case study in muscle, recovery, biohacking, and what it really takes to heal.

What's Discussed:

(00:23) Why menopause around the world matters and what Zora has learned from asking women directly.

(01:22) How symptoms, stigma, culture, and socioeconomic status shape the way women experience menopause.

(06:24) Why many women still misunderstand hormone therapy or feel proud of white-knuckling menopause.

(15:14) Why not having a word for perimenopause does not mean women are not having symptoms.

(21:25) The musculoskeletal side of menopause, including joint pain, frozen shoulder, hip pain, bone loss, and osteoarthritis.

(28:08) How Zora prepared for hip replacement using muscle support, blood flow restriction, protein, and essential amino acids.

(36:19) Recovery support after surgery, including sleep, stress, inflammation, peptides, red light, scar therapy, and aging stronger.

✍️ FREE GUIDES: