I walk into Blanc & Noir, a new event space inside Kochi’s Imperial Trade Centre, with much anticipation. I am early, so I take a seat at the back, enjoying the ambience of the beautifully done-up space, with its panelled walls, well-lit interior, arresting flower arrangements and a table piled with cupcakes, sandwiches and other goodies. The name is justified by the black-and-white flooring, and even the complementing black-and-white attire of our hosts—businessman Adarsh Varghese and his wife Reshma.
As the clock ticks, the guests gradually stream inside. Fashionably dressed and in high spirits, the mixed crowd of influencers, homemakers, entrepreneurs and professionals all seem to know each other, and the space fills with the sound of laughter and excited chatter. There is one thing common among them: they are all women. That is because of the topic of the evening’s discussion: women’s health decoded.
The panellists of the session moderated by Reshma were Dr George Paul, a gynaecologist, laparoscopic surgeon and medical director at Pauls Hospital; Dr Gigi Samsheer, a laparoscopic and robotic surgeon at Dr Gigi’s Clinic; and Dr Basimah Nahan, an Ayurvedic cosmetologist and CEO of The Radiance Integrated Clinical Wellness Centre.
The discussion started with a perennially evergreen topic: looking good vs being fit. “Healthy ageing sounds wonderful, but what does it actually mean?” Reshma asked Dr George.
“Is it having lesser wrinkles at the age of 65 or is it looking every bit of 65, but being able to trek, climb and play with your grandchildren at that age?” Dr George reiterated the importance of not hyper-focusing on your appearance as you age.
“It is more important to accept your age and age gracefully,” he said. “If you can function like a 40-year-old at the age of 70, that is more important than looking 40 at the age of 70. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to look good. But you should prioritise your health, fitness and mobility.”
As the evening progressed, I was surprised by how much of what the doctors said was news to me. For example, I did not know that you need not normalise menstrual pain. “The mother might tell the daughter that it is normal to have pain during your menstruation, but if the pain is affecting your ability to function—if you are not able to go to school or to work—that is not normal,” said Dr George.
“Menstrual problems, bleeding, pain, irregularities associated with PCOS—these are not things you should keep to yourself. If you feel something’s off, get yourself evaluated.”
I had also thought of weight gain after 40 as something to be expected and unavoidable. This, too, I learnt, need not be taken for granted. If you are working out more, eating less and still not losing weight, there might be an underlying cause or something wrong with your diet or workout regime that needs to be rectified.
Also, another culprit for weight gain could be your estrogen levels. “It is not deficient estrogen that is causing your perimenopause or menopause,” said Dr Gigi. “During your transition [into these states], there are fluctuations in your estrogen values. One day it might be 300, and the next week, it could have dipped to 30. It is this fluctuation that might be causing perimenopausal symptoms like weight gain. The moment you supplement estrogen, through [measures like] hormone replacement therapy if it is required, it really helps. It is not just weight loss that it aids, but so many other things, both physical and emotional.”
One of the most interesting topics of the evening was dietary supplements. When Reshma asked how many women took them, 90 per cent of the women in the room raised their hands. As someone who does not take any, this was a revelation to me. The number of hands, however, significantly came down when Reshma asked how many took them after a proper medical evaluation.
Nowadays, it seems that it is not an apple a day, but rather ChatGPT and Instagram, that is keeping the doctor away. So, if you are following a healthy diet, is it necessary to take supplements? The consensus seemed to be that supplements were beneficial as long as they were okayed by your doctor and catered to your specific needs.
“Please do a blood test before taking any supplements,” said Dr Basimah.
“Understand what is lacking in your body. Our bodies are a complex chemical reaction. If you have a Vitamin D deficiency, it need not only be because your Vitamin D levels are low. Is the absorption correct? Are your B2 and ferritin levels right? If you have a Vitamin D deficiency, don’t just check your Vitamin D levels when you take a test; check the whole panel. Because if you only check your Vitamin D and take a particular supplement for the deficiency, the moment you stop that supplement, the levels will fall. So it is not absorbed into your tissues. Before you take any supplement, it is always better to take help, understand what will work for you and invest wisely.”
Much of this came naturally to our grandmothers. They used to advise eating unripe mangoes to women who wanted to get pregnant because unripe mangoes are rich in folic acid which has been scientifically proven to help with conception. Likewise, they would advise dried prawns because it is rich in astaxanthin, a powerful oral antioxidant, and black sesame seeds because they contain zinc, which helps with estrogen fluctuations.
“For a lot of small things, you can go back to your ancient wisdom, but it is important to rediscover and redefine it,” said Dr Basimah. “If you have a serious concern like abnormal menstrual bleeding, don’t go for home remedies; instead, get help to understand what is happening in your body.”
As dusk gathered outside, the conversation roamed from skincare (“just use two to three products and don’t expect overnight results”) to sexual health (“there is a solution to everything, from vaginal laxity to loss of libido, so seek help”) to perimenopause (“hormones might be causing your symptoms, but there might be other factors as well”).
In the end, there was much for me to think about, but perhaps my greatest takeaway was that ageing is not just about my looks. It is a complex process that spans the physical, social, psychological and emotional. I cannot slow or reverse it, but when I change the things I can and accept the things I can’t, I turn this journey into one big adventure.
