Meet Jennifer Harrington: Naturopath and Founder of Menopause Natural Solutions

This September marks 12 years of Menopause Natural Solutions.

It's also now been 23 years since I began practising as a naturopath.

Those two milestones have made me a little reflective.

If you've been reading this blog for a while, you probably know quite a lot about menopause. You may have read my articles about hot flushes, sleep, brain fog, burning sensations, digestion, hormones, nutrients, cellular health or some of the many other changes that can occur during the menopausal transition.

But you may not know very much about the person writing them.

So, after 12 years of Menopause Natural Solutions and 23 years in clinical practice, it feels like a good time to properly introduce myself.

I'm Jennifer Harrington. I'm a naturopath, nutritionist and medical herbalist, author of From Invisible to Invincible, host of the Menopause Natural Solutions podcast and founder of Menopause Natural Solutions.

And interestingly, menopause wasn't where my story began.

I found naturopathy because I needed it myself

My interest in women's health started in my early twenties when I was diagnosed with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS, although its now called PMOS)

I was experiencing painful, irregular cycles and was told that having children could be difficult.

The conventional approach I tried at the time didn't make me feel better, and eventually I found my way to naturopathy.

It changed the direction of my health, and ultimately the direction of my life.

My cycles became more regular, my pain improved and I later conceived naturally.

At the time, I was working in television. Experiencing what naturopathic medicine could offer made me rethink what I wanted to do with my life, and I decided to retrain as a naturopath.

That was the beginning of a career that has now spanned 23 years.

Women's health has always been part of my work

My early clinical interests were reproductive health, menstrual conditions and fertility.

Over the years, I worked in clinics, corporate health and education, as well as internationally at Chiva-Som International Health Resort in Thailand.

But something interesting happened as the years passed.

My patients got older.

And so did I.

The conversations in my consulting room gradually changed.

Fertility and menstrual problems began to be joined by changing cycles, hot flushes, poor sleep, weight changes, anxiety, brain fog, fatigue and all the strange symptoms women often don't realise can accompany perimenopause.

Eventually, menopause became impossible for me to ignore.

Then perimenopause became personal

My own transition wasn't symptom-free.

I experienced heavy menstrual bleeding, iron-deficiency anaemia, uterine polyps and fibroids.

I also developed an adult-onset Eustachian tube defect, which led to ongoing problems with pressure regulation in my ears and hearing.

It was a particularly unsettling experience. Hearing changes can affect almost every part of daily life, from conversations and work to sleep, concentration and confidence. They can also be difficult to explain, especially when the symptoms fluctuate or don't fit neatly into a single diagnosis. 

Suddenly, I wasn't only looking at the menopausal transition as a practitioner.

I was living it.

That experience reinforced something I'd already learnt through years of clinical practice:

No two women experience menopause in exactly the same way.

For one woman, sleep may be her biggest problem.

For another, it's anxiety.

Another may be struggling with weight, vaginal symptoms, migraines, digestive changes, joint pain, hearing changes or exhaustion.

And sometimes menopause isn't the whole explanation.

That's why I've never been comfortable reducing midlife women's health to a simple question of whether oestrogen is high or low.

Hormones matter enormously.

But they're part of a much bigger picture.

12 years of Menopause Natural Solutions

In September 2014, I decided to bring my clinical focus specifically to menopause and created Menopause Natural Solutions.

At the time, menopause simply wasn't being talked about the way it is today.

Many women arrived in my clinic believing they just had to tolerate their symptoms until they eventually passed.

Others had been told their test results were "normal", despite knowing that they didn't feel like themselves.

I wanted women to understand their bodies better and to know that there were options available to support their health during this transition.

That philosophy eventually expanded beyond the clinic into this blog, the Menopause Natural Solutions podcast, retreats, webinars, summits and my book, From Invisible to Invincible: The Natural Menopause Revolution.

Twelve years later, menopause is finally receiving far more attention.

That's something worth celebrating.

But I also think our understanding of what women need during midlife has to keep evolving.

And my own approach has evolved with it.

23 years in practice changes how you look at health

When I first graduated as a naturopath, I was naturally very interested in individual nutrients, herbs, hormones and symptoms.

I still use all of those things.

But after 23 years of seeing people clinically, I've become increasingly interested in why a person's body isn't functioning as well as it could.

Why is her energy production struggling?

Why isn't she absorbing nutrients?

Why is inflammation elevated?

How well is her digestive system functioning?

What is happening metabolically?

What environmental exposures might be relevant?

What is happening at a cellular and mitochondrial level?

How might these factors be influencing symptoms such as fatigue, brain fog, pain, sleep disruption, digestive changes or even the way the body responds to changes affecting the ears and hearing?

And, importantly, what does her health today mean for the decades ahead?

This is why my approach has gradually become cell-first focused. A cell-first approach looks beyond managing symptoms to understanding and supporting the cellular processes that may be driving them.

Rather than simply asking, "What can we give you for this symptom?", I want to ask:

"Why might your body be producing this symptom in the first place?"

Menopause isn't the finish line

One of the biggest changes in my thinking has been recognising that menopause isn't simply a collection of symptoms to get through.

For many women, it occurs around the midpoint of life.

There could be another 30, 40 or even 50 years ahead.

That makes this an incredibly important opportunity to look beyond today's hot flushes or poor sleep and ask bigger questions about future health.

How are your bones?

Your muscle mass?

Your cardiovascular health?

Your blood sugar and metabolic health?

Your brain?

Your mitochondria?

Your nutritional status?

Your resilience?

How well are you ageing?

For me, good menopause care isn't only about helping you feel better now.

It's also about helping to create a healthier foundation for the woman you'll be at 60, 70, 80 and beyond.

I'm a menopause naturopath, but I'm also much more than that

Menopause is an area I love and have specialised in for 12 years.

But I'm a naturopath first.

I don't treat menopause in isolation from the rest of the body.

My background in reproductive health, nutrition, herbal medicine and naturopathy has progressively expanded into cellular health, healthy ageing, cognition, hearing-related concerns and the many systems that influence how well we function as we get older.

That broader perspective is increasingly shaping my work.

Because a woman sitting in front of me isn't simply "a menopause patient".

She's a whole person with a health history, genetics, environmental exposure, lifestyle habits, nutritional needs, stresses and goals for the future.

Understanding that bigger picture is where I believe some of the most valuable work can happen.

Where I am today

Today I continue to work with women through Menopause Natural Solutions, supporting women during perimenopause, menopause and beyond.

My work combines traditional naturopathic principles with current research, personalised nutrition, herbal medicine, targeted supplementation, appropriate testing and an increasing focus on cellular and mitochondrial health.

I also support women who are trying to make sense of less commonly discussed midlife symptoms.

I'm also continuing to learn.

After 23 years in practice, I don't think becoming more experienced means becoming more certain about everything.

If anything, it makes you more curious.

If you've been here for a while, thank you

Twelve years is a long time.

Some of you have been reading my articles, listening to the podcast or following Menopause Natural Solutions for many of those years. Some have worked with me personally. Others may have arrived here today after searching for an explanation for one strange symptom, that began during midlife.

Wherever you joined me along the way, thank you for being part of Menopause Natural Solutions.

My aim has always been to help women understand what is happening in their bodies, ask better questions about their health and feel more confident about the choices available to them.

Twelve years on, that hasn't changed.

But the way I understand women's health, and the possibilities for supporting healthier ageing, continues to grow.

Menopause may have brought us together. But ultimately, my work is about something bigger: helping women understand their bodies, improve their health and thrive through midlife and beyond.

Here's to the next chapter.