On the Energize podcast, Dr. Mariza Snyder sits down with Kathy Eason, Chief Science Officer at Berkeley Life, for a conversation about why so many women in perimenopause and menopause are running on empty and what can be done about it. The episode centres on Nitric Oxide as a foundational molecule for energy, blood flow, and long-term cardiovascular health in midlife women.
Kathy begins with her own story. She first encountered Nitric Oxide in a biochemistry class decades ago, when it was discussed mainly as a performance molecule for athletes. Since then, the research has expanded dramatically.
NO is now understood to signal dozens of physiological processes, from blood vessel dilation and blood pressure regulation to gut function, immune response, sleep cycles, hormone signalling, and sexual health. Yet most doctors still do not test for it, partly because the traditional medical model assumes the body can produce enough on its own. That assumption falls apart when nine out of ten adults are not eating the minimum recommended servings of vegetables, and oxidative stress is eroding the body's internal production capacity well before menopause begins.
The decline accelerates during perimenopause. Estrogen plays a direct role in signalling NO production, and the two share a bidirectional relationship. As estrogen drops, NO production drops with it. This connection helps explain why nitric oxide for menopause has become an important area of interest for supporting healthy blood flow and energy during this transition. At the same time, NO is needed to keep endothelial cells healthy, and those cells house hormone receptors, including estrogen receptors. When the receptors do not function well, the hormones that remain send and receive signals less effectively. It is a compounding cycle, and it helps explain why menopause exhaustion fatigue hits so many women so hard.
Kathy lists the signs she hears most often from patients. The first is almost always energy. Women describe menopause lack of energy as something different from ordinary tiredness. It is a deep, persistent depletion that sleep does not resolve. Getting out of bed requires force. Stairs feel harder than they should. Exercise that used to be manageable now feels like a wall. Alongside that come cold hands and feet, brain fog, dry skin, hair thinning, constipation, reduced libido, temperature swings including hot flashes and night sweats, and disrupted sleep. Any combination of those signals points toward declining NO levels.
Dr. Snyder reinforces the cardiovascular connection. Compromised heart health remains the "number one killer of women," and the vascular changes behind it are silent. Blood vessels become more rigid. Blood pressure creeps up. Inflammatory markers shift. None of it produces obvious symptoms until the damage is well underway. By age 40 to 50, the body's internal capacity to produce NO may have dropped by roughly 50%. That is why both Kathy and Dr. Snyder advocate for proactive testing and tracking rather than waiting for a diagnosis.
Berkeley Life's saliva test strips measure salivary nitrite as an indicator of NO status. Kathy walks through how to use them: test in the morning before supplementation to get a baseline, take a dose of dietary nitrates, then retest about 90 minutes later. The colour range has been clinically correlated to lab values. For women dealing with menopause tiredness who want a tangible starting point, the test offers immediate, real-time feedback.
On the practical side, Kathy recommends starting with two capsules of Berkeley Life Nitric Oxide Support in the morning. For women who still feel an afternoon slump, splitting the dose between morning and evening can help maintain consistent nitrate levels. She has also seen patients reduce the total number of supplements in the routine once blood flow improves, because better oxygenation and nutrient delivery support the body's systems more broadly, including hormone metabolism for women using bioidentical hormone replacement therapy.
Food sources matter just as much. Leafy greens like spinach, kale, arugula, and beet greens are the richest dietary sources of nitrate, with beets and celery also contributing significantly. Beyond diet, Kathy highlights nostril breathing as one of the most effective ways to stimulate NO production, along with moderate daily exercise, consistent sleep, and morning sunlight. She flags antiseptic mouthwash as a common disruptor of the oral bacteria needed to convert nitrate to nitrite to NO. Smoking, vaping, and excessive exercise all add oxidative stress that further suppresses production.
For any low-energy female listener wondering where to begin, Kathy's advice is grounded and simple. Write out the nagging signs that make you feel unlike yourself. Note where physical capacity has declined. Start hydrating properly. Then test your NO levels and begin restoring them through diet, lifestyle, and supplementation. Within one to two weeks, most women report noticeable changes: better energy, improved digestion, and sharper mental clarity throughout the day.
The broader message is that menopause low energy is not something women need to accept as inevitable. NO is a foundational molecule, and when it is supported, the downstream effects reach virtually every system in the body. The conversation closes with both practitioners encouraging women to stack habits rather than supplements, and to treat menopause as an opportunity to rebuild vitality from the ground up.
